Grand Theft Auto fans have long enjoyed its exciting, dynamic world. The staple of the gaming world has brought countless hours of creative, funny gameplay and sincere moments of nostalgia to those who have played it over the years. This year there was a ton of buzz as remastered versions were finally being ported to the Nintendo Switch.
Gamers have generally loved games like these moving to the Switch because the countless hours it typically takes to complete them can now be done in a handheld portable format, meaning we can then take these hours of gameplay anywhere we want. With this in mind, these older beloved remastered editions of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Trilogy coming to the Switch would be a good thing, right? Well, not exactly.
The introduction of video games to new platforms has seen mixed reviews over the years. We have seen games with expansive worlds like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Vampyr that have come to the Switch with generally good reviews. We, of course, saw minor compromises in these games and others like it that usually stemmed from a lack of resolution, but not enough to compromise the complete gaming experience.
So, what is going on with GTA on the Nintendo Switch?
Rockstar Games recently released the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, including Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. These remastered versions have received a great deal of backlash, prompting an apology for the games’ drawbacks and a promise for upcoming updates and patches. Technology is constantly evolving, especially when it comes to the gaming world, which, in theory, should be an advantage when it comes to remastering a game.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for this situation. The main problem that players have expressed with this release is the constant gameplay issues, bugs, and amount of detailing in both the characters and the world around them. We’ve seen quite an awkward update when it comes to character features and movement. There is also a loss of realistic gameplay, resolution, and lags for the remastered versions, especially on the Switch.
Shared Issues among Remastered Games
Another game that we saw struggle to move to the Switch is Assassins Creed III. In this case, there were similar problems as the remastered GTA trilogy; players didn’t receive quite the visual update they were hoping for, pulling them out of the immersive experience. Another thing these remastered versions shared was a problem with cut scenes, which gamers know is a big problem for the game’s flow. Players also experienced an issue with poor audio between these games. The frustration with remastered games only amplifies when the original version holds up or surpasses the remastered version.
Is there still hope for GTA on the Switch?
Fortunately, Rockstar Games is making an effort to fix GTA’s major problems, and has recently released a full patch with some specific changes to the Switch edition. Hopefully, we’ll see some improvements to gameplay. The patch covers various aspects of gameplay, including camera movement capabilities, fixes to the landscape and weather (like the rainfall visual effects), updates to the characters in cutscenes, and corrections to the text and subtitle displays. The modifications made specifically for the Switch versions of the games are:
- When a player reboots the game, the language settings will now be saved to how the player initially set them
- Corrected the weapon accuracy issue for pedestrian interactions
Hopefully, from what was shown on the long list of updates, the patch will do the trick, and we can return to the nostalgic world of the Grand Theft Auto series.
