Indiana Jones already conquered the hearts of Xbox, PC, and PlayStation players, but next month, The Great Circle finally lands in the palm of your hands on Nintendo Switch 2. I played the prologue and first mission on Nintendo’s new console to see if Indy feels at home there too. Let’s jump in!
Impressive from the start
Let’s address the elephant in the room and the main question everyone has: how well does this game perform on Nintendo Switch 2? We all know that even though The Great Circle isn’t a massive open-world sandbox game, it’s still a demanding one. The dense environments, detailed objects, and rich textures make this the type of game where graphics and performance really matter.
So imagine me booting it up in docked mode for the first time. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to look this good. The game runs at a locked 30 frames per second, but while playing, that never really bothered me. It’s genuinely impressive to see how well the team at MachineGames managed to bring this world over to Nintendo Switch 2. Of course, we’re long past the “impossible port” era, and Switch 2 clearly has enough power to handle larger third-party games, but it’s still impressive to see visuals like this running on a Nintendo system.
If you want to see the game running in docked mode on my OLED television, you can check out my video preview below:
That being said, the handheld mode does tone the visuals down a bit, but nothing in a game-breaking way. Everything looks extremely crisp in docked mode, while handheld naturally compromises on some distant details and a couple of textures. Even then, it’s still very playable in handheld mode and, with a good headset on, it doesn’t take long before you get pulled into the cinematic atmosphere again. It’s really not something I would worry about too much.
A more tactile experience
Besides letting you take the adventure wherever you go, the Switch 2 version also adds some fun extra features in the form of motion and mouse controls. What I appreciate is that the game never forces you into one specific way of playing. If you want a more traditional experience, you can simply stick to the Pro Controller, but if you’re looking for something a bit more tactile, you can switch to motion or mouse controls instead. You can use them for aiming or even for a more immersive way of looking around. It’s a fun addition, although during the sections I played, there weren’t that many moments where I could really test the full potential of those control options. That being said, I do appreciate the effort of including these Switch 2-specific controls, as it really shows how much care went into this version. I can’t wait to try them out in some of the more action-heavy sections later in the game, because I can already imagine those moments becoming even more enjoyable with these control options.
Early conclusion:
I still haven’t played that much since the prologue and first mission only give a small glimpse of the full scope of the game, but I’m impressed nonetheless. This is a genuinely strong port, and it’s great to see Indiana Jones and the Great Circle make its way to Nintendo Switch 2. Exploration, puzzle-solving, and navigating through traps all felt great on the system, while the visuals especially shine in docked mode. I still want to spend more time with the handheld mode and experiment further with the new control options, but so far, I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen.
