Is Ark Fixed on Switch?

When Ark was initially released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018, it resembled something like a Velociraptor’s chewed-up dinner, it was ugly, ran terribly, and was not very appealing to gamers, especially those who played it on other platforms. The main problem appeared to be reducing assets in the game engine to get it to run on Nintendo’s handheld console, reducing trees and dinos to low poly messes, taking what is normally a graphically impressive game, and reducing it to a steaming dino turd. Critically, the game wasn’t well received with Nintendo Life saying: “…we can’t help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo’s hybrid platform” and rightly so, as it looked and performed rather terribly, earning it a score of 4/10. For most developers, this would have been a disastrous launch, most likely written off after a few updates, and it certainly seemed that way for a while there… but in April 2022, Ark was re-released, rebuilt in the Unreal Engine 4 from the ground up to bring an entirely new experience to the Switch. Did it work? Is ARK Fixed now? What’s it Like? Grab some rocks, punch some trees, and find some shelter so you can enjoy this updated review of ARK: Survival Evolved on Switch.

All footage featured in the video is from the updated ARK: Survival Evolved.

For those new to the island, ARK: Survival Evolved, is a survival game that could only be described as Minecraft with Dinosaurs. You will forage, hunt, and build a shelter, but also manage your body temperature and hydration. It’s an unforgiving world, full of discovery, and suspense. You will be on edge traveling through the swamps while scanning the reeds for movement, or hiding in cover during the darkness. It’s moments like this that make the game an incredibly immersive experience, and to add further danger, when playing online, the biggest threat you will face is other players. In the early stages of the game, you will think making a primitive bow and arrow is a great achievement, but given time, you will set up sources of metal and forges, craft advanced weaponry, and master taming dinosaurs. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience for those who stick with it, and the deep crafting system steadily adds new concepts and mechanics to the player experience the higher your character level.

The gameplay loop is addictive, although it can be frustrating when starting out when you run into something higher up in the food chain, and then have to recover your items from your body. Depending on what ate you, it may be safer to just start fresh, as I found out it’s quite difficult to take on a 20-foot-tall Spinosaurus with a simple spear. As you progress, you can tame all many dinosaur friends, having a flying mount, an army of Raptors, and even a massive Brontosaurus to help you harvest berries en masse.

With the new Unreal Engine 4 overhaul, ARK: Survival Evolved looks incredible, and yes, while there have been minor compromises to the engine to allow a smoother experience, the graphics are almost similar to when ARK: Survival Evolved launched on the Xbox One, albeit at a lower resolution. The game is now on parity with the Playstation and Xbox versions, featuring all the expansions that allow for a much larger scope in your adventure. There’s the traditional Island, Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Genesis, and Ragnarok all in the Ultimate Survival Edition which regularly goes on sale for under $40 AUD. Or you can whet your sharpening stone on the base version for $30 which also regularly goes to the discounted price of $15 AUD. There’s enough gameplay to feed a T-rex in both bundles, and I’m sitting at about 60 hours on the default island at the moment. There’s an underlying narrative to these locations, and I’m enjoying uncovering the mysteries around who my character is, and what part he plays in the grand scheme of things.

The increased visual fidelity and performance help draw you into this immersive experience. Biomes range from golden beaches, treacherous swamps, and dense jungles where you listen carefully for threats ruffling through the foliage. Dinosaurs are imposing and impressive, and you will soon learn who to befriend, fight, or avoid altogether. The structures you build look great, and the engine looks amazing with the exception of the lighting. The bloom effects are far too aggressive, and can thankfully be turned off. This does show some of the imperfections the bloom was hiding, but ultimately provides a better visual experience, until night falls, where it’s far too dark and the star’s motion blur is headache-inducing. I understand that you aren’t meant to be out at night, and crafting torches provides some relief, but I think nighttime hinders the player as you simply craft what you can and wait for daybreak.

The new engine allows the game to be well polished, with only some minor bugs encountered during my time which ranged from hyper ragdoll physics to once being stuck inside my Dire Bear when I tried to dismount. These issues seemed to sort themselves out quickly, and I never had to reload a save game due to bugs. Framerate is fairly consistent now, sometimes dipping during heavy combat with multiple swarms of enemies, but ultimately holding up even when navigating through densely populated areas or intricately built bases.

Ultimately, ARK: Survival Evolved is now an incredible experience on the Nintendo Switch, addressing all of the complaints players had on launch. It looks and runs great, has all the content other systems have, and has a reasonable price point, especially for those who pick it up on sale. Sure, it took 4 years to get to this point but the dev teams behind ARK: Survival Evolved on Switch should be applauded for taking the time to rebuild the engine from the ground up to make this possible. While critics and gamers were right to think that this was an impossible task, Wild Card and Grove Street Games have managed to pull off an incredible feat.

So after starting with such low scores, what would I rate it now? I award it, an 82/100. An incredible redemption Ark.