Verdict
While contending with some hardware-related lag and slightly unusual button mapping choices, Wizard101 on Nintendo Switch remains a fun, fantasy-filled adventure for everyone, and I’m sure glad it’s finally portable.
"How is it? I'm genuinely so curious," my friend Simon texted me. He's one of three people I've played the game with, and now that Wizard 101's Nintendo Switch port is here, he was eager to get my review. I was, of course, standing in a crowded Unicorn Way. This street is one of the very first areas that Wizard101 has to offer. In the 2008 PC version, it's one of the few streets you can access without having to pay for a monthly membership. In the Switch version, you keep the first five worlds forever after having paid the price tag of 20 bucks.
As I booted up the game on Switch for the very first time, I was struck by how similar it all felt. I'm not sure what I expected, necessarily, but maybe I'm so used to handheld ports having shoddy graphics or weird in-app purchase additions that I was surprised to find Wizard101 exactly as I usually would if I loaded it up on PC. Merle Ambrose greeted me, taking me through the school sorting quiz as usual (which I lied on this time around so I could grab my desired school), and I skipped the tutorial. Then I was right in.
Before I go down a rabbit hole about the technical aspects of the port, it's important that I recommend you play this game, even if not on Switch - as though this version may only be getting a seven out of ten, the PC one is an instant ten for me. As I mentioned in my previous piece about the Wizard101 Switch announcement, this is one of my favorite games of all time.
Where should I even start about what's good about this game - is it the story, which looks unassuming and childish at first but sneaks up on you as a profoundly moving piece of writing? Or perhaps the score, on which many songs feel as though they belong in a Spielberg movie? Or, maybe, in my heart, I just love conjuring little animated spells, dressing up as a wizard, and having my personality defined through which school of magic I'm from. All of the above, I think, and more.
Moving onto the Switch version itself, I was a little thrown off upon entry. The mechanics of moving your wizard around, while simple on PC with WASD, take some getting used to on my Switch. I assumed that one joystick would control the camera, while the other would be for moving, but this didn't end up being true. The left joystick controls the movement and camera, and the right one is just the camera, making for a confusing experience.
Even more unsettling was the decision to make joysticks irrelevant in menus. It took me some time to figure out that heading from 'inventory' to 'spells' in my book used the split D-pad. I eventually discovered that you could press down on the left stick to cause a cursor to appear, but the game could do with telling players some of the controls.
When I began questing properly, I ran into some lag issues. There were about 20 odd players and I roaming Unicorn Way on the Balestrom server, which was pronounced 'crowded' on the server list, and unfortunately for me, every time one of them entered my screen - on a lion mount, broomstick, or just on foot - I winced as the game took a second to adjust. It would've been fine once or twice, but everywhere I went, I ran into more people, souring my enjoyment of exploration.
Luckily for me, combat remains a delight. I teamed up with two random people to take down some Skeletal Pirates - classic - and found Wizard 101's card-based action to be seamless. Once I found out that the game could be seamless, it led me to test a theory: maybe if I was on a quieter server, I'd have a better time. Lo and behold, the game was smooth after this. I don't need other people in my fight anyway: though I'm ride-or-die for Life school, I chose Death school for my wizard, Quinn Starshroud, because it's one of the best schools for soloing the game. I had the gift of foresight: my friends are yet to join me in playing it on the Switch, and crossplay between console and PC isn't supported.
The magic really popped off for me when I hooked my Switch up to the TV to give it a whirl. The near-perfect rendition of the original graphics looks even more impressive on the big screen, and hearing the game's magnificent score so loud was truly a blessing. I could see the deep purples of Triton Alley, saw in rich detail each spell coming to life, and generally spent a good amount of time lost in happy nostalgia as the screen sucked me in.
My only other complaint is the chat system, which, as you can imagine, is a little difficult on Switch as opposed to PC, since on the latter, you can just type out whichever words you want. On Switch, a chat menu is offered, similar to those provided to under-13s on the PC version, which has pre-written quips, strategy suggestions, and weirdly polite small-talk options. It's not great, and unfortunately for Wizard101, a game that has a reputation for being one of the best MMORPGs, talking - and not having players lag out on each other - is pretty important.
If you're perfectly happy to play a fantastic adventure solo, then knock yourself out on your Switch. The game is plenty good enough on its own, with fun gameplay, a stunning score, and incredible vibe - all of which is now portable for you to take around the world. But to enjoy the full experience of the game, you'll need to play on a higher-end console, like the Switch 2, Xbox, or PC. I wish it weren't so.