Didn't have much time to use it when it arrived last night, but some initial thoughts:
- Setup was fast and straightforward, and the transfer from the old Switch to the new one only took a few minutes.
- Download speeds are much better.
- The joycon magnetic snapping works really well and feels perfectly secure. There are release buttons to remove them properly, but apparently you can just yank them off if you want (with some force).
- Mostly tried it docked, but the screen looks huge even in comparison to the OLED Switch. Will be playing it handheld this weekend while I'm away, so will get a better feel for the screen quality and battery life.
- The Zelda upgrade was £8 (per game), which was a hell of a lot cheaper than I expected it to be).
- BotW load times are superb and the game feels fresh at 60fps.
- Also grabbed No Man's Sky for £15, though haven't tried it yet.
Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
My initial impressions aren't quite as rosy. The hardware's great; nice screen, nice speakers, joycons are a little nicer although they're still horrible to hold sideways (that's never going to be an issue for me).
...but the setup has been irritating. The system transfer insists on both Switches being plugged in, and for some baffling reason, sitting next to one another. I'm guessing it's forming a direct connection between the two consoles and not sending anything over your home network, but surely there's a secure way of doing it over your standard wifi. It's probably fine if you know this beforehand, but if you've already routed the new power cable into your TV setup and don't have a spare socket for the old console, you then have to fanny about finding a way to do it, despite the old console being on 100% battery and the transfer takes less time than it took me to find a solution for the power requirement. It also has this really irritating manner of making you press OK to start something multiple times. It happened twice and I was looking away at the other console to see if it was starting, only to come back a few moments later and it's asking me to confirm I want to start the damned transfer for the third time.
And I can't believe that a brand new console in 2025 still can't download software while you play something else. The Mario Kart pack-in is a download code rather than a cartridge (fine by me, I'd rather have digital versions); I registered it on the e-shop, it started downloading, and I went to play a couple of SNES games on the Online Membership emulators. It paused the download for me to play Super Mario World, a game that I doubt my watch would struggle to run, and gave me no indication of that fact, so I checked it 20 minutes later and it hadn't budged. I've looked through the options and can't see any way of enabling background downloading. I'm now sat unable to use my new console while it downloads the game despite having 30-odd other titles I could be trying. It is at least downloading quite quickly.
...but the setup has been irritating. The system transfer insists on both Switches being plugged in, and for some baffling reason, sitting next to one another. I'm guessing it's forming a direct connection between the two consoles and not sending anything over your home network, but surely there's a secure way of doing it over your standard wifi. It's probably fine if you know this beforehand, but if you've already routed the new power cable into your TV setup and don't have a spare socket for the old console, you then have to fanny about finding a way to do it, despite the old console being on 100% battery and the transfer takes less time than it took me to find a solution for the power requirement. It also has this really irritating manner of making you press OK to start something multiple times. It happened twice and I was looking away at the other console to see if it was starting, only to come back a few moments later and it's asking me to confirm I want to start the damned transfer for the third time.
And I can't believe that a brand new console in 2025 still can't download software while you play something else. The Mario Kart pack-in is a download code rather than a cartridge (fine by me, I'd rather have digital versions); I registered it on the e-shop, it started downloading, and I went to play a couple of SNES games on the Online Membership emulators. It paused the download for me to play Super Mario World, a game that I doubt my watch would struggle to run, and gave me no indication of that fact, so I checked it 20 minutes later and it hadn't budged. I've looked through the options and can't see any way of enabling background downloading. I'm now sat unable to use my new console while it downloads the game despite having 30-odd other titles I could be trying. It is at least downloading quite quickly.
Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
I ended up grabbing a 1 year subscription to the online service (with the "expansion pack"), partially because you get the BotW / TotK Switch 2 editions included. I never got very far into the latter, because it was the point I was realising how underpowered the original Switch was and I was unwilling to put up with the pretty shoddy framerates whenever you used one of the arm abilities. It's *so* much nicer playing in 4K and locked 60fps (not sure if does 120fps, my TV doesn't support it), letting you really appreciate how much work went into the game's aesthetic. I may actually stick with it this time.
Mario Kart is as good as expected. I think the track design isn't quite as tight as 8's, but then you only see some parts of each track once per race due to the unusual grand prix structure. The online knockout races are an absolute chaotic mess, but in the best way possible. They're genuinely great fun, but with the amount of items in play between 24 players in the opening stint, your skill is really only a small part of your success. I actually managed to win on my second attempt, and it's surprisingly tense. I was in 4th and last place by the start of the final stretch, and because of the heavy weighting the game puts on your item awards on your current placing, I got given a blue shell when the guy in first was only a few seconds up the road. I timed it just right when 2nd and 3rd were in a line and hit all three other players with it
. I then spent the remainder of the race dodging green shells, got hit a few times and passed, only to return the favour and grabbing the lead in the last few moments.
