Star Ocean The Second Story R for Switch 2 is a great port so far, but Square Enix is punishing Switch owners

Today, Square Enix announced and released a new Switch 2 version of Star Ocean The Second Story R. Just like the Octopath Traveler I and II Switch 2 ports, Star Ocean The Second Story R does not offer any upgrade path or save transfer for existing owners. Having played Star Ocean The Second Story R back in 2023 on all platforms, I was curious to see how the new Switch 2 port would look and feel. Ideally, it would deliver an experience that matches the PS5 version docked and a solid 60fps experience handheld. While I will be focusing on the Switch 2 port for this feature, I also have included a few comparisons to give you an idea of how Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 compares with other platforms.

Star Ocean The Second Story R Nintendo Switch 2 impressions

Before discussing Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2, I need to give you some context for how the game looked and ran on other platforms. The PC version was a very good port that scaled well even on lower end hardware. The PS5 version was a solid 60fps experience throughout, but all versions of Star Ocean The Second Story R had shimmering or jagged edges to some degree alongside foliage loading in closer than you’d expect. The solution to a lot of these issues was modding the PC version, but there is only so much you can do. I had to get used to the foliage shimmering on every platform, and while it wasn’t as bad on PS5 as it was on Switch 1 or even PS4, it was still there.

Moving over to Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2, I’m impressed with how it looks and feels handheld. It doesn’t have the same draw distance as the PC version, but I didn’t expect that considering even other consoles can’t match that. Considering the PS5 version didn’t see a resolution increase above 1080p and was capped at 60fps, the Switch 2 version having the same target and delivering in the opening hours is a great sign. Obviously Gemdrops and Square Enix were conservative with the PS5 release given how the game runs on PC handhelds, but we’ve had some mediocre Switch 2 ports lately and I’m glad to see Star Ocean The Second Story R deliver here.

Star Ocean The Second Story R PS5, Switch 2, PS4, Switch 1, and PC visual differences

For this comparison, I focused on how the Switch 2 version compares with the PS5 or Switch 1 release when played docked and also how it looks handheld compared with the Switch 1 version via handheld boost mode, Switch 1 version itself, and also the PC version on Steam Deck and ROG Ally. I wanted to test more on the ROG Ally, but a recent Windows 11 update has made it reboot randomly while I play a few games (not all) and unfortunately Star Ocean The Second Story R is one of them. I was only able to get a bit of capture for my comparison today. 

Star Ocean The Second Story R on PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5 all targeted 1080p 60fps, but they had different post-processing with the PS5 version having the best of the lot. The Switch 1 version was well below 1080p. Square Enix says it targets 864p docked on Switch 1 and that seems about the upper limit as I also was able to measure below that resolution. The Switch 2 version on the other hand is 1080p docked as well as far as I can tell based on counts I did. 

Star Ocean The Second Story R handheld comparison across Switch 2, Steam Deck, Switch 1, and ROG Ally

When it comes to portable play, Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 is a step above the PC version on Steam Deck and a massive upgrade over the Switch 1 version. It is however not as good as the PC version on ROG Ally since the draw distance and anti-aliasing is a lot better on ROG Ally while delivering 60fps or higher frame rates. Despite that, Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 delivers a solid portable version right now and one I can see myself using for a full replay. 

Note: For the comparison above, I used Steam’s screenshot functionality on Steam Deck and ROG Ally. I also used the Switch and Switch 2 screenshot functions to get handheld capture from those consoles because there is no other way to get handheld capture right now. I cropped the images to show the differences.

Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 also delivers a 1080p experience handheld. I pixel counted it in four different areas and it was a 1080p experience. I even compared it with the PC version running at 1080p and it lined up. Gemdrops did a great job with it handheld so far.

Star Ocean The Second Story R performance differences across PS5, Switch 2, PS4, Switch 1, and PC

Star Ocean The Second Story R targeted 30fps on Switch 1, 60fps/30fps on PS4, 60fps on PS5, and supported up to 120fps on PC. On Switch 2, Star Ocean The Second Story R targets 60fps both docked and handheld. So far, it holds that target well and basically delivered what I wanted from a Switch 2 port of the game. I think the console versions in general are a bit too conservative given it is still 1080p 60 on PS5 when it surely could do 120fps given how it runs on PC handhelds, but that’s something for another article. Taking into account how the PS5 and PS4 versions run, Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 is a good turnout for the port, but I wish the Switch 2 and PS5 versions did more. 

Star Ocean The Second Story R load times compared across PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch 1, Steam Deck, and PC

To test load times, I installed Star Ocean The Second Story R for Switch 2 on the Switch 2 internal storage, the Switch 1 version on Switch OLED SD card and on the Switch 2 internal storage, the PC version on Steam Deck and ROG Ally, and the PS4 and PS5 versions on my PS5 Pro internal storage. I didn’t have time to also test the PS4 version on PS4 Pro for this article. I measured the time taken to load the title screen from the dashboard and also to load an early game save. The results below are in seconds.

Platform	Dashboard to title	Loading a save
PS5	9	Instant
PS4 on PS5	14	1.5
S1	28-30	4-5
S1 on S2	18	2
S2	16-18	2
Steam Deck	20	2
ROG Ally	12	2

As you can see, the Switch 1 version on Switch 2 and the native Switch 2 version both deliver major load time improvements over the Switch 1 version played on Switch 1. In fact, they even match up with the PC version loading off an SSD. As for the PS5 and PS4 versions played via PS5 Pro, the former instantly loads the save and also has the fastest initial load. Note that the game has no PS5 Pro support either. Even the PS4 version on PS5 delivers fast loading. 

Is it worth buying Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2?

If you don’t own the game or want to replay it on the go, Star Ocean The Second Story R on Switch 2 is an excellent version of a great RPG. In a lot of ways, the Switch 2 version reminds me of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven’s upgrade, which brings us to the major issues. The lack of save transfer, upgrade path, and the price point essentially make it hard to recommend for those who already played it and supported it day one, but it is an easy recommendation if you want to replay it on the go or for newcomers who play on Switch 2. Even putting aside the upgrade path and price of the release, no save transfer is what really annoys me with Square Enix’s Switch 1 and 2 releases so far. While nothing has been announced for it so far, I hope this gets a proper cartridge release so I can add it to my collection because the port is lovely. 

Star Ocean The Second Story R is now available on PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch, and PC (Steam).