Apex Legends season 8 is well underway, meaning a new Battle Pass, a new character (Fuse), and major map changes have taken place in recent weeks. With all of these additions, Apex Legends has set a Steam record for players, making season 8 one of the most popular so far. Of course, it's been popular for quite some time, and that's likely one reason Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment have mentioned ports time and again. Now, with assistance from Panic Button, Apex Legends has dropped on the Switch.
Since Apex Legends is a free-to-play game on major platforms, many of those who are interested in it have likely tried it out before, and that's if they haven't played it regularly. The Nintendo Switch may open the doors to a new audience, but a lot of those players are going to be those checking it out on a new platform as well. Veteran players then have little incentive to move from their main-platform: Apex Legends does not support cross-progression. In other words, players who have spent time and money leveling up Battle Passes, earning cosmetics, and tricking out their guns will be starting all over, while new players are stuck at a disadvantage: cross-play with those on other platforms or sit through troublesome matchmaking.
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In Apex Legends, players choose a character and can drop onto one of three maps to find loot, do battle, and try to be the last team standing. Matches can last up to 20 minutes depending on how fights go, and there's a solid selection of guns to choose from too. Trying to learn the Apex Legends season 8 meta, while working with differing character abilities, and cooperating as a team to get a win are all major aspects of the game.
Indeed, it's clear why Apex Legends has survived and even thrived in the highly competitive Battle Royale space. It's a combination of many things that the game innovated on and perfected (and continue to support), and while the character abilities, the customization options, and everything that draws players to it exists on the Switch, it does so in a much, much worse condition.
There are two ways to play Apex Legends on the Switch: docked and handheld. When in docked mode, the game is passable but suffers tremendously in the graphics department. Everything in the background or distance runs together, the browns of Kings Canyon muddy in the worst of ways, and characters look like amorphous figures. Kings Canyon has always been a beautiful location, but the Switch cannot run it with graphics anywhere near capable of capturing the rugged landscape. In general, the game has its own sort of art style that's not too high class or cartoony, but on the Switch, it does not capture that same unique quality.
Going from Apex Legends on the PS5/Xbox Series X to the Switch is almost like going from a brand new 2021 car to a 1980s jalopy. This port does not really feel like the same game as a result, at many times feeling like a more dumbed-down experience. That's not to say it feels simpler, which wouldn't necessarily be bad, but it feels less intuitive. The graphics are one major concern, but the technical elements make even the bad seem worse.
The render distance in the game is painful, as certain assets won't load until the players are basically on top of them. It's entirely possible to approach a building in-game and not have the building fully render until the player is right on top of it. This becomes a problem when dropping onto an Apex Legends map, as these assets load in slowly, and it's entirely possible to drop near an enemy without realizing what's actually there. Many times, the area would not be fully rendered until landing, and then and only then was it recognizable that someone else was there too. As bad as this is, combat makes everything much worse.
Frame rates come crashing down when engaging in combat on the Switch. Enemies will move like Tetris blocks on the screen, while the controls seemingly seize up. It becomes a game of who can actually shoot accurately first, as it bogs down terribly on all ends One thing to keep in mind is that all of this is in reference to the docked mode, as all the technical problems with Apex Legends are worse when in handheld mode. To be fair, there's little reason to play in this mode since it requires a solid internet connection. That almost immediately de-incentivizes anyone trying to play it on the go.
Still, in the comfort of one's home, some may want to kick back, throw up their feet, and play the game on the Switch, but this isn't really recommended. The frame rate issues are more present, and the graphics are even worse. While there are some serious issues with the Switch when docked, the graphics in handheld mode make all of the characters and items even harder to see. Strangely, there was also a lot of blur on characters and items in the menu, where similarly colored things were not really distinct.
Perhaps the worst aspect of playing Apex Legends off the dock is how the UI becomes mushed down (as seen above) to accommodate for the smaller screen. In the docked mode, the UI is very similar to the game's standard UI, but the handheld versions has to do something with all of this needed information. It's not ideal, perhaps it's even unavoidable, but combine the UI with the all of the stutters, hiccups, and more than come in this mode, it's best to stick playing with the Switch docked.
Ultimately, with a few serious patches to Apex Legends, it seems the Switch version won't necessarily be a bad way to play the game. If it can at least get the technical aspects to a more operating level, it becomes an alternative option at least. However, based on what is shown at launch, it seems likely the port will probably always be the worst way to play Respawn Entertainment's popular BR.
Apex Legends is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.