I never imagined that one of the things missing from the Switch 2 experience was a VTuber mode, but here we are. The upcoming Star Fox game, coming June 25, lets players pretend to be in the cockpit of an Arwing, and it may be enough to maybe get me to use one of Switch 2’s least-impressive features (or else, ensure I’ll never need to look at my ugly mug again).
I recently spent an hour with the upcoming Star Fox—itself yet another remake of Star Fox 64—and amid that sensation of familiarity, I could sense that the game feels evolved for Nintendo’s handheld console, though it may not reach its full potential. At least, it’s pushing the Switch 2 itself forward.
If there’s one Switch 2 feature I personally abandoned shortly after launch, it was GameChat. The feature was supposed to be a major reason to buy the system. Nintendo stuck a special “C” button on each first-party controller to access communication tools fast and easy. The bigger problem wasn’t the ability to quickly chat with friends (if you have their friend code, of course)—it was the camera features that felt half-baked.
The Switch 2 supports first-party and many other third-party cameras, but no matter what, it will only display an image at a max 1080p resolution. The first-party camera makes the world look washed out. The system was built to automatically detect and zoom in on your head, which reduced the image quality even further. The background cutout capabilities were similarly wonky, and they haven’t improved since launch last May.
That’s why papering over your image with that of the Star Fox or Star Wolf crew feels like a major upgrade over the pixelated visuals of your real-life head. The face tracking is surprisingly one-to-one. Even with my head somewhat out of the frame of the camera, it picked up my head movements and the expressions I made with my brow. Making Fox McCloud narrow his eyes at your friend’s antics feels ever more meme-worthy.
If there was one issue with this VTuber setup, it’s the limited mouth fidelity. Characters unhinge their jaws like a marionette, and the wider you grimace, the more it seems like the they’re puppets with a steel trap for a jaw.
In Star Fox’s multiplayer mode, you can enable the camera feature through the in-game settings. Nintendo confirmed that you can don your digital furry suit even if other players are in separate games. I also asked Nintendo whether you can access the character GameChat mode outside of the game, even if you don’t own Star Fox. I’llupdate this post if we receive clarification.
This is technically the fifth time Nintendo has told the original Star Fox story, though it’s most obviously cribbing directly from Star Fox 64. In most levels, players’ cameras are static, while they can move their ships along a single plane to blast enemies and dodge obstacles. You can barrel roll to reflect incoming fire or perform a somersault maneuver to turn the tables on enemies coming from behind. The formula still works on Switch 2.
It may still not be an evolution. I can’t help but imagine if Star Fox took inspiration from series like Ace Combat, adding in more maneuverability or options where your ship can move in a different direction from where you’re shooting, like the famous space-based dogfights from Battlestar Galactica.
In my rough hour playing the game, I found the multiplayer section to be the most thrilling. You’re positioned in the game’s open environments, where you have the freedom of movement necessary for the kind of in-air dogfights that have been woefully missing from the series. The one mode we played, a kind of neutral capture the flag where you have to bring randomly spawning cargo to your side of the map, offered enough chances for coordination that necessitated both offense and defense.
In 2016’s Star Fox Zero (which was yet another remake of Star Fox 64), Nintendo offered a co-op mode that let one player pilot the Arwing while the other acted as gunner. It’s back in this title, though each player can use a single Joy-Con 2. The gunner has the option to flip the controller on its side and use the mouse mode for aiming, and this seemed like the ideal setup. The mouse also enables a first-person mode in single-player, though I didn’t have the opportunity to try it.
I imagine if this version of Star Fox takes off, Nintendo could potentially revitalize the series with a true sequel. Or else, it could remake the underrated 2005 GameCube title Star Fox Assault. I just fear what would happen to a certain subset of gamers if they could take the guise of the blue-haired fox Krystal. If you know, you know…
