Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch: Great When Docked But What About Portable Play?

Xenoblade pushes the Switch's mobile-based Tegra technology hard. It holds up nicely when playing docked, but is this game just too ambitious for portable play?
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[@Supercomet13A]

"unlike the first two games, xenoblade 2 is focused on narrative" did you play the first game?

[@mtlvmpr]

Isn't this like the 7th Xeno game?

[@jgp1s]

MTLVMPR the XenoBLADE part of the series I would assume.

[@mtlvmpr]

Juan Gonzalez I know. I'm just wondering how many people know about the old games.

[@cesarbarroso7225]

Yeap, even Xenoblade X has a lot of narrative. I just think people don’t really know how to play True Ipen World games

[@miltronicus9922]

I wouldn't really consider Xenogears, or Xenosaga the same as Xenoblade. Since Xenoblade has different mechanics, and a different story. I guess you could consider it the 7th "Xeno" game though.

[@bes5164]

"Hopefully this is something that can be adressed in a patch." It's 2020 and no patch :( :(

[@vivid8979]

Yes.. On modded switch just a quick change on some values regarding Anti Aliasing makes the game aloooot better.. Shame also when a 3rd party game like Witcher 3 can come up with a Patch regarding such glaring issues with the graphics enabling options for the player on how the game will look.. I know the decision for such downgrade is for the battery but the option for the consumer will be really handy in the future.

[@cr4zyw3ld3r]

@@vivid8979 indeed, I run mine with the mcable and it helps add back the AA without a hit to the game plus it just looks much sharper. And if you have the newer switch model battery life is less of a concern.

[@mavisiu1387]

oh sht I'm planning to get this game after playing DE but now I'm having a second thought.

[@Katie-hb8iq]

I don't think it's a problem with the game - it's clearly pushing the nintendo's switchs hardware as far as it can. I'd be curious to see how genshin impact actually runs on the switch. So far, all we've seen is breath of the wild and xenoblade both being blurry experiences running at 30 fps or lower. It's not the game's fault - the hardware is just not a ps4 pro or xbox one x. I don't comparing to Mario Odyssey and others is fair - there's way more going on xenoblade chronicles 2. While I wish xenoblade was a 60fps experience, the game is too good not to play because of graphics. It was one of the best games of the year that year, and if not for breath of the wild, I would have made it my person game of the year.

[@VengefulController]

@@mavisiu1387 there was a bug fix patch and a performance patch, even some more content added, just no res boost.

[@chaosthunder]

This game is awesome, but it really needs a patch.

[@265433432]

chaosthunder Fix the voice sync Nintendo.

[@paradoxzee6834]

Walther Penne Yea but looks like the problems is in streaming or memory issue something that can be fixed

[@paradoxzee6834]

Walther Penne Zelda looks the same they did not downgraded it at all and Splatoon they even upgrade the game, you cannot compare Ubisoft to Nintendo, maybe Ubisit disable settings and call it optimisation but Nintendo make sure that the game looks the same or even better over time

[@rentarodeus2121]

CodeNameZ for me on zelda you have even more poping the last update than before

[@mx4159]

Walther Penne but they can patch the frame rate in some instances (like how the town is sometimes stable 30 but other times low 20)

[@Extention6]

Most of my 160 hours and counting has been handheld It's so awesome playing a game this huge portable

[@michaelk__]

love this game, played half of the time in handheld, noticing the low resolution, forgetting about it 5 seconds later. this game is just wonderful. even in low resolution it looks good on the small screen, but its just getting impressive when you start playing in docked mode. just brings back memories to how stunned i was playing Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii and I can say: the developers did it again.

[@OMGitsZenius]

Well I'm playing XC1 for the first time right now ahah after I finish the first one I'll get the second, is the resolution really that bad? I'm playing XC1 in handheld and I don't think the graphics are bad, sure not as crisp as some games but not game-breaking

[@helloguy8934]

@@OMGitsZenius 1's sharpening filter is far less aggressive luckily. Improves image quality by a lot.

[@pvcordeiro]

You forgot to say that the battery life playing this in portable goes up to 5 hours of screen time. Maybe that's the reason of the low resolution on portable mode.

[@ismathem]

Paulo Victor Cordeiro really? That's not bad at all

[@RaiJolt2]

Actually really 4:30-5 hours.. of corse you would also have to listen to the switch’s fan the whole time at full power but yeah

[@ProbyWaN1337]

It only lasts about 3 for me

[@robbinhasseltof4428]

ProbyWaN1337 3h for me as well

[@leonthesleepy]

@@robbinhasseltof4428 its about 3 hours to drop the battery to 20% for me. (on Switch Lite)

[@MrSEA-ok2ll]

I enjoy the visual feasts provided by several PS4 Pro and Scorpio titles, but have to defend this console and title. I look at the Switch as the most capable portable ever created. The engine and effects were bold and I am sure that future patches and tweaks will fill launch issues that plague most complex titles these days on most consoles.

[@arthurcollector4002]

if it is a portable, why dock can you fit switch on you pocket

[@tldmimikyu5779]

@@arthurcollector4002 Yes you can fit the switch on ypur pocket I thought it was impossible but yesterday I played in a nintendo switch and hell is almost of the same size of an iphone X

[@helloguy8934]

But sir. The Steam deck now exists. The switch has lost the title of the most powerful handheld.

[@HansAlRachid]

I love how Digital Foundry - the tech guys - actually do understand that there is a major distinction to be drawn between artdesign and graphical fidelity when it comes to visual appeal. I wish more of the people yelling about graphics and visuals would get this through their skulls.

[@ShMartinJo]

Society is very black and white. Never thinking anything in between is possible … unfortunately.

