Despite a wealth of exceptional experiences under its belt, Red Dead Redemption 2 is perhaps the best experience Rockstar Games has crafted yet. Its has quality storytelling few other games have achieved, and its visuals are stunning. The game pushed the capability of last generation's consoles, and the game's continued success in Red Dead Online shows just how well its mechanics hold up. Also flourishing in the PC space, Rockstar's latest major title is very accessible.
Despite being so very demanding on system requirements, Red Dead Redemption 2 runs seamlessly on Valve's new portable device, the Steam Deck. It's a dream for many players to take such an expansive experience on the go, especially since it was wowing audiences on home consoles only four years ago. It's a technical feat, and one that is unlikely to happen on the similar handheld Nintendo Switch, so fans will have to appreciate all Red Dead Redemption 2 offers from the comfort of home - or on the Steam Deck.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a Graphical Behemoth
As Red Dead Redemption 2 depicts America at the turn of the 20th Century, its graphics and art style fit of the times. Trudging through the muddy streets of Valentine or getting lost in the madness of Saint Denis is all the more enjoyable when the game is so aesthetically pleasing to look at. Red Dead Redemption 2 is stunning, and took full advantage of both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. The Nintendo Switch just isn't powerful enough to do the game justice, and while a watered-down, lesser version of the game is plausible, it's not the way that New Hannover and its surroundings were meant to be experienced.
A similar thing happened with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt when it released on Nintendo's hybrid system. While it was a joy to experience Geralt's journey on the go, this was far from the definitive way to experience the game. Its next-gen release on PS5 and Xbox Series X is far more inviting because it will be a further improvement on what made the game so great to begin with. In the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, it works best during long sessions on a system that can make full use of its visuals. Leaning further into the new consoles and the Steam Deck is absolutely the right decision, and excluding the Switch would be a missed opportunity that's probably worth missing.
The Switch's Family Focus
The Nintendo Switch houses thousands of games in a plethora of different genres, but titles developed by Rockstar have never truly gotten off the ground. Players are likely to buy the Switch to play games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Metroid Dread, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, all of which are suitable for fans of any age. Red Dead Redemption 2's themes of violence, disorderly behavior, and gang culture are not in-line with what fans would expect of a typical Switch release, despite the console also housing titles like Doom.
Steam Deck will cater to those who already have a Steam account, a platform that hosts a whole range of titles with various degrees of family entertainment. PC gaming isn't usually considered fun for the whole family, and it's clear by the design of the Steam Deck that the device has solo play in mind. The Switch's functionality lends itself well to couch co-op, and the Steam Deck doesn't. Valve has repeatedly batted away comparisons to the Switch, and if a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 was going to find a portable home on either, it would surely be Valve's device.
Red Dead Redemption Has No Relationship With the Switch
Despite releasing over a year-and-a-half after the Switch, Red Dead Redemption 2 was in development long before conversations surrounding Switch compatibility even began. It's a game that wasn't made with the console in mind, so it's harder to ensure that it could fit within the system's limited power. If the development cycles were reversed and Nintendo's console was already on the market when Red Dead Redemption 2 was in pre-production (not unlike Doom or Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus), there's every chance it could have seen a port.
Furthermore, there is another game in the series that is more than suitable for the Switch. Red Dead Redemption released in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3, among other platforms, and being so tightly connected to the events of the sequel it would be a much better fit for Nintendo's console. The graphics aren't as demanding, and it would serve as a suitable test to see if Red Dead Redemption's license has the potential to garner a new audience on Switch.
The Steam Deck is Arthur Morgan's Portable Home
Red Dead Redemption 2 has proven to run wll on the Steam Deck, and this would be near-impossible to capture on the Nintendo Switch. It's a game that simply didn't, and couldn't, consider the Switch when it was being worked on. Yet the Steam Deck is a viable option for players who want a device with more power than Nintendo's handheld offering, so Red Dead Redemption 2 now has a portable platform it can fully take advantage of.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a fantastic game, and one that deserves the critical and commercial recognition it received. One of the elements that it succeeds in is its appearance, so downgrading it to fit on the Switch would be taking away one of the core components of its charm. The Steam Deck is simply better equipped, and fans wanting to experience Arthur Morgan's tragic and epic story on the go will have to do so on Valve's hardware.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.