I ended up getting one on launch day. What can I say? I bought a Wii U for Christ’s sake, there was zero chance I wasn’t going to get one at some point, even if Nintendo is being Nintendo about a lot of shit.
Overall impressions are mostly positive. The increased size doesn’t bother me though if anyone finds the Steam Deck to be too big or too heavy you’ll probably feel similarly about the Switch 2. Screen is sharp, colors are pretty vibrant, speakers are actually quite nice, clear, and capable of getting louder than I would have expected. The new kickstand is infinitely better than the original. Joycons are… fine? Feel slightly better than the original, the mouse mode is functional but not super practical in my experience. I’m still iffy on the new connecting system, feels like something designed to just eventually break but maybe that is just me being paranoid. OS/UI stuff is pretty much identical to the original which of course is disappointing but also peak Nintendo galaxy brain design. New dock feels kind of flimsy but so did the original. Slightly less annoying power brick than the OG.
I had to go out of town pretty much all weekend so all I’ve really done is transfer and download a bunch of shit (including Mario Kart World) but haven’t really played much of anything. Well, I have played a few hours of the Bravely Default HD Remaster which actually has been a treat. I loved the original back on the 3DS so getting to replay it has been fun and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys JRPGs and happens to also have a Switch 2.
I did grab the new Pro Controller as well. New one is a slightly upgraded version of the original, now includes some back paddles and a nice two tone color scheme, but otherwise feels very similar to the OG. I was a big fan of the OG Pro Controller so no surprise I’m a fan of this one as well.
Eventually I’ll load up some games I know had problems on the OG (Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for example had some horrible frame rate issues and super low resolution drops in a few areas that are easily replicable) to see how non “upgraded” games fare. Supposedly out of the box stuff should perform better even without a dedicated patch though any hardcoded limits (like say a 30 FPS cap) stay there. Games with unlocked frame rates or hard caps of 60 supposedly are the most improved, I’ve heard Dragon Quest Builders 2 for example is a great experience now. The Bravely Default Remaster performs perfectly fine, though frankly a potato should be capable of running it, it isn’t exactly demanding.