The original Nintendo Switch was home to a number of Star Wars titles throughout the console's lifespan. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga covered all nine of the mainline movies in the family-friendly format that the LEGO toy line is known for. There's the venerable RPG duo of Knights of the Old Republic games and the two classic Battlefront titles. Beat-'em-up action is covered by Jedi Power Battles, racing is represented with Episode I Racer, and there are bouts of shooting with Dark Forces Remastered and Republic Commando. With the exception of The Skywalker Saga and the now-defunct Hunters, the Switch never got any of the more modern Star Wars games. Despite the Switch's popularity, EA's slate of Star Wars titles from the new Battlefront duo to the two Jedi titles to Squadrons never left the confines of the then-current generation of consoles and PC. With the Switch 2, Ubisoft makes good on delivering a more modern title to the new system with Star Wars Outlaws, and the result is a game that continues Ubisoft's habit of ensuring that there's some care and thought put into its titles for Nintendo consoles.

The game is set around the time between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," but don't expect to get dragged into any scenes related to the original trilogy of movies. You play the role of Kay Vess, a thief who's cursed with bad luck in every job she takes. Whether it's jobs that she does for others or ones that she set up herself, everything always goes sideways. Her latest job has her stealing from Sliro Barsha, leader of a new but powerful crime syndicate, and it almost works out until Kay gets knocked out after demanding pay from her clients, who turn out to be part of the Rebel Alliance. After a narrow escape, Kay is seemingly stranded on a moon while there's a bounty on her head. From here, she makes it her mission to get her ship repaired while also going for a score that's big enough to erase the bounty.

As a regular story, what's present is fine. It's your standard crime story with enough twists and turns that makes the journey interesting, even if everything is predictable. As a Star Wars story, it's a bit better because the tale doesn't run into the same trappings that most Star Wars-related stuff does. You'll get some cameos, and you aren't going to run into major plots featured in the movies. You won't be dealing with The Force or joining the Rebels. By mostly avoiding those trappings, this feels like a story that most fans have been wanting because it shows how expansive the universe is without running into the usual Skywalker family conflicts. The characters are likable enough, but you can easily see which ones have been heavily inspired by other, more famous Star Wars figures. However, you don't converse much with your newfound crew members outside of the story-related cut scenes.

From a gameplay perspective, Outlaws follows the Ubisoft open-world RPG-lite formula fairly closely, with a few alterations here and there. The world as a whole is full of main quests and side-quests that are fairly diverse. You can scour the world for stray credits that are just lying around. You can decide to do something slightly mundane, such as partake in a meal from street vendors or play Sabacc, which has a deeper than expected rule set for a card game. You can scale walls and climb buildings with the help of a grappling hook, and you can cover more ground with your starship and speeder bike. You can breach data systems and pick locks, and the optional assists are nice. There's no shortage of things to do to keep busy, but the game alters the publisher's formula a tad by spreading this over different planets, moons, and the spaces in between. The open world-setup is more logical with the new layout, but anyone who has played Ubisoft's open-world games knows what to expect.

While the familiarity of the gameplay loop is present on other platforms, it feels fresher on the Switch 2, since none of the Nintendo consoles have gotten this kind of Ubisoft game before. No modern Ghost Recon or Far Cry title has shown up on the Wii U or Switch. The Assassin's Creed titles that did arrive on the Switch were from the pre-Origins era, so the worlds were a little smaller with less to do. The closest comparison would be the likes of Immortals: Fenyx Rising and Starlink: Battle for Atlas, two titles that were good in their own right but not popular enough.

One thing that is different from other Ubisoft open-world games is the leveling system, as it doesn't really exist in a traditional form. You don't actually get any XP, so you don't have levels. That also means you don't get a skill tree to unlock for new moves and upgrades. Instead, you gain new things by doing side missions, so the process feels natural because you can argue that it makes sense that you're learning these abilities from people and experiences, rather than out of the blue.

Outside of traversal, there are two major gameplay mechanics. The first is stealth, which seems deep yet simple. When it comes to takedowns, you can use a stun gun, but it takes time to charge it up, one use at a time. The move you'll perform most of the time is one that asks you to send out Nyx, your faithful animal companion, to climb on a target while you run up and perform a punch combo to knock out your foe. Beyond takedowns, you'll often use Nyx to pickpocket marks or open switches. You'll also send him to dance around cameras, so you can sneak past them. You can also use him to emit sonar to detect enemies within a reasonable distance. As a stealth tool, Nyx makes the game fun. At the same time, don't expect to do anything advanced, like hiding bodies or performing enemy takedowns from cover. That might seem like a big drawback, but the guards seem to be oblivious to knocked-out bodies in their way.

