High on Life 2 Nintendo Switch 2 Graphics and Performance Breakdown
I really enjoyed the original High on Life on Nintendo Switch, and was equally impressed by the visual leap made in the Nintendo Switch 2 version, which earned an Outstanding 82/100 here at What’s It Like?. Now, the sequel is almost here, and I’m sure plenty of bounty hunters are wondering just how well it performs on Nintendo’s latest console. Fortunately, I’ve been able to get my hands on an early review copy and have already spent several hours squanching my way through the opening of the game. While I continue working on my full review, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take an early look at the game’s technical side. We’ll explore the prologue, examine the visuals, put the performance under the microscope with frame-rate testing, and see how High on Life 2 is shaping up on Nintendo Switch 2. So, let’s suit up and check it out!
Disclaimer
Before we jump in, I do want to mention that Squanch Games kindly provided me with an early review copy of High on Life 2. As this is a pre-release build, it’s worth remembering that performance and visuals may change before launch. At the time of writing, I don’t know whether a day-one patch will be available when the game launches in Australia on July 2. The aim of this breakdown is to give you an early look at how High on Life 2 is shaping up on Nintendo Switch 2, particularly from a graphics and performance perspective. While everything shown here reflects my experience with the current build, my full review after launch will provide a more complete picture of the finished game and highlight any improvements made between now and release.
High on Life 2 wastes no time getting you back into its bizarre universe, opening with a montage that recaps the events of the first game while catching players up on everything that’s happened since. It’s a fun introduction that brings back a few familiar faces, delivers plenty of laughs and does a great job of getting you back into the role of an intergalactic bounty hunter without feeling like you’re sitting through a lengthy recap. At the same time, it also gives you an early taste of what Squanch Games has achieved visually with the sequel. Even before reaching the first proper level, it was obvious that High on Life 2 has taken a noticeable step forward from its predecessor. The environments feel larger in scale, the lighting has been improved, and the overall presentation feels much more polished, while still keeping the colourful art style and personality that made the original so distinctive.
The Zoo
For this graphics and performance breakdown, almost all of my testing took place in the prologue, which is set inside an alien zoo. It felt like the perfect location to put the game through its paces, with busy environments, large numbers of NPCs, combat encounters and plenty of environmental detail all packed into a relatively small section. The first thing I noticed actually happened before I even took control of my character. After the initial loading screen had finished, the game sat on a black screen for roughly seven seconds while the audio continued playing in the background. For a moment, I actually thought the game had frozen, but it eventually transitioned into gameplay without any further issues. Since this is a pre-release build, it’s difficult to say whether this will still be present at launch, but it was something I encountered during my testing.
Once I stepped through the entrance, the visual improvements were immediately noticeable. The zoo feels more detailed than anything I remember from the original game, with crowds of NPCs protesting at the gates, detailed lighting, and plenty of environmental clutter on the ground. Although the entire level takes place at night, the lighting and shaders do a fantastic job of giving everything depth, helping the world stand out. Characters have also received a noticeable upgrade. The Gatlians remain as expressive as ever, while the new enemy designs feature far more visual detail than the fairly generic G3 Cartel soldiers from the first game. There’s a lot of extra detail here as pieces of armour break away when hit with projectiles, and firefights feel much more spectacular as a result. It reminded me a little of DOOM Eternal, where you could visibly see enemy damage in real time, and it’s one of those smaller touches that helps make combat look more satisfying.
After spending time exploring the opening area, I feel like the best way to sum up High on Life 2 on the Switch 2 is more detail, and a step up. Whether it’s the denser environments, improved lighting, more detailed character models or the additional effects during combat, High on Life 2 simply feels like a more ambitious game than its predecessor from a technical perspective. Of course, impressive visuals are only half the equation. The real question is whether Nintendo Switch 2 can keep everything running smoothly, so let’s take a closer look at the game’s performance.
Moving on to performance, High on Life 2 appears to target 30fps, much like the original game on Nintendo Switch. Across the opening hours, it spends the majority of its time close to that target, with only heavier combat encounters causing the occasional dip. The busiest sequence I tested saw the frame rate briefly fall to around 25fps before recovering back to 30fps once the action settled down. Considering everything happening on screen at the time, including multiple enemies, particle effects and environmental detail, the drop was noticeable but never severe enough to make the game feel unplayable. Frame-time consistency is a little more varied. During my testing, frame times generally fluctuated between 22ms and 66ms, with a couple of isolated spikes reaching around 88ms. If you’re unfamiliar with frame-time graphs, they’re essentially a way of measuring how evenly each frame is delivered. A consistent frame time results in smoother gameplay, while larger spikes can create the occasional hitch or momentary stutter, even if the frame-rate counter itself still appears relatively stable. These larger spikes were fairly infrequent and mostly occurred during more demanding moments, rather than throughout normal exploration.
The second combat encounter I tested painted a very similar picture. Once again, the game remained close to its 30fps target for most of the battle, with only brief fluctuations when the action became particularly hectic. The frame-time graph also followed a similar pattern, showing the occasional spike but generally remaining within an expected range for a 30fps title. Based on the opening hours, performance feels comparable to the original High on Life, but with a noticeably more detailed world to render. While there’s certainly room for optimisation, particularly around frame-time consistency, the performance I’ve experienced so far hasn’t detracted from the overall experience, and with the game still running on a pre-release build, there’s every chance further refinements could arrive in a post-launch update.
One familiar feature from the original High on Life also makes a return on Nintendo Switch 2, with the occasional “loading door” appearing throughout the adventure. During my time with the prologue, I only encountered one of these in the Zoo area and, rather fittingly, it happened just as I was trying to make a quick escape. The door remained closed while a loading icon appeared on screen, bringing the action to a brief halt before allowing me to continue. Thankfully, these moments have been few and far between based on my experience so far, and I haven’t encountered them often enough to become frustrating. Given the scale and level of detail on display, it’s a trade-off that helps maintain performance throughout the rest of the experience.
Based on everything I’ve seen so far, High on Life 2 is shaping up to be a great sequel on the Nintendo Switch 2. The visual upgrades are immediately noticeable, with richer environments, more detailed character models and improved effects helping the sequel feel like a clear step forward from the first game. Performance has also been fairly solid throughout my time with the prologue, sticking close to its 30fps target despite a few expected dips during the busiest combat encounters. There are still a few technical quirks worth keeping an eye on, including the occasional loading door and some frame-time spikes during more demanding moments. That said, this is still a pre-release build, so it’ll be interesting to see whether any further optimisations arrive with a launch update. My full review of High on Life 2 will be coming very soon, where I’ll dive into the gameplay, story, humour and whether the full adventure is worth adding to your Nintendo Switch 2 library. If you enjoyed this early graphics and performance breakdown, don’t forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel and let me know in the comments what you think so far.
Until next time… Squanch you later!
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