At times, it feels like some of these “impossible Switch ports” are more of an internal challenge for a developer to showcase they are able to make “Game X” run on the Switch than an actual opportunity for fans to experience a game on said platform. The Switch is a worldwide hit, a console that has sold like hotcakes, but it’s, for the most part, an underpowered portable. The kinds of games that are best suited for the system are either arcadey, easy to pick up and play, or well-ported enough to make their longer gameplay loop more digestable in smaller portions. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not one of those games.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance, originally released in 2018, was quite a divisive RPG for the time. In terms of innovation and immersion, it’s still really impressive. It went for an ultra-realistic, medieval approach to the genre, with everything, from the quality and cleanliness of your clothes, to the kind of food you’d eat, impacting on your stats and choices. It also had some really questionable design decisions, such as limiting the amount of saves you could perform in the form of consumables, and a truly baffling combat system, in which your stamina would decrease alongside your HP. Realistic, sure, but fun? That’s debatable, at the very least.

The game was already a very interesting but questionable title in its, uh, “best” port, the PC one. I really love its premise, its historical accuracy, and its characters, but this is also one of the very few RPGs in which I legit avoided combat whenever possible because I simply couldn’t stand its bizarre controls and punitive mechanics. That being said, those immersive (through a certain point of view) elements were somewhat manageable on a PC. We were still being blessed with great visuals, sound design, and the framerate was solid. But this is the Switch we’re talking about. I was never expecting for this port to deliver in the same way. Truth be told, I never thought this port would exist. And now that it does, I have to say, I don’t think it’s that good. It’s commendable, but it’s just too much to ask for from the Switch.

Simply put, the Switch cannot handle the immersiveness or excessive amounts of detail Kingdom Come: Deliverance requires in order to achieve its true potential. It can run, sure, and that is an impressive feat. At what cost, though? The framerate is far from stable, the graphics have been severely downgraded, and the input lag is absurd. It’s an excessive amount of compromises just to make sure this game can run on a portable with mobile hardware. Not to mention the long loading times. Granted, they are less egregious than the Xbox One port’s, but if this is the benchmark you’re going for…

There’s also the fact that, let’s face it, you are not exactly going to spend your time playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance on docked mode. You got a game like this, with such a pricetag, to play it on-the-go. This is not the best fit for a portable. There’s nothing wrong with RPGs on the Switch; it’s a perfect place to play them after all. But a game like this, where everything is far away, every action is slow-paced, every single loading screen takes forever… it’s just not ideal. The kind of RPG that works on the system is the one which either has fast-paced combat, quick sidequests, an addictive gameplay loop, or a pick-up-and-play nature. Games like Persona, Pokémon, Ys. Hell, even Witcher 3.

Let me be clear that I laud Saber Interactive for doing the impossible and managing to make a game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance run on the Switch in the first place. Sadly, just because they could, it doesn’t mean they should have done so. This game is not a good fit for the platform, be it for its excessive emphasis on immersion and realism, or the sheer amount of setbacks and limitations which had to be taken in order to make it run (poorly) on the console in the first place. It’s already a hard sell on consoles and PC, making this even less appealing, besides the obvious novelty factor. Maybe Saber should have waited for the Switch’s successor, whenever Nintendo decides to announce it.

Graphics: 5.0 It’s equal parts impressive and horrendous. The fact this is even being rendered on the Switch is commendable. The sheer amount of setbacks and compromises taken in order for this to happen, however, made the game ugly, blurry, and janky. The framerate isn’t good at all.	Gameplay: 4.0 The realistic RPG and simulation elements don’t feel as immersive on such a small screen. They end up feeling more like a hindrance. The framerate is also poor, and the input lag is outrageous.
Sound: 7.0 It is heavily compressed, but it’s still a good soundtrack. Voice acting isn’t bad, either.	Fun Factor: 4.5 I laud Saber Interactive for its porting efforts, but not all games were meant to be played on the Switch. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is slow-paced, janky and not something you can easily pick up and play. It’s already a hard sell on consoles and PC, making this even less appealing, besides the obvious novelty factor.
Final Verdict: 5.0

Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition is available now on PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition was provided by the publisher.