[@alumlovescake]

Ah yes because low res shadows bad lod and 480p is my faviroatre art style Everything wrong with these games visuals is due to things COMPLETELY unrelated to art style It is dumb to compare a game like this to Red dead 2 or something but it just as dumb to defend the game by saying art style

[@HansAlRachid]

@@alumlovescake Cool.

[@andyhoov]

Honesty, I'm kind of surprised by the resolution. I was playing on a newer 55 inch 4k TV and the game looked absolutely gorgeous. Strong art direction and smart use of color can make a world of difference. However, I will admit the image quality in portable mode is disappointing.

[@Ponyfox]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Never have I used the screenshot button more than in this game. And before this video I swore it was rendering in 1080P with an internal resolution of 900P max, scaling lower when absolutely needed. Docked I have been having a blast with it and couldn't believe it's running on a tiny little tablet.

[@tldmimikyu5779]

@@Ponyfox yaeh holly shit I played on a nintendo switch splatoon 2 and dude the switch is almost the same size of an iphone x

[@neberboi]

I played on 64 in 4k TV and it still looks fine

[@scrubadubbyy1369]

Mind if I can get the name and model of your TV? I'm looking to buy a new TV.

[@KingDDDuke]

Your tv probably has upscaling options. I need to get a new one. I play on a 1080p tv, but it has no upscaling, so I notice the 720p. Game still looks fantastic in 2021.

[@jmil2k8]

XBC2 expansion came out recently and in the interview the lead designer said they used a new rendering engine. From my personal experience playing it, it looked as though it looked better and ran smoother. The lead dev also mentioned the grass, and he's right, it looks a lot better. Can you guys give a technical go to see if the new engine squeezes more out of the already amazing little switch?

[@TonyJenn]

Yeah, they could have waited til 2018. I don't think people would've been too mad. That being said, I bought the game, and despite its drawbacks, I'm enjoying it.

[@camposjesus3725]

Tony Jenn same

[@GameplayandTalk]

Interesting performance issues. The game still looks wonderful overall though, I have to say. Looking forward to trying it myself sometime in the future.

[@viegector6974]

Gameplay and Talk it's incredible. It's my favorite game.

[@itsaxel8088]

I have it and it’s amazing. The portable performance did not bother me.

[@pcmasterrace9014]

I'll finally admit that I don't even have a PC.

[@IndependentVictor]

Xz3ta a bad name? Yours cannot even be pronnounced

[@gustavohuehue7460]

@@IndependentVictor thats why the bad name ma friend .....

[@HugoStiglitz88]

That's hilarious. Honestly I respect you if that's true. If you were a legit PC gamer that hates on consoles I'd think you're a loser but if you're just a dedicated troll, I respect it cuz it's funny af

[@HugoStiglitz88]

@@XZ-III that's a good thing. PC gamers deserve a bad name. He may be purely a troll but there are many PC gamers that act like he does I'm a PC gamer and I hate the master race nerds. The master race of gamers is a gamer that cares only about the games they're playing and owns consoles and PC

[@redhunter1535]

We all know these fake pc players in reality are just salty sonytards mad that Xbox is better

[@Harkz0r]

Here I am used to playing on PC at 1080p and 144Hz with at least 200+ FPS with all the bells and whistles, and I have basically no issue with the Switch's graphics either. Yes, the game is flawed and on more than just a technical level, but it's still one of the best RPGs I've played in recent memory. My 140hrs and counting save file speaks for itself.

[@PinkKips]

Coming from a happy Switch owner, there's no excuse for the portable performance. Hopefully Monolith Soft works on optimization in future patches

[@Mr.GameCrazy]

Duelist Mudkip I hope so too.

[@PinkKips]

Walther Penne I don't mean that the game should be running at 1080p 60fps, just that the frame rate drops and the resolution almost hitting 3DS levels shouldn't happen. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is far from the most demanding game out right now, but it has the worst undocked preformance of any AAA game. I think it was slightly rushed to fit the Switches first year, and it'll probably be patched in the coming months

[@thebravegallade731]

Really should ve 480p 30,not 360...

[@thebravegallade731]

Sam Tarly The game is still beutiful, but the apparent memory cahe issue should REALLY be fixed (I can take low FPS but sub-24 is REALLY grating) and as I said should be 480p bottom cap undocked.

[@PinkKips]

jvalex18 um, it kind of is? Even in the video they say the problems likely comes from a glitch with storage. It really isn't excusable.

[@MORJDK]

The game is still amazing, im willing to look through these flaws.

[@TheRealJackGreig]

This game is heavily flawed yet I still adore it!

[@ruxis8179]

Lol you can't just "fix" something that is effectively a hardware bottleneck I agree the game is fantastic FPS is trash at the best of times, the resolution drops but that by no means makes it a bad game But in terms of enjoyment, easily an 8.5/10

[@gv2212]

oi

[@DavidHosey1]

@@TheRealJackGreig not that flawed, sure it has some pitfalls but it still stands up there with the 1st game as one of the best!

[@helloguy8934]

@@DavidHosey1 The shonen-ish anime tropes are not for everyone though..

[@mikelambert6245]

Does the portable resolution suck balls? Absolutely. But, I bought this to play on my commute and I am having so much fun. That being said, this totally can botch some peoples game play experiences, I am just not one of those people. Have fun everyone!

