Popverse's top stories

• DC has unveiled a major new Wonder Woman villain over two years in the making, co-created by one of James Gunn's top writers
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Livestream Monster Hunter Wilds, Borderlands 4, Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man, and more PAX West 2025 panels live

Forgive me, friends, for I have had a lapse in faith. Despite my love of Nintendo and many of their iconic series, I have sat firmly on the fence of whether the Switch 2 was worth the price. Sure, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza look like ridiculously fun outings, but, thus far, there hasn’t been a game that proved the console could keep up with even the PS5 in terms of graphics, which made me unsure if it would hold up to a ten-year life cycle like its predecessor.

However, after a day at PAX West, I can tell you that particular fear has been exorcised from my body thanks to ten minutes playing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on the Switch 2. I, admittedly, was not prepared for how gorgeous the game looks on a handheld console, and for that, I’m sorry.

This happened during a press event with Square Enix at PAX West, where I also played a couple of other upcoming games from the company (I’m being intentionally cryptic here – stay tuned next week!) Almost as an afterthought, the team had a handful of Switch 2’s on the side of the room with Final Fantasy VII Remake loaded up. No pressure to play it. No fanfare. Just a “Oh, you’ve got some time to kill? Why not play this too” vibe.

Turns out they were right because I did have some time to kill as I waited for the chance to interview two of the people behind Final Fantasy Tactics. So I sat down with a cup of coffee to see just how the Nintendo Switch 2 handled one of the more graphically demanding games on the current generation of consoles.

Here is where the lack of faith came in; my expectations were low for Final Fantasy VII Remake on the Switch 2. I’ve got a Switch and I’ve dealt with some of its less graceful ports in the past. I played the downgraded Witcher 3 on the console and struggled through the long load times in Pillars of Eternity. While I didn’t think Square Enix would put out a game that unpolished, I didn’t expect Final Fantasy VII Remake to look as good as the PS5 version on the Switch 2. Nintendo, as we know, doesn’t care about graphics in the same way that other developers do, so their consoles typically focus on fun over power.

And yet I stand here before you, a changed man. Or, at least, a man with a different opinion. I spent ten minutes playing through an early chapter of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on the Switch 2, and it succeeded where I thought it would fail. The console looked and felt identical to the PS5 version that I played, without any load times that I could notice. It was smooth, beautiful, and fun, even if I was a bit rusty with the controls. The action flowed smoothly from cutscenes to combat and any load times between areas were short enough that I barely registered them. I can comfortably say that you will be able to take this game on the go without feeling like you’re playing a lesser version.

Do I think that Final Fantasy VII Remake is going to be the game that convinces the majority of fans to pick the console up this holiday season? Not really; it has been out for years and everyone who was going to play it already has. But what it is is a proof of concept that the Switch 2 can deliver where its predecessor struggled with regard to graphics. This isn’t bleeding-edge visuals, but it shows that you can port a game that was known for its graphics without making major sacrifices. Final Fantasy VII Remake on the Switch 2 has proven to me that Nintendo’s new console has the power to stay relevant even when Sony and Xbox reveal their next gen offerings.

My final, lingering fear about picking up the Switch 2 has been alleviated and I have no more reservations about the console.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
• Popverse Picks: The best Assassin's Creed protagonists
• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
• The Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover set wouldn't exist without the Spider-Verse

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.