Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's Nintendo Switch 2 release is shaping up to a pretty good start, going by the demo
While Square Enix will release a demo for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S later today, RPG Site had the chance to take an early look at the Switch 2 build in handheld mode, earlier this month. The verdict? We're actually pretty happy with the state of the game on Switch 2.
That being said; we need to clarify a few things first. First off, we only had the opportunity to test the game in handheld mode prior to the demo's release. This does mean that our impressions are relatively limited - only valid for about half of the experience. That being said, outside of local streaming I feel confident in saying that no handheld is going to deliver measurably above 30 FPS - so Switch 2 actually holds up rather well. I did notice some slight hitching in towns, but the game feels like it mostly hits that 30 FPS target where it counts. Crucially, the game's input latency is practically negligible despite its 30 FPS target. After recently playing through Kena: Bridge of Spirits, a game with similar performance and rather egregious input latency, I wasn't really prepared for Rebirth delivering so well on that front.
In terms of visuals, things are similar. The game of course is using DLSS to output to a higher resolution, and the game unsurprisingly doesn't look quite as sharp as Remake on Switch 2 - but it still holds up remarkably well in handheld mode compared to PC gaming handhelds. I haven't had the chance to test the PC port with XeSS on my MSI Claw directly to the Switch 2 version in handheld mode, but it compares favorably to the ROG Ally and Steam Deck screenshots Mikhail captured early last year for his comparisons. We've also attached some screenshots of the game running in the docked mode which were provided to us by Square Enix - we expect this to be representative of the actual experience with the demo, though we can't exactly say for ourselves yet. We also don't know if performance characteristics or better or worse while docked.
The scope of the demo itself is also fairly limiting, mirroring that of the demo available on other platforms - it's hard to say how things will hold up later on, too. This is a whole ton of asterisks, but what we can say is that it's at least off to a good start. I don't think I'll be replaying the full game on Switch 2 anytime soon, but my gut reaction is that if you've been wanting to play it on a handheld, and just recently played through Final Fantasy VII Remake this should hopefully meet your expectations of the port. If nothing else, releasing the demo over a month before the full release does exude confidence. Just be wary about your free time, since Queen's Blood is part of the demo.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth launches for Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S on June 3, 2026. The game is available now for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam). Stay tuned for our full thoughts on the port in the weeks ahead.
