Weekend

Now that I’ve had a Nintendo Switch 2 in my hands for a few days, I can say pretty confidently that this feels a lot like a Switch. You know, only more. The differences between console generations have become increasingly blurry over the last few years, and Nintendo’s latest device is the blurriest yet. It really is just a bigger, more powerful Switch. It’s not a radical update to Nintendo’s portable console — but it is a pleasant one.

There are some elements I still need to test properly for our full review — like the mouse controls and GameChat social features — but after an entire weekend spent playing a lot of Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077, Street Fighter 6, and a bunch of other games, I can also tell that it’ll be pretty hard going back to the original Switch.

Here are some of my initial thoughts.

One of the best trends in modern gaming is how your library is able to move along with you when you upgrade your hardware. This has never been a strong suit for Nintendo, which historically has forced users to start over from scratch with a new device. But the company seems to have gotten it right with the Switch 2. After logging into my Nintendo account and spending 15 minutes transferring the contents of my OLED Switch over to the Switch 2, everything was there. Even my online accounts, like with Fortnite, were already logged in, and the old games worked just as they did before.

It may seem like a basic thing — and it is — but it’s nice that Nintendo made this part of the process much more seamless this time around.

Big games are big in more ways than one

One of the promises of the Switch 2 is that larger games, particularly big open-world titles, can now run much better on the beefed up hardware. I’ve been testing this so far by putting a few hours into Cyberpunk 2077. And while it obviously doesn’t look as good as it does on a high-end PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, it still looks and runs pretty great. I haven’t noticed any major issues with the game either in docked or handheld mode. The game doesn’t look as sharp when playing on a portable, and I spotted the odd blurry texture on in-game billboards, but it ran nice and smooth otherwise.

The flipside is that the Switch 2 now has some pretty hefty file sizes to deal with. Cyberpunk 2077 is nearly 60GB, while Street Fighter 6 is 49.2GB, and Fortnite is 37.8GB. That’s smaller than on a PS5, for example, where blockbuster games are often pushing 100GB, but it does mean I’ve already had to manage my software to make things fit.

Hardware size hasn’t been an issue

The other size differences — the bigger screen and heavier hardware — haven’t been an issue for me so far. I sat out in the sun playing Mario Kart World until the battery was nearly dead, and I didn’t really notice any discomfort, aside from the sore right thumb that is the price of playing Mario Kart with any degree of intensity. My 12-year-old also spent two hours playing the upgraded Pokémon Violet and claimed it was a comfortable experience, but that might’ve just been a ploy for more screentime.

Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The Joy-Cons are very satisfying

Functionally, the new controllers are almost identical. Although I have to admit, I keep hitting the GameChat button when I mean to press Home. So there’s been a little bit of relearning muscle memory there. But the best part is the new magnetic connectors, which are extremely satisfying to snap into the Switch 2 and its controller grip. The big, chunky button on the back feels very good to press, to the point that I’ve found myself fiddling with it while waiting for things to load.

Shareable screenshots, finally

This may be a niche concern, but as someone who takes a lot of screenshots while I play games — so I can share important details about public transportation in the Mushroom Kingdom — it’s great that they’re so much easier to share now. Before, I had to scan two different QR codes to get them on my phone. Now, I just click the upload button, and they appear in the Switch mobile app. It works essentially the same way as on the PS5, which is good news for posters like me.

Updated games really look better

There aren’t a lot of major Switch 2 exclusives at launch, but there are a lot of existing games that have been enhanced for the new hardware. My colleagues have already written about how much better The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Fortnite play on the Switch 2. I agree that both of those are solid upgrades, and I even played through Fortnite’s most recent live event on the Switch 2 without any issues.

But I’ve also been spending a whole lot of time in No Man’s Sky (to nobody’s surprise), and it really is a noticeable difference. While the game technically worked on the original hardware, it was also much slower and uglier than on any other platform. The Switch 2 version isn’t the best-looking, of course, but it still looks and runs great, even in portable mode.

I’ve found myself really getting lost in this virtual universe once again, which is much easier to do when you can just take it with you.

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