Nintendo just can't catch many breaks. That's not to say the company is remotely struggling, but with relatively soft Switch 2 sales in the US and much of Europe, bad-faith actors are still having a field day declaring the new console dead and dust. We will have many years to see where that Goes on, but in the meantime, there's some buzz in Animal Crossing: New Horizons to watch.
Actually, what is the issue? Switch 2 Update 3.0, AKA Switch 2 Version Upgrade. While it's only $4.99 USD for those who own the original release, some players feel underwhelmed by what it brings to the table. Specifically, er, vasoline smear, as some have phrased it.
Blurring the line between versions
On Twitter, @BoundaryBreak (see above) was quick to note the update's FXAA antialiasing approach. This blurs many of New Horizons' visuals, softens them, and thus leads to a noticeable effect. less Sharp image. It's hardly universal, to be sure, but it's an unfortunate side effect as the game's general graphics are inevitably upgraded.
@GuyWithThePie goes on to post some screenshots:
“Upscaling doesn't account for this properly,” they note with some obvious evidence, “so background characters and objects are all pixelated.” They even go so far as to mention the vasoline smear effect, which is never a good sign.
“The moment any straight object is at an angle it's a big blur. Nothing looks exactly the same from frame to frame, it's like they ran the whole game through waifu2x. It's so disappointing to see how cheap they went on it. Is true 4K that hard?”
Honestly, I see their point. Overall, I'm not all that disappointed personally, but I can easily recognize why others would feel differently. $4.99 still there moneyAnd it would swell to get an upgrade across the board, instead of one with some messy caveats. Asterisks are not the best look. “Especially when all other free first-party resolution upgrades so far have been true 4K,” @GuyWithThePie continues, “including those developed by the same team!”
i don't know I'm still having fun, but it could be more. That sounds like the tagline for a lot of Nintendo news right now, but I'm sure the Switch 2 will find its proper footing in due time. For now, I'll keep playing the Switch 2 versions of Breath of the Wilds and Tears of the Kingdom – which is a huge step up without the weird stars.
The highly-requested Code Veronica remake will be announced this year, insiders “promise”
Sorry, Resident Evil 5 fans, you're going to have to wait a little longer.
