IGN Says Skyrim On Nintendo Switch Is Everything You Hoped It Would Be

IGN recently had an opportunity to go hands-on with Skyrim on the Nintendo Switch and have come away from the experience very impressed. The gaming publication managed to get some quality time with the game during PAX West and have stated that the game not only runs well on Nintendo’s latest hardware but the load times have been improved significantly. Here’s their impressions:

“I’m sure that saying that Skyrim on Switch feels just like Skyrim sounds like I’m being reductive, but it’s actually genuine praise. The game runs well, with a smooth framerate and generally crisp textures, and even the historically epic load times seemed shorter. But what’s more impressive is undocking the game and playing in handheld mode.

Skyrim really pops on the Switch’s screen, and the novelty of taking its massive world on the go is sort of incredible. When it first launched back in 2011, the idea of putting Skyrim on a portable device seemed laughable, but it makes a lot of sense on Switch.

New to this version is amiibo functionality. Players can use amiibo to randomly generate loot in the form of treasure chests that drop from sky, not unlike in Breath of the Wild. I used the original Link amiibo to summon a chest full of gauntlets and fruit, but was assured by Nintendo that the Link armor from this year’s E3 demo was in the game and is pretty common in loot drops. So, for those of you looking to play this version of Skyrim as a gritty Zelda reboot, it shouldn’t prove too difficult. Motion controls are also added to this version and while aiming a bow and arrow works well enough, flicking your wrists to perform different melee attacks felt clunky and unnecessary.”