The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Rogue Trader is not the best version of the game. We might as well make that the starting point for a review that puts me in a very difficult position. How do you rate a game that’s as good as Rogue Trader, but which runs here, somewhat inexplicably, like a bag of spanners? You could just skip right down to the bottom of the page, but here’s the thing, Rogue Trader on Nintendo Switch 2 defies whatever score I finally settle on, because even when it’s running badly, it’s one of the best tactical RPG experiences you’ll find anywhere.
Load times are not good. That starts with the tone-setting creep of a loading bar that laughably shoots to 41% before taking a loooonnnng rest, searching around for the energy to make it to the end. Any movement from major area to the next brings about another lengthy wait, but the central sections themselves don’t incur any loading at all, so there is that. Travelling in your Voidship across the map also causes various stops and starts as different narrative moments are played out, a fresh load cycle happening every time despite those moments taking place in the same bridge section, and it serves to sap a lot of the game’s momentum.
You’ll be slowed down further when the game autosaves, pausing the action for at least ten seconds while it sorts itself out, and if you run quickly back and forth through a new area, the game will hang as it loads the required assets in. It’s then absolutely fine once it’s finished doing so, so it’s almost worth having a run around for a few moments to settle things down. All of this doesn’t sound very good, and… it’s not, requiring players to have rather more patience than most games should given that we now have SSD speeds for storage on Switch 2.
However, Rogue Trader is the kind of game to attract the patient. This is a role-playing game in the purest sense. From the first moments spent creating your character, where you’re choosing their background and backstory as well as selecting their visual design, you’re then drawn ever deeper into the world of Warhammer 40,000 thanks to some of the best writing and storytelling you’ll find in gaming.
If you’ve been a fan of the Warhammer 40K universe, and perhaps read some of the many novelisations, Rogue Trader feels utterly authentic, perfectly capturing the language, lore and feel of Games Workshop’s sci-fi series. It’s intensely literary, with a great deal of excellent writing, and the size of the text has thankfully been enlarged for the Switch 2 edition, so it’s still enjoyable whether you’re playing in docked or handheld mode. There should definitely be a toggle or a slider for this, mind you, but I can live with it as it is.
That writing is enhanced by the excellent voice acting that’s prevalent across the entirety of the cast. Each character feels unique and fully formed, and as your crew expands, you’ll find yourself coming to know each of them in exceptional detail. It’s at a level that you’ll consistently marvel at, and despite the many performance issues in this version of the game, you can definitely look past them thanks to the quality of the actual game itself.
That will depend on how sensitive you are to frame rate issues, though. While things have improved following the first major patch, Rogue Trader on Switch 2 still chugs along when you’re moving around each area, and it’s incredibly inconsistent. Frankly, it looks and feels pretty horrible, and that’s with an obviously reduced resolution across the board as well, which makes the character models and level design look considerably uglier than you’ll find on other platforms.
You might be disappointed to find that following the most recent patch, they’ve also broken the menus. You can access the main options, but none of the graphical or visual options currently work, which feels as though it’s a deliberate choice while they try to improve things. There were previously two different anti-aliasing options, as well as a film grain toggle, but right now, none of it works. I do expect Owlcat to continue working on this, but in its current form, Rogue Trader on Switch 2 looks and feels more like it’s running on the original Switch.
The shame of all this is that Switch 2 owners are going to experience the game in a way that they may find utterly off-putting. They will check out from one of the best sci-fi RPGs of recent years, and that is tantamount to being a crime. The storytelling, the character building and the tactical combat are some of the best in the genre, but right now, this version of the game is a mess. It is broadly playable – I’m still persevering as the game has got its hooks back in me – but currently, if you can play Rogue Trader anywhere else, you should.