[@His0ka]

Same . And i still Put hours into the handheld Mode ..leveling characters 1 or 2 hours from my bed

[@RobinHoodFox74]

This was one of my most anticipated DF videos, thank you guys!! All I have to say to some of the negative comments is that, when actually playing this game now for many hours. I’m absolutely in love with this JRPG. For me personally this is like a dream JRPG, like playing Grandia for the first time... it’s a magical experience. The characters are all awesome, the story feels gripping, the music is absolutely breathtaking, and the game, it’s art direction, and yes the graphics also look gorgeous when playing in docked mode especially... and the cutscenes are very cool! And the game still absolutely looks like a current gen game, the rendering techniques still look totally modern. Even if the resolution is 720p... to me in action it feels like a 900p game. And it still looks better than Tales of Berzeria on the PS4, lower resolution than tales of berzeria but better graphics, better rendering techniques, better textures... it’s not all about the resolution afterall. (Having said that, I absolutely love Tales of Berzeria, and i couldn’t care less about the graphics, that was an awesome game with an awesome story)... Bottom line, this is a must own if you have a Switch and you love JRPG’s... this is a very very good one! And there are 4k games on PC that are terrible games. But if a game is a good GAME, it will always be good. Just like a good movie is always a good movie. It’s not always about resolution... Persona 5 was also a masterpiece, and that looked pretty much the same on PS3... but I love how Persona 5 looked... games like these are like great books... they’re beyond stuff like resolution... peace.

[@kennethsmithjr7166]

RobinHoodFox74 My guy whatever part of heaven you in I need to be there lol. But I am so glad you loving this game. I can't wait to get it for Christmas. Have a blessed day my friend.

[@gewdvibes]

RobinHoodFox74 the first half of your comment I completely agree with, the second half of your comment was complete nonsense

[@RobinHoodFox74]

Kenneth Smith JR I’m glad you’re getting it for Christmas man, gonna be an awesome Christmas for you I’m sure! And cheers, hope you have a great day too my friend!

[@RobinHoodFox74]

Gewdvibes fair enough man. We’re always going to disagree on some things with people, impossible to agree on everything. Sometimes a month later I don’t even agree with the past me anymore. Cheers

[@Ponyfox]

From one fox to another I have to agree here. And in my case: this is my FIRST JRPG ever. The closest "JRPG" games I've played are a few Final Fantasy titles here and there. The sentiments about the graphics are spot on. It isn't until this video I learned it wasn't 900P at all. What the heck!? In motion or standing still... it looks incredible. And I am quite close to my 50 inch TV!

[@Contrelicus]

please do another one if they do a patch

[@1beatcher]

They normally do

[@jojostark3896]

1beatcher dont hold your breath

[@1beatcher]

Jojo Stark I did but my face turned blue than I fainted

[@AlphaladZXA]

I dont think they have yet

[@gureguru4694]

1 year later.. they didn't even patch performance issues lmao

[@pokemigas6049]

Why is everyone say that the game is 368p in portable mode? Didn't you hear what he said? "Goes as low as 368p". It is 368p in only some moments. And he was praising the game during almost all the review. Watch the video before you comment.

[@mx4159]

Pokemigas ikr DF should say “up to” rather than “as low as” so that people don’t get the wrong idea

[@timetodeliverapizzaball]

Pokemigas praising it in docked mode. In portable it is trash. I think they rushed for a Christmas release rather than make sure it was optimised.

[@paradoxzee6834]

Its normal for this comment section to take the lowest number and try to sound like the whole game is this bad. Just people who wanna to make others unhappy because they are unhappy theyselfs.

[@madfinntech]

Well, 540p isn't that much better.

[@mx4159]

time to deliver a pizza ball the game started development in 2014, and for the most part it’s very impressive imo

[@BalsticMaker12]

This is a game I will never play in portable mode for the main story. It does the game injustice to play the cutscenes in its blurry glory. But in portable mode, it's nice to be able to casually grind the game. The FPS is stable enough in portable, so it is playable.

[@sakecarp]

Zazon Zenzy Yes thank you.

[@malcolm2936]

I bought the game on launch and couldn’t tell how low the resolution is. I’ve been playing exclusively in portable with about 11 hours in. It looks good but some of the characters look bad

[@niklasagent_1631]

It definitely needs a patch, but it still remains a very good game.

[@agentfrost7823]

Niklasagent _ Yea it looks fun. But I'll wait until they patch it then I'll buy it.

[@jaymzx2587]

Fantastic video John, great editing and love your script. You really know how to bring entertaining style and informative content together. Keep going strong and can’t wait for the next DF retro..!

[@Kenshin0011]

There is nothing or no one in particular to blame here... Xenoblade 2 is a fantastic looking game in docked, home console mode on a big screen HD TV. Solid 720p and a nearly solid 30fps is what I would expect with a Xenoblade game running on Switch's CPU/GPU. The dynamic resolution is necessary for portable mode on a game like this, unless they made further graphical downgrades to the base game itself in order to have it run better undocked, but I'm pretty sure none of us want that. Nintendo should allow us to "overclock" Switch in portable mode so it performs the same as docked. This would be a great option for those wanting portable but can also plug into power easily/frequently.

[@nustaniel]

Can't say I've experienced too much of the slow frames. I doubt a cartridge would be much different from internal storage either, so not sure why we have different experiences there. They'll likely patch it going forward though; there are DLC coming over the course of 2018 after all. Anyways, sitting approx. 2.5m away from a 55" TV (UHD) gives a clean and pretty image. Certainly, I can notice the resolution if I go close, but from the couch, it looks great. One of the best RPG games I've had the pleasure of playing in a long time. Absolutely adore it.

[@iensuw.7467]

Absconditus This game doesn't need high fps as much as others, and while I have no data to back this up I am pretty sure that the interface and HUD elements are always at the same resolution, which helps quite a bit, as they play a reasonably large part in the experience. I bring this up because i was really kinda annoyed by the reticule in portable mode doom scaling down with the rest of the image, which seemed really weird to me

[@Kevkowich]

Am i getting old? Because I enjoy the game with 720p so much and even in handheld mode i don´t care that much. Guess because I play games on my PSOne and N64 even nowadays i don´t care so much about how many pixel my games do have as long as the game experience fits!

[@kky.x]

Kevkowich - Attack on Titan und Mehr! I'm used to playing monster hunter on my 3ds so the graphics don't bother me at all.

