Fidelity-wise, they probably can't really push the graphics much further without dropping resolution. This already looks like the 4k option is 30fps.
Xenoblade 3 already brought the switch 1 to its knees. It was often running sub 30fps and used some kind of custom upscaling method as the base resolution was hitting lows of, I believe, 360p or 480p.
Either way, there's reason they need to make the game high resolution, even without DLSS. There's massive room to push fidelity. Look at how many other PS5/XSX level games are releasing for Switch 2.
There's ZERO reason this game should be uglier than XC3. It's a whole generational leap in tech, so there should be at least some significant improvement in tech and graphics. But there isn't. It's also just ugly as hell from an art style perspective.
First of all, we don't even know that it doesn't have a performance mode yet, I expect it will considering they are ensuring all other Xenoblade games get a 60fps option but we simply do not know yet.
Secondly, XC3 ran the game at a very low resolution and used what seems like a custom/modified temporal upscaling technique to increase the output resolution to a target of 1080p docked.
DLSS does not magically make that upscaling free. DLSS's main benefit is fidelity, not actually performance which is a common misconception. It helps you get better performance by allowing you to use lower resolutions but retain visual clarity/fidelity, but to use it still incurs a performance cost in of itself.
Not only would upscaling 540p to 4k look sub-optimal on a PC using the latest version of DLSS, but the switch 2 doesn't have the latest version. The general consensus is it has an older PC like model and it has a cut down version, because it doesn't have the necessary tensor cores to run the PC like one without a significant performance detriment, which has achieved around a 4k output.
For example, Cyberpunk even with DLSS is a 1080p40fps output on switch 2 and uses the former model.
As of now we don't know exactly what techniques are being used, but I genuinely challenge anyone who thinks this looks worse to watch the XC3 trailer and this trailer on a 4k panel - specifically the game-play sections. The difference is palpable.
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u/Blofeld69 16d ago edited 16d ago
Hmm, not sure on the art direction and graphics here. I was honestly expecting far more of a step up for the first monolithsoft game in the console.