[COLUMN] The Nintendo Switch 2 Is a (Minor) Miracle | by Marty Sliva

The Nintendo Switch 2 is a minor miracle that continually reminds me that I have been as blind as hell since I was a kid.

If you’ve ever been to an optometrist for an eye exam, you’re probably familiar with the refraction test they use to determine the strength of lenses you might need in order to improve your vision. The doctor will have you look at an image in the distance, and ask you which of two lenses makes the image appear more clearly. A, or B. A, or B. A, or B.

Having spent close to 40 hours with the Switch 2, the odd thought I keep having with it is that it feels like I’ve just completed that eye exam, and am suddenly in possession of a brand new pair of glasses with a stronger prescription for the first time after eight long, increasingly blurry years. And as I step out into the sunlight, the familiar world around me suddenly just…looks clearer. “Ahh, this is how a Switch is supposed to look and feel.”

Yeah, there are some aspects that will take getting used to, and maybe there are some things I’ll prefer about my old, familiar pair. But on the whole, when it comes to showcasing games like Breath of the Wild, wrangling pals in Mario Kart World, or simply browsing the eShop, the Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a minor miracle, same as a new pair of glasses might feel.

Like those new glasses, the Switch 2 can be jarring at first. I find myself being overly careful with it – it wasn’t cheap, and I haven’t grown so used to it that I can just kinda haphazardly fling it across my sofa or atop my bed. It’s larger form takes a bit getting used to in handheld mode, which is how I played my original Switch 95% of the time. And with that, the battery life seems shorter, although that hasn’t really been an issue as I haven’t traveled with it yet, so I’ll be curious when I take it along with me on a trip next month.

But that all feels trivial the moment I boot up Breath of the Wild, and suddenly I’m hit with the feeling of “oh, this is how this game was supposed to look and play back in 2017.” The hardware upgrade is immediately noticeable from the jump. The Great Plateau shines brighter than ever as a peak tutorial thanks to improved load times, a stellar draw distance, and double the frame rate. 

I only intended for my replay to last a few hours, but suddenly I blinked and found myself with my stamina maxed, Master Sword in hand, three Divine Beasts tamed, and decked out as Hyrule’s number one weirdo. Also, I keep having the thought that this might be the objective best game ever made? I know that objectivity in art criticism is not a thing, and I know 99% of you are going to disagree with me…but I’m pretty sure I’m right?

When I manage to tear myself away from Zelda, it’s unsurprisingly been Mario Kart World that’s occupied the most time on my new hardware. Whether it’s worth the premium $80 price is honestly up to all of us as individuals, and it’d be reckless of me to tell you how to spend your money considering I just bought an entire goddamn box of Final Fantasy x Magic the Gathering card packs, even though I have zero desire to ever learn how to play said card game.

But when it comes to Mario Kart itself, I’m constantly smiling like a big dumb idiot whenever I’m playing it. Whether I’m moseying around the open-world map soaking in the vibes while the impeccable soundtrack drifts through Nintendo history, or hosting a stream and gathering a few dozen online pals into one game that works about as pain-free as any Nintendo online experience ever has. Which, admittedly, isn't a huge hurdle to clear, but one that I’m pleasantly surprised they did. But it was another one of those “oh, this is how easy it should be to play a Nintendo game online” moments.

I got the Switch 2 that came bundled with a digital code for Mario Kart World, which meant that my first experience with the new hardware after setting it up involved reuniting with my old friend, the Nintendo eShop. I recently made a video about how all of the major digital storefronts are bad in their own unique ways, but the Switch 1’s eShop stood tall as the laggiest mess of them all.

Which is why I was absolutely thrilled to discover that the Switch 2 eShop is a massive improvement that makes me actually not dread opening it up. Navigating the menus is quick and responsive, dark mode actually carries over into the shop, and you can sort your wishlist by games that are currently on sale. Yeah, it’s still littered with hentai slop, but now you can scroll through the neat porno games at your own speed, as god intended. 

There’s been some conversation online about how the Switch 2 launch feels somehow less exciting than a traditional new console arrival, despite it breaking sales records across the world. And I kinda get it – Mario Kart World is great, and like its predecessor, will go on to become one of the best-selling games of the decade. But as the lone new first-party game outside of Welcome Tour, it doesn’t feel like a big new “adventure,” in the same way that iconic launch games like Mario 64, Breath of the Wild did.

And I think that’s a feature, not a bug, on Nintendo’s part. There’s a constant stream of new Switch 2 games arriving throughout this first year, with Donkey Kong Bonanza, Metroid Prime 4, Age of Imprisonment, Pokemon Legends Z-A, and possibly Splatoon Raiders all slated to hit by the holidays. And I’d be willing to bet a few more make their way within the next 12 months — for the love of god Nintendo, we’ve done what you asked, now please give us those Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD ports.

For a brief period every few years, when my eyesight gets a little bit worse and I spring for a fresh new pair of glasses with updated lenses, the world just seems like it’s a bit brighter, and presented with a newfound clarity.

That’s what my first few weeks with the Switch 2 feels like. It’s not some life-altering piece of hardware that’s going to change the way I engage with the medium I love. It hasn’t delivered a generation-defining experience that I’d implore you all to rush out and play for yourselves. Instead, it feels like it’s giving me games I love, in the way they were always meant to be played. Call them late to the party if you want, but to me, the fact that they eventually showed up at all feels like a minor miracle that I can get behind.