Is Ark Survival Evolved worth getting on Nintendo Switch?

Modified May 28, 2024 19:32 IST

Ark Survival Evolved on Nintendo Switch — Exploring if Ark Survival Evolved is worth getting on the Nintendo Switch (Image via Studio Wildcard)

In Ark Survival Evolved, players can hunt, build shelter, tame creatures, and get powerful gear. It has been around for years and is available on multiple platforms such as PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. The title has a remastered version called Ark Survival Ascended, which players can find on almost all platforms except the Nintendo Switch.

Upon initial launch, fans were not happy with how Ark Survival Evolved functioned on the Switch. It had major bugs, extremely low graphics, to name a few issues. Therefore, it was rebuilt and reintroduced on the Nintendo Switch in 2022.

If Ark Survival Evolved is one of the games you're considering for your Nintendo Switch, you will need to go through its features and performance to decide if it's worth the purchase.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinions of the writer.

Should you get Ark Survival Evolved on Nintendo Switch?

Ark Survival Evolved came out for Nintendo Switch in 2018 (Image via Studio Wildcard)

Ark Survival Evolved was initially released in 2018. Back then, it was poorly received due to its low resolution, long loading times, and more issues. The port was riddled with bugs and lacked many features present on other platforms. Essentially, it was considered terrible by a majority of the player base.

However, in April 2022, the game was rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 4. This update addressed all criticism from the initial launch, and the reworked game now offers a much better experience.

Here are the details that have been changed:

Image quality: The new version targets 1080p docked and 720p handheld. This is a major improvement from the previous version, which only reached 360p docked and 240p handheld.
Draw distances: The draw distances for trees and foliage have been significantly improved. This means that players won't see giant trees popping in and out as they move around the world.
Loading times: Loading times have been drastically reduced from an average of three minutes to around 15-20 seconds.

The game now looks incredible on the Nintendo Switch, with graphics similar to the Xbox One version, albeit at a lower resolution. It also has all the content that the other versions have, including all the expansions.

Ark Survival Evolved can be bought for $19.99, which is a little expensive compared to other consoles as you can get it on PS4 and Xbox for $14.99. However, you can get the game for a cheaper price during sales.

While the title performans great on the Switch, we cannot ignore the fact that a better version is out for almost all other platforms. Ark Survival Ascended offers better performance and has new content coming its way, such as The Center map expansion.

To answer the question, Ark Survival Evolved is worth getting on the Nintendo Switch if you're a fan of the franchise and do not have any other device to play it on. However, if you have a PC or any other console, we suggest you get the remastered Ark Survival Ascended; it offers a better experience with boosted graphics, a new map, and more content improvements.

Ark Survival Evolved is still a great choice for Switch players who are looking for a good survival game with dinosaurs.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan