I was looking for "the best Switch Fligth Simulator" just a few days before this one came out. I was hopless to find a good one, and then... this. It was perfect timing. From other games I crossed upon, this one seemed like the best option, and it certainly is. This is my first experience with a Flight Sim so Im still learning. So far so good for me. A lot of things to explore and learn. I did not expect that level of detail and interaction inside the cockpit. Certainly the only down side I can truly put on this, is the textures. I'm hoping they can improve that over time. Maybe the possibility to flight with rain or dinamic weather would be nice too, but that might be a little too much to ask. Never the less, Im glad to be able to experience this on the switch, considering all the limitations. Thanks to the devs for putting the work, it is certainly appreciated.
Flight model is incredible for sure. Lots of details but I felt like there was no point flying since everything else was a muddled mess. Glad you're enjoying it and I'm sure a post launch patch will make it so much better
Thanks for the review, I will take what you've said into consideration. However, I feel like the main point of Aerofly as a whole is to achieve certain things for certain audiences, rather than being overall best. While your review does bring up valid complaints against Aerofly in its current state on the Switch, the entire mindset going into the review feels off to me. One example is that I personally find that having high quality, animated, relatively accurate, interactive 3D cockpits in a handheld console from 2017 to be very impressive but that is given little credit in this review. Another example from the newest release for PC, Aerofly FS4, people found it to be low quality compared to MSFS and X-Plane 12 but it wasn't trying to compete with them on visuals. The low system requirements is why it is arguably the best flight sim for VR today because it can be ran on low/medium spec PCs even in VR.
I really appreciate your input and well thought out response here, and agree that there's a lot of amazing things especially the accuracy of the cockpits and aircraft. For me, I feel like because the scenery is so broken, that there's no joy of wonder outside of it, and while graphics don't make a game, it really impacts this genre. That being said, I honestly believe if they had the 3D modeled cities, even in very low detail, or even a better texture resolution, this would be a very different review from my end. I'm also glad to get your perspective here because I think discussion over things I missed or unintentionally approached the wrong way give gamers a much larger overview of the game, and that helps people make a more informed decision when it comes to buying. I'll be watching this one very closely because I feel it's a simple patch away from greatness.
I bought this on the eShop yesterday. Though I am impressed by the graphics, I see what you meant about the textures on the ground. It made navigation a bit difficult. I tried flying over my hometown but it was completely unrecognizable due to how blurred it was. Hopefully there.will be some patches and maybe some more aircrafts eventually.
Is it the best flight sim on switch? Yes! Is it the only flight simulator on switch?...kinda! It's 20 bucks and will be in sale a lot of times, often down two a couple of bucks to nothing, and under these conditions, I just can be grateful that switch finally got a good flight sim. No complaints whatsoever about this game, sometimes we just have to appreciate what we get.
@whatsitlikeau yeah, that scenery in flight simulations are the a and o, that's the part that needs power, maybe the power a switch don't have(?) I mean, even PS5 and PC have slightly troubles to perform flight simulations, because of the environment, so I don't see much hope here, it's typical for switch/Nintendo to accept lower end quality most of the time, not necessarily visually but definitely when it comes to performance.
Absolutely. Graphics don't make a game, but if that game is all about exploring the globe then they do. I think a post launch patch will elevate this game to one of the greats!
Oh man that was a great game! Sorry, I meant the texture resolution. Flying over cities was just a mess of brown and green splotches. I'm sure it will be fixed in an update
Spent some time with this one myself yesterday. I actually think this is the best flight sim on the Switch, but that's only because the bar is set *extremely* low with other offerings. There's a decent amount of depth for people who want to simulate actual aircraft controls (some of it requiring far more aircraft knowledge than I have), and the graphics are actually slightly better than I expected, but I went into this expecting the non-airplane textures to be fairly blurry when close to the ground. I feel like the flight controls, variation of airplanes, gliders, different airports, real world routes to fly, ability to customize your own routes, ability to make other air traffic visible, etc make this the best option for the genre on Switch. That's just not saying much. The thing that gets to me is that this feels like a semi-lazy port of this same company's mobile game. The menu looks the same, and I even noticed the game contains achievements related to helicopters, which aren't in this version of the game at all. I think what the dev did is port the mobile verion to Switch and make many (most?) of the paid DLC packs part of the initial up front cost of the game. Which is okay, I guess, but 1) I'd like to see the rest of the missing content, and 2) I wish they'd optimized it a bit more for Switch. Oh, and at least some versions of this game include a time skip feature, which would have been great to have so I could actually complete an international flight without needing to spend eleven hours staring at my Switch screen (that's definitely not happening, ha). Also, I know this is a flight simulator and not a pilot or airline sim, but I can't help but wish there was something to work towards. A career mode with stuff to unlock (or even new ranks to earn). Missions that mattered. Maybe some new visuals to unlock for each plane. Something to keep me coming back. I think there's some potential here, and as stated earlier I actually do think it's the best flight sim on Switch. But it really could be *so* much better. Here's hoping someone eventually takes advantage of the audience that would love to have a truly decent flight sim on the Switch.
I didn't even see the helicopter achievements! As always mate, I really value your input. I felt at times I was playing MS Flight Sim, until I looked out the window. I'm still jumping in after the review and doing some skip flights here and there, but I found the actual flight just boring because on my screen, I just see muddled mess for the most part. I really hope there's a texture update, I think it would change the whole vibe of the game, but as it stands, I struggled to find much enjoyment in this one. What they get right, they do really well. But what they get wrong... sheesh!
I'm unsure sorry. I didn't even know there was a Hotas for Switch. I tested this game on a Pro controller for Docked mode, and standard joycons and Nitrodeck+ for handheld.
I was looking for "the best Switch Fligth Simulator" just a few days before this one came out. I was hopless to find a good one, and then... this. It was perfect timing. From other games I crossed upon, this one seemed like the best option, and it certainly is. This is my first experience with a Flight Sim so Im still learning. So far so good for me. A lot of things to explore and learn. I did not expect that level of detail and interaction inside the cockpit. Certainly the only down side I can truly put on this, is the textures. I'm hoping they can improve that over time. Maybe the possibility to flight with rain or dinamic weather would be nice too, but that might be a little too much to ask. Never the less, Im glad to be able to experience this on the switch, considering all the limitations. Thanks to the devs for putting the work, it is certainly appreciated.
Flight model is incredible for sure. Lots of details but I felt like there was no point flying since everything else was a muddled mess. Glad you're enjoying it and I'm sure a post launch patch will make it so much better
Just completed a Concorde flight from LHR-JFK. Taking off at night, it slowly became morning. That is realism on the next level.
Thanks for the review, I will take what you've said into consideration. However, I feel like the main point of Aerofly as a whole is to achieve certain things for certain audiences, rather than being overall best. While your review does bring up valid complaints against Aerofly in its current state on the Switch, the entire mindset going into the review feels off to me. One example is that I personally find that having high quality, animated, relatively accurate, interactive 3D cockpits in a handheld console from 2017 to be very impressive but that is given little credit in this review. Another example from the newest release for PC, Aerofly FS4, people found it to be low quality compared to MSFS and X-Plane 12 but it wasn't trying to compete with them on visuals. The low system requirements is why it is arguably the best flight sim for VR today because it can be ran on low/medium spec PCs even in VR.
I really appreciate your input and well thought out response here, and agree that there's a lot of amazing things especially the accuracy of the cockpits and aircraft. For me, I feel like because the scenery is so broken, that there's no joy of wonder outside of it, and while graphics don't make a game, it really impacts this genre. That being said, I honestly believe if they had the 3D modeled cities, even in very low detail, or even a better texture resolution, this would be a very different review from my end.
I'm also glad to get your perspective here because I think discussion over things I missed or unintentionally approached the wrong way give gamers a much larger overview of the game, and that helps people make a more informed decision when it comes to buying. I'll be watching this one very closely because I feel it's a simple patch away from greatness.
I bought this on the eShop yesterday.
Though I am impressed by the graphics, I see what you meant about the textures on the ground.
It made navigation a bit difficult. I tried flying over my hometown but it was completely unrecognizable due to how blurred it was.
Hopefully there.will be some patches and maybe some more aircrafts eventually.
Right? I flew over my town which was a bumpy mess. The flight model and handling is almost perfect though! Hopefully it gets an update!
