Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Switch 2: Is It Worth It for Portable Players?

By Jordan Hale

If you own a Steam Deck and a Switch 2, the Switch 2 version is the one to buy for the couch and the plane. It looks worse and the eShop list price ($69.99) doesn’t move, where the PC build drifts well below list on key sites, but it loads in seconds instead of minutes, holds 30fps without sweating, and stretches the battery further than the Deck on the same game. The PC build on a Deck is the cheaper-after-discount, prettier, harder version. Both lock to 30fps. The Order of Giants story DLC ships at day-one parity on Switch 2 ($19.99 / £17.99 standalone). There is no cross-progression between Switch 2 and PC, so the choice you make is the version you finish.

That’s the answer. The rest of this is the working.

What the Switch 2 build actually is

MachineGames targeted 1080p docked, 720p in handheld, and locked the framerate at 30fps in both modes. DLSS does most of the heavy lifting; the game runs at a lower internal resolution and upscales, with DLSS stepping in dynamically when the frame budget tightens. Ray-traced global illumination, the lighting model that gives Vatican corridors their texture and Gizah its glare, is still in. That’s the headline. A current-gen Xbox port with ray tracing intact, running on a console you can fold into a satchel.

The compromises are the ones you would expect. Textures are visibly lower-resolution than the PC build at native. Handheld at 720p is the soft mode; docked at 1080p sharpens up materially. There are occasional 30fps dips on dense scenes and the odd DLSS artefact: a sparkle on a wet surface, a halo on Indy’s hat brim in motion. Nothing that breaks the game. Metacritic on the Switch 2 build sits at 82 across 35 reviews as of June 9, generally favourable, with multiple 90+ scores from Nintendo Life, Nintendo World Report, TechRadar Gaming and others calling it “nearly uncompromised” given the hardware.

The full game is on the cartridge: 59.7GB worth. No mandatory download, no shard-installs. If you buy physical, you slot it in and play.

The Joy-Con mouse mode is the genuinely interesting feature. Detach a Joy-Con, lay it flat on a table or a tray, and it tracks like a mouse for aiming. Gyro aim is also there on Pro Controller and Joy-Cons together. Neither of those mechanics works for whip-cracking, which is still a button press. The motion is reserved for aiming and looking. In practice, on a plane tray, the mouse mode is novel for about an hour and then you go back to the sticks because you’re in an economy seat and your elbow is the limiting factor. Gyro for fine pistol aim is the one that sticks.

The price is $69.99 / £59.99. That’s eShop money and it does not move. The DLC, The Order of Giants, launched day-one on Switch 2 (May 12) at $19.99 / £17.99 standalone, with a dedicated eShop listing and a free Temple of Doom outfit thrown in for DLC purchasers. Premium and Collector’s Edition holders get it bundled. Parity with PC and Xbox is the headline: no waiting, no “the Switch 2 version doesn’t get this,” nothing to caveat.

What the Steam Deck build actually is

Indiana Jones got its Steam Deck Verified badge in May 2025, a few months after the December 2024 PC launch, on the patch that capped the texture pool at a Deck-specific value to stop the game running itself out of memory. The fix worked. The Deck version is genuinely supported. But “Verified” doesn’t mean “comfortable”, and on this game it really doesn’t.

Run on a Steam Deck OLED at the recommended settings (30fps cap, lowest graphics, NIS sharpness around 5), the game holds its target most of the time. The honest spots: certain town sequences and some of the larger interior chases drop to the 24–28fps band. Not a constant problem, but a recurring one. Power draw sits at 19–22W. That is not a battery-friendly load. You get roughly 2 hours on an OLED, roughly 1.5 hours on an LCD. A short-haul flight, basically. A long-haul leg is not in scope without a charger.

The other thing nobody talks about until they hit it: load times. Initial boot from a cold launch is 4–5 minutes. In-game loads (between major areas, after a death in a chase sequence) are 20–30 seconds each. On the Deck this is the gap between sessions feeling fluid and sessions feeling like work.

What you get in exchange is the prettier, more configurable game. Native PC textures, the full settings menu, and mod support if you want it later. The base game lists at $69.99 on Steam, the same as Switch 2, but routinely sells for around $50 through key sites — third-party stores have run it at roughly 29% off list [AFF: Fanatical | 5% | PC key store]. There’s no Switch 2 equivalent of that discount path. The eShop price is the price.

The portable comparison that matters

This is the table I’d want before I spent money.

The pattern that table is showing you: on a console you actually carry, the Switch 2 wins on every quality-of-life metric: battery, loads, install footprint, framerate stability. The Deck wins on the metrics you care about when you sit down for a long session at a desk: visuals, price, DLC, configurability.

The cross-progression question

There isn’t any. Not between Switch 2 and Steam Deck, not in either direction.

This game’s saves live on a Bethesda.net account where the publisher chose to enable it, which on PC is the path to taking your Xbox save and your Steam save between the same two stores. It is not a bridge to a Nintendo console. The Switch 2 build is its own island. Start it on the Switch 2 and that’s the run you finish on the Switch 2.

This matters more than it sounds, because Great Circle is a 12–15 hour game on the main story alone, 16–20 with side content, around 40 to fully complete. That’s a real commitment to one version. If you pick the version that runs out of battery on the flight, you do not get to keep going on the other one at the hotel. There’s nothing to pick up.

The Order of Giants on Switch 2

The Order of Giants is the post-launch DLC chapter. Rome, catacombs, a cult, the kind of supernatural-archaeology beat Great Circle is at its best in. It’s a real expansion, not a cosmetic pack. It shipped at $19.99 / £17.99 across PC, Xbox, and Switch 2 on the same day the base game went live on Nintendo’s hardware. On Steam Deck it works, with the same Verified caveats as the base game.

