The Nintendo Switch got so many ports years after other platforms that I ended up treating it as my favorite platform to revisit games I enjoyed. I obviously hadn’t played every game ported over and discovered some great games through late ports on Switch. That has already started happening on the Nintendo Switch 2, with a game I had heard a ton about but never got around to before: Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Mimimi Games’ stealth tactics puzzle hybrid experience has been a joy to play, and I liked it enough to not only buy Joy-Con 2 mouse grips but also buy the game on both PlayStation and Steam.
If you’ve not played or heard of it before, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun brings in elements of the old Commandos games with a feudal Japan setting. It debuted back in late 2016 for PC before seeing PS4 and Xbox One ports a year later. A native PS5 version was released last year, and nearly a decade after its debut, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun has arrived on Nintendo Switch 2 alongside its standalone expansion Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Aiko’s Choice.
Since this was my first time playing Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun in any form, I was curious about a few things. Having enjoyed many releases from Mimimi Productions over the years, I expected to like it, but I really regret not playing it before. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a fantastic stealth game with a few flaws. As I made my way through the varied levels, I started realizing how this was the third non-Metal Gear Solid stealth game I enjoyed, joining Volume and Monaco.
When the port was revealed, Shadow Tactics’ mouse controls were highlighted as a standout feature on Switch 2, and I can confirm that the team did a great job with both the mouse and traditional controller input options. I didn’t really struggle with controller inputs since I’m more than used to radial menus in games like this, but the mouse mode is a notable standout, making this version even better. I also appreciate that Shadow Tactics swaps button prompts and the UI on the fly depending on your input method, rather than making you manually enable or disable mouse mode like some games do.
The downside is that Shadow Tactics is a 30 frames per second game on Switch 2, both docked and handheld. When comparing it with the PS4 and PS5 versions, it sits in between both with crisper visuals than the PS4 version, but it is notably softer than the PS5 version, which is also 60 frames per second. I think Shadow Tactics looks and runs stable enough, but it is a bit disappointing given how it appears to hit 60 frames per second and above without issues on Steam Deck in similar locations when I was testing and comparing a few levels.
In future patches, I’d love to see an uncapped option added for handheld play since VRR should help, but even a 40 frames per second at 120hz option docked would be great to see. Right now, the Switch 2 on its own is a great way to play this excellent stealth tactics game, but it does feel a bit lacking when you can get a much better portable and TV experience on other platforms at a fraction of the price right now.
Despite its cutbacks compared to the PS5 version or even how smooth it is on Steam Deck, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is an easy recommendation on Nintendo Switch 2. Even nearly ten years later, the game got its hooks in me almost immediately, and I cannot wait to revisit it on higher difficulties and play the standalone expansion in the future. I just hope a potential performance mode or even a 40fps option is added in the future.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review Copy Provided by Mimimi Games
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