Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is finally available for Nintendo Switch 2, following in the footsteps of its launch on PC and other consoles in 2024. So, how does it fare?
With the arrival of new Nintendo Switch 2 ports, there’s always a sense of trepidation. In the past, developers haven’t had the best success with releasing games on Nintendo platforms, with plenty of the AAA adventures available for Switch and Switch 2 having performance troubles, problems with slow loading, or generally being the non-ideal way to play certain games.
Thankfully, it does seem most of these troubles have been done away with here, as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle releases as one of the better recent game ports, with solid and smooth performance and only minor graphical downgrades to account for the lesser power of this particular console.
Indiana Jones on Switch 2 – quick links
Minor graphical downgrade doesn’t impact gameplay
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle starts with a great test for the Nintendo Switch 2: rendering the likenesses of recognisable actors Harrison Ford and Alfred Molina. The opening cutscene of the game directly adapts scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, with its familiarity allowing for greater scrutiny.
There are certain quirks in the character models present on Switch 2 that aren’t in the Xbox version of the game. In sunlight, you’ll notice thin white jaggies around particular characters and surfaces. Eyes are also a bit plainer and duller, with fewer reflections and less dynamic lightning. You’ll also notice a light touch of graininess in hair rendering, with hair longer than the scalp being slightly blockier.
Overall though, character models still look great. You can easily recognise the likeness of each actor and see the pores rendered on their skin. Naturally, the Indiana Jones model gets the most attention, with lush detail across his face, from rendered lines around his eyes to individual hair strands.
Even with the adjustments to fit Indiana Jones and the Great Circle onto the Nintendo Switch 2, this is a good-looking game, and it runs very smoothly throughout levels. Taking a slight step down on rendered details means you can run through stages without any pop-in or slow load, and that input to movement is translated very well.
You will still get a brief stutter when the game auto-saves during gameplay – but that was present in the Xbox version too in my experience, and it’s a fairly common bugbear with most modern games.
In short, you’ll only really notice the graphical difference on Switch 2 in some cutscenes, where character models are just slightly more fuzzy or less crisp than you’d expect.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle remains a beautiful game
Elsewhere in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for Nintendo Switch, you’ll find the same sweeping adventure as on any other platform. This remains a gorgeous-looking game, complete with several neat locations to explore, from the Vatican to the Himalayas, Shanghai, and beyond.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version does a great job representing all of these locales, and it’s particularly good at rendering darker night time scenes with all their details.
Wandering the Vatican rooftops at night, you’ll note a solid lighting system that renders shadows and light very well, allowing you to see clear paths ahead and plan your way through hordes of enemies (or just go swinging with the nearest wooden cane or shovel).
For those who never got the chance to play the game on original release – there are plenty of folks for whom Nintendo Switch 2 might be their only console – this new port is a great option. The details skipped to render the game in handheld form don’t really make a difference to the overall experience, and unless you know what you’re missing, you likely won’t care.
Sacrificing the added detail on a head of hair, or greeting a slightly Vaseline-lensed priest doesn’t take away from how fantastic Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is. This game remains an excellent adaptation of the franchise, and it’s certainly worthy of revisiting on Nintendo Switch 2.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is out now for Nintendo Switch 2.
A Nintendo Switch 2 code for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
