Biomutant Switch Review – An All Right Port 

Biomutant Switch Review 

Biomutant released in 2021 on PC and consoles. In 2024, the game releases on the Nintendo Switch. Set in a post-apocalyptic a world where animals have mutated and now wield weapons of war, Biomutant is an open world, action RPG. The game was released initially to mixed reviews, citing repetitive gameplay and a little over-ambition. But can the Nintendo Switch port hold up and compare to the initial release?

In Biomutant, you play as a mutated furry creature. From a choice of 6 breeds, you can choose your character base. Biomutant breeds affect different skills, levels and attributes. Body, height, fur and others affect your starting stats. As is video game logic, smaller, slimmer things make for good agility and vice versa. It’s a nice detail, but it feels somewhat cosmetic. The furry creatures have been dubbed with cool sci-fi titles, but they’re mostly to the effect of what looks like a red panda or a possum. You can choose your class and in the new Switch port, the Mercenary Class Loadout DLC allows the chance to play the Mercenary class right off the bat.

The obvious choice, the giant sword, looks cool in all the trailers. But this doesn’t make too much of a difference in the long run, you can always pick it up sooner or later. Or craft something cooler. Overall, melee combat just feels a lot better on the Switch version than anything ranged.

I Like the View

As you traverse the post-apocalyptic Biomutant landscape with a narrator in your ear, there are some choices to be made here and there. The ‘storyteller’ guides you along as you make choices like joining the light or dark path. There is also a variety of characters to meet and interact with and big furry things to fight.  

All the while, you’re smack dab in the middle of a tribal war. Along the way, you can find loot and craft new weapons and armor as you level up. You can craft new modifications and make unique combos. There’s a lot to find, make and piece together. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on your Luck attribute. Aside from a better chance at a critical hit, you get a better chance at some of the better loot in the game. It’s all about finding diamonds in the rough. 

One of my favorite parts about Biomutant was traversal. There’s mechs, a jet-ski, air balloons and unique area mounts. It’s admittedly less of a marvel on the Switch but these modes of travel give that extra boost to seeing the open world unfold. Traveling around the Biomutant world allows you to evolve or mutate your character, affecting their looks, even after the character creation at the beginning of the game. There’s a nice mechanic where your character mutates new features like claws and twin tails. 

Gets the Job Done

My expectations were not incredibly high for the Nintendo Switch port but I was excited for a second look at the game. Biomutant is a beautiful open world game on PC and other consoles. So there was some skepticism on how it would hold up on the Nintendo Switch. Of course it’s still the same game, there’s still see some of the issues from before, like the game starting to drag a little the further in you go, especially in story and dialogue.

Graphically, it’s about as one would expect on the platform, and a lot of visual quality was cut for the port. The environment can look muddy at times and feel like an older game than it is. Going into combat the first time was jarring. Especially with ranged weapons. You will need gyroscope controls to play this on the Switch. For all it’s downgrades however, it runs decently. There’s some minor frame rate drops at the start and during the first few cutscenes but it was a smoother ride the rest of the way at a steady 30 FPS resolution.

Overall, Biomutant on the Switch is a decent port of a decent game. There is a new learning curve with Nintendo Switch controls, especially in handheld mode, and the graphics are not much to write home about. The difference is really noticeable especially if you’re coming from PC. However, Biomutant performs and still offers a good time for those that loved it the first go around. 

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***