Russ Vandy – Is Minecraft Legends Best On Nintendo Switch?

Is Minecraft Legends best on switch or should you buy on another console like Xbox or Playstation and possibly get it for free if you do in this video we will determine which version it is right for you and if you’re a handheld lover we’ll also take a look at valve’s steam deck

Minecraft Legends is a Minecraft spin-off in an RTS style at first glance it might seem a tad like the popular Nintendo franchise Pikmin but it’s not Pikmin it’s Minecraft and we love Minecraft see I even have Minecraft Crocs this game was revealed during the Xbox and Bethesda game showcase 2022 it was

Definitely quite the Shocker that we were getting another top-down Minecraft game so soon after the most recent spin-off Minecraft dungeons which was released in 2020 however while this game might seem similar it’s actually very different instead of a Dungeon Crawler this time when getting a real-time action strategy game it’s interesting to

See a game that’s from a franchise so popular but with such a different gameplay style based on a game like Minecraft I picked up the deluxe edition which has all the current DLC included and is the only physical version available right now but I’m sure in the future there may be more physical

Versions like we saw with dungeons now something worth mentioning about this game is that it’s very much not Minecraft so don’t buy this game because you think it’ll be like it because it’s not this is a completely different style game with a Minecraft skin and honestly the Minecraft franchise is perfect for

The style of game you are tasked with building bases and collecting resources first let’s jump into the biggest differences starting with the graphics and performance as is always where the switch lacks the most and in most games as soon as you open up the game you’re greeted with a beautiful cut scene well

At least it’s beautiful on current gen consoles because on the switch version we get an extremely compressed jittery cutscene that looks like it’s running at 24 frames as opposed to the 30 frames per second on current gen consoles now this isn’t a huge deal because it’s just

A cut scene and this is most likely done to the switch version to cut down storage space on the cartridge in the system this is usually what we get on switch games with pre-rendered cutscene comparing the gameplay side by side with the current game consoles you may not

Instantly notice a difference due to the pixel art style this game has it’s not completely noticeable you will notice the blocks and the lines are a lot sharper on current gen consoles and the resolution is a lot clearer with 1080P and last gen consoles 1440p on Series S

And 4k on PS5 and Xbox series X and the switch running at a surprising 1080p as well with Dynamic resolution very often bringing the resolution down as more stuff occurs on screen thankfully when it comes to the textures in game it’s not really noticeable because it’s such

A simple pixel art style I’ll even go as far to say the flat textures look identical in all versions although there are quite a few textures like the Short Grass across the terrain having more prominent outlines from the current gen versions in fact there’s way more foliage in beefier versions like the

Current gen consoles more grass flowers and seemingly more trees looking side by side with the series X version you can see there are a lot more trees and structures filling out the world but I wouldn’t focus on that too much because that’s a mix of the randomly generated

World and the render distance on switch that’s another thing you may notice as well the render distance on switch is a lot shorter as I’m walking forward I can actively see the world generating in front of me whereas the series X version the render distance is far enough that I

Don’t even notice the world loading in at the end of the day the render distance shouldn’t be a deal breaker my eye is calibrated to it soon after I started playing but it may be noticeable when you first jump in it’s mainly in the lighting Reflections shadows and

Frame rate where you’ll see the biggest differences the lighting is phenomenal on current gen consoles like look at these light rays shining through the trees these aren’t apparent on the switch version at all there’s also a phasey effect on current gen consoles that make things like the opening tutorial more mysterious the reflections

Are also surprisingly present on switch but it’s not as clear as the Xbox versions the Shadows on switch are also more present than I’d expect because every single asset and MOB is dynamically lit on all versions but the biggest issue I’m seeing is the constant frame dips While most versions are

Running at 60 frames per second this game is running at half at 30. well sometimes Minecraft Legends is actually capped to 60 frames per second but it’s constantly shifting from 25 to 40 and goes lower very often and there’s no clear reason why this would seemingly happen at random times it would randomly

Happen while traversing through the map and when small or large groups of enemies would try and attack so even though this game is more than playable and can still be enjoyed with the lower frame rate I’m hoping they’ll address some frame rate issues in a future patch

Of this game so just for fun I started the game in the console just in case there was a bug that was giving me some random hitches sometimes that might help a performance in the game and to my Avail it actually worked I fixed a huge hitching issue simply by restarting the

Game so after all that the frame rate is still pretty choppy but it’s much better there was a point where I was getting so frustrated that the game was hitching randomly it got so bad it would skip some button inputs this type of thing generally happens when there’s a memory

Leak in the code but now I’ll say the frame rate still goes between 25 to 40 frames per second during gameplay realistically it would have been nice if they had just locked the frame rate at 30 but I guess they were trying for 60. and to be fair the in-game rendered

Cutscenes do run well at a somewhat solid 60. one more thing to mention about the frame rate are the golems that you command on every console it looks like they’re frame skipping to save power this happens with pretty much all versions but it’s definitely the most noticeable on switch because it’s the

Least powerful oh and quickly mentioning the load times they’re quite longer on the switch but it’s not that big of a deal but what about the gameplay experience is this type of gameplay style the most beneficial in switch does benefit from being handheld or doesn’t even matter let’s find out the campaign

Is pretty decent I haven’t completed it yet but apparently it takes 10 to 11 hours so if you wanted to you can complete it in two to four sessions if you felt like it but unlike the Minecraft we all know would love this game isn’t one you can spend infinite

Time on this is a story driven game with challenges and fun tasks and the story isn’t really amazing either but it’s enough to keep you invested I also want to quickly mention that controls this game honestly has some very well thought out controls that take a little while to

Get used to just like any new game you can direct your cursor with the right stick while moving with the left and most commands are controlled with the back bumpers and d-pad while the movement and character combat is controlled with the face buttons this is all great and I have no complaints about

