Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: June 5, 2025
The conversation around interactive-visit-come-video-game Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, rather unfortunately, has not been about the game itself. Rather, many players have (rightly so) lamented the fact that this is a paid download rather than a pack-in experience - similar to the likes of Wii Sports or even Astro’s Playroom on PlayStation 5.
That being said, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour remains one of the top downloads on the Switch 2 eShop - at least here in the UK - so folks are certainly buying it. The question is, then, is it worth the $9.99 / £7.99 you’ll end up paying for it? Well, yes and no.
There are positives to take away from the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour experience. If you’re a hardware head like me, Welcome Tour presents information about the Switch 2 system in bite-sized chunks of trivia. There are even info booths and quizzes to undertake that highlight specific features, such as HD Rumble and mouse controls. I’m also a fan of the tech demos and minigame challenges that let you try out said features in a practical fashion.
Realistically, though, it’s an experience that only lasts a handful of hours, and rather annoyingly, it could be a more expensive game than its modest price tag lets on. That’s because some of the demos and minigames outright require things like a 4K TV or the Switch 2 Camera.
If you’re shooting for 100% completion, then Welcome Tour assumes you’ve gone all-in on the Switch 2 ecosystem as a whole. This is why I strongly feel the game should have come pre-installed onto your Switch 2 console; having to pay for a game that you might not even get to experience everything in - depending on the hardware you own - is extremely disappointing.
Ins and outs
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is presented as a giant exhibition for the new console. You’ll start by picking your avatar’s appearance simply by plucking them from a queue to the venue; you’re either an extremely tiny human, or the exhibition and its various sections are monolithic in size. I’ll let you decide which is more likely there.
If your objective in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is simply to plough through all the areas, then that’s easy enough. You’ll begin on the left Joy-Con 2 controller, and you’re tasked with finding and checking all the components there. That includes things like the analog stick, directional buttons, and magnetic connector.
Once you’ve seen it all, you can unlock the gate to the next area, where you’ll repeat that process. It’s fun at first, but even though it’s a short experience overall, there will be instances where you’ll find yourself pixel hunting while uncovering all the gizmos needed to unlock the next area. That means a lot of running around this isometric exhibition, which can be quite a chore.
Up for a challenge
(Image credit: Nintendo)
To sidestep some of the tedium said exploration can bring, I do encourage you to take things at a measured pace in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Thankfully, there are some distractions to be had in the form of quizzes, minigames, and tech demos.
Quizzes are the most straightforward of the bunch. There are various booths dotted about the exhibits, and talking to the person there will load in some information displays you can read to learn more about various aspects of the Switch 2 ecosystem.
Minigames are a bit more bespoke. Each area will have at least one or two, and most are fun little diversions. You’ll be tasked with a great many things with these, again having something to do with the Switch 2’s capabilities. Examples include using the Joy-Con 2’s mouse to pilot a UFO avoiding spiked balls, and a task where you have to guess the framerate of a ball bouncing across a screen.
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour’s presentation is really quite charming. Running around on a giant Switch 2 screen or Joy-Con 2 controllers is a novel idea, and I had fun exploring each area to learn more about the console and its accessories.
Finally, there’s the tech demos. These don’t offer much of a challenge and instead showcase various aspects of the Switch 2’s tech. An early example has you shaking the Joy-Con 2 like maracas to demonstrate HD Rumble, while another showcases the handheld’s HDR capabilities, where you can let off fireworks and compare the differences between HDR and SDR color gamuts.
Completing quizzes, minigames, and tech demos will award you with medals, and collecting enough of these will unlock more content, including harder versions of minigame challenges. Some of these were surprisingly tough, too, so you may have your hands full if you’re a completionist.
Though the completionist route is kind of where Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour can potentially fall apart. The game flat out assumes the player has access to a 4K display and accessories like the Switch 2 Camera, as, believe it or not, there are challenges and tech demos related to such items.
Again, this would be slightly less foul were Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour a free inclusion with the console. But as it stands, I would avoid purchasing it even at its modest price if you don’t have a contemporary gaming setup, as you simply won’t be able to enjoy all the content on offer.
Should you play Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour?
Play it if...
You want to learn more about your new console Exploring all the different areas to learn about each and every aspect of the Switch 2 and its tech was a fulfilling experience. I definitely know more now than I did before going into the game.
Don't play it if...
You don’t have a more up-to-date gaming setup Put simply, if you don’t have a 4K TV or you’re missing accessories like the Switch 2 Camera, you should avoid Nintendo Switch Welcome Tour as some of its content will be completely locked out.
Accessibility
Frustratingly, there is absolutely nothing in the way of options for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, let alone for accessibility. At the information kiosk in the game’s first area, you can talk to a non-player-character (NPC) there to invert camera controls, and that’s literally it. Nothing for audio, visuals, or alternative control schemes.
How I reviewed Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
I played Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour for five hours on the Switch 2 system. As the game has strict requirements for which control schemes to use at any given time, I was limited to using the Joy-Con 2 controllers for things like HD Rumble, mouse controls, and more. As for display, I swapped between my LG CX OLED TV and played on the Switch 2 handheld when the game required it.
There are no reasons to consider picking up a copy of Tamagotchi Plaza, especially if you just got your hands on a Nintendo Switch 2.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch Release date: June 27, 2025
It’s a basic collection of boring, uninspired minigames that all ultimately just boil down to hitting the same few buttons for minutes at a time. This is paired with a laughably tiny hub world, that’s conspicuously devoid of activities and an absolute nightmare to customize or upgrade.
It all feels like something that you would find in a free mobile phone game, not a $49.99 / £44.99 release for a brand new console.
Sure, the serviceable graphics and abundance of Tamagotchi characters might prove enough to entertain a very small child for an hour or two, but with games like Mario Kart World and recent Donkey Kong Bananzaon the scene there’s no real reason not to spend your time and money more wisely and go for one of them instead.
Again and again
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
A spiritual successor to the Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop series on Nintendo DS, Tamagotchi Plaza is ostensibly about helping out in the various shops of a cute Tamagotchi town. This is accomplished through the completion of short minigames, of which there are 12 - one for each shop.
The first thing that you’ll notice is that none of them feature tutorials. You’re just expected to work out what you’re meant to do from the get-go, though this omission isn’t much of an impediment given just how simple the minigames are.
The first I tried involves cooking galettes (the flat, French pastry) by looking at an image of a customer’s desired order and mindlessly hitting buttons to bake the crust and fill it