How well does Skyrim on Switch compare to PS4?

DF: "How did they do that? The Switch port of Skyrim is excellent - Tom and Rich convene to discuss the necessary compromises and cutbacks, with full docked vs mobile comparisons, PlayStation 4 head-to-heads and - of course - a performance analysis breakdown."

[Moonman]

Confirmed Special Edition to any trolls...lol. They enjoy it on Switch! :) I like the colors on Switch better IMHO.

[_-EDMIX-_]

... it's actually not

I would argue digitalfoundry is actually confirming it's not because depth of field and volumetric rays are missing. ... And the publisher has gone out of their way to make very clear that it is not the special edition.

[Gemmol]

it actually is......reading fundamental.....keywords you missed.. features are pared back or missing, and if you continue to read they show you which one was pared back, so its not ps3 or 360 version......and they cannot call it a remaster or special edition if it never came out on Nintendo before

The existing Special Editions brought across the impressive volumetric lighting from Fallout 4, which is pared back or missing altogether in some cases on Switch. Shadow quality is necessarily shifted to a lower resolution (though edge filtering is fine, making the drop hard to pick up on) while ambient occlusion also seems to have taken a hit. Texture resolution is also visibly pared back in some areas, but by and large, this is only noticeable up-close - further back, Switch compares favourably. In terms of intelligent, well-chosen compromises to make, all of these changes are perfectly understandable and while the Switch version starts to lose some of the more subtle, pleasing effects of the full-fat current-gen console versions, the game still manages to impress - and the impact is even less of an issue when playing in handheld mode.

The key to bringing Skyrim to Switch is all about managing level of detail. Again, well-chosen cuts have been made here. Up-close, aside from changes to debris settings, the port retains the majority of object detail - geometry settings are, by and large, a match. Long distance detail also looks very similar indeed.

[Vegamyster]

Just because a couple of settings are turned off/dialed back doesn't mean it's not the special edition. The lighting system, new textures/foliage, water shaders ect are all present from the special edition, just look at the comparsions: https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[_-EDMIX-_]

Sure...

[UKRsoldja]

It's not a very good looking game regardless. Never has been. Still looks like an upscaled ps2 game. Flat lighting and low-poly. Meh.

[DrJones]

Lol so wrong

[UKRsoldja]

DrJones - Uh, Witcher 3 is 2 generations ahead of this game.

[DrJones]

'Upscaled PS2 game' That is where you are wrong

[specialguest]

This is pretty impressive on the Switch hardware. The devs did a really good job on their optimization.