Cyberpunk 2077 on Nintendo Switch 2 is a testament to the console's raw power

When Nintendo announced The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch all those years ago, it was a real statement of intent.

After the Wii and Wii U, Nintendo was telling us that it felt confident it could work with third-party publishers to deliver the kind of games we would also expect on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Skyrim for Switch was hardly a flash in the pan, as we now know. The Switch has enjoyed a wealth of third-party support over the last several years, and the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct has already confirmed that we can expect that same level of love for its successor.

Given that I was expecting a ton of third-party support for the Switch 2, I have to say I was still floored when it was announced Cyberpunk 2077 would be launching with the console. I was even more surprised when I went hands-on with it to discover it runs pretty damn well.

I’m someone who lost quite a lot of money after insisting that there was no way The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt could ever come to the original Switch, and CD Projekt RED has once again made me look a right tit by bringing Night City to Switch 2.

My brief demo dropped me right in the middle of Dogtown, an area from the Phantom Liberty expansion so graphically intensive that CDPR opted not to release it on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That should give you an idea of just how much heat the Switch 2 is packing.

Some concessions have definitely been made. The framerate is a little choppy - especially when driving - and it obviously doesn’t look quite as magnificent as it does on a high-end PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X, but that Cyberpunk 2077 looks and runs as well as it does on a handheld console is nothing short of remarkable. I would also point out that the game still looks terrific when it’s being played on the TV; a far cry from The Witcher 3 Switch port, which looked fine in handheld and as if it had been covered in vaseline when docked.

All told it looks like this Switch 2 port could be a genuinely excellent way to play Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, or just dive in all over again and ultimately head straight to Judy because she is bae.