Nintendo Switch 2 gamers stunned by surprise free downloads

Nintendo Switch 2 is out now, and it turns out there are a bunch of free enhancements that have gone unadvertised.

Today’s finally the day, we’ve got the Switch 2 in our hands and are playing some of the new bangers that have hit the eShop.

One of the benefits of a more advanced system is that it can improve the performance of last-generation games, which is why we’ve got new versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.

However, that doesn’t mean that Switch games that don’t receive a next-gen patch can’t still benefit from these enhancements, as Nintendo gamers are finding out for themselves.

According to Reddit user KRiSX, Fairy Tail now runs at 60FPS on the Switch 2 compared to the sub-30FPS it was on the original console. And that’s without a patch to support the new console’s capabilities.

Similarly, they also report Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is running a lot smoother than before without a Switch 2 patch, and Dragon Quest Builders 2 is also a “night and day difference”.

Even if games don’t have noticeable performance improvements with regards to framerate or resolution, loading times should be much better on the Switch 2.

That’s because the Switch 2 uses an SSD for its internal storage, which isn’t as fast as the storage in an Xbox Series X/S or PS5, but it’ll be a lot faster than the original Switch.

So all those loading screens in Skyrim or Animal Crossing: New Horizons should be massively reduced.

In the coming days and weeks, we’ll probably find out more about how games from the original Switch perform on the Switch 2.

Considering there’s over 12,000 titles on the Nintendo eShop, it might take a while to go through them.

I’m getting my hands on the Switch 2 later today, and looking forward to seeing some of the performance improvements for myself. I’m personally hoping for a more consistent framerate in The Witcher 3.