[@Hornyblend]

This isn't comparable. Low resolution wasn't a problem 10 years ago because you did'nt have a lot of details. But when you put a lot of detailed objects, lot of grass etc., with a low resolution it's ugly because you get a porridge of pixels. I have no problem with this game docked, but in handled mode, I can't properly distinguish things.

[@morganwhaley9119]

Digital Foundry called 720p a "low resolution" in a recent video and I was like "what"

[@Daigon95]

+Hornyblend cant properly distinguish things? boy I hav eye floater issues and minor lvl of double vision (even with glasses on) and I can still distinguish things.

[@Moochewmoo]

Hornyblend I hope you don't drive a car then. You must have some serious eye imparment issues.

[@VertigoX26]

I'm having a lot of fun with this game in portable mode despite frame rate drops. It just so happens that the drops aren't so bad that I'm unable to control my characters during fighting, which, to me, is the most important thing in this outstanding-so-far JRPG. (:

[@danteprimm]

I pretty much new the comment section for this one was going to be a total shit-fest with fan boys of Sony, MS and PC. I own all 3 current systems Switch, PS4 Pro, Xbox One X and a gaming PC. When you put resolution aside and actually play the game for what it is it is a masterpiece. The story, the music, the art direction, the atmosphere this is JRPG at its finest on display. You can dump on it all you but you are missing out on a terrific game.

[@user-wd1ey3en8g]

Dante Primm not everyone can tolerate the Japanese cliche ok? And there are so many loot boxes which meaningless waste players time. And it’s graphic is so suck. Each problems of it can be a good reason for people dislike this game.

[@danteprimm]

I get it is not everyone cup o-tea but if someone can't tolerate Japanese RPG's and JRPG mechanics they shouldn't even be playing it therefore there opinion is invalid. It would be like me commenting on COD online, I have no right to say anything about that game because I don like online shooters. Everyone places way too much concern on graphics and gaming has turned into a resolution war where those with the shiniest graphics feel they won. There is a reason many games with the shiniest graphics are soon forgotten and other games become classics.

[@genkidama7534]

this is probably the best coment Ive seen, I completerly agree, I wil probably play this only docked because handheald is just a bit to bad IMO but docked is fine and it really seems like another amazing game for the switch

[@ParkPants]

I played the first hour in portable mode. You definitely see the reduction in image quality and resolution but it was never a hindrance to the gameplay. Chronicles 2 is still an absolute blast to play.

[@simonrockstream]

reminder: dont look at the comments

[@pc_screen5478]

Simon Rockstream that's too late for me, now i can't get out

[@MaiconAfonso]

The true hurts

[@John6-40]

Too late. Wish I could turn around.

[@Wayneextremity]

John! Your editing and video direction are amazing. Im a fan!

[@Eggplant_Salad]

Crazy that they made this with a team of 40 people. The rough parts are probably due to that and the fact that a lot of stuff was outsourced. With their full team back, their next game should be amazing.

[@CharDhue]

Ur though on xc3 now?

[@GGaming298]

@@CharDhue its shit

[@stllbreathnbut_y1844]

I hate to say it, but the resolution in portable mode is genuinely awful. It doesn’t ruin the game, but it does severely impact my enjoyment.

[@enegizedadam]

Weird I don't have that problem maybe because I was used to Xenoblade 3's resolution and low resolutions as a whole

[@incendere244]

yeah they rushed it for a holiday release, there's no reason for this to run worse than Skyrim or BotW

[@rentarodeus2121]

Incendere no switch is just weak

[@Belgiumdoesnotkickas]

Yeah botw is literally empty compared to this

[@rentarodeus2121]

MOHAMED lol no switch have just 157gflop on portable whit a bandwhidth of 25,6gb/s and the game is not going to have a patch

[@claire6452]

Even with a low resolution, it looks better than Skyrim or Zelda.

[@Kenshin0011]

Xenoblade 2 is a fantastic looking game in docked, home console mode on a big screen HD TV. Solid 720p and a nearly solid 30fps is what I would expect with a Xenoblade game running on Switch's CPU/GPU. The dynamic resolution is necessary for portable mode on a game like this, unless they made further graphical downgrades to the base game itself in order to have it run better undocked, but I'm pretty sure none of us want that. Nintendo should allow us to "overclock" Switch in portable mode so it performs the same as docked. This would be a great option for those wanting portable but can also plug into power easily/frequently.

[@Vezon2121]

About time!!!! I was waiting for this video i was generally curious to see how it runs.

[@Elrinth]

Game of the year to me. I haven't been this engrossed in a game in a long time. Clocked at 30 hours+ and still finding new things. Fantastic visuals, music and story. Also, be prepared to be a bit pissed at the subtitles for us english readers if you are using the japanese voices: Poppi = Hanna. Pyra = Homura. There's more names changed aswell such as a location call "Mol something" but in japanese they say Spellvia. I soooo prefer that name :D The other place sounds like something out of Mordor :P

[@frankynakamoto2308]

Not enough ram to render so much geography, but is everything an RPG fan would want, they would need to set a limit distance rendering for the ram to focus more ahead rather than previous distance to allow better performance. They also need something like that for games like PUBG and Fornite.

[@Kysen10]

16hrs in and its better than BOTW imo.

[@graalcloud]

Yeah this game is fuckin sweet so far. Not for the casual RPG player.

[@Maqso]

Stoped yesterday with 54 hours, really good game

[@lonedrifter9994]

yeah this game is amazing!

[@Kage02]

Kysen10 BOTW is absolute shit

[@cozzy4447]

Yeah played botw and its wank compared to xenoblade 2 xeno is absolutely brilliant and I've played it pretty much portable the whole time

[@Syntherus]

Had you not told me the resolution I wouldn't have guessed it was that low. It's a beautiful looking game. Let's also remember that all games look better native than they do in video.

