“We learn, we accept, we lose our ability to question ourselves.” That’s the opening monologue of Rise of the Tomb Raider, but it could just as easily apply to all ports of older games coming to Switch 2. For every impressive feat of engineering – like last week’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – there’s another that doesn’t, or can’t, translate the full experience of other consoles to Nintendo’s less powerful platform. Rise of the Tomb Raider falls somewhere in the middle, and while it’s a great game for Nintendo owners to check out, you’ll find better versions elsewhere.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is arguably the Empire Strikes Back of the modern Tomb Raider trilogy, which means it’s the best. And it’s in the middle. And Lara clearly has daddy issues. And his hand is cut off. Well, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. This is the 20th anniversary celebration version of the game, which…. Look, I hate to do this to you, but that’s basically 10 years old in itself. This edition rounds out the game with all of its DLC, including Lara’s Nightmare and Endurance modes, and a host of different outfits to dress Lara in as you lead her to her repeated deaths.
Rise of the Tomb Raider on Switch 2 looks pretty good, although there are still limits to the handheld’s limits. From the fluffy hood on Lara’s coat, to the leafy branches and branches to the mountainous rock formations in the game’s opening moments, some elements seem a little rougher than I remember them before. There are some clear anti-aliasing highlights and slight pop-in, but for all that it presents a smart image, with impressive drawing distances, decent hair effects and dynamic shadows.
The Switch 2 edition aims for the same 30fps as the PS4 version, a platform to which it is roughly analogous in terms of raw power, although it’s a shame to lose the various graphics options that PS4 Pro players had access to. It reliably hits that 30fps target, which is great, but it’s disappointing in a game where movement and precision play such an important role that it hasn’t found a way to implement a 60fps or even 40fps option by relying on DLSS scaling in some way. There are occasional drops or wobbles, but I think they’re pretty consistent with previous versions of the game and appear more noticeably as the game transitions from gameplay to cutscenes.
What hasn’t lost any of its flavor is the audio of Rise of the Tomb Raider. From the excellent vocals of the cast to the dramatic orchestral accents of the soundtrack, Rise of the Tomb Raider sounds like a blockbuster production from start to finish. Combine it with a surround sound system, and it sounds truly cinematic and certainly helps to heighten your perception of the game on Switch 2.
Aspyr has included some Switch 2-specific features, but as we saw with the release of the first game in the trilogy, there is no consistency in how they are implemented. There’s HD rumble, and it adds a satisfying extra layer to your interactions, but while there are gyroscopic controls, they’re not implemented where you’d like them: aiming. Instead, all you can do with them is twist and turn the items you’ve collected as you look at them. It’s pretty cool, but everyone wants to aim Lara’s bow with gyro control, and for some reason Aspyr doesn’t want to let them.
This could be offset slightly by the inclusion of mouse controls, and these are a major step up from the implementation in the first game. Mainly because they work and you can choose from different button configurations to tailor the experience to how you play. While Rise of the Tomb Raider isn’t the type of game I immediately think of playing with mouse controls, it’s great to have the option.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a first-class production, and whether it’s your favorite Tomb Raider game or not, it’s worth returning to, or even experiencing for the first time before the upcoming high-profile remake of the original Tomb Raider game. The Switch 2 version does well, and while I really wish Aspyr would push a little harder with its ports, it’s a great game whether you’re playing at home or on the go.
