Forget Rebirth, The Game I Really Want To See On Switch 2 Is Final Fantasy 15

While it’s currently lacking in worthwhile first-party exclusives, it’s difficult to fault the Switch 2 when it comes to banger ports of existing blockbusters that look great and perform well even after dealing with notable hardware constraints. Nintendo’s original hybrid console gained an infamous reputation for blurry ports that many considered the worst ways you could play some incredible games — even if getting them to run on such an underpowered console at all was impressive. But if you only had a Switch, at least the option existed.

The Switch 2 subverted that reputation, and I consider its versions of Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Outlaws, Dynasty Warriors Origins, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Street Fighter 6 to be a solid means to experience excellent games. Yes, there are some notable visual and performance downgrades if you’re coming from PS5 or PC, but otherwise there isn’t much to complain about.

If my first time experiencing Night City was on the Switch 2, chances are I’ll walk away happy. But have these ports become the new normal, or is the console still capable of impressing us?

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Another Winner On Switch 2

Before I get on with discussing the headline of this article you clicked on, I first want to sing some praises for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. I was already floored by how well it handled the first entry in this remake trilogy, putting out terrific visuals and performance that rivalled the PS4 Pro version of the game, but many expected the console to have a much harder time handling its open world successor.

You can download a playable demo of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the Switch 2 and Xbox right now. It features the first two chapters and also carries over your progress.

Not only did it begin life as a PS5 exclusive, it also abandoned the linear design of Midgar for sprawling open world zones and a combat system with far more complicated attacks which fill the screen with elaborate graphical effects. It was taxing even for Sony’s console at times, often subject to notable pop-in or hitching issues courtesy of Unreal Engine 5. Porting this down to the Switch 2 couldn’t have been an easy task, let alone making it look and run decently well.

The quality of textures is notably downgraded, and character models aren’t as detailed, and if you stop and stare at most environments you are going to consider them muddy compared to something like the PS5 Pro. But once again, if your first time enjoying Rebirth is on Switch 2, there is very little to complain about.

You are going to have a comparative experience, not to mention it comes with a number of gameplay features that weren’t present in the original. Considering the hybrid console can handle modern blockbusters like this already, I doubt anything will make it buckle until the next generation of PlayStation and Xbox finally comes around.

With the Switch 2 handling modern releases with relative grace, however, part of me wants to see developers and publishers venture back into their libraries and bring a selection of hits to the platform. And since we’re in a JRPG mood, why not make one of them Final Fantasy 15?

It’s Time To Remaster Final Fantasy 15 For The Switch 2

The main cast of Final Fantasy 15 going on an adventure, posing in front of their car, the Regalia.

First released in November 2016, a handful of months before the Switch, Final Fantasy 15 is a bit of a flawed masterpiece. Beginning life as a completely different game and spending an excessive number of years stuck in development hell, it resurfaced as a numbered title at E3 2013 and eventually launched to a mixed reception. People fell in love with its ensemble cast of lovable boys bonding on a fantastical roadtrip, but were ultimately let down by a story that felt unfinished and a combat system that pretty much boiled down to holding the attack key down for several dozen hours.

Major updates, countless expansions, and an eventual re-release would vastly improve the game, but this initial reputation never faded, and the narrative never quite came full circle. I have conflicted feelings for Final Fantasy 15 to this day, but one thing I can never take away from it is how gorgeous it looks. I adored how it presented us with a vast open world that we could explore on foot, by car, or even in the air.

Spending hours simply cruising down highways to your favourite tracks and letting a litany of charming conversations unfold between Noctis and friends remains one of my finest gaming memories. It’s just a shame it was held back by a lackluster story and underwhelming quest design.

But whenever people bring up Final Fantasy 15, they rarely talk about those shortcomings, all because the things it did well, it did really well. Almost a decade later, it still looks terrific thanks to the bespoke Luminous Engine, which allowed for detailed character models and a realistic lighting model that, to this day, I don’t think the series has matched up. I have no idea whether this gameplay engine would play nice with the Switch 2, but I sure as hell want to see it.

Perhaps it is time for Final Fantasy 15 to release a modern port with a couple of extra bells and whistles on current consoles to show new fans what they missed out on a decade ago. I’m also not afraid to admit I’d love to embark on a critical re-evaluation of my own, and it’s perfectly suited to a platform like the Switch 2 – we know it can handle older titles like this and even showcase them to entirely new audiences.