[@Syntherus]

I never said it ran in native 720p. What I meant was that if you look at a game native 1080p and the same game recorded at 1080p that the native image will look sharper than the recorded footage. The same thing applies to this. Any footage we see here is inferior to what it looks like in person.

[@LBCAndrew]

Keep in mind he's using the city center of Torigoth for the example, which is the second most demanding location in the game. The most demanding is the center of the abandoned factory. I think mine dropped to about 5fps.

[@Geeksquad59]

I fucking love this game! It took me 100hrs to complete and I want to do it again!

[@roberthazelby4424]

Agreed. It took me about 100 hours to complete the main story. A fantastic experience from start to finish. In my over 40 years of gaming I'd rank this as one of my favourite all time games.

[@TheJuggernautBitch]

This is still the most premium handheld gaming experience. I do think anything the switch offers is the new standard until some other company steps up. And i'm actually really happy with the library so far, I mean it could be more but I can only buy so much.

[@ShadowLady1]

360p is not premium

[@graalcloud]

He's asking you to name a better handheld idiot.

[@ShadowLady1]

the vita

[@Takisgr07]

im laughing out loud

[@EnergyTK]

Obed Blas Consoles can’t even hit that correctly LUL

[@DerpyDimentio]

FINALY! I've been waiting since launch for your vid

[@Archivist42]

I was keeping my fingers crossed you guys would cover this.

[@tomiathisflex7706]

This game is beautiful. I have been playing handheld exclusively for 80+hours so far. Im in love

[@TexelGuy]

They definitely need to work on the portable mode.

[@theinsfrijonds]

I was playing the latest Zelda content and was like, "holy shit... these branches obstructing my view fade into actual alphas rather than dither meshes and the engine holds up at 900p, for the most part." WTF, Monolith, although if I had to guess the reason for the bad performance, I'd say it's all the foliage. It's like leaves clogging a gutter

[@Shagrath06]

Great work. As always. Greetings from Croatia.

[@umbrad7771]

I'm enjoying the game not as much as first chronicles or X but still having a lot of fun, but i cant believe how X looks way better and even first chronicles' aesthetic (not talking about the graphics) looks better in my eyes.

[@truthan-jy4uw]

It’s the resolution, play the game on yuzu, but I get your point, Xenoblade x looks way better then any Xeno game even definitive edition

[@summerycast7936]

Wow, I am seriously impressed. Monolith Soft really knows how to make the most out of their tools, though their ambitions does lead to drawbacks. Still I think it's remarkable they got a game like this running on the Switch. But I hope they do try to patch in that weird frame rate issue. 20 fps is absolutely jarring. Also this may be the first title I won't play in portable mode.

[@EbolaGW]

Nintendo should've just delayed the game so Monolith can polish more. You can tell that the game was rushed out to be released in time for Christmas.

[@yexiu8137]

Ninten dude789 is not rushed where you get this information

[@MisterHeroman]

It feels rushed.

[@jgp1s]

Yeah. I feel like since they can just do patches now, they don't really care too much about how good it looks on release. I usually forgive Nintendo for doing this though, it's not too often they do this practice of release now and patch later.

[@OxKing]

You really see it isn't as polished as it could or should be on many corners. But it's definitely within the industries standards for a release. I've seen much worse. It has crashed once on me in over 40 hours. And it is playing well enough for what it is.

[@anime4everjapan848]

Ninten dude789 going to be patch

[@ceigey-au]

I've been playing in handheld mode and haven't noticed the performance oddity from moving away from the town - I wonder if it's related to either dynamic resolution (perhaps assets get flushed more regularly due to some coding quirk?) or more likely I've just been fast traveling back to town more often!

[@any_austin]

i like it in handheld it reminds me of playing PS2

[@story-mode]

That's exactly how I feel.

[@zorroknowsbetter]

Sarcasm right?

[@greppim911]

Ps2 ran at 480i and 480p Dont insult it

[@kenway346]

Damn there are many ps2 games looking better than this on the switch.. final fantasy xii, dragon quest 8, rogue galaxy, shadow of the Colossus, metal gear solid 3..

[@hanma_inu]

The Eggbuster HAHAHAHA!

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I wish more games just did pixel perfect upscales, or at least had the option. I’d much rather play the game with it looking like something on the PS2 resolution wise covered in pixels rather than a blurry oversharpened mess.

[@pc_screen5478]

most games on the switch may even achieve the native resolution of the display, but all the haters need is a single one that doesn't to start bashing on the console

[@IceFireTerry]

thats what haters do

[@susanoo6696]

Wow. Can they release a patch to improve the handheld mode? I mainly wanted to play this in handheld mode since it is such a huge game, but that resolution drop from dock to portable......... I still have quite a bit of time to decide on if I should get this game or not anyways (xmas).

[@alanreynolds4262]

Thanks DF, I was curious what was actually going on with the resolution. I had heard it was 900p docked but it just didn't look like it all most of the time. Are you sure there isn't a dynamic resolution while docked? I feel like it looks sharper indoors and in less open areas.

[@helloguy8934]

There is drs apparently.

[@Clutch4IceCream]

Is it fun, is it enjoyable. That’s really all that matters to me anymore these days. I want a good game that has intriguing story and builds emotional attachments to main characters.

[@DavidHosey1]

One of the best cast of characters out there, so this was definitely up your alley it seems

[@amerikaOnFire]

This game definitely trades high resolution to give the player a huge world to run around in with crazy draw distance. It's been a staple of the series and I'm A-OK not getting 900 or 1080p in order to still get the massive sense of scope. The game still looks pretty great in general so I'm cool with it!

[@PanRysownikRysuje]

Why are you telling him what should and shouldn't be acceptable?

