Best Switch Graphics
Image: Nintendo Life

While the Switch might not be able to compete with other platforms in pure processing terms, there's certainly no shortage of beautiful-looking games on the console. Switch may not output at a native 4K at 120 fps, but Nintendo's diminutive little hybrid can still pack a punch for the eyeballs. Couple clever programming with excellent art direction and Switch can deliver stunning visuals on a little console you can throw in a backpack. How far we've come since the Game Boy days!

Below we've put together a list of the best-looking games on Switch — titles that prove you don't necessarily need a dozen teraflops, HDR lighting, and fancy-pants liquid-cooling solutions to produce gorgeous visuals in a modern video game. Many cross-platform titles such as Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Witcher 3, Warframe, and Alien: Isolation look truly remarkable on Switch considering the console's comparative power limitations, but the following list highlights games we believe stand alongside the very best visuals of the generation, regardless of platform — you'll find no 'considering the hardware' caveats here.

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So, without further ado, let's dive in and swim in the graphical loveliness of the best-looking Switch games (in no particular order)...

Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch)

There was perhaps an element of surprise to how lovely Luigi's Mansion 3 looked which took us aback. Not that we expected it to be anything less than lovely--it is a top-tier Nintendo release--but we weren't quite prepared for the prettiness of Luigi's threequel. Developer Next Level Games really lived up to its name with this one and sucked every last big of graphical juice from the hardware.

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The Touryst (Switch eShop)

With performance locked at a silky-smooth 60fps and the pixel count maxed out whether you're playing in docked or handheld mode, The Touryst from developer Shin'en is an absolute treat for the eyes. With a colourful voxel art style and a bright island-based setting, it's a wonderfully good-looking little adventure to embark on and we highly recommend giving it a try if this one passed you by.

Kingdom Two Crowns (Switch eShop)

While 2D pixel art games are ten-a-penny, few of them are quite as breathtaking as Kingdom Two Crowns. Performance might not be perfect, but one look at the wondrous reflections, subtle lighting and sheer detail in the ever-changing landscapes of this game is enough to forgive and forget any frame rate hiccups you might encounter.

Octopath Traveler II (Switch)

HD-2D has just continued to look better and better with every single game, and Octopath Traveler II is the culmination of this. With stunning lighting, beautiful depth-of-field, and gorgeous character animations and sprite work (those bosses), it's the gold standard for retro throwback RPGs for the modern era. It's a feast for the eyes and ears, and with the improved gameplay elements, it's a dream for any turn-based RPG fan.

Octopath Traveler and Live A Live are also well worth your time, too, both for their beautiful visuals and excellent gameplay, but for the complete package, Octopath Traveler II is the way to go.

Astral Chain (Switch)

This Switch exclusive has all the easy style you'd expect from PlatinumGames, the studio that makes Bayonetta, but we were especially impressed at the world-building effect of Astral Chain's cohesive art direction. Rich colours contrast against worn surfaces and tech of the Police department, with sharp character designs by Masakazu Katsura giving this dystopian future a unique look when it could so easily become another one-of-those.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

Taking the blueprint of the original Game Boy game and dressing it up in a wonderful toy-like aesthetic, developer Grezzo did a fine job at reimagining a classic for modern hardware. Only some patchy performance issues take the shine off it, but Link's Awakening on Switch is still one of the system's graphical jewels.

Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (Switch)

This may be a leftover from the previous generation, but Rayman Legends remains one of the best-looking 2D platformers ever, and that's no less true of the Definitive Edition on Switch. Its cartoon art style is timeless and stands up just as well in 2020 as it did when it first wowed us on Wii U back in 2013. This is frequently available at a vastly discounted price in the eShop sales, so if you haven't taken the plunge, we highly recommend getting acquainted with Ubisoft's limbless wonder.

GRIS (Switch eShop)

A delicate little indie platformer, the watercolour art style of GRIS is just the ticket if you're stressed and in need of a restorative, relaxing game. Coming from indie studio Nomada, it's a magical little adventure where you bring pigmentation back to a colourless world. If you're after something that will attract the attention of others as you play, GRIS is a captivating game.

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch eShop)

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a gorgeous reskin of a Master System classic that's been reconstructed from the ground up. The visuals alone are enough to earn its place here, although the real ace up its sleeve is the ability to switch between Lizardcube's incredible artwork and the original 8-bit graphics in real time. You don't have to go into a menu, you press a button and the other style wipes across the screen. Scrubbing between the two became part of the game for us as we switched between styles and admired the artistic choices made in the updated version.

Don't get us wrong, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is great, too, but this game has a special place in our hearts. The same artist worked on the sublime Streets of Rage 4.

Townscaper (Switch eShop)

Less a game and more a relaxing (and thoroughly eye-catching) plaything, screenshots of indie curio Townscaper are responsible for taking up approximately half of the storage space on the micro SD card lodged in our Switch at present. With the ability to alter the time of day in real-time via the menu, we've lost many happy hours creating impossibly complex towns on the water and grabbing shots from all angles — a beautiful way to pass a few minutes or many hours with no goal beyond creating something aesthetically pleasing. Fortunately, Townscaper makes that easy.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

Breath of the Wild, for a launch title on Switch, looked utterly incredible. Tears of the Kingdom is a step up in terms of scope, visual variety, detail, and lighting. With improved performance and brand new environments such as the Sky Islands, it's honestly staggering to see just how good Tears of the Kingdom looks, both docked and handheld. That beautiful art direction carries through to the sequel, too. If you're picking up a Switch for the first time, you can't go wrong with both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom — two lookers, and two all-time greats.