The thing worth knowing about the Switch 2 DLC is that DLC purchasers also get the Temple of Doom outfit at no extra charge, which sits on top of the existing Shanghai Club outfit that Update 8 made free for all platforms. Neither outfit changes how the game plays, but together they signal the Switch 2 build is not a content-poor port. It is the same campaign and the same expansion at the same prices, with the only meaningful Switch 2 differentiator being the Joy-Con 2 mouse control on the input side. If you were sitting on a “wait and see whether the DLC turns up” buying posture before May 12, the answer is: it turned up, it’s there, you can buy it.

What I’d actually do (and what I think you should)

If you already own the game on PC, don’t double-dip. The Deck plays it. The Deck has the DLC. You’re done.

If you don’t own it and you’re picking one platform to live on, the Switch 2 version is the one I’d recommend for the actual portable use case. The argument is narrower than the price tag suggests — list price parity at $69.99, lower resolution on Switch 2, discount paths only on PC keys — but the parts you feel in your hand are clearly better on the Nintendo side. An extra hour of battery over the Deck on the same game, plus genuine sleep-and-resume, plus carts you can swap, adds up. A 30fps lock that holds is more pleasant than a 30fps target that doesn’t. Cold-booting in seconds means you actually play in airport gates, in waiting rooms, in the half hour before bed. DLC parity removes the one structural caveat that would have weakened this verdict at launch. The Deck’s flexibility is real, and it’s mostly wasted on a Bethesda single-player you’d play once.

If you’re going to play this game on a desk anyway, docked to a TV, plugged into the wall, in stretches of two hours or more, buy the PC version. You get the better picture and the lower price after key sites do their work. Use the Deck for it when you fancy a couch session, accept the load times, accept the battery, accept that this isn’t the game the Deck was built for.

What I would not do is buy the Switch 2 version because I own a Switch 2 and assume cross-save is going to magically link the run on my Deck. That picture doesn’t exist for this game. The version you start is the version you finish.

Frequently asked questions

Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle good on Switch 2? Yes. It runs at 1080p docked and 720p handheld, locked to 30fps in both modes, with DLSS upscaling and ray-traced lighting still enabled. Metacritic sits at 82 across 35 critic reviews as of June 9, 2026, generally favourable, with multiple outlets calling it nearly uncompromised given the hardware. The main trade-offs are lower texture resolution than PC and occasional DLSS artefacts in motion. The full 59.7GB game ships on cartridge.

How does the Switch 2 version compare to the Steam Deck version? Switch 2 holds 30fps more steadily, loads in seconds, and stretches the battery roughly an hour further than the Deck on the same game (Nintendo rates the Switch 2 at 2–6.5 hours by title; AAA games like this fall on the low end, around 2.5–3 hours). The Steam Deck OLED runs the game at lowest PC settings, 30fps target with real dips to the mid-20s in some areas, 4–5 minute cold boots, and roughly two hours of battery. The Deck looks slightly sharper and is cheaper, but it is the harder portable experience.

Should I buy Great Circle on Switch 2 if I own a Steam Deck? For portable play, yes: the battery, loads, and frame stability are clearly better on Switch 2. For desk and TV play, no: the PC version is cheaper after key-site discounts and looks better at native settings. The Order of Giants DLC is at parity on both Switch 2 and PC, so DLC access is not a differentiator. There is no cross-progression, so pick the platform that matches how you’ll actually finish the game.

How long is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle? Around 12–15 hours for the main story alone. 16–20 hours for a normal playthrough with some side quests. Around 40 hours for full completion. That length matters when choosing your platform: it’s not a game you finish in a flight, so battery and load times compound.

Does Indiana Jones and the Great Circle cross-save between Switch 2 and Steam Deck? No. The Switch 2 build does not share progress with the PC build. Bethesda.net account-based saves work between PC and Xbox where Bethesda has enabled them, but not to Nintendo. Whichever version you start is the one your save lives on.

Does the Order of Giants DLC work on Switch 2? Yes. The Order of Giants launched day-one on Switch 2 alongside the base game on May 12, 2026, at $19.99 / £17.99 standalone, with a dedicated Nintendo eShop listing. Premium and Collector’s Edition holders get it bundled, and standalone DLC purchasers also receive the Temple of Doom outfit. DLC parity is not a differentiator between Switch 2 and PC for this game.

Does the Switch 2 version use Joy-Con mouse and gyro? Yes. Gyro aim is supported on Joy-Con and Pro Controller. The Joy-Con can also be used as a flat-surface mouse for aiming, added in a day-one update. Neither is used for whip-cracking; that’s still a button. Gyro for fine pistol aim is the one that meaningfully changes how the game plays.

Is the Switch 2 version worth $69.99 when the PC version is cheaper through key sites? For portable use, paying eShop list price buys you better battery life, faster loads, and a steadier 30fps versus the Deck. Both list at $69.99, but the PC version routinely sells for around $50 through third-party key sites, which the Switch 2 eShop does not match. For desk or TV play, the PC discount path is the better-value buy. The portable case is where the Switch 2 list price earns its keep.

What’s the best buy if I only want one copy? If you’ll play primarily on the move, buy the Switch 2 version. If you’ll play primarily plugged in, buy the PC version and use a Steam Deck for the portable sessions you do have. You can get the PC version below list price on key sites [AFF: Fanatical | 5% | PC key store] or [AFF: GMG | 5% | PC key store]; the eShop price is fixed.

Will the game come to Steam Deck in better shape later? The Steam Deck Verified update in May 2025 was the substantive fix: the texture pool change that made the game stable. Performance has not moved meaningfully since. The Switch 2 build’s quality-of-life advantages are unlikely to be patched into the Deck version; they’re architectural, not driver tuning.