[@MattRenzatic]

It's alright in handheld. The sharpening filter is probably the biggest offender to the senses there, but the quality of the art direction and scope still sells the game, even if it does sacrifice image quality to maintain that presentation. If this were on one of the other console, or a higher end gaming PC, I'd be griping, no doubt. But the whole "it's basically a glorified smartphone that weighs less than a pound" argument tends to work out far more often than not in the Switch's favor. The fact we're seeing a game with all the latest graphical wizzbangery effects, assets, and draw distance on a handheld machine still manages to amaze, even with the caveats in tow.

[@gureguru4694]

nah. its ok the first time you boot it. but once it starts chug aka framedrops to mid 20s its stays there till you reboot it just like the video shows. it's awful. unacceptable even.

[@VariantAEC]

amerika* That's not how it works. -_- SMH

[@SalvableRuin]

Love you guys. Great analysis. Cannot wait for this game (yes, I know it is out, but I am still playing skyrim so I will be picking it up later)

[@WhatTheAlva]

I could've sworn that it was much higher than 720p, which is why I was so confused it looked so blurry in portable mode. I guess that heavy AA really works with the artstyle. I also stumbled across that same framerate problem in that very same spot, but never elsewhere in the game so far. The portable resolution can get pretty rough, but it's mostly in towns and very heavy action moments. It works surprisingly well for most fights and exploration. I could do without that sharpening though

[@TheChazzyC]

because they're wrong.

[@TheSpaceking12]

This game is fantastic. I can't put it down. Monolith Soft hit it out of the park.

[@graalcloud]

I agree. People saying the game sucks and they haven't even played it.

[@j.d.6915]

No one is saying the game sucks. People are saying that it is a shame that it doesn't look and run better.

[@graalcloud]

It looks pretty sweet though. I'm used to playing games on my PC in 4K and the graphics in this game don't bother me at all, in fact the art direction puts it above many PC games that I play.

[@JHubert4300]

Pyra THICC

[@ls200076]

Very Nice JUGS

[@rafaeltimbo2131]

Finally a good comment!

[@TheRelen222]

I'm not even big into anime (or redheads), but she is my waifu. Sexy but still gentle and sweet with no guile.

[@ruekurei88]

Could that memory bug be related to the EDRAM or lack of it in the Switch? The Xeno engines since the Wii have always had a small pool of really fast RAM. I thought it was causing the issue with the foliage which was quite bad in previews, rendering about 6 or 10 feet in front of you.

[@yexiu8137]

Walther Penne xeno x doesn't use edram on wii u

[@ruekurei88]

Ye Xiu You know this how exactly? And why wouldnt an exclusive game not make use of hardware specific features?

[@ruekurei88]

Walther Penne Maybe they figure they would brute force it, I dont know nearly enough about game engines to give an informed opinion but maybe that small fast ram had helped a lot in certain areas where the larger but much slower Switch ram couldn't. I doubt MonolithSoft would be technically incompetent given theyve helped out on many of Nintendos other games in the technical areas, like Zelda for example.

[@DesMondesBlut]

Just ordered a Switch yesterday and I have a question in regards to this game (even though I'm very late to the party): Does the software AA also apply when setting the Switch to 720p output (docked)? Does setting the Switch to 720p change any kind of adaptive resolution (docked)? See, I have an active upscaler cable with the same chipset as the mcable, so I'm currently thinking of either setting my Switch to 720p and letting the cable handle the upscaling or setting the Switch to 1080p and basically bypassing any upscaling by the cable.

[@elconter7]

Honestly I have been playing the game in portable mode most of the time (almost 200 hs (send help)) and I didn't care to much for the resolution, it look fine to me, and I didn't notice any frame drops in portable mode.

[@MomongaKrieger]

I want 900p docked and 720p patch in handheld mode. If Wii u can play Botw in 720p and switch Handheld 720p too i cant see why Monolith cant patch this.

[@K2195_]

this has better effects than botw thats probably why

[@MomongaKrieger]

maybe but botw is a port and xb2 on handheld mode should not run worse then xbx on wii u.

[@05DonnieB]

MomongaKrieger this looks way more demanding than BOTW.

[@crisedx]

I have so far been playing exclusively in handled, and while all the things mentioned in the video are definitely there at least as far as I am concerned the game looks good on the small screen, excluding a few instances where the character models look visibly low res or blurry/washed out when a cutscene starts and it is still loading stuff. As for performance degrading when entering and returning to busy areas, like was demonstrated with Torigoth, once you know about it I found that using "skip travel" seems to be a decent solution. Hope they do some patches, with their DLC plans it seems likely. The only actual problem that gets kind of annoying in handheld at least was after binge playing for *way too long* (as in double digits in hours, thank you independence day, using AC adapter for power) at some point seemingly at random the loading screens for cutscenes (but not area transitions for some weird reasons) started to suddenly take significantly longer.

[@robertwahlstrom]

I put 480 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and don't think I even thought about the shadows being static even once. :)

[@seekingsolutions7078]

my man. just keep enjoying the game 👍

[@SharapovaFan]

I've played the first 50 hours on portable mode since I bought the Switch for a long vacation abroad. I've finished the remaining 30 hours while docked and it's quite a big difference in visuals. Nevertheless, playing on portable doesn't detract much from the experience because it's an excellent game overall. It's a very engrossing experience and you'll want to play until you at least finish the story. Despite being used to playing at maximum settings and 1440p on the PC, the game's art style and direction certainly makes it magically picturesque and immersive, particularly when docked, showing again that you need not the highest quality assets, textures and effects to make an amazing world. They made the most out of the Switch's capabilities. I'm sure they could optimize for better resolutions while portable. But I can attest to over 4 hours of gameplay on a single charge while Zelda BOTW could only manage 3 hours tops. I'd much rather take an extra hour of play over slightly sharper presentation.

