Digital Foundry Compares Xbox Series S & Switch 2 In New Assassin’s Creed Shadows Analysis
Just like September’s interesting analysis of Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2 and Series S, Digital Foundry returns with a fresh look at another Ubisoft title that’s been ported over to the Nintendo system this week – and once again, this one uses the Xbox Series S version as its jumping off point.
Yes, in its latest tech review on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, DF notes that “this ambitious port succeeds by starting from the cut-down Xbox Series S” version, pulling back a little further than the Microsoft machine to achieve these results on Switch 2. It’s an intriguing comparison that once again sheds some light on how these two systems stack up.
“Among visual attributes missing on both Series S and Switch 2, strand-based hair and ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) don’t make the cut, with the latter being replaced by the same baked, probe-based lighting solution seen on Series S. The lighting quality further suffers on Switch 2 due to an apparent downgrade to its screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO) setting. And while Series S sneaks in an RTGI pass in AC Shadows’ “hideout” hub zone, Switch 2 does not.
Foliage appears at lower density levels or even disappears entirely compared to Series S, with reduced animation effects and fewer distant-tree details, as well. Textures and shadows render at lower resolutions, with shadows employing a more aggressive middle-of-screen drop-off. And cutscenes inherit these and other downgrades, including under-occluded, “glowing” faces and a different, deeper, depth of field effect.”
The team goes on to mention more cuts as well, namely to reflections, water and cloth simulations:
“The cuts go deeper for Nintendo’s portable-docked hybrid system. Screen-space reflections (SSR) are replaced by cube maps as a fallback – and we’re not sure why these look different than on other consoles. Water and cloth simulations are pared back, with steps through water no longer creating ripples and clothing moving and reacting to stimuli more subtly than on Series S.”
In summary, DF reckons that Ubisoft “made the right calls with one or two exceptions” when porting Assassin’s Creed Shadows to Switch 2, and while the Nintendo hybrid device turns in some impressive results, it doesn’t quite match up to Xbox Series S in some key areas. You can check out the full video of this tech review up above while the written version is down below – and yep, it’s going to be interesting to see how this battle continues in the coming years!
