My Nintendo Switch 2 experience

Greetings to all gladiators!

Back in 2017 I have written in the Hellenic language an article about why I wouldn’t buy a Nintendo Switch. Today, 9 years later I have bought my first Nintendo console since N64, please remain seated for the journey ahead!

Nintendo Switch 2 specs vs the Switch 1:

I have said that in the post about the Switch 1, Nintendo in general sells outdated hardware at high prices.
This hasn’t changed with Switch 2. Ok yeah it is not THAT far behind the competition as the first switch was but it still feels like a competition with the previous consoles generation than with the 5 (or now 6) years old PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, which also means it will be in even worse place when PS6 and the next Xbox generations launch.
Also throughout the lifetime of the first switch Nintendo had upgraded its screen to OLED which the logical assumption would be that the S2 would start with it. Nope. Of course at later date they will release a S2 OLED version and life goes on. I always felt that Nintendo hates consumers, this is the proof for everyone else.

Price:

Also stated in my S1 post, that it was a very expensive outdated tablet, S2 is also very expensive console. Add to that the prices of RAM crisis and it makes it perhaps the worse choice out there BUT Nintendo is somewhat lucky that Sony and Microsoft have increased the prices on their consoles due to the RAM crisis as well.
The original Switch was 324€ without a game at launch and could get as high as 444€ for the console+1 game+gamepad to play as a normal human being and not as a homunculus!
A note:
Sure, the Switch 2 is a portable 15W device, and comparing it to a 200W PS5 isn’t technically an apples to apples hardware comparison. But let’s look at the actual battlefield: the price tag.
The Switch 2 starts at €519 in Greece, and €569 with a game. For that exact same money, I can buy a PS5.
When docked, the Switch 2 outputs about 3.1 TFLOPs of power. The PS5 outputs over 10 TFLOPs. Nintendo is demanding nextgen home console prices for hardware that barely touches the Xbox Series S. I don’t care that it’s portable, if it costs €550, I am judging it like a €550 machine.

Online and portability:

In my S1 review I talked about the ridiculous online mode that it had, the non existent voice chat from the console itself and its major selling point, portability.
In S2 they have added at last voice chat and screen share options in the console itself which is a massive step up and something I will give it a bonus point!
On the portability aspect, it seems on paper (also shown above) that it has least a 50% reduction in playable time whilst undocked.
I guess adding all this far superior hardware had an impact on the battery. The point is S1 and S2 are not on the same level, of course and natural, so even if you want to have a long lasting battery life, you are still better off with a S2 than a S1 for many reasons. End of life of course being 1 of them with S1 being almost 10 years old now and most new games not releasing for it.

Titles and exclusives:

Oh boy, I got the Mario Kart World bundled with the S2, Pokemon Pokopia from the digital store and Donkey Kong Bananza as “physical”…
Where to begin with this? A few weeks ago I wrote about GTA VI and the all digital games, well all hell let loose since that post, not because of my post of course, this is a small blog after all that does not impact to anyone and anything, but people went rabies on Rockstar for the Digital Deluxe edition and that the “physical box” versions of the game will only have a code for downloading the game and not a disk inside. Later on Sony also announced that they will stop making physical editions of their games from 2028 -assuming for PS6-…
Dudes please remove the Nintendo fanboyism glasses and see the world objectively. I got a Nintendo Switch 2 which came with a game bundled which was a code in the console box and not even a decoration cartridge, I got Pokemon Pokopia as digital download only and when I went to buy my very first “physical” game that I could later on sell or loan….it has a key card but the actual game isn’t in there…!
Why the hypocrisy?
Sony does it, Microsoft does it, Rockstar did it(pending) and Nintendo does it!
Why do you see a “Physical Copy Crusader” on the face of Nintendo when it is not really there?
How is the “keycard” physical preservation? Do you think that when Nintendo pulls the plug on the Switch 1/2/whatever store, your keycard will have any value? Any ability to pull the game?

I am sorry, based on the facts I don’t see it what you all see from your Nintendo filtered glasses.

All I see on all sides is greed. Mega corporations worth billions and trillions being super greedy on all fronts. This is what I see and this is what I call.

Games…:

As I said above, I got 3 games with the Switch 2. The Mario Kart is a great game and I missed playing this kind of games although I have played the previous Mario Karts with emulation on Steam Deck (which I still think it is better than both S1 and S2), the Donkey Kong Bananza was just meh, fun to play but not for long and certainly zero replayability.
My biggest complain so far is the Pokemon Pokopia!
This game is like minecraft only borring, derivative, void of fun and WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with the NO VOICE casting?
All the sounds the characters/pokemons do in the game is like someone aggressively scratching a vinyl record!
REALLY? 80€ FOR THIS PIECE OF CRAP? + whatever is the price of the DLCs? Because of course they would have DLCs to surpass the 100€ mark!
And you clowns dare to attack GTA VI which has AMAZING VISUALS, REAL VOICE CASTING, EFFECTS, STORY and whatnot?
IF and I say IF Nintendo is selling this piece of electronic crap for 100€+, Rockstar should start selling out of respect GTA VI at least 1000€ the base edition!

