There are times when I play some indie games and immediately get the idea that perhaps there’s a better game hidden somewhere out there on a platform that isn’t the Switch. There’s no question that the system is hardly a powerhouse, especially more than 8 years after it launched, but the fact is that I’ve played some incredible games that have somehow been ported to it that can make you forget that fact. Sure, they can be muddy if you take captures of specific frames, but somehow they’re able to bring together fluid movement and decent looks as well. Unfortunately, then there are others where it looks like the porting process involved turning some dials down to low quality, going with lousier textures, disabling some effects, and hoping for the best.

Starting with what’s positive, there’s no doubt that the game offers up some elements that feel pretty unique… but they do rely on you getting through a bit of an initial meat grinder of frustration, so you’ve been warned. There is a pretty wide open world out there for you to explore once you get to it, whether you’re sailing around or exploring the nooks and crannies of the structures you’ll discover. Add to that the fact that the gear system, once you wrap your arms around it, opens up quite a lot of possibilities for how you play, giving you the power to fine tune your equipment far more than normal. That said, you’ll need it to compensate for the fact that you won’t be leveling up to become more powerful, so you’ll be reliant on steadily improving your gear. The sad thing is, your inventory and how to make the most of what you have on hand isn’t well-explained, so one of the game’s better features is tougher to appreciate than it should be.

The problem is really whether or not you’ll be willing to stick it out to enjoy those benefits, at least playing on the Switch. In spots the game is simply too dark (and that’s after being a little generous on my brightness setting), to the point that I fell into pits at times from not being able to see well enough. Worse, once everything is well lit you’ll get a good idea of why they may have wanted to keep things in the shadows. Taking a look at footage from other systems, the game is capable of looking quite nice, but the Switch port really hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way over unfortunately. Mix that with some fundamental problems with geometry and clipping that can be annoying for a variety of reasons, and the game comes off as being quite rough around the edges in general, but absolutely struggles on the Switch. If you think it could be of interest I’d seriously consider it on any other platform first.