Which is the Best Version of Shuten Order? Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC Compared

Shuten Order from EXNOA (DMM Games), Spike Chunsoft, and Tookyo Games debuted a few months ago on Switch and Steam. Ahead of its release, I covered the Steam version on Steam Deck, Steam Deck OLED, and ROG Ally while also checking out the Nintendo Switch version on both Nintendo Switch OLED and Nintendo Switch 2. At the time, I tested it via backward compatibility. A few days ago, the Shuten Order Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Upgrade Pack launched giving players who owned the Switch version an option to upgrade to the native Switch 2 release while also offering a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition bundle for newcomers.

At launch the PC version was bare-bones, but it scaled above the Switch version thanks to how the portraits and 2D elements are presented. I'm going to cover the experience across handhelds in this feature and also what you can do to dramatically improve how Shuten Order looks and feels on Steam Deck. There will be no spoilers in this feature and all screenshots will be from the opening hour or two. 

Note: This article has been updated to cover the Switch 2 Edition and how it improves over the Switch release.

Shuten Order PC port features

Shuten Order has support for controller and keyboard & mouse input, but there are no rebinding options. The Screen Settings menu lets you adjust the display mode (borderless, windowed), choose the monitor being used, and toggle v-sync. There are no options for resolution or frame rate here. Shuten Order also only supports the 16:9 aspect ratio. With v-sync enabled, it targets the frame rate to match your monitor's refresh rate. When you disable this, it runs at an unlocked frame rate. Some scenes or animations seem to run at 60fps though. 

When it comes to how Shuten Order controls, you can use the mouse or touchscreen on PC handhelds, but the cursor movement with the left analog stick is very sluggish. This is a common problem across both the Switch and Steam versions and there is no in-game setting to improve or fix this. Right now, Shuten Order lacks Steam Cloud support. I hope this is added before or soon after launch.

Shuten Order Steam Deck impressions

Shuten Order runs without issues on Steam Deck out of the box. I tested this on my Steam Deck OLED running the current stable version of SteamOS and also my Steam Deck LCD running the preview build of SteamOS. I ran the game with Proton Experimental on both devices. It supports the Steam Deck's controls without issues, but you can improve the experience quite a bit. Before getting to that, Shuten Order suffers from some of the character portraits and menu boxes looking jagged. While not every portrait looks bad on the default resolution, zoomed out ones and some menu boxes seem to be rendered poorly by default. Barring that, there is no issue with how Shuten Order runs on Steam Deck, and this is easy to fix.

Shuten Order Steam Deck recommended settings

After a bit of playing and testing, I found that forcing the game to render at 1080p or 1440p on the internal screen using the game's properties fixes the portrait and menu rendering issues. The game is very light to run so this has no real performance impact outside of using more power, but again Shuten Order is very light to run. Since I play on a 1440p monitor when docked, I forced Shuten Order to 1440p on the internal and external display on my Steam Deck OLED. I left the LCD on the default resolution to play alongside the OLED model and compare. I definitely recommend playing at 1080p or 1440p here and also capping the game to 60fps/60hz using the quick access menu for the most consistent experience when downsampling. You can leave it uncapped, but it does drop below 90fps under some conditions when 3D models and movement is involved.

I mentioned the cursor movement being sluggish, and while it isn't as sluggish as on Switch, you're better off using the touchscreen on Steam Deck. If you'd like to use the cursor, I recommend enabling the trackpad using Steam Input so you have precision mouse control movement at a much faster speed as opposed to the slow analog stick movement for the cursor. Once you enable the trackpad as mouse, make sure to tweak the sensitivity depending on how you like it. 

With these two changes, Shuten Order feels and looks perfect on Steam Deck.

Shuten Order Nintendo Switch impressions

Shuten Order is a Nintendo Switch game that runs via backward compatibility on Switch 2 unless you buy the upgrade. If you don't upgrade, some of the issues I ran into with the PC version which also apply to Switch, are more pronounced on Switch 2 which displays the 720p game at 1080p in handheld mode using upscaling. When it comes to performance, Shuten Order is mostly fine on Switch OLED and Switch 2 with a 60fps target, but there is some hitching. It isn't too bad and the game doesn't struggle like No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: The Somnium Files does in parts, but the main issue is cursor movement which feels sluggish. The lack of touchscreen support is disappointing as well.

The portraits and menu boxes that look jagged or poorly-scaled on Switch end up looking worse on Switch 2 when played handheld via backward compatibility. This isn't as much of an issue when played docked, but Shuten Order can look quite bad handheld when it comes to character portraits and some other 2D elements. Given the stylish nature of the game, this is disappointing.

