Dragon’s Dogma 2 was already a phenomenal game when it first launched back in 2024, and as time’s gone on, I’ve only grown to appreciate it more. The Dark Arisen DLC breathes new life into the title with tons of quality-of-life updates (some of which I kinda disagree with) alongside adding a lengthy DLC campaign, eight or so new dungeons, and more. You can read my thoughts on Dark Arisen alone using this link, as with the DLC comes an exciting new port, one to the Nintendo Switch 2. Capcom has been killing it with their Switch 2 ports lately, and Dragon’s Dogma 2: 2 Dark 2 Arisen feels like a massive step even among steep competition like Pragmata, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Resident Evil Requiem. However, the port does have one pretty big problem.
The game doesn’t feel too compromised in the jump to Switch 2. Sure, you’re not getting Ray Tracing, textures will look a little muddy up close, and things look a bit jagged with the lower resolution, but I think the game still looks pretty good. The UI and HUD seem to be rendered separately from the characters and environment, so those look very crisp in comparison. Steps also appear to have been taken to further ensure clarity by increasing subtitle size and moving certain elements around ever so slightly. For example, Pawn commands are a little further right of the minimap, and the HP and Stamina bars look a little thicker to me compared to PC. It’s nice to know they took the extra time to get things just right.
David Flynn
While the interface is locked to 30 frames per second, the rest of the game will, by default, target 60 with the use of FSR upscaling. Unlike other Capcom ports to Switch 2, you’re not just occasionally hitting that target either; it’s 60 basically all the time whether you’re exploring Vermund or Norgan, in the crowded city, or even fighting a dragon and a troll at the same time. It’s extremely impressive, and the only time I noticed any dips below 60 was in the opening cutscene. You do get some blurriness from upscaling, but I only found that noticeable in docked mode, and even then it’s not that bad. I primarily play portably anyway, but if you’re more of a docked person and do want a super clear image, maybe take a look at some footage before jumping in. You can disable FSR if you really want to, and either leave the framerate in Variable mode or cap it at 30, though that won’t make too big a difference in terms of fidelity.
There is the issue of draw distance, however. NPCs may take a second or two to materialize directly in front of you, and escort characters can cease to exist if you get too far ahead of them, requiring you to backtrack a bit to get them to follow you again. This isn’t a massive issue in my opinion, but it does take some getting used to.
So, if it’s a miracle of a port, what’s the problem? Crashes. It’s worth noting I never had the game just randomly crash on me; there is just a single cause, and its name is Sleep Mode. Putting Dragon’s Dogma 2 into the Switch 2’s Sleep Mode will cause it to freeze about four out of five times in my testing. Being in a menu before going into sleep does help a little, but not much. The game does autosave constantly by design, so I never lost any progress because of these crashes, but this does kinda demolish part of this port’s appeal. I did get one crash on PC, so this could just be a pre-launch problem.
There wasn’t an update or anything as I was writing this, but at some point the crashes just… stopped? Or at least happen less often. I’m not doing anything differently whatsoever, but now the game resumes as normal from sleep mode most of the time. It may depend on how long I leave the console in sleep mode, as it can wake up just fine after a few seconds or two hours, but after a few minutes it crashes. As of writing, I’m unsure if other people will experience this issue, and am waiting on a diagnosis of the bug from Capcom.
Without the crashes, I would highly recommend Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on Switch 2. It’s a fantastic game and might just be the best Switch 2 port so far. The game fits perfectly with the portable platform, allowing you to adventure at your leisure wherever you are.