Operating System:

I never had the S1 to compare it with S2, I know the S1 has a good homebrew community, S2 is very new and at least I haven’t heard anything about it.
I will say what I know, the S1 didn’t have voice chat and it relied on a mobile phone companion app. S2 does have now chat groups integrated but the overall system is very plain and locked down. Yes, also the competition (PS5 and xbox Series X/S) are also proprietary and locked but at least they offer a lot of apps such as youtube, plex, netflix and so on. Switch doesn’t offer anything! Just games!
Yes sure, it is a game console but it wouldn’t hurt to support youtube, it is not a device to do it all with, still you need to have something else with you which creates problems with the “portability” aspect of it. I maintain that it is counter productive to not allow the installation of media apps. I am not saying I would be using them for that but it would be awesome to have the option even if not being used.
On the plus side, the OS is fast! Really fast! The boot time or the update time is minimal but this is logical and understandable when you have to deal with a so limited in abilities hardware, again this should be compared to a tablet or smartphone and not an actual console.

Controllers:

Again I didn’t have the S1 but I was aware of a lot of issues with the joycons of S1. This one it works very good for me, it has a device to join the joycons to resemble a European hand size. The battery life is decent and they charge really fast. I am not used to yet on the reverse face buttons compared to every other system out there but the overall experience is good. Of course if I have to compare them with xbox one’s or DS5 controllers…it doesn’t hold any water. Yeah they have some tricks like to work as a mouse or split each half for 2 players on the same machine but then it is for tiny little hands and it is more of an obstacle for me than a convenience.

Conclusion and final rating:

I am having a Switch 2 since Easter of 2026, I can’t say I am impressed or that it’s worth it in general.
People used to call Xbox one as a Gears of War machine, Switch 2, at least for me, it feels that it is a “console like” for a very niche target group. It might sell like crazy but people don’t usually buy those devices for what Nintendo sells them. People overwhelmingly bought the S1 for homebrew for example whilst the competition is an all around solution and is being used for that.
The only reason to have a Nintendo “console” is to play the first party titles. Every game that exists in any other platform plays way better in the other platforms and Nintendo doesn’t even have a GTA V…a game that exists even for toasters for crying out loud! This game was launched on PS3 and xbox 360 ffs!
But I think the S2 is a foundation to build something good. I know for a fact that S2 itself can’t and won’t play the good games like GTA 6 or even the original trilogy of Gears of War and/or other phenomenal titles. But I can hope for S3 that Nintendo will deliver a system capable to run the current titles of its (future)generation.
I personally would also like a separation of the “portable” and the docked and have console that would only be for the TV, no handheld, no restriction in how many watts the system can run -of course within logical console margins-.
Now the games, I have already 3/3 first party games, besides the Mario Kart the other 2 were from “meh” to outright idiotic games, which tells a lot about the people who likes them. You see, I don’t have to call you idiots, you identify yourselves as such by liking idiotic games.
I could see a reason IF the system and the games were cheap, like as if Nintendo were saying “we recognize the limitations of our system and that we are delivering to you the worst possible version of the game compared to other systems, here have it at 50% of the competition price”. Then I would judge it on a different level. But nope, Nintendo sells as high if not higher than the competition which brings me to the last part…the fanboys of Nintendo.
I am a fanboy of what is currently objectively good for my pocket and the style/categories of games I like. I can’t put myself into someone else’s place and defend any company and moreover Nintendo. Nintendo is by far the worst corporation for games and full anticonsumer but yet they have a loyal fanbase without reason and against all reason and although I have paid full price for 2 games + whatever the % was for the bundled Mario Kart, I am glad that they have found victims to milk.
It is YOU the consumers of Nintendo who have created this monster with games with outdated visuals, no voice acting and with 80 and 100 euros pricetags. NOT ROCKSTAR, YOU WITH NINTENDO.

What rate I would give to Nintendo Switch 2?
Frankly, a 4/10. The S1 for me was a 0/10 so this is major step up for them and I am being generous.
The negatives outdone the very few positives (included also the bonus point from earlier).
And it loses points for the fanboyism as well.
Will I keep it? Well, it feels like an expensive paperweight on my desk, none of the games makes me feel like I want to play them.
If I didn’t have a decent pc and proper consoles (PS5 + Xbox One X), maybe I would have given it more chances but with what I have seen and experienced with it so far, investing in games that exists in other platforms seems like a super bad option since in every single case the S2 version of games will be chopped.