The Pro Controller controls but I think it was a huge missed opportunity with the lack of motion controls with the joy-con there’s even an entire joy-con menu in the settings but there’s no motion controls Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3 did this perfectly with the Wii remote

Joy-con it was way easier to play those RTS games because of the speed you can move the cursor with this game it’s the same thing there are so many aspects that are similar between the two games but you even have a whistle for the gongs just like Pikmin motion controls

Would have been beneficial in my opinion it could have possibly made this one of the best features that the switch version could offer this is why PC players might be more Speedy in the game just because it’s easier to control the cursor with the mouse but if of course

That’s my opinion let me know in the comments if you think you’d use motion controls oh and if you’re liking the video so far consider liking and subscribing let’s talk about multiplayer this is a mode I enjoyed a lot more than I initially expected to multiplayer is a

Great way to play through the campaign with a friend that also has the game and as much as it pains me to say this there isn’t a local multiplayer option this would have been great on switch but I can’t make this a point solely against the switch as there’s no version with

Local split screen you need to play this online if you want to play multiplayer on any version thankfully it is cross-platform so a friend that plays on Playstation or Xbox can play with you on switch thankfully I subscribe to Game Pass so I was able to try this out on my

Xbox and switch using separate Microsoft accounts without having to buy the game twice did I mention that this game was on Game Pass so if you’re a PC or Xbox player you can play this game included with your subscription without having to show the retail price so I definitely

Recommend that route if that’s available to you I think multiplayer shines with the PVP mode when I first play PVP mode it took me forever to get into a Lobby on day one people joined and left and I was probably waiting for almost 10 minutes just to get paired up with seven

Other players once I loaded into the game I wasn’t really sure what I was doing as I hadn’t even played single player for too long it’s pretty much a 4v4 tower defense game where you build up your squad and try to fight the other team and it’s pretty much all I got from

It honestly it’s not quite my cup of tea yet but I think after I get further into the game I’ll revisit it and enjoy it more and hopefully there are more PVP players so that finding a match is faster I was able to try this out in a

1v1 match I had a ton of fun playing this in a private lobby with just me and a friend we didn’t get super in depth with the match because we both were just learning but it’s a cool mode you can enjoy with friends I wish there was a

Ranking system of sorts that would make me want to come back but there’s not really anything like that there’s not much incentive to come back to this unless you enjoy the gameplay but let’s talk about the switch’s biggest Advantage handheld mode playing this game handheld is fine and maybe the way

You prefer to play your switch and although the game runs fine at handheld mode it still suffers from the constant frame dips in fact they’re even a little more prominent and speaking of frame dips for some reason every time I tap the screen while I’m in game I’m treated

To a massive frame drop it’s probably trying to register what I’m doing and it doesn’t know how but this means that the touchscreen is at least supported but it’s only supported in the menus and even then there’s a massive delay between tapping and something happening but wait as discovered before after

Completely resetting the game everything ran decently fine the frame it was actually a bit more consistently higher than in docked after the reset there was still a bit of a dip when you touch the screen but nowhere near as bad as before all that say if you are experiencing

Frame dips once again restart the game and it will be fixed at least for a while but all that aside when you are playing the game you should expect similar Comfort to most other games you play handheld the joy-cons may get a little uncomfortable after a while but

That’s not the game’s fault but what’s great about handheld mode is single player you don’t need to be at home or in front of the TV while playing it you can be anywhere and playing this handheld is also a great feature if you bring it to a friend’s house and you

Want to play with them if they have the game as well then you can play with separate screens in fact you have to play the separate screens one thing I need to mention about handheld is of course the steam deck I can’t not mention this as this is the top

Competitor to the Nintendo switch if you want the most intricate experience this is the way to go you can even boot it through Steam and if you have Game Pass you can download Windows and download it for free there is something to note about the steam deck though at the time

Of recording this it is not steam deck verified yet and that’s very apparent because the game crashes at launch on day one on Steam OS so after quite a while of finagling and installing Windows I got it to run on the deck this wasn’t the easiest so if you do plan to

Play it on the deck I’d wait until it’s verified on Steam OS and chances are it will be soon most likely this week the performance on Steam deck is great it runs similar to last gen consoles with more options for graphics and control customization this game is a lot more

Insane with keyboard and mouse controls and if you’re a PC Gamer I think you’d really enjoy this and it’d be easier to get the hang of than a controller the steam deck version plays and runs fantastic and is the best way to play so far in my opinion due to the handheld

Form factor and the power of the device I was able to get it running at a smooth the 1080p 60 frames per second on medium settings and 40 to 50 frames per second on high settings and on medium settings this game has overall better graphics compared to the switch so realistically

If you have the choice between a switch and a steam deck you’ll probably want to go with the steam deck due to the performance and customization and you can even play a docked with a controller but I also understand more people have a switch than a steam deck honestly the

Steam deck is the definitive way to play this game handheld but back to the main question is it best on switch well it really depends do you have an Xbox or Game Pass if so then I would recommend playing it on there or at least testing

It out if you have Game Pass and still want it on switch then get it on switch but if you don’t have Game Pass and you need to buy the game regardless then it really depends if you plan on playing the game handheld if you need to play

Handheld because you only have a switch light or that’s your main way to play then yeah get this game on switch but is it best on switch no but it is perfectly playable if that’s your only option if it’s not your only option then it’s your

Choice but let me know do you think it’s best on switch and if you’re getting this game tell me which platform you decided to get it on and also if you want to see my first impressions of the game you can check out my second Channel

Russ plays normal mode you can watch my first impression if you enjoyed this video please consider liking and subscribing I hope to see you in the next one see you later