Combat is also simple but has some depth. You always have a blaster pistol on your side with infinite ammo, but it requires a cooldown/reload when you fire too many shots. You can do a perfect reload similar to Gears of War to get back to firing faster, and you can also make some upgrades to make your blaster powerful enough, so you won't need another weapon. You can get other weapons if you want, and they behave similarly to real-world machine guns, but you have a habit of throwing them away when you run out of ammo, so those weapons are very temporary measures. The actual combat is fine, but you'll notice that the enemies have a tendency to miss lots of shots, while explosive red barrels are abundant in most firefights. The fighting works, even if it isn't spectacular. For those wondering, Nyx can be used to distract one enemy while you attack another, but he doesn't do much otherwise in terms of fighting.

Since this is a game dealing with the criminal underworld, the idea of factions comes into play. The game has four factions: The Ashiga Clan, the Pyke Syndicate, the Hutt Cartel, and the Crimson Dawn. A good chunk of side missions will come from them, and while the missions aren't wildly different per faction, there are benefits to doing favors for any of them, including being able to go into their territories without fear of getting attacked and gaining access to their exclusive items. Conversely, lowering your reputation with a faction means that you'll enter more fights when you get into their lands. It is an interesting mechanic, since it means staying on your toes if you don't partake in side missions. Choosing who you side with does slightly alter the ending.

Like some of the other gameplay mechanics, the faction idea is neat, but it also isn't very deep. Many side missions have positive effects for all factions, so you're unlikely to start off in the negative with a faction unless you target missions with specific negative effects. If you anger a faction, you only need to complete a few minor missions to return to their good graces. You have to put in some effort to get everyone raging against you; it's a good challenge for hardcore players, but it makes the gameplay mechanic feel like it has surface-level depth to everyone else.

The Switch 2 version of the game sports some exclusive features that aren't considered transformative but are welcome nonetheless. If you're playing the game in handheld mode, you'll notice a cleaner HUD that takes the smaller screen size into account. You'll also get touch controls for the menus and some minigames. Motion controls are also present for handheld and docked modes, and while aiming this way can be an acquired taste, it feels more natural when you're piloting a vehicle. The biggest thing about the Switch 2 release is the fact that you're getting the gold edition of the game by default, so the Wild Card and A Pirate's Fortune DLC are already present. It's a nice gesture, considering that some other titles that were ported to the Switch 2 still offer DLC separately.

Graphically, Outlaws can claim the distinction of being the first title on Nintendo's new console to show off some ray tracing capabilities. There is no toggle to turn off the technology, but the produced lighting looks gorgeous and makes the title look modern on the relatively underpowered system. It also doesn't harm the resolution, so the game's noticeably softer or blurrier compared to the game's PS5 or Xbox Series versions, despite being at a lower overall resolution. The game can only hit 30fps, but the trade-off is fine when you consider that the game isn't something that requires quick reflexes, despite the number of gunfights you'll encounter. The only noticeable drawback involves the shadows. For the most part, things are fine, but you will notice that the shadows get muddy and blurry anytime you expect there to be finer detailed shadows. For a game doing so much in the system's first year, that's not too bad.

The audio was a highlight during the title's original release, and it is good to see that the overall quality hasn't changed in the porting process. The voice work for just about every Star Wars game to date has been solid, and this game is no exception. Even random enemies sound excellent. The effects are as authentic as can be, but there are moments when the sound of things punches and takedowns are muted. The music is a highlight, as this is all original stuff with a slight John Williams influence.

Star Wars Outlaws is a very solid title for fans of big, open-world adventures. Although the Ubisoft open-world formula can feel a little too familiar, it still fits well in the Star Wars universe. Even if some of the systems feel half-baked, the combat and stealth feel good enough, especially if you strictly play on Nintendo consoles. An open world that doesn't go into the expected Star Wars tropes is always welcome. The presentation pushes the console without devolving into a broken mess, and it's a good showcase for the system's capabilities.

Score: 8.0/10