Here's how every Tales of game runs on Switch 2 – Vesperia Definitive, Symphonia, and Graces f Remastered
One of the big selling points of the Nintendo Switch 2 is in how older Switch 1 games can benefit via backward compatibility. Given the Switch was home to so many RPGs over the years, many of which had some technical issues, I was curious to see how games in some notable RPG franchises would feel when played on Switch 2. For my first feature covering Switch RPGs on Switch 2, I'm tackling the Tales of series with Tales of Graces f Remastered, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, and Tales of Symphonia Remastered.
For this new series of articles, I'm going to discuss potential upgrades to visuals, frame rate, and load times for the games when played on a Nintendo Switch OLED and Nintendo Switch 2. I'm also going to go over what I'd like to see for each entry in potential upgrades or patches in the future. I've tested all the games below as of their latest updates.
How does Tales of Graces f Remastered run on Nintendo Switch 2?
When I wrote about Tales of Graces f Remastered covering the Steam and Switch versions, I lamented how the Switch version being 30fps (capped) across the board was disappointing because the original release ran better. On Switch 2, Tales of Graces f Remastered runs basically the same. If the latency is better, it wasn't noticeable enough for me in my testing both docked and handheld. Tales of Graces f Remastered benefits a lot from faster load times on Switch 2 though. I've included some of the load time results below:
| Testing condition | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Console dashboard to game title screen | 18-20 seconds | 8 seconds |
| Loading a save from title screen to in-game | 7 seconds | 4 seconds |
While Tales of Graces f Remastered benefits from faster loading, it really needs a proper Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade or a backward compatibility patch to uncap the frame rate and potentially even improve visuals because it still looks the same as it did on Switch 1.
What we want from a Tales of Graces f Remastered Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade
The ideal situation would be a Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars style Switch 2 upgrade where it went from 720 30 and 1080 30 to 1080 60 and 1440 60 if possible. As of now, nothing has been announced for a potential Switch 2 upgrade or update. Given the launch earlier this year, I hope we see something announced for Tales of Graces f Remastered on Switch 2.
How does Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition run on Nintendo Switch 2?
I played Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition pre-release on both Xbox One X and Nintendo Switch. It was quite rough on Switch before the day one patch, and while things improved stability wise, it was never a great experience on Nintendo's hybrid console thanks to unstable performance in many situations and sub-native or slightly soft visuals depending on the scene when played both docked and handheld.
On Nintendo Switch 2, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition benefits tremendously on the performance side with it hitting 60fps across the board in the areas I tested. These had a lot of hitching on Switch and basically weren't even close to 60fps there. When it comes to load times, there is an improvement, but not by much.
| Testing condition | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Console dashboard to game title screen | 30 seconds | 22 seconds |
| Loading a save from title screen to in-game | 6-7 seconds | 5 seconds |
What we want from a Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade
Given the age of this release, I don't expect a patch or upgrade, but I would've loved to see one improve the image quality across the board. Right now, it runs well, but it would've been amazing to have a crisp 1080p handheld and 1440p or 4K docked experience. Right now, it doesn't even look like it is 720p on the original Switch with its soft image quality.
How does Tales of Symphonia Remastered run on Nintendo Switch 2?
Tales of Symphonia Remastered was not great on Switch and it isn't great on Switch 2. Not only is there almost no improvement to load times, but the game basically feels the same as it does on Switch even when played on Switch 2 from the internal storage. As with the games above, I've included my test results for load times.
| Testing condition | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Console dashboard to game title screen | 18 seconds | 17 seconds |
| Loading a save from title screen to in-game | 4 seconds | 3 seconds |
What we want from a Tales of Symphonia Remastered Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade
There's honestly no saving this release right now given the initial launch it had. What I'd like to see for Tales of Symphonia is for the original release to be made available on the Nintendo GameCube - Nintendo Classic app for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pas subscribers. Since Bandai Namco Entertainment's SoulCalibur II is on there, I imagine this is on the table despite the remaster being available.