‘Kingdom Hearts’ on Switch now has a “server congestion” warning

The Kingdom Hearts cloud-based collection on Nintendo Switch received an update last week that now warns players when there is “server congestion”, which may affect the streaming experience.

The new server congestion warnings display on the game selection screen for any of the titles facing the issue, and while players can ignore the warning, the experience will likely be less than acceptable (via Kotaku).

This warning inadvertently reveals the perils of cloud gaming, which has been increasing in popularity thanks to services such as Xbox Game Pass.

We’ve published Patch 1.0.3 for the Kingdom Hearts series for Nintendo Switch Cloud Version.

Server congestion can now be viewed on the portal page.
While playing KH3, the options “Prioritize Performance” and “Prioritize Graphic Quality” can be selected when starting the game.

— KINGDOM HEARTS (@KINGDOMHEARTS) May 12, 2022

Update 1.0.3 also brings two new performance options for Kingdom Hearts 3 on Switch: “Prioritise Performance” and “Prioritise Graphic Quality,” which can be selected before players start the game.

The difference between the two is that performance focuses on giving the player a stable frame rate, whilst graphic quality focuses on improving the games overall visuals.

When the cloud-based collection was announced earlier in the year, a report found that the games probably wouldn’t run very well on the Nintendo Switch. It was discovered that the games were downgraded to 720p, with the first two in the series also capped at 30 frames a second.

Square Enix recently sold off many of its Western studios and franchises to Embracer Group, including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Thief. The Japanese publisher then announced last week that it plans to establish new studios to strengthen its intellectual property ecosystem.

In other news, Atlus is asking players about bringing the Persona series to the Xbox, Switch and PC in a new survey.

Mainline entries in the Persona series have historically been exclusive to PlayStation consoles, so the opening of the series to multiple platforms would be a significant change in development. The survey also asks what players think makes an Atlus title unique.