Which is the best version of Blue Reflection Quartet? PS5, Switch 2, Switch, PC, and PS5 Pro tested
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Which is the best version of Blue Reflection Quartet? PS5, Switch 2, Switch, PC, and PS5 Pro tested

by Mikhail Madnani on 29 July, 2026

Back in 2021 when Blue Reflection: Second Light was announced for consoles and PC, I was hoping Koei Tecmo would port the original game to Switch with the sequel arriving, but it seemed like that would never happen. I enjoyed Blue Reflection a lot on PS4 back in 2017 despite its flaws. The soundtrack and UI were top tier, and I've been enjoying revisiting it through Blue Reflection Quartet across PS5, PS5 Pro, Switch, Switch 2, and PC handhelds. I've only had Blue Reflection Quartet for about a week so far, and I've focused my comparison feature on Blue Reflection and Blue Reflection: Second Light across different platforms.

For this comparison feature, I also revisited the PS4, PC, and Switch 1 versions of Blue Reflection: Second Light and the original PS4 and PC versions of Blue Reflection. I wanted to see if Blue Reflection Quartet delivered any enhancements when played on the same platforms, whether the new versions had other technical improvements, and also help you find which version of Blue Reflection Quartet you should buy.

Since there are a lot of topics and comparisons beyond the normal ones I do for this release, you can use the links below to get to the specific parts you're interested in.

Blue Reflection series release timeline

Blue Reflection as a series has had an interesting release timeline across platforms, ports, localizations, and more.

  • March 2017: Blue Reflection launches in Japan on PS4 and PS Vita
  • September 2017: Blue Reflection launches in the West for PS4 and PC
  • April 2021: Blue Reflection Ray, the spin-off anime, airs. It is a prelude for Blue Reflection: Second Light
  • October 2021: Blue Reflection: Second Light launches in Japan on PS4 and Switch
  • November 2021: Blue Reflection: Second Light launches in the West for PS4 and Switch with a global PC release.
  • February 2023: Blue Reflection Sun launches as a mobile game in Japan. 
  • July 2026: Blue Reflection Quartet launches worldwide for PS5, Switch 2, Switch, and PC bringing the first game, Sun (mobile game's notable battles featuring Second Light's combat) redone , Ray (anime story with new 3D visuals), and Second Light to modern platforms. The first game and Second Light see some quality of life improvements and a few visual enhancements compared to their original releases.

Blue Reflection PS4 and PC vs Blue Reflection Quartet on PS5 and PC

The original Blue Reflection was never on a Nintendo platform until the new Quartet release. It was available on PS4 and PS Vita in Japan with the Western release on PS4 and PC only. The original PC port of Blue Reflection is pretty awful. It uses one of those old launchers that you need to use a mouse to navigate, dated menus, and basically has no graphics options of note. It also upscaled from a lower resolution than the PS4 version.

When played on Steam Deck and Linux, it has cut-scene issues with the color bar pattern or skipping cut-scenes. Blue Reflection's original PC port also cannot handle 16:10 and 21:9 aspect ratios correctly sometimes stretching the image. The original 2017 port also has no Steam Cloud support even today.

The new Blue Reflection version in Quartet is more like a modern Koei Tecmo and Gust PC port with multiple graphics options and support for modern operating systems including SteamOS. It also has no trouble running on Steam Deck with cut-scenes working correctly, Steam Cloud support, and it basically is the best way to experience Blue Reflection on PC right now. If you, like me, own all the Blue Reflection original game DLC on PS4 and PC through the Season Pass, Blue Reflection Quartet does not include most DLC from the original game and Second Light.

Moving over to PS4, Blue Reflection's original port could run at 60fps, but when played on a base PS4 it wasn't a consistent 60fps experience. It was a lot better on PS4 Pro. The PS5 version of Blue Reflection Quartet runs perfectly at 60fps in my testing. I spent most of my time with it on PS5 Pro, but when I checked some parts on base PS5, it was also 60fps there. Note that there is some upscaling in the PS4 version when played on a PS4 Pro/PS5 at 4K that is not present on PS5.

It oddly enough ends up looking like it is running at a lower resolution for one axis on PS5 compared to the upscaled PS4 version. Overall, they both look very similar though when played on a 4K monitor or TV. There are some instances where camera movement while running snaps the angle making it feel like it isn't running at 60fps, but it only happens in a few indoor areas and it is the camera movement and not the actual frame rate. One last thing I want to note for the PS4 and PS5 versions of Blue Reflection (the first game) is that both sadly use Sony's default save system with the clunky menus instead of an in-game solution like in Second Light. This just adds a bit of time to saving and loading.

