Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch 2 is a solid port and very good handheld, but needs some more work
Last year, Bandai Namco launched Digimon Story: Time Stranger for PS5, Xbox, and PC platforms. I covered the PS5 and PC versions and was disappointed with the 30fps cap on PS5. Back at launch, I was pleased to see the PC version scale above consoles, but the announcement of the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions with the latter offering a performance mode was very interesting. Bandai Namco is also patching existing versions with new features and the consoles with the new performance mode option which puts me in a difficult position as I wanted to do my full comparison covering every version for launch. I don't have access to the Switch 1 version or the updated build on other platforms yet. While I will have my comparison ready in the near future after testing those versions, I wanted to focus on the Switch 2 port of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, which I've enjoyed quite a bit so far.
For some background, Digimon Story: Time Stranger on PS5 (including PS5 Pro) and Xbox Series consoles was a 4K 30fps target experience. This will change tomorrow, but until then, it was a 30fps target game on consoles with improper frame pacing. This also affected the game on PS5 Pro because the frame rate cap was incorrectly implemented. Visually, it looked solid with its high resolution, but there were some inconsistencies in texture quality or shadows. The PC version of Digimon Story: Time Stranger supported 144fps and had multiple anti-aliasing options.
PC handhelds like the Steam Deck struggled to come close to a locked 60fps experience in Digimon Story: Time Stranger in some areas while they delivered 90fps in closed dungeons. I opted to play Digimon Story: Time Stranger at a 40fps target for a more stable experience on Steam Deck. When the Switch 2 version was announced to support 60fps, I was curious to see this and also for the Switch 1 version that is supposed to be patched to get the Switch 2 upgrade. I will try to test this for my comparison.
Note: For the comparison above, I used 4K capture and cropped the screenshots to show the difference in resolution and other visual features between the Switch 2 version's quality and performance modes.
Back to the Switch 2 version of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, there are two modes: Quality and Performance. Quality delivers a 4K 30fps target experience docked or 1080p 30fps target experience handheld. Performance mode drops the resolution docked to what appears to be 1080p, while handheld has the same 1080p target but at 60fps. In my testing, both appear to be dynamic, but Digimon Story: Time Stranger looks very good on Switch 2 handheld all things considered. Just be prepared for a raw image or basically bad to no anti-aliasing. Even when it hits the 1080p handheld or 4K docked in parts, you can notice the jagged edges despite the crisp image quality.
Resolution aside, Digimon Story: Time Stranger even in its quality mode has cuts to aspects of foliage, shadows, and even textures. It looks softer compared to the PS5 release in parts, but I want to stress that in its current state, Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch 2 is my favorite portable version across Steam Deck and ROG Ally. It isn't perfect as I'll cover in the performance section, but it is a surprisingly competent Bandai Namco Switch 2 port. When playing handheld, performance mode doesn't change resolution much, but it does adjust some aspects of the presentation like shadows and some lighting/occlusion. The other downgrade is in texture filtering making distant texture details hard to make out compared to other platforms.
Note: For handheld capture, I had to use the system's screenshot capture functionality. There was not much difference between both modes when it comes to visuals barring the post-processing.
On the performance side, there are two issues with Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch 2 right now. These are still present with the latest update that arrived on July 7 which appears to be the day one patch in version 1.2.1. The issues are that the 30fps mode or the quality mode suffers from more frame pacing issues than the original launch on consoles. On PC, you don't need to rely on the in-game frame rate cap and can use your Steam Deck or monitor to set the cap and get proper frame pacing albeit with more input lag. On Switch 2 and other consoles, you are stuck with the 30fps cap that the developers implemented, and it feels worse on Switch 2 docked than on the PS5 and Xbox versions from last year.
As for the 60fps mode, it just doesn't run at a solid 60fps even early on across both handheld and docked modes. Crowded locations or more open areas drop and I could easily notice this even without using slow motion capture to check how much it drops. This is not a major issue, but I hope future updates can improve the stability. I'm curious to see how performance mode holds up on other consoles and if the PC version sees any performance improvements because having now played Digimon Story: Time Stranger in its performance mode on Switch 2 handheld, I'd pick that over the current PS5 and Xbox Series X versions any day.
If you skipped or already bought Digimon Story: Time Stranger last year, the new Switch 2 port basically has the same editions and DLC. The difference is Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch and Switch 2 (separate purchases to be clear) is priced $10 lower.
One final note here is that Digimon Story: Time Stranger in its quality mode is supposed to have HDR support. My external monitor doesn't support good HDR so I cannot comment on how it is here. Digimon Story: Time Stranger's quality mode mentions HDR support handheld also.
In future updates, I hope Bandai Namco can improve the post-processing on Switch 2, add higher resolution UI, and fix the performance issues. Despite all that, this is a more solid port than I expected given the publisher's output on the platform so far. I need more time to see how it holds up later on and compare it with other platforms, but I'm glad Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch 2 delivers a solid handheld experience at least all things considered. Stay tuned for my full comparison covering the patched PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC versions with some Switch 1/2 comparisons as well once I get access to all the updates and versions.