Switch 2’s Early Identity: Defined by Ports Done Right
The early Switch 2 games line-up is being shaped by two telling releases, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising and Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced, which together show how the console’s first wave leans on smart ports, complete content, and meaningful technical upgrades rather than throwaway stopgaps. This is not about ticking boxes on a launch chart; it is about whether early adopters get full-featured experiences that respect their time, their hardware, and the genres the original Switch often treated as an afterthought.
Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising lands on Switch 2 on September 17 alongside the massive 2.60 update, arriving with all DLC characters and modes intact. Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition follows on October 22, bundling three 2D action platformers with all previously released downloadable content in one release. Those dates are more than a scheduling note: they mark the moment Switch 2 stops looking like a promise and starts feeling like a platform with real options.
Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising: A Complete Fighter, Not a Half-Port
Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising on Switch 2 is exactly the kind of fighting game port the original Switch rarely saw: complete, current, and uncut. The Arc System Works-developed fighter launches on September 17 with version 2.60 on day one, the game’s biggest update across all platforms. That timing matters more than any marketing slogan; the Switch 2 version is not a late afterthought, but part of the live game.
Version 2.60 brings Id, a new playable fighter pulled from Granblue Fantasy: Relink, plus a fresh stage, Ainsteddo Archipelago. Switch 2 owners get the full package from the start, including every DLC character released to date, the full story mode, and Digital Figure Mode, with nothing cut from previous versions. For newcomers, Rising’s accessible controls let special moves fire from a single button, while still keeping technical inputs for veterans. In a platform still building its fighting game library, Rising does more than fill a visible gap; it signals that Switch 2 will not treat fighting fans as second-class citizens.
Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced: A Test of ‘Enhanced Port’ Promises
If Granblue Rising is about parity, Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced is about added value. Inti Creates is packaging Azure Striker Gunvolt (2014), Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (2016), and Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 (2022) into a single Switch 2 release on October 22, complete with all previously released downloadable content. That is three full 2D action platformers plus DLC in one collection, and it lands squarely in the console’s first wave.
Calling this an “Enhanced – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” would be marketing fluff if it stopped at a resolution bump, but the collection adds support for high frame rate and higher-resolution displays and, more importantly, introduces a new story mode called Azure Striker Gunvolt GX. In GX, players control a tag-team duo of Gunvolt and Copen with new weapons, abilities, and an “Inspiration” system that rewards swapping between heroes at the right time for gameplay and score bonuses. This is the kind of upgrade that turns a port into an excuse to revisit the series, not a reason to roll your eyes at another double dip.
What These Two Releases Signal for Switch 2 Owners
Taken together, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising and Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced quietly answer the biggest question around Switch 2 games: will early ports feel compromised, or confident? Rising shows that fighting games can arrive in lockstep with other platforms, complete with every DLC character and the latest balance changes from day one. Azure Striker Gunvolt shows that enhanced ports can add new modes, systems, and technical upgrades rather than a bare-minimum patch to run on new hardware.
The Switch 2 port of Rising arrives digitally via the Nintendo eShop, with no physical edition announced yet. That digital-only angle may frustrate collectors, but it fits the platform’s wider push to get live-service-adjacent titles online quickly. Meanwhile, the Gunvolt trilogy’s October release gives early adopters a clear, high-skill single-player alternative to all the multiplayer chatter. If you are wondering whether to board the Switch 2 train now or later, these games hint at a console that is learning from its predecessor’s weakest spots—and rewarding players who care about more than launch buzzwords.