Mario Kart is as good as expected. I think the track design isn't quite as tight as 8's, but then you only see some parts of each track once per race due to the unusual grand prix structure. The online knockout races are an absolute chaotic mess, but in the best way possible. They're genuinely great fun, but with the amount of items in play between 24 players in the opening stint, your skill is really only a small part of your success. I actually managed to win on my second attempt, and it's surprisingly tense. I was in 4th and last place by the start of the final stretch, and because of the heavy weighting the game puts on your item awards on your current placing, I got given a blue shell when the guy in first was only a few seconds up the road. I timed it just right when 2nd and 3rd were in a line and hit all three other players with it
. I then spent the remainder of the race dodging green shells, got hit a few times and passed, only to return the favour and grabbing the lead in the last few moments.Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
I played BotW entirely in handheld over the weekend. The screen is great for an LCD and the battery lasted about 3 hours of continuous play at 80% brightness. My one criticism is that the right joycon is an ergonomic nightmare, which may be down to the increased size or possibly my increasingly dodgy joints. It's been a long time since I last played on the OG Switch in handheld mode for an extended period, but I don't remember this being an issue, but on Switch 2 I find that there's no comfortable position for the right thumbstick as it's too low. And the constant swapping between stick and buttons doesn't help.
This isn't an issue when using the grip (or presumably the pro controller, which I've got on order) as you can just grip the left side and shift the right hand as needed, but it was enough of a problem when using it in handheld and even with the joycons detached that it spoiled the experience somewhat. I'd definitely take the grip with me if using it away from home in future.
This isn't an issue when using the grip (or presumably the pro controller, which I've got on order) as you can just grip the left side and shift the right hand as needed, but it was enough of a problem when using it in handheld and even with the joycons detached that it spoiled the experience somewhat. I'd definitely take the grip with me if using it away from home in future.
Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
I've mostly been using the joycon grip, which is a damned sight better feeling than the one that came with the first Switch. I do still have my original Switch Pro Controller which I may end up using with the new one (I think the only downside is you can't wake the console with it for some reason), but I'm not really seeing a reason to grab one of the new ones at this point. Unfortunately all of my original Switch controllers now have that degrading sticky-feeling plastic on the thumbsticks - I honestly thought we'd moved on from this stuff as a society, but it's on the Switch 2 joycons too.
Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
I never got the original pro controller and I've heard nothing but praise for the new one, so I thought it was a worthy investment. The joycons with the grip are decent enough, though.
Tried out Witcher 3, which I bought on sale for the original Switch ages ago, mostly out of amazement that it would run at all. The difference on Switch 2 is astounding - not quite Series S quality, but it looks great at a locked 30fps and is no longer the blurry, laggy splotch that Switch 1 provided. The improvements to existing games are a much bigger deal that I'd expected.
Also, a random factoid I've just heard: apparently when Switch 2 runs out of battery, it remembers the game state and picks up where you left off when it's charged.
That's a really nice feature, particularly for games where saving is not readily available (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy).
Tried out Witcher 3, which I bought on sale for the original Switch ages ago, mostly out of amazement that it would run at all. The difference on Switch 2 is astounding - not quite Series S quality, but it looks great at a locked 30fps and is no longer the blurry, laggy splotch that Switch 1 provided. The improvements to existing games are a much bigger deal that I'd expected.
Also, a random factoid I've just heard: apparently when Switch 2 runs out of battery, it remembers the game state and picks up where you left off when it's charged.
That's a really nice feature, particularly for games where saving is not readily available (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy).Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
The Pro 2 controller has arrived and damn it's nice. Best thumbsticks I've ever encountered and it fits nicely in the hand, though the fit of a Dualsense still wins. The build quality is excellent.
Re: Switch & Nintendo News/Discussion
I think if the Pro Controller 2 had 4 grip buttons instead of just 2, I'd be more interested in picking one up. Grip buttons are the best "innovation" in controller design I think since the XBox Controller S layout became the norm, but I think you need 4 so that you can remap all four face buttons (allowing you to use them all without taking your right thumb off the stick). I really hope the next generation of Playstation and XBox normalise them with their standard controllers, rather than their being limited to the premium option.