Nintendo Switch 2 First Impressions: The Devil You Know

I’ve owned a Switch 2 for exactly three days now, and if the initial experience has taught me anything, it’s the clear difference between good and interesting. While those terms aren’t mutually exclusive, they probably are for Nintendo’s new console, at least (to this writer) for the time being.

It took me ages to finally track down Nintendo’s follow-up to the Switch, and last week, late one night—while disappointingly sober, mind you—I bought the Mario Kart World bundle from Target’s cursed website. With my own salt mine wages, no less.

Are there more versatile and more powerful handheld gaming options available? Oh yes, yes indeed. But…Mario, though. And Peach. And that weird little Yoshi dog, too. What’s its name? Smoochy? Whatever, man. My point is: You won’t find first-party Nintendo magic on a ROG Ally X or a Lenovo Legion Go. Not legally, anyway.

Here’s the stark truth: The Switch 2 is very good, predictably good, boringly good, even. And from my present vantage point, that’s the biggest drawback so far. Or maybe… it’s the Switch 2’s greatest strength? A complicated matter, yes. Like meaning and love and the argument for the best Pepsi flavor.

(It’s cherry)

Déjà Vu For Switch 2

Boys (and girls), I think we’ve been here before.

The Switch 2 is an upgraded Switch 1 that can theoretically output 4K/60fps/HDR visuals in select games when docked (up to 120Hz in stuff like Fast Fusion, if update rumblings are to be believed), has a bigger 1080p HDR-capable portable display, and sports larger, improved Joy-Cons that aren’t only for tiny children. But foundationally, it’s still a Switch, through and through, for better and for worse.

I’m far from the first person to utter such blasphemy, that Nintendo’s approach to the Switch 2 has been less than exciting or innovative. Hell, even Nintendo undoubtedly knows its newest console doesn’t break much new ground, especially when compared to the likes of the motion-controlled Wii, the 3D-pioneering N64 or even the original hybrid-centric Switch.

Playing it safe is likely by design, especially if you’ve sold the amount of Switch and Switch 2 consoles Nintendo has to date. If you’re smart, you don’t fix what isn’t broken. You subtly enhance. You tweak. You carefully iterate. And for someone who lived through the Dreamcast’s legendary 9/9/99 launch, how annoying I find this strategy. Where’s my VMU equivalent? Where’s my ground-breaking SegaNet service?

I guess there are simply less amazing surprises in gaming in 2025—I fear we’ve already experienced them all.

Mouse Trap

Yeah, with the Switch 2, you’ve got the added Joy-Con 2 mouse functionality, which borders on compelling and has a lot of potential. I’ve played around with this alternative control option a little bit, and I like it a lot. It’s cool and quirky and undeniably Nintendo, but since I don’t own a copy of the controversial Welcome Tour, I’ve only been able to use it on the Switch 2’s main menu, desktop PC-style.

Beyond sheer novelty, though, all the mouse feature has managed to do is make me long for another Mario Paint, and I consider it a crime against gamers everywhere that this machine didn’t launch with a long-awaited follow-up. MP might be my most-played SNES title, now that I think about it. It literally never got old. But also, my brain hadn’t fully developed, so take that with a grain of salt (from the mines—see above).

But come on, Nintendo. You have mice literally built into the Switch 2 controllers. Total missed opportunity here, although for all I know, there could be another Mario Paint in development. If there is, I’ll be there day one, and I finally can stop complaining. In the meantime, I guess there’s always DK Artist to mess around with.

DK Artist is an extra mode in GOTY contender Donkey Kong Bananza, a supposedly stellar game that helps prove out the the contention of this article, which is: Hardware doesn’t need to be flashy or cutting-edge to deliver excellent software. The legacy Switch proved this time and time again, and given enough runway, I think the Switch 2 will as well.

Yay And Nay

The Switch 2 hardware feels obviously premium, utterly dull, and oddly comforting in a way that remains wildly confusing to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so incredibly underwhelmed by a brand new console, yet continually impressed at the same time. The PS5 Pro exists in the same baffling category, so perhaps this is simply an indication that most future gaming consoles will feel similarly, disappointingly, dependably same-y.

That said, I like that the dock seems of a higher quality, and the more substantial Joy-Con 2’s—paired with the bigger display of the Switch 2 itself—make playing in portable mode more appealing than on the Switch 1.

I have large hands, and as hard as I tried, I could never get comfortable with the original Joy-Cons. The feel of the Joy-Con 2 controllers is definitely improved, most notably the thumbsticks with their extra surface area, and how they magnetically snap into the Switch 2 slab. Satisfying! Still, I prefer using traditional, less-cramped gamepads, like the excellently refreshed Pro 2 Controller.

