Assassin's Creed Shadows Nintendo Switch 2 Review

Assassin's Creed Shadows finally released on Switch 2 earlier this month after ratings, retailer leaks, and rumors for a while. Given Ubisoft's fantastic Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws, my expectations for the port were quite high. While I think it is a very good port all things considered, I was hoping for a bit more. At launch, Assassin's Creed Shadows was quite unstable, with frequent crashing on Switch 2. Since Ubisoft announced a major stability update for Switch 2, I decided to hold off on my port review until I have tested it with that patch. It finally arrived with Title Update 1.1.7. For this Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch 2 port review, I'm also going to be comparing it to the Steam and PS5 versions when played on my Steam Deck and base PS5. You can read our review of the game itself from earlier this year on PC here.

I first played Assassin's Creed Shadows on console earlier this year and never ended up playing it on my PC handhelds like I usually do. With this month's new Nintendo Switch 2 port that arrives bringing a plethora of post-launch updates and new Switch 2-exclusive features, I decided to not only cover this new port, but also see how Assassin's Creed Shadows scales on PC when played on Steam Deck given it is a Verified game with bespoke optimization.

For context about how the game scales across hardware, the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Assassin's Creed Shadows has three modes: Quality, Balanced, and Performance. Balanced is available on 120hz displays with a 40fps target while Quality targets 30fps and Performance targets 60fps. The major difference in the three modes barring resolution changes and frame rate targets, is in how the lighting and reflections are implemented. Quality mode on base PS5 delivers a fantastic visual experience with ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) and a hair strand system. Balanced mode keeps these two enabled at the cost of a lower resolution target. Performance mode drops the resolution lower and disable RTGI and the hair strand system.

I don't have a PS5 Pro or Xbox Series S to check how it runs on those, but I have played the game since launch on my base PS5 and Xbox Series X. The context for how the game scales on those platforms is important because the Switch 2 version of Assassin's Creed Shadows both docked and handheld looks like the performance mode on the other consoles with added cutbacks to resolution, shadows, level of detail, and textures. 

What makes Assassin's Creed Shadows for Switch 2 more notable beyond it being very good handheld, is the fact that it is a mainline Assassin's Creed game that has been ported to Switch 2 within months of its debut. It also happens to keep all of the gameplay features and most of the visual identity intact. The closest we had to new mainline entry ported to Switch 1 was a cloud version of Assassin's Creed Odyssey in select regions. It also helps that Assassin's Creed Shadows is a great modern RPG-style Assassin's Creed entry, and I'm going to cover how it scales on Switch 2 compared to the PS5 and Steam Deck versions below.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Nintendo Switch 2 features

With Assassin's Creed Shadows, in addition to delivering a good handheld experience, Ubisoft went the extra mile to include very good HD rumble 2 (though it isn't as good as the DualSense haptics) and touchscreen support for menus (and the hideout/building). While not a Switch-exclusive feature, having cross progression through Ubisoft Connect also makes Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 a version worth considering for portable play as a complement to say your PS5 or PC version. If you, like me, already own the Claws of Awaji expansion on other platforms, it will not affect your Switch 2 save or cross progression. You just get a warning about some content not being present, but the save loaded fine for me.

Since the Switch 2 is a portable-first console for me, I want to note that Assassin's Creed Shadows prompts you to sign into a Ubisoft account when you first launch the game. I specifically tested the game on another profile with no linked Ubisoft account to see if I could skip this. The only way to get into a new game without linking is launching the game in offline mode. If you have linked your account, you can play it offline, but I wanted to note this for the initial launch.