[@newdrew2744]

He said this game focusses on narrative. Sony gamers should love this!

[@gunnadahun]

I have been playing this game before the tech analysis and I jus realized that once I know the numbers, I can’t unsee it. But I never even think twice about it before these videos. Why am I like this

[@VariantAEC]

Gunnar Schumann Sounds like you need to unsubscribe to Digital Foundry and other like channels to save your gaming habits immediately! :O

[@MasterStacona]

They are just numbers that mean nothing, just play the game and enjoy it, you are in a magical fantasy world that everything in it is absolutely beautiful, writing and story is great, and gameplay is super fun.

[@josepontes3110]

Finally. I was looking for this comparison !

[@Mitchx42]

The reason is the Tegra X1 is underclocked, if Nintendo had the back of the switch an outlet for the fan as well, the switch could achieve higher clock speeds to support better fidelity.

[@thebravegallade731]

Mitchx42 though I think they might raise the clock speed after a while, seeing how little heat it actually makes currently. It runs fine when smothered my blankets for gods sake!

[@helloguy8934]

It's cooling solution can handle max clocks. But it's noisy.

[@BeowulfCav]

It's such a good game so far, and the music is stellar. Really feels like a true successor to XC1. Sadly since the Switch is a bit on the anemic side with regards to hardware, we have to deal with limitations like this but I can deal with it.

[@pepperonicheesecake1656]

DoombotBL same here. I mean it's xenoblade! The first one lacked in graphics too

[@ThrillingDuck]

Frankly compared to the first one this one is like an 11/10 sex goddess in terms of looks. Even on the Wii I found the character models and textures in the original to be so ugly it was distracting, as wonderful as everything else was.

[@BrosciuttoJZ]

Excellent analysis. The game looks very pretty if you can ignore the resolution drops. Should be something the developers can fix via patch

[@chrisr5314]

Did you guys reach out to Nintendo with your findings and ask about their patch plans? Feels like it needs a couple of major updates to smooth as many of the problems out as possible.

[@oksurejamie]

What was the music used int he first part of this vid? Is it from the game?

[@lzyJ]

Jamie sure it is.

[@TheKiburedo]

It's from Mor Ardain, it plays during the day "Roaming the Wastes" it's the name of the song

[@mx4159]

The music from this game is probably one of the best OSTs I’ve ever heard

[@PinkFury42]

Yes portable resolution isn't optimal BUT not even Xbox One X is able to run all games at 4K 60fps so I take it. After all is a massive RPG, super fun, good game on a handheld.

[@ShaneSaiyan]

Do you have any idea how many RPGs don't allow for any meaningful customization of character clothing?

[@Belgiumdoesnotkickas]

I'm guessing you're missing the point what an RPG is. Role playing game where people take on the role of a character and where you can make structured decisions and develop your character through stat leveling and leveling in general. Changing clothes does not have anything to do with rpg's in general. Changing weapons and such does but the main point is story (questing) and character development (leveling) wich this game has

[@claire6452]

It's an rpg, not a dress-up game.

[@dragon98ify]

There is HUGE difference between dropping below 4K to dropping all the way down to 360p which is absurdly low. Just watch a KZbin video in 360p and you will see

[@dsidsidsi1000]

SM742 at least Xbox one x can run most of its exclusives in 4k, XC2 isn’t even HD when in handheld

[@Ivan2294]

It goes to 368p at times? I honestly couldn't tell! It's a fun game either way, if you have a Switch I recommend it. As always, these videos are interesting but I can't help but feel youtube compression and streaming probably ruins it to an extent.

[@syrkyt37]

would love to see you guys use m cables on anything from wii to xbox x

[@timg2727]

Why do you keep saying "Xenoblade Cross" for Chronicles X?

[@undersaffiresky]

Because that's actually it's title, believe it or not. The Japanese call the "X" "Cross." ゼノブレイドクロス (Xenoblade Cross). We westerners just tend to ignore that and call it "ex".

[@nougatpersonal]

Isn't MHXX the same thing too?

[@exptonkatruck]

Andrew Nguyen yes

[@skateryan]

Well, the official English pronunciation was never Xenoblade "Cross". It was always referred to as Xenoblade Chronicles "Ecks". So, it is kind of jarring that the moderator of the video is referring to it as "cross", because it's likely that most of us have never before heard it referred to as such.

[@PsychoMantisss]

It's probably due to most English speaking countries and the cross based in Christianity, the design is different than a simple X.

[@icetrey8662]

The game looks amazing regardless of the resolution. Lol people be out there playing total shit thinking it's great because it has a high pixel count.

[@PanRysownikRysuje]

This game looks amazing. Like, seriously, I don't mind resolution drops at all, I even looked at some of the undocked material you put and just made the YT window a bit smaller to see if I'd notice it playing on the go, and while I can tell it looks worse, the game overall is incredible. You can tell they put a lot to make the world feel packed with foliage etc. If Switch could get Final Fantasy XV - this is how it'd look.

[@PanRysownikRysuje]

What does "it's really bad" mean? What was bad?

[@ShadowLady1]

final fantasy wouldnt even run on switch

[@RadDudeTeamate]

Really hope this game gets a patch soon, I've only really watched cutscenes in portable mode so didn't notice the resolution in gameplay but dear lord Doom needs one as well, what with all the sound bugs in the Switch version

[@MatroxDeRasta]

I'm 28 and 240p-480p was common res in most of my life(during console or pc) so i appreciate more game art design,story etc. than resolution. Yes i love when it's sharp and detailed but guys just focused on the play ! You can always fix technical issues but not overall shitness. Nintendo PC master race from childhood ;)

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

MatroxDeRasta Sure, 240-480p was common back then. So were smaller televisions, where that resolution didn't look as horrible..

