Kingdom Hearts I-III for Switch 2 should've been a slam dunk, but some games need more work
This week, Square Enix is finally bringing the Kingdom Hearts series natively to Nintendo Switch 2 alongside PS5 and Xbox Series (Play Anywhere). Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX and 2.5 ReMIX will also be released on Nintendo Switch 1. Until now, Nintendo Switch platforms have only had access to these games via cloud versions while PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series players had access to them via backward compatibility. Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] (henceforth Kingdom Heart Collection 1-3) includes three big releases or collections together in a bigger bundle. These are Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMix, 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and III + ReMind DLC.
I've played all the collections included in Kingdom Heart Collection 1-3 multiple times across generations now beginning with 1.5 and 2.5 on PS3, the PS4 versions on base PS4, revisiting them on PS4 Pro, the Xbox One versions on Xbox One X, then checking them all out again on Steam via Steam Deck, and finally the PS4 and Xbox One versions via backward compatibility on PS5 and Xbox Series X respectively. The only version I didn't bother with was the cloud one on Switch 1. I did sample Kingdom Heart Collection III on Switch 2 through its demo, but I wasn't happy with the demo's performance.
That brings us to today. I've had access to Kingdom Heart Collection 1-3 on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 for my comparison that will also include the Xbox Series version I pre-ordered. Given the amount of games included and the plethora of releases in the last few weeks, I've not had enough time to do said comparison yet (and I also want to include Xbox and Switch 1), but I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect with Kingdom Heart Collection 1-3 on Switch 2 with a few comparisons covering how the main games feel on other platforms. Today's feature focuses on Switch 2 and it is unfortunately hard to recommend the complete bundle right now.
To keep things simple, I’ve split this up into sections for each of the main bundles included in this collection with notes on the games included.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMix on Switch 2 and PS5
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix appears the same on Switch 2 as PS4 (on PS5) and the new PS5 native release. It is capped at 60fps on all consoles and doesn’t have any console-specific features like haptics or HD rumble. It just uses the default rumble. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix has the same 8 direction movement issues like the PS4 version where you snap into one of the 8 directions instead of having full analog movement. Barring that, I haven’t noticed anything wrong with Switch 2 or PS5. In fact, given the solid Switch 2 version both docked and handheld, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMix on Switch 2 is my favorite version so far. The PS5 and Switch 2 versions of the collection let you skip pre-rendered cut-scenes in KH1 while the PS4 version only lets you skip in-engine ones.
Kingdom Hearts III + ReMind DLC on Switch 2 and PS5
Kingdom Hearts III is unfortunately just like the demo. There is no 30fps cap or improvement to performance since the demo that I can see on Switch 2, but the PS5 version has the same “Default” and “Stable” modes as the PS4 version. In the four areas I tested, both modes appear the same on PS5 and PS5 Pro. This might be a setting for use with the power saver mode support that this release. I’ve included comparisons of Kingdom Hearts III in the Default mode on PS5 and PS4 alongside the Switch 2 version docked below:
Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue on Switch 2 and PS5
Just like Kingdom Hearts III, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep runs at an uncapped frame rate on Switch 2 and it is quite variable even early on. The Switch 2 version has improved draw distance over PS4 Pro, but it appears very close in other areas. The PS5 version on the other hand delivers a boost to resolution and also draw distance over both. It unfortunately has a visual issue where the bloom is turned up too much. This is only present in the PS5 version, not the PS4 or Switch 2 versions. I hope it is fixed soon.
When it comes to the PS5 native release, I've not spent as much time with it as I have on Switch 2, but it delivers a nice image quality boost in 0.2 and III over the PS4 release played on PS5. I hope the bloom issue in 0.2 gets sorted though. While I know I shouldn't have expected it, I thought Square Enix doing a new port to current platforms would mean we would get support for 120fps in the older titles without animation issues. Unfortunately you don't get much on that front.
In its current state, the collection is hard to recommend without caveats on Switch 2. If you only care about 1.5+2.5, it is an easy recommendation on Switch 2 and worth buying. The Switch 2 is capable of much more than what we see in 0.2 and III though, as we’ve seen from Square Enix’s own titles. I can’t really recommend those unless you are absolutely fine with the performance in the Kingdom Hearts III demo and are ok with very variable performance. It would be easier to recommend them with a 30fps cap option like Capcom has been implementing in some of its recent releases.