Is it the best flight sim on switch? Yes! Is it the only flight simulator on switch?...kinda!
It's 20 bucks and will be in sale a lot of times, often down two a couple of bucks to nothing, and under these conditions, I just can be grateful that switch finally got a good flight sim.
No complaints whatsoever about this game, sometimes we just have to appreciate what we get.
Thats a good point. I just hope they fix the scenery so we can do some sightseeing while flying!
@whatsitlikeau yeah, that scenery in flight simulations are the a and o, that's the part that needs power, maybe the power a switch don't have(?) I mean, even PS5 and PC have slightly troubles to perform flight simulations, because of the environment, so I don't see much hope here, it's typical for switch/Nintendo to accept lower end quality most of the time, not necessarily visually but definitely when it comes to performance.
Solid review, brother! It's a shame this game has its issues on Switch, but hopefully those flight sim enthusiasts get a kick out of it regardless!
Absolutely. Graphics don't make a game, but if that game is all about exploring the globe then they do. I think a post launch patch will elevate this game to one of the greats!
Which nintendo did you use and where can you get aerofly?
Playing on a Switch OLED, game is available on the Eshop.
You say the outside graphics are N64 level? You need to go back and look at what N64 Pilotwings looked like on a 4:3 television. It was rubbish.
Oh man that was a great game! Sorry, I meant the texture resolution. Flying over cities was just a mess of brown and green splotches. I'm sure it will be fixed in an update
Spent some time with this one myself yesterday. I actually think this is the best flight sim on the Switch, but that's only because the bar is set *extremely* low with other offerings. There's a decent amount of depth for people who want to simulate actual aircraft controls (some of it requiring far more aircraft knowledge than I have), and the graphics are actually slightly better than I expected, but I went into this expecting the non-airplane textures to be fairly blurry when close to the ground. I feel like the flight controls, variation of airplanes, gliders, different airports, real world routes to fly, ability to customize your own routes, ability to make other air traffic visible, etc make this the best option for the genre on Switch. That's just not saying much.
The thing that gets to me is that this feels like a semi-lazy port of this same company's mobile game. The menu looks the same, and I even noticed the game contains achievements related to helicopters, which aren't in this version of the game at all. I think what the dev did is port the mobile verion to Switch and make many (most?) of the paid DLC packs part of the initial up front cost of the game. Which is okay, I guess, but 1) I'd like to see the rest of the missing content, and 2) I wish they'd optimized it a bit more for Switch. Oh, and at least some versions of this game include a time skip feature, which would have been great to have so I could actually complete an international flight without needing to spend eleven hours staring at my Switch screen (that's definitely not happening, ha).
Also, I know this is a flight simulator and not a pilot or airline sim, but I can't help but wish there was something to work towards. A career mode with stuff to unlock (or even new ranks to earn). Missions that mattered. Maybe some new visuals to unlock for each plane. Something to keep me coming back. I think there's some potential here, and as stated earlier I actually do think it's the best flight sim on Switch. But it really could be *so* much better. Here's hoping someone eventually takes advantage of the audience that would love to have a truly decent flight sim on the Switch.
I didn't even see the helicopter achievements! As always mate, I really value your input. I felt at times I was playing MS Flight Sim, until I looked out the window. I'm still jumping in after the review and doing some skip flights here and there, but I found the actual flight just boring because on my screen, I just see muddled mess for the most part.
I really hope there's a texture update, I think it would change the whole vibe of the game, but as it stands, I struggled to find much enjoyment in this one. What they get right, they do really well. But what they get wrong... sheesh!
Can I use a hori hotas?
I'm unsure sorry. I didn't even know there was a Hotas for Switch. I tested this game on a Pro controller for Docked mode, and standard joycons and Nitrodeck+ for handheld.
@whatsitlikeau does it have gyro control? I would dig this for quest 3 vr.
I have only tested this on Switch sorry. I did read it is great on VR platforms.
thats pretty good
I'm really torn because the flight model is great, but the view not so much
@@whatsitlikeau yeah i agree
Nah im good. I'll just fly planes on the gta games lol.
I think this game will be amazing with a patch
@whatsitlikeau I'll definitely buy it on a deep sale.