Shuten Order Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade impressions

Back when I first covered Shuten Order, I mentioned how a native Nintendo Switch 2 version would've allowed for crisp rendering and mouse controls. As of this week, the Shuten Order Switch 2 Edition has delivered in spades with improved visuals across the board and good mouse controls when playing docked. This is basically an essential upgrade if you play on Switch 2, but there is room for improvement. When playing with a controller, the cursor movement is a bit sluggish even when playing the native Switch 2 Edition.

When it comes to mouse controls, the portions where you can move the character use a combination of the left Joy-Con 2 controller for analog stick movement with the mouse to interact with objects. The portions where you investigate or explore within a location feel better with pure mouse controls that let you quickly move the cursor to click on objects in the environment. Unlike the curosr when using a controller, the mouse controls and cursor movement with a mouse both feel smooth and responsive. I hope an update can improve the controller cursor responsiveness. Barring that, I have no complaints right now with Shuten Order's Switch 2 Edition. The upgrade is easily worth the $2.49.

While it is great to see the game now offer above 60fps with 120hz mode, the biggest upgrade with Shuten Order's Switch 2 Edition is definitely for its resolution and how crisp the 2D assets look now. The 3D elements aren't as good as they could be, but it is still a welcome upgrade over the Switch 1 version. In fact, I'd say the Switch 2 Edition and Steam Deck OLED are now neck and neck for the best portable version of Shuten Order, and the winner will really depend on whether you value improved cursor movement or not.

For the comparisons below, I captured both Switch 1 and Switch 2 docked through my 4K capture device. For the handheld comparisons, I had to use the Switch and Switch 2 screenshot functionality. The images were then cropped to showcase the differences in clarity. 

Barring the cursor speed when using a controller that I hope can be fixed in addition to potentially adding touchscreen support, the 3D elements could use good anti-aliasing since the image can be a bit jagged right now. It isn't bad at all, but it would fix the few issues still remaining in an otherwise fantastic upgrade. Keep in mind that the install size goes up by nearly double when playing on Switch 2 compared to Switch.

Shuten Order ROG Ally impressions

On ROG Ally, Shuten Order's portraits render correctly, but there are some menu boxes that look a bit jagged. Performance is great like on Steam Deck with 120fps supported out of the box, but the lack of a trackpad means you will need to rely on the sluggish cursor or touchscreen when playing Shuten Order on ROG Ally. There isn't anything else to note here because it just works. If you are planning on playing Shuten Order on your main PC, I recommend downsampling from a higher resolution if you notice issues with portrait scaling and menus. If it does not look like the switch version I've shown above, you are good to go. 

Shuten Order load times compared — Switch 2, Steam Deck, Switch, and ROG Ally

I was curious to see how the Shuten Order load times vary by platform since it is a Unity game. As with my prior load time testing, I have Shuten Order installed to the internal storage on Switch 2 (for Switch 2 backward compatibility from my testing before upgrading), the Switch 2 version on the Switch 2 internal storage after upgrading, the Switch version on the the SD card on Switch OLED, the internal SSD on Steam Deck LCD, the internal SSD on Steam Deck OLED, and the internal SSD on ROG Ally. I tested the initial load and loading a save file at the same exact position in the prologue. The results are below.

Note: All load times above are in seconds.

While the initial load is not as fast as it should be on any platform, the Switch 2 native version is the fastest. As for loading a save file, the Switch 2 native release is very close to the PC version and an improvement over the Switch version played on Switch 2. The Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally are the fastest, but the advantage isn't much over Switch 2 as you can see. 

Which is the best version of Shuten Order?

Right now, Shuten Order's PC version played on Steam Deck OLED and the Switch 2 Edition are the best versions as far as I'm concerned for portable play. If you value better cursor movement and touch support like I do in games like this, the Steam Deck OLED is the winner, but the Switch 2 is the way to go barring that. It also has a larger screen if you value that when playing on the go. If you have a Steam Deck LCD and not an OLED, the Switch 2 version is better in everything but cursor movement when playing on the go. Since the ROG Ally has no trackpads, I'd put the Switch 2 above even that for portable play.

For playing on TV or a monitor, if you don't care about portable play at all and own a gaming PC, the PC version will end up being the best option. I would say the Switch 2 Edition is my preferred version since it looks great on my 1440p monitor, supports mouse controls that work well, and you will still have the option to play on the go if you feel like it thanks to the console's hybrid nature.

Shuten Order is now available on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).