Why is Crash Bandicoot 4 9 GB on my Switch AND 26 GB on my PC? Is the PC version horribly unoptimized or something?
Possibly higher resolution textures, more duplication of assets due to cartridge design, idk
It’s almost certainly textures and maybe other types of assets (models, audio) being downscaled to fit the Switch’s capabilities. Keep in mind that the Switch is essentially a 2015 Nvidia Shield tablet running Nintendo’s custom OS and was kinda weak even it came out, meaning that capabilities of just about any PC are going to be much higher. No point in forcing Switch users to download a ton of extra data the system is never going be able to take advantage of.
EDIT: Another thing that crossed my mind is that Switches can store games on SD cards instead of internal storage, and there are some dog slow SD cards that a lot of users are going to opt for because they’re cheap, so games may also have to take that into account — loading a lot of data from a slow SD card is not a pleasant experience.
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The Switch, despite being current, uses some pretty much upgraded last gen tech and can’t really handle all the stuff that a PC or even Xbox and PS can, nintendo is always behind in terms of specs (That’s why something like 2011 Skyrim is on there, and not the 2016’s remaster.) .I would imagine the crash team wanted the game to play at 60fps and wanted the load times to be smooth on the switch, so they rid the extra stuff that isn’t needed for that port.
Also, no, the PC isn’t horribly un-optimized, it just has higher res textures.
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