Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment on Switch 2 Plunges Below 480p as Frame Rates Stutter

Switch 2 got its big exclusive musou in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and on paper it should be the perfect flex for Nintendo's more powerful hybrid. In reality: it looks great on a TV, and it trips over itself on the go.

Handheld mode: big battles, small resolution

Age of Imprisonment is a fast, crowded action game, which is exactly where the handheld side of Switch 2 starts sweating. The image uses dynamic resolution that swings between roughly 468p and 648p in portable play, and it can fall under 480p when the screen fills with enemies and effects. You can see the hit immediately: softer textures, jagged edges, and a whole lot of shimmer.

The game leans on AMD's FSR1 for upscaling, and it just does not hide those drops the way Nvidia's DLSS can on other hardware. Frame rate targets 60fps, and in quieter stretches it hangs in the low-to-mid 50s, which is fine. But once you get the full particle explosion soup the series is known for, it dips enough to feel messy, even if it never becomes outright unplayable.

Then there are the cutscenes. They are pre-rendered, locked to 30fps, and carry visible compression artifacts. Because those videos are baked in rather than rendered in real time, they also help push the install size up to about 42.7GB. Not nothing.

Docked mode: the fix is the cable

Plug it into a TV and the game calms down. Resolution jumps to a dynamic 720p–900p range and the frame rate is much steadier at 60fps, with the occasional dip to around 55fps during busy moments. Clarity goes up, the action reads better, and the spectacle finally lands the way you want it to.

• Handheld: dynamic 468p–648p, can drop below 480p; frequent shimmer/aliasing; 60fps target with noticeable dips during heavy fights; pre-rendered 30fps cutscenes with compression; ~42.7GB install.
• Docked: dynamic 720p–900p; mostly steady 60fps with rare dips to ~55fps; much cleaner image and smoother battles.

So, is it actually fun?

Yeah. When it behaves, Age of Imprisonment is a big, flashy, very enjoyable musou, and for a handheld title it can still look impressive in moments. It is also a reminder that 'hybrid' still means trade-offs: the TV experience is clearly the best one here.

The expectation game

Switch 2 has been sold as a stronger, smarter take on the hybrid idea, and this was supposed to be one of the early titles that showcased it across both modes. Docked mode basically delivers. Handheld mode, not so much. For a showcase exclusive, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo should tighten up portable performance.

If you want to go deep on the numbers, Digital Foundry has a thorough breakdown. The short version: play this one on your TV if you can. Portable chaos meets portable limits.