Additionally, the physical game card slot is now easier to open thanks to a helpful divot, and I dig the inclusion of a top-facing USB-C port, which is great for passively charging random accessories, simultaneously charging the console, or plugging in a wired controller while in battery-powered tabletop mode. Honestly, I’m determined to attach an eGPU to this thing through the top USB-C port at some point—5090 Switch 2 gaming?!

Lastly, I installed Lexar’s 1TB microSD Express card on my Switch 2, which nicely expanded the included 256GB of system storage. You need to use Express cards on the Switch 2, by the way. Older microSD cards aren’t compatible.

It’s-A-Me, Hardware Boost!

The Switch 2’s UI is noticeably faster than the Switch’s, especially when browsing the store or NSO, and that’s a godsend.

Mario Kart World, even in 1440p, looks fantastic, and it’s rather obvious you’d never be able to run it on a legacy Switch. That Wave Race water, though! Wipeout homage Fast Fusion plays like a dream at 4K/60fps and shows off what the system is capable of. Cyberpunk 2077 runs surprisingly well. GameCube games on NSO run pretty well, too, and I bought a GameCube controller on Nintendo’s store to fully and authentically partake. More on all these titles in a future article.

I will say that games utilizing HDR look a tad washed out when docked and outputting to (in my case) a 4K monitor, but apparently this is a widespread issue, and I’ll look into fixing it this week when I have some time. Not a huge deal, but irksome, nonetheless.

Moreover, the Switch 2 reduces load times across the board for many older games, and I’ve grown to really appreciate this aspect of the hardware. Animal Crossing may as well be a new game with how quickly it loads on the current hardware. I also booted up Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, which has pretty short load times to begin with, and on the Switch 2, load times are practically nonexistent. This means you can watch me in the game’s Crocumentary instantly.

I did additionally check out the upgrades for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (turns out they’re ‘free’ if you’re an NSO subscriber) and while they’re running at an upscaled 1440p and not at native 4K on my docked Switch 2, the stable 60fps gameplay makes these titles immeasurably more playable by today’s gaming standards. There’s no going back to the 30fps Switch versions, that’s for sure.

I think my loudest complaint with the Switch 2 hardware is the arguably inferior LCD screen. While thankfully larger and totally serviceable in regular gameplay situations, it ultimately feels like a technological step backward.

I got quite accustomed to my Switch’s rich OLED display over the years and I really miss those deep, dark OLED blacks on the newer Switch 2 screen. I’m sure a Switch 2 OLED is coming in the next few years, so I understand why Nintendo is holding back here. I’ll no doubt buy that version too, damn it.

Accessory to a Shrine

The new Pro Controller, which I bought alongside the Mario Kart World bundle, might be the best controller I’ve ever used.

This is coming from someone who still worships the original Pro gamepad as some kind of false idol. Sony’s DualSense still places a close second to both editions of the Pro, but the Switch 2 Pro is a peripheral masterpiece, minus its admittedly dry, unpleasant texture. I can’t describe it any other way; the feel of it skeeves me out, although I do forget about it after a few rounds of MKW.

The thumbsticks are pure butter and have just the right amount of tension. The d-pad is nice and springy, as are the chunky face buttons, though I’d prefer a touch more travel in the ZL and ZR triggers. The Pro 2 adds two programmable back handle buttons this time around, GR and GL, plus a C button on the front of the controller that triggers Nintendo’s new GameChat feature. I didn’t buy a Switch 2 camera, unfortunately, and I also don’t typically chat online, so I didn’t test this feature.

Switched On, Switched Off

Ultimately, my first impression of the Switch 2 is one of slightly disenchanting familiarity, but it’s somehow okay, because in the end, I’m dealing with the devil I know.

Would I have preferred a higher resolution OLED display right out of the gate? Yes. Beefier internals? Sure. Innovation that wow’d me at a childlike level of wonder and awe? Absolutely.

But Nintendo isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the Switch 2. It’s delivering, in the most conservative way possible, a modestly leveled-up continuation of its past success. We’re cool with the lack of forward design progress because we’ve been conditioned to accept Nintendo’s successfully stubborn approach to technological change. It just works.

As I’ve labeled it in the system menu, the Mitch Switch 2 will still get plenty of playtime, even if this generational leap has been more of a respectable hop. Maybe, just maybe, this will refocus gamers’ attention on what actually matters: Fun.

Sony and Microsoft and the PC world can keep playing the cutting-edge hardware competition while Nintendo luxuriates in its bizarre boutique silo, unbothered, consistently content with winning its own solo race.