The newly announced Nier Automata Switch port is targeting 30 FPS in docked and handheld mode.
That's according to a recent tweet from the official Japanese Nier account, which – per machine translation – promises 30 FPS in docked mode at 1080p and in handheld mode at 720p. It's unclear if those are fixed or dynamic resolutions, nor do we know how stable this target frame rate will be. These limited figures also don't tell us much about the quality or clarity of the game's visuals, but it's a start, and frankly it could be worse.
For reference, when Nier Automata originally launched it ran at 60 FPS on PS4 in 900p, and it achieved the same frame rate in 1080p on PS4 Pro. However, that frame rate was subject to noticeable dips during cluttered or intense fight scenes, particularly on a base PS4.
If the Switch port can maintain a steady 30 FPS, it should appear relatively smooth even to those whose eyes have been spoiled by 60 FPS. But if we start to see comparable frame dips into the low 20s or even high teens, that could be a bit of a slog. Fingers crossed – both for stable performance, and in hopes that they didn't have to take a belt sander to the environments.
The fact that Nier Automata got a Switch port at all was enough to rankle Kingdom Hearts fans, who were quick to criticize Square Enix for only releasing a cloud Switch version of Kingdom Hearts – namely the infamously clunky Integrum Masterpiece collection – while giving other games full-fledged ports.
