Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 is impressive and feels like Capcom coming full circle

Many years ago, I heard a lot about a game called Dragon's Dogma. Beyond just hearing a lot about the structure and how nighttime looked and felt, I also was introduced to Into Free by B'z. When Dragon's Dogma came to PC, everyone praised it as the "fixed" version that finally had it running well. I bought it again, but didn't play it for whatever reason. My first taste of it was on PS4 when the Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen port. Again, I never was able to fully enjoy it there for whatever reason back in the day. Then came the surprise Switch 1 port announcement. I figured I'd give it a go here once again, and this is where it stuck. Just like The Witcher 3, I ended up devouring Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen on Switch despite its visual cutbacks. It was an impressive port that is still my favorite version today aside from the modded PC version.

That brings us to today. Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is coming to Switch 2 this week as a bundle including the base game and the expansion. I've been playing it on Switch 2 and more, and while embargo restricts me from doing a full comparison today, I wanted to discuss what I like about Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 and how it feels like a full circle moment for Capcom in many ways. 

If you haven't played Dragon's Dogma 2 yet, it was a very demanding game at launch in 2024. I still remember seeing it drop to 10fps and remain below 20fps on Steam Deck as well. It wasn't even a solid experience on PS5 back then. A lot has changed for Dragon's Dogma 2 since then through updates and also with new console optimization like PS5 Pro improvements. Having recently checked out Dragon's Dogma 2 on PS5 Pro, I was already impressed with the visual upgrade and performance improvements, but I mainly was hoping the Switch 2 release would deliver. 

Dragon's Dogma 2 for PC has also seen massive performance improvements. Locations that were 12fps on Steam Deck have been hitting 35fps using the same settings to give you an idea of how much things have improved, but I'll save that for my platform comparison article coming in the near future. The Switch 2 is today's focus.

In a lot of ways, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen has delivered on Switch 2, but it also needs some work in certain aspects to be an easy recommendation. I've played every single Capcom Switch 2 release so far both docked and handheld including seeing how the same games scale on other platforms. So far, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is Capcom's best Switch 2 port, but Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is the company's most-impressive one yet, despite the cutbacks.

I said Onimusha was a step in the right direction for Capcom, and that's because it still looks and feels like Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and the 30fps cap option makes it so I don't need to deal with a juddery mess like in some other Capcom Switch 2 ports. Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen for Switch 2 ships with the same optional 30fps cap, but it also brings in a new frame generation toggle. 

I like to try things with an open mind, but after how abysmal Stellar Blade's demo felt on Switch 2 with frame generation forced, I wasn't too hopeful for it here. Sadly, it is just bad. In fact, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen defaults to the uncapped frame rate and frame generation enabled. I think it feels awful out of the box and the input lag made me think I was playing a game streamed over bad Wi-Fi rather than a native experience. It also has various visual issues like your player character hair and head going invisible sometimes. Once I turned frame generation off, I was enjoying myself a lot, and I've even spent nearly 20 hours with Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 docked and handheld so far. 

With that out of the way, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 is a lot like other Capcom ports where it is being upscaled from a much lower resolution, and you can even see the upscaling struggle in parts, but it very much looks and feels like Dragon's Dogma 2. In the opening hour, which I first played on Switch 2 before replaying it on other platforms, my only real complaint was the load times. These are noticeably long even for transitions from cut-scenes to gameplay or vice versa. Barring that, I expected a lot worse based on how the game ran at launch on other platforms. 

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen has great HD rumble 2 on Switch 2 that really elevates it when handheld, but I'm a bit surprised at no motion controls or gyro options. It also doesn't have mouse control support. Maybe these will come later, but it feels like a rare feature miss when everything else the port is doing is above and beyond what I expected. Speaking of handheld play, I've been using the uncapped frame rate while I cap it to 30fps docked. It would be great if we had a dedicated setting for each mode instead of having to manually do it, but that is a small issue right now. 

As I said before, I can't show any platform comparisons due to embargo restrictions, but all the screenshots in this feature are from the Switch 2 retail build I have both docked and handheld. Based on my memory of Dragon's Dogma 2 last year, the Switch 2 version has cuts to textures, models, and especially level of detail and draw distance (for characters and even shadows), but this just reminds me of how Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen was on Switch 1. That is why I say Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2 feels like Capcom coming full circle. We are back to Capcom bringing a game I didn't think would work on Switch 2 to the platform just like Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen was on Switch 1. Obviously I mean this because of how the game ran at launch and not the new updated build that has seen a ton of optimization work on PC, but that doesn't matter when the end result is a game impressing me constantly despite its visual cutbacks. 

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen right now isn't close to perfect on Switch 2, but I find myself booting it up often just to explore on the go. I think that's where Capcom nailed things. This is still Dragon's Dogma 2, just on the go, and it isn't annoying to play handheld like Monster Hunter Stories 3 was. If you told me last year that Dragon's Dogma 2 would get a better Switch 2 port than Monster Hunter Stories 3, I'd laugh, but here we are. It also helps that Dragon's Dogma 2 on Switch 2 ships with the expansion and all updates and has a budget price making it even easier to recommend. 

In its current state, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen could use a bit more optimization so the 30fps target feels more stable and load times improve, but other than that I have no real complaints with the Switch 2 release so far. I am surprised to see no gyro or motion controls though since the PS5 and PC versions include them. Barring that, this is definitely a port where the developer has put in a ton of effort with adjustments to make a huge and demanding game work on Switch 2. This past year has seen loads of low effort ports praised, but Capcom remains one of the few developers actually going above and beyond. I absolutely will be doing a full playthrough on Switch 2 alongside PS5 Pro this year. Stay tuned for my full comparison covering Dragon's Dogma 2 on PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, ROG Ally, Steam Deck, and Nintendo Switch 2.