One more notable addition to Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 is how the game detects being docked or undocked and can adjust the UI on the fly. It even notifies you that the UI has adjusted when undocking the console. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch 2 vs PS5

Instead of going into the general graphics and comparisons, I wanted to focus on how Assassin's Creed Shadows will compare to the PS5 (and Xbox Series X) versions for those who already own the game or potentially are going to buy it for either PS5 or Switch 2. The Switch 2 version looks like a trimmed down version of Assassin's Creed Shadows' performance mode on PS5 to be reductive. It still retains the visual identity of the game, but it is a noticeable step down from the Quality or Balanced mode on PS5. This is expected of course, but another way of looking at Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 is thinking of what a hybrid between a current and last generation version of Assassin's Creed Shadows would be. If you already own Assassin's Creed Shadows on another platform, I recommend the Switch 2 version purely for handheld play. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch 2 vs Steam Deck for the best portable experience

With Star Wars Outlaws, the Steam Deck was a non option, and it was barely playable on my ROG Ally with heavy upscaling. For that release, I wouldn't even consider PC handhelds an option for a good portable experience. With Assassin's Creed Shadows on the other hand, Ubisoft optimized it for lower end systems and actually got it Steam Deck Verified for launch. There are a few things to consider if you are deciding between Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam Deck or Switch 2.

On Steam Deck, you get a sharper visual experience on the device itself compared to the Switch 2's lower internal resolution upscaled using DLSS. This is specifically portable to be clear since the docked Switch 2 experience is much better than Steam Deck. The 30fps cap on Steam Deck is also better implemented than the Switch 2, but there are portions where performance on Steam Deck drops below the Switch 2. If you have a Steam Deck OLED, Assassin's Creed Shadows obviously shines there compared to the Switch 2's screen, but LCD Steam Deck owners are better off with the Switch 2 version.

The Ubisoft Connect implementation on PC is more intrusive than on console. This results in the initial load taking longer and it being more online-dependent compared to the Switch 2. The initial load times, as you will see below, are also much shorter on Switch 2 than Steam Deck, though the Deck pulls ahead when it comes to actually loading the save and getting in-game. One final thing to keep in mind is the Switch 2 doesn't have mouse controls or gyro controls right now. On Steam Deck, you can use the trackpad and force gyro controls using Steam Input.

With all that in mind, I would play Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 over Steam Deck LCD right now, but the Steam Deck OLED and Switch 2 are closer than I expected when it comes to what I'd recommend. With HDR, the Steam Deck OLED pulls ahead with a sharper overall image that you can tweak to your liking with the sharpness slider, but VRR helps a lot with how it feels on Switch 2 handheld. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows load times compared across Switch 2, PS5, and Steam Deck

To test Assassin's Creed Shadows load times, I installed it to my Switch 2 internal memory, the internal SSD on PS5, and the internal SSD on Steam Deck. I tested the initial load from the dashboard to the title screen and the time taken to load a save until you get control of the character. I mashed A or X to speed up the loading, but all version have some forced splash screens that you cannot skip right now. Keep that in mind for the results below.

Note: All load times above are in seconds. The extra long load on Steam is because of the Ubisoft Connect implementation on PC. There are similar issues with games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam because of this.

As you can see, the initial load isn't too bad on Switch 2 compared to PS5, but the load time to get into the save is notable longer on Nintendo's hybrid. I still think this is a good result for Switch 2, and it is still much better and faster than the game on Steam Deck overall. 

Is Assassin's Creed Shadows worth playing only on Switch 2

If you don't already own Assassin's Creed Shadows and are wondering if it is worth buying just to play on Switch 2, the answer is yes for handheld/undocked play, but not really for docked play if you have access to another platform. If you want to take advantage of the Switch 2's hybrid nature, Assassin's Creed Shadows is very good undocked, but I hope to see some fixes for the frame pacing issues when played docked since those hold this back. Barring performance, there are a few issues that need addressing like the bug where I ran into a black screen when undocking the Switch 2 while playing to check something. I had this happen twice so far in the five hours I've retested following the newest update. 

Before concluding this port review, my thoughts around launch still hold true for the game itself. I still like Assassin's Creed Shadows quite a bit, and while it didn't hit the highs of Assassin's Creed Odyssey (my favorite of the recent games) story wise, my biggest problem with it is the Animus and Memories menu systems. I've always preferred the post-Assassin's Creed Origins or RPG-style games to the original Assassin's Creed games so keep that in mind. 

In its current state after the first major post-launch update, Assassin's Creed Shadows is worth your time handheld on Switch 2 all things considered. If you already own it on another platform, I recommend it on Switch 2 to play on the go and complement the TV experience you get elsewhere. I hope to see some of the performance issues when playing docked addressed and will be revisiting this for the Claws of Awaji expansion in the future.