The 4 things I love and 3 I don’t

I wasn’t going to buy a Nintendo Switch 2. With no major Nintendo games releasing for a while and better and cheaper ways of playing indie titles, my original Switch had been gathering dust for months; I’d largely pivoted to spending my fleeting gaming hours on my PC rig, a Steam Deck OLED, and testing out a few exciting new Android handhelds. But then it went on sale, and I got an email from a retailer to say they had limited stock, and, well… here we are.

I’ve owned Nintendo home consoles and handhelds stretching back to the Super Nintendo, so I’ve seen the many, many ups and downs of the Kyoto innovators’ weirdest and most wonderful hardware launches. But in all that time, there was one thing missing: “2”. The Switch 2 represents the first ever numbered console follow-up from Nintendo, and it’s hardly surprising considering the Switch’s overwhelming sales figures and general popularity.

Nevertheless, I was curious to see if it could earn that sequel status, so I kept my impromptu pre-order. After a week of playing around with the Switch 2, I can confirm that the unique home-handheld hybrid setup hasn’t lost the sauce, and there are plenty of upgrades to get excited about. However, it’s not the perfect successor I was hoping it would be, either.

Put simply, the performance bump over the original Switch is the single biggest reason to buy the Switch 2. In handheld mode, the Switch 2 can run games in 1080p at 120fps. In docked mode, you’ll get up to 4K at 60fps, with some games confirmed to benefit from NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) upscaling tech for improved performance.

What that means is even uber-demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are now possible to play on a Nintendo console. Meanwhile, first-party games like Mario Kart World and the superbly-named Donkey Kong Bananza — launching in July — can up the size of their worlds, increase the number of particles and other bits on screen, and generally look far more visually and technically impressive than any Nintendo game to date. Perhaps the most underrated upgrade is the eShop experience, which is now fluid and doesn’t take an age to load when you’re simply trying to check the latest (usually very stingy) batch of game sale prices.

There’s a significant hit to battery life compared to the original Switch (I’ve been getting 3-4 hours on a single charge; not terrible but not great), and I think the lack of variable refresh rate support when docked is a strange omission (it’s there in handheld), but the fact that we’re in the ballpark of PS4-like performance and visual clarity from a Nintendo console is an obvious win.

Thanks to a combo of hardware compatibility and an emulation layer, the Switch 2 can play most of the Switch 1’s vast library of games. That’s already great, and a huge improvement over other Nintendo console generation leaps, where backwards compatibility was the exception rather than the rule. It’s also compatible with Switch 1 accessories, so you can keep using your Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, and even pair the original Joy-Cons to keep up with your exercises in Ring Fit (sorry, Labo fans, you’re out).

But the real reason backwards compatibility is such a big win builds on everything I said about the performance gap. Thanks to some timely updates, and in some cases even without patches, there are many games that now run significantly better on Switch 2.

The best example of this is Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the best-selling Pokémon games of all time and the only entry in the long-running series I had yet to play because it was genuinely unplayable for me on Switch 1. The textures are still a bit gnarly, but the vomit-inducing frame rate drops, razor edges on objects, painful load times, and awful pop-in are long gone when you click the same cartridge into a Switch 2 — it’s a revelation (check out an hour of it here if you don’t believe me).

Of course, Nintendo being Nintendo, it couldn’t stop itself from making the improvements slightly consumer-unfriendly and overcomplicated, so some performance upgrades are gated behind paid Nintendo Switch 2 Editions, such as is the case with the Switch’s two The Legend of Zelda classics, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (and yes, I know you get both “free” with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, but you still pay for that!). Nevertheless, the fact that exploring Hyrule in HDR at a steady frame rate is even possible in the first place is something to cherish.

Hands up, I was wrong on this one.

The decision to shift from a gorgeous OLED on the Switch OLED refresh back to an LCD panel like the launch Switch 1 was the primary reason I wasn’t going to buy the Switch 2. I knew it’d be better than that horrible display on the first Switch — LCD has come a long way in recent years — but as someone who bought both a Switch and a Steam Deck twice over to get an OLED screen on their respective model refreshes, I was sure the Switch 2 couldn’t pull this off and I’d be better served waiting for the inevitable Switch 2 OLED.

And to be honest, I’ll still probably buy that when it happens — OLED blacks can’t be matched even by the Switch 2’s excellent LCD — but the larger, more vibrant, higher refresh rate, HDR, and VRR-enabled 1080p screen is shockingly nice. If you’re holding out for the same reason I was going to, then I’d encourage you to find a demo model in a store (or hope one of your friends snagged one of the rare launch units), and give it a look — it’s far better than you think it’ll be.

There was a bit of buzz pre-launch, accusing Nintendo of playing it safe with the Switch 2, and there’s some validity in that, frankly. If the console were to be rebranded as the long-rumored but never-to-materialize Switch Pro, I don’t think anyone would have questioned the nomenclature; it’s essentially a beefed-up Switch with some extra features. Those wanting to see the wild creativity of the Nintendo that brought us a cube-shaped console with a random hand grip, the Wiimote, a dual-screened handheld with a stylus, or the many, many bizarre accessories of past decades, spanning the ungainly Power Glove all the way to the Labo VR box, will come away sorely disappointed with a console that is far more in line with an Xbox or PlayStation generational shift than any previous Nintendo evolution.

But ‘keep it simple, stupid,’ is a saying for a reason. Perhaps burned by the aggressively misjudged Wii to Wii U transition (and paying for it in sales), the Switch 2 is an exercise in being smart enough not to mess with a successful formula. All the core tenets of the Switch 1 are preserved, with tweaks made where it counts that go beyond a mere performance boost. The UI is slightly cleaner and smoother, but immediately recognizable. The Joy-Cons now snap into place via magnets, and while you might get a nasty pinch if you’re not careful, it’s safer than shoving a Switch 1 Joy-Con back on the wrong way (ask me how I know this). Handheld mode is much improved with the larger display, and you no longer have to do battle with a dangling cable when you need a charge, thanks to the top USB-C port.

Other additions like GameShare (sharing a game with someone to play together with one copy) and the Switch 2 Camera setup also make this a more socially friendly console, an area in which Nintendo has historically struggled, particularly in the online space. Seeing someone’s reactions in a little bubble next to their racer in Mario Kart World, even if it’s at a slideshow-like refresh rate, is a very Nintendo take on modern gaming essentials.

So no, the Switch 2 isn’t a moonshot project, but it’s all the better for it. Mostly…

The Switch 2 is a big boy compared to the Switch 1, but it’s still nowhere close to the size or weight of the beefy Steam Deck. So why can I not use it in handheld mode for as long as Valve’s behemoth? The answer is ergonomics.

I have an inflammatory disease that manifests as fairly consistent aches in my hands, but I can play on the Steam Deck for hours without any issues because the weight distribution and curved design mold to my palms and grip. This wasn’t the case with the original Switch, and it’s even worse with the Switch 2. The new Joy-Cons have more features and look nicer than ever, but the harder edges are more uncomfortable to hold. People swore by Hori Split Pad Pro replacements for a reason on Switch 1, and I can see the same thing happening again here.

Beyond ergonomics and my tolerance, the Switch 2 Joy-Cons still feel underbaked. Teardowns have revealed that the Switch 2 Joy-Con joysticks are based on the same potentiometer tech as the original Joy-Cons. You know, the ones that consistently succumbed to stick drift. Hall effect and Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) are table stakes on the best controllers now, and it’s baffling that Nintendo didn’t take greater measures to fix one of the biggest pain points of the Switch 1. Instead, that time perhaps went into making the Switch 2 Joy-Cons usable as a mouse — time poorly spent if so, while they do technically work for games like Civilization VII or even shooters like Fortnite, there’s a good reason mouse companies don’t make products that look like this: they’re painfully uncomfortable after about 10 minutes of use.

The Switch 2 dock equally feels like Nintendo could’ve done so much more. Docking the console doesn’t offer any additional peace of mind over the original Switch and dock combo regarding potential screen damage; it still has solid plastic on either side, which necessitates real care when you’re reengaging the device to switch between handheld and home modes. And while the Switch 2 itself got a second USB-C port, the dock still has a whopping zero. It’s two USB-A ports all over again, so charging controllers will require one of those USB-A-to-USB-C cables many of us have been trying to eliminate from our gadget lives.

Where Nintendon’t, others will. dbrand kindly sent me over its KillSwitch case, which immediately solved my Joy-Con woes by adding rubberized, textured ergonomic casing, and improves the dock experience via an adapter so you can dock the Switch 2 externally. The Ultra bundle I received also has the idiot-proof Prism 2.0 screen protectors, which I highly recommend for your Switch 2 (or really any gadget dbrand makes them for). I’m also holding out hope that there’s a Hori Split Pad Pro or an equivalent made for Switch 2 to permanently fix the Joy-Cons and give them more reliable sticks and better grips as standard.

If you can actually find one to buy, the Switch 2 itself isn’t cheap. I’d say that $449 is a fair price for a modern console, especially when you consider that it’s a hybrid system that can cover portable and TV play, and that the Steam Deck OLED is another $100 on top at its minimum entry.

But the Switch 2 ecosystem is expensive, more so than the Deck and even more so than a traditional console from Microsoft or Sony. $80 games are apparently the new norm, so asking that for Mario Kart World stings, but it’s not beyond expectation, especially when the cost of game development is at an all-time high.

However, Nintendo has a knack for rarely ever reducing the price of its games. $80 now may drop to $60-$70, but based on recent history, you shouldn’t ever expect to see Steam sale or even PSN/Xbox sale level of price drops on first-party Nintendo games. I’m still yet to pick up 2019’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses, despite loving the series, because it’s always stuck at MSRP, and I can get 2-3 games from my wishlist elsewhere for that price. Likewise, third-party games and indies do go on sale more often, but the sticker price is typically higher than in other ecosystems (and this may get worse if Nintendo doesn’t fix another issue I’ll get to in a moment).

Then there are the extras that come with any console, but still add up. 256GB base storage is a big leap from the 32GB of the original Switch and even the 64GB of the OLED model, but you’ll still likely need more room for all your games before long, and the Switch 2 is only compatible with microSD Express cards, which start at around $50-60 for a 128GB card, and rise in cost from there for more storage. A Switch Online account is required for online play, and the Expansion Pack is needed for some emulation and additional perks. The USB-C camera is $54.99, and if you want a Pro controller with a capture button, that’ll be a hefty $85 add-on.

Overall, the Switch 2, even when you factor in the extras, isn’t exorbitantly expensive, but with more competition in the handheld space in particular from the Steam Deck and the first wave of Steam OS machines, Xbox’s ambitions to fix Windows for portable play, more and more breakout titles coming to mobile (e.g. Balatro), and the ever-increasing number of ultra-affordable retro handhelds, Nintendo isn’t the only game in town anymore if you want to play on the go.

Okay, so this is confusing, so bear with me. In its infinite wisdom, Nintendo decided to make the act of buying games more complicated than it needed to be with the introduction of Game-Key Cards. When you buy one of these boxed Game-Key Card games from a retail store, you get a regular Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge, but the game isn’t stored on the cartridge, only an access key. Instead, when you put the cartridge into your console, it’ll trigger the system to download the title.

To Nintendo’s credit, the packaging for Game-Key Card games has clear branding to differentiate them from a native Switch 2 game that is stored on the cartridge. There are also upsides to this approach, such as cheaper production costs for indie studios who don’t have to buy larger storage cartridges. On the consumer end, you can also share and sell Game-Key Cards (Nintendo did an awful job at communicating this at launch, with this huge detail only coming out of an interview), which you can’t do with previous digital-centric brick-and-mortar store purchases, which had a single-use game code.

But if only it were that simple. For starters, Game-Key Cards are no better than code slips for game preservation. If game publishers or Nintendo take the necessary servers offline, that key won’t do anything. And the silly part is, even though Game-Key Cards exist, there were still two Nintendo Switch 2 launch games — Civilization VII and Split Fiction — that had a slip in the box, not a cartridge! Even my Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle came with a code for the racer, not a Game-Key Card.

More alarming is the number of Game-Key Card games vs. actual cartridges, with the former outnumbering the latter — there’s a handy list on reddit that is keeping track of each release. Reports are circulating that the number of Game-Key Card games is so high because Nintendo has only supplied 64GB Switch 2 cartridges for companies that want to offer the full physical game, as opposed to the Switch 1, which had a range, reportedly with multiple options and going as low as 4GB. With a suggested $16 cost price of each 64GB full cartridge for Switch 2, it’s easy to see why publishers and indie developers have opted to save money per sale by buying cheaper Game-Key Cards that require only storage enough for an activation.

The real disadvantage here plays into the Switch’s very purpose — a simple, plug-and-play handheld that doesn’t require jumping through any hoops. That paradigm continues to be unraveled by confusing initiatives like the Game-Key Cards, and, to a lesser extent, Switch 2 Editions. Here’s hoping Nintendo fixes this dumb issue and offers more card sizes soon.

When the dust settles and the restocks start hitting, I can safely recommend the Nintendo Switch 2 if you want to play the very best Nintendo can offer in the best possible way. Personally, I’m excited enough to play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on a platform that can hit 4K at 60fps on my TV that I could justify it to myself. That said, if there’s nothing on the horizon from Nintendo’s first-party game slate that catches your eye, you might want to hold off, either until something does pop up that’s Switch 2-only, or plays so poorly on the original Switch that it comes time to upgrade.

But Nintendo consoles live and die by Nintendo’s own games, and if you’re looking instead for a handheld for a far broader experience of AAA and indies, I would recommend at least considering options like the Steam Deck ($549 at Manufacturer site), other Steam OS handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go S ($499.99 at Manufacturer site), and perhaps even waiting to see what comes of the Xbox Ally devices. We’re no longer in a world where handhelds without a Nintendo sticker are a niche curiosity, and while the cost of entry is slightly higher elsewhere, the long-term costs are often a lot lower, and the plug-and-play advantage Nintendo previously had isn’t quite as secure as it once was.

There’s also the lingering possibility of a Switch 2 OLED, which I’d guess is inevitable, but I doubt we’ll see it for at least 3-5 years. In the meantime, you could be enjoying playing on a console that does almost everything you’d want from a Switch successor. It’s not as exciting or as innovative as you might want or expect from the big N, but even when Nintendo plays it safe, there’s still a unique magic to be found.