[@benabbott302]

I find this game much more appealing than Zelda. But as a heavy Pc player I can't play this game in handheld and enjoy it. The resolution is too low. And later in the game in docked mode it does go lower than 720p which I don't get at all considering the wii u can push X but 25 hours in and this is fantastic. This game is so good I just wish the performance and graphical bugs were ironed out and there is no other way to enjoy the game currently. I played Zelda mostly in handheld and it didn't ruin the experience but seriously seeing an blurry mess with such amazing and detailed environments is horrible.

[@His0ka]

Use handheld Mode only for grinding stuff like i do..All the story happens on my tv

[@cesarbarroso7225]

That opening was awesome!

[@bartekowca666]

Waited for this one. Getting the game tommorow

[@bartekowca666]

As always, John's editing is on point.

[@alienanxiety]

Can someone explain why the Switch is so underpowered? It seems like an amazing system, but the main complain about ports of games is the performance, and even exclusive titles like this can look like trash. I want to love the Switch, but this stuff just really makes me want to invest in a Steamdeck. Do you think we will see a Switch soon that is at least 1080p?

[@randalthor6872]

Switch is "underpowerd" because Nintendo chose a different business strategy to compete with Sony and Microsoft. The gamecube was Nintendo's last foray into keeping up with the cutting-edge graphics processors. Instead, they ignored cutting edge power and went for substance over form. Noone can deny that their strategy has paid off as the switch outsells everything! haha. But yes, it IS underpowered when compared to all the current processors, but that's to be expected because the chip in the switch came out over 6 years ago! It seems pretty obvious that we will be seeing an updated switch in the very near future. It still won't be able to compete with PS5, but it will probably be a huge upgrade.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

I'm so glad I didn't let this video stop me from buying the game. It's my first jrpg and I fucking love it. Mainly because the story is amazing but the exploration and combat is cool too. Also, best fast travel ever because it loads so quickly even if you switch continents

[@oddfrog284]

i haven't been keeping up with to many switch relaces but shouldn't it run worse in docked mode? wasn't that the case with BTOW i just don't understand why handheld mode runs worse(lower rez) it seems backwards.

[@spooky_electric]

I wonder if those sustained performance drops are only an issue with the digital version? I have the cart and I’m not experiencing that. I’m not saying I don’t have any frame drops. In fact, sometimes it can get N64-level sluggish. But it is rare, usually (but not exclusively) tied to using super arts in combat, and it ALWAYS improves soon after. I’ve never had it, for example, drop to 24-ish fps then just stay there. I’ll get hits to what feels like 26fps, but then two second later it returns to normal 30. And in combat, I’ve had what feels like 15fps, but it usually reverts as soon as the supers are finished.

[@MasterStacona]

Games run best on the cartridge.

[@LionOfJudah83]

I just got this game. Have the FPS and image quality issues been resolved?

[@alexbolt5]

Have you played it? did you notice any issues?

[@mr.leroysmith7012]

@@alexbolt5 i just bought anr playing it right now. and the resolution is still shitty in handheld mode, nad still has some fps drops in some scenarios.

[@alexbolt5]

@@mr.leroysmith7012 Guess I’ll just try my luck and push through it😭

[@randalthor6872]

I'm playing in docked and never even noticed anything. it looks and runs great. It's awesome. This video kinda spoils it so I don't know why anyone would watch this shit before enjoying a game such as xenoblade. Just go in completely blind and then YOU decide how you perceive it.

[@pcgameboy8407]

Its a great game with gorgeous enviroments, but the performance could be better. Maybe a patch?

[@MFSGamePlay]

I want to add, I didn't run into most of those issues with the frame drop as much as you did.. I played this games for days now, and mines runs very good, in dock mode that is..

[@MasterStacona]

You have it physically? Because games run better on the physical cartridge.

[@Linkmstr]

It's finally here!

[@bes5164]

they had been rushed to complete the development before they released the game before Christmas and this is a result ....i hope they will patch the game

[@MaNameizJeff]

Advanced rendering modes in breath of the wild? like...what exactly? The game lives off cell shading and thus texture resolution and details are never an issue. Anyways... as a big rpg and mmorpg player I still find Xenoblade 2 to be near the top, visually. The grass is fairly pronounced and does have a long draw distance, much like BotW and still not seen in many games (It is a fairly big resource hog). Texture details are high enough that I am not left wanting something better much like I am in the likes of final fantasy 14. And model detail as well as animations are better then other anime RPGs like the Tales series. Over all as someone who actually turns down games if they don't meet a high level of visual polish, I very much enjoy xenoblade 2 visually. It does take some creative and sometimes drastic measures for the low performance hand held mode, but 1) the game actually doesn't reduce rendering quality like draw distance, foliage, or shadows, and 2) the game gives a little more battery life then other games which is the SOLE COMPLAINT about switches portable mode. The resolution drops are only slightly noticeable on the 6 inch display and isn't noticeable at all when in the middle of a fight. The noted FPS drops are noticeable but honestly I don't mind the 20-30 fps fluctuations, it is always the sudden and jarring stutters where fps drops to like 8fps games of old had. If this was a fighting game or FPS, I would be far more critical of the Frames per second. Would love to hear from monolith about certain decisons as well as what changes me could see to future patches from player response. I would say the lack of moving shadows (They are real time shadows... gpu load wise they don't take any more or less time to render had the light source been moving) is a little confusing although they may have wanted the day and night cycle based on the clock to be far more prominent, ie at exactly 7pm they want all sunlight to be gone. I actually prefer this over something like breath of the wild's "it's 4am and full daylight" confusion.

[@hydeistpl]

I love how a video begins and you can immediately tell it's John's, because it has an actual intro and editing, instead of just a voice saying "hey guys, this is Dave here". Keep being John, John!

[@CompleteAnimation]

Is it possible to do a hardware hack where you actually plug a video capture device into the Switch itself to get undocked footage?