Blue Reflection: Second Light original vs Quartet version

Blue Reflection: Second Light was capped at 30fps on PS4 (and PS4 Pro) and Nintendo Switch. The new Blue Reflection Quartet release of Second Light, doesn't include most DLC as I mentioned, but it does raise the frame rate cap on PS5 to 60fps. The Switch 2 version is still capped at 30fps unfortunately. The Switch 2 version of Blue Reflection: Second Light (and the Switch 1 version) both have improvements to models and some textures, but Blue Reflection: Second Light from the Quartet Switch 1 version runs a lot worse than the original Switch 1 game when played on Switch 1. 

Blue Reflection Quartet vs Second Light graphics options on PC

Note: The two images without the Quartet name mentioned on the right are for Second Light's original PC port.

The PC port of Second Light has seen some changes in the Quartet release. Not only are the graphics options different, but the lowest settings on PC in Quartet's Second Light look worse than the lowest settings in the original PC Second Light. The performance when using similar visuals is more or less same though. I'm a bit confused as to why the game defaults to the lowest settings on Steam Deck when it comes to filtering and texture quality since those give a very bad first impression.

Beyond visuals and technical differences, both Blue Reflection and Blue Reflection: Second Light include quality of life features including the ability to skip some cut-scenes you couldn't skip before in Blue Reflection, faster movement, and even added content. You can read about that in our full review. One thing to note is that as of this writing (July 29 in the morning PT), you cannot disable motion blur in Quartet's Second Light, but can in the original. I hope this is patched.

Blue Reflection Quartet for Switch 1 and Switch 2

Before getting to the comparisons and impressions for each platform, I want to note that Blue Reflection Quartet on Switch 1 and Switch 2 are treated as completely different games with no save data compatibility or upgrade path on the eShop. DLC or pre-order bonuses also only work on the specific version you buy as well (this is for those importing a physical copy).

With that out of the way, Blue Reflection Quartet on Switch 1 and Switch 2, like Blue Reflection: Second Light on Switch 1, is capped at 30fps. Yes, even Blue Reflection, the first game, is capped at 30fps on Switch 2 both docked and handheld when it was uncapped on PS4. The Switch 2 version appears to run at the same resolution as the Switch 1 version when played on Switch 2 docked, but the Switch 2 version of Blue Reflection Quartet offers improved visuals in some areas like shadows and level of detail. 

I did notice that playing Blue Reflection Quartet's Switch 1 version via Switch 2 handheld boost mode resulted in better visuals in some areas like distant foliage than the native Switch 2 version handheld. This is a bit confusing as I assumed the Switch 2 version would just be better across the board. 

When testing Blue Reflection: Second Light from the collection, the Switch 1 version of Quartet has some visual improvements compared to the original Switch 1 game, but the bigger upgrades are to textures and filtering on Switch 2 compared to the original. Beyond visuals, Quartet's version of Second Light also has new characters from Sun and Ray included with some quality of life improvements making it the version to play if you haven't done so yet. As for performance, I will cover that later in the feature.

Blue Reflection Quartet visuals across PS5, Switch 2, Switch 1, PC, Steam Deck, and PS5 Pro

When looking at how Quartet scales across platforms, the Steam release is the only version that supports frame rates above 60fps. I couldn't actually test this myself since my Steam Decks and ROG Ally barely made it to the high 50s when using the lowest settings I could. The PS5 version delivers the best visual experience on console, which happens quite often (alongside Xbox Series X when applicable), but I'm surprised at the gulf between the PS5 and Switch 2 version in this case. It definitely feels like Koei Tecmo didn't do as much as it should have for Switch 2 considering its own website mentions the Switch 2 upper limit for resolution and frame rate is 1080p at 30fps while the PS5 version's upper limits are 4K at 60fps.

Blue Reflection and Second Light are best played on a high end PC and PS5 right now. I was hoping to see the Switch 2 version deliver so I could get a solid portable and docked experience, but this very much feels like how some Koei Tecmo early PS5 releases were, but worse in some ways. It isn't bad by any means, but just disappointing compared to the PS5 release. 

Blue Reflection Quartet performance across PS5, Switch 2, Switch 1, PC, Steam Deck, and PS5 Pro

Performance is where the PS5 and PC versions (not handhelds) deliver the biggest upgrade compared to Switch and Switch 2. The Switch 1 version of Quartet played on Switch 1 (including OLED model) runs a lot worse than the original Blue Reflection: Second Light release. This is because it has new post-processing options and visual improvements you cannot disable compared to the lacking Switch 1 original game.

The PS4 version of Blue Reflection: Second Light was capped at 30fps and Blue Reflection Quartet delivers a 60fps experience on PS5 as well as PS5 Pro in my testing. I did notice some areas where I thought it was freezing or hitching initially, but it was just how the camera snapping is handled. The PC version can do frame rates above 60fps, but none of my handhelds were able to do that even using turbo mode. I will revisit this when I have data for higher frame rates.

Blue Reflection Quartet on Switch 2 vs Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Switch 1 

In its current state, no handheld I own can deliver a 60fps experience in Blue Reflection Quartet. Even the ROG Ally running on Turbo Mode (Z1 Extreme model) drops to the high 30s or 40s in parts. With that out of the way, you can get a better visual experience on ROG Ally than Switch 2. If you are playing exclusively in handheld mode on Switch 2, it might be worth considering the Switch 1 version since you get handheld boost mode and can buy it physically. You miss out on some visual upgrades on the Switch 2 native release like shadows, but there are some areas where the Switch 1 version in handheld boost mode on Switch 2 ends up looking better than the native Switch 2 release like distant foliage.

As for Steam Deck, Blue Reflection Quartet is Steam Deck Verified, and it actually functions on Steam Deck with proper controller support, cloud saves, and video playable. The original Blue Reflection had issues on all three fronts. If you do plan on playing this on Steam Deck, I recommend turning the texture quality and filtering from the lowest settings since the default settings look bad on Steam Deck. The Steam version struggles on AYN Thor right now. I'll revisit this in the future, but right now you need to play it on the lowest settings and 720p to get it even above 20fps in parts. This is pre-release so things might improve over time on that front. 

Blue Reflection Quartet load times across PS5, Switch 2, Switch 1, PC, Steam Deck, and PS5 Pro

To test load times, I installed Blue Reflection Quartet's PS5 release on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, the Steam version (Steam Deck, ROG Ally, AYN Thor), the Switch 1 version on both Switch 1 and Switch 2 internal storage, and the Switch 2 version on Switch 2 internal storage. Given the menu used in-game, I tested the time taken to load the main game select menu, then to load Blue Reflection, a save in Blue Reflection, then going from the same main game select menu to loading Blue Reflection: Second Light, and loading the same save in Second Light on all devices including backward compatibility. The results below are in seconds.

Test Game selection BR1 Save BR2 Save
PS5 9-10 8 2.5 14 2
PS5 Pro 7 8 2.5 14 2
S1 21 15 8 46-68 4
S1 on S2 13 8 2 18 2
S2 13 8 5 18-19 2
Steam Deck 19-20 16 6 21 2
ROG Ally 15 22 5.5 26 2
AYN Thor 30 18 8 52 2

The load times aren't bad in any version aside from the Switch 1 and Steam release played on AYN Thor or ROG Ally to some degree. The Switch 1 version played on Switch 2 delivers faster loading than the native Switch 2 release when played off the same internal storage. The Switch 1 version of Second Light's original release was also really bad with load times so this isn't too surprising. 

Which is the best version of Blue Reflection Quartet?

For playing on TV or a monitor, the PC version followed by the PS5 release are the best ways to play it. This isn't surprising, but I am disappointed in the docked Switch 2 experience compared to PS5 despite having half the frame rate target. For playing on the go, the ROG Ally delivers the best portable experience. The Switch 2 is lacking compared to ROG Ally and you can even opt for higher graphics on Steam Deck while running at a lower resolution (720p on the Deck's screen). 

Which version of Blue Reflection Quartet should you buy?

Blue Reflection Quartet on PS5 - If you want to play on your TV, care about trophy support, and don't care about portable play (unless you stream to a PlayStation Portal or phone), this is the version to get. It is also the fastest version when it comes to load times and is the only console version with 60fps support. A physical copy with English support is also available in Japan if you care about that. The PS5 version also has activity card tracking.
Blue Reflection Quartet on Steam - If you play on Steam Deck or PC in general, this is the only version you should consider since the Steam version delivers higher frame rates than all consoles. It plays well on Steam Deck and ROG Ally and is a much better PC experience than the older releases.
Blue Reflection Quartet on Switch - It is hard to recommend Blue Reflection Quartet for Switch if you play on a Switch 1 system with the performance issues. If you play it on Switch 2 or just want a Switch physical release, this is the one to get. 
Blue Reflection Quartet on Switch 2 - This is a digital-only release with no upgrade path or save transfer from the Switch 1 release. It delivers visual improvements over Switch 1 in some areas docked, but is an overall lacking experience compared to what I expected given Koei Tecmo's other ports to Switch 2. I only recommend this version if you cannot play it anywhere else. 

Blue Reflection Quartet issues that need fixing in patches

Aside from adding a toggle to disable motion blur, I hope Gust and Koei Tecmo improve the Switch 2 version. If it is going to be a 30fps experience, the visuals need to be better. Barring that, I hope we see some CPU optimization on the PC port since it is quite heavy to run on PC handhelds. 

Blue Reflection Quartet launches on July 30 for PS5, Switch 2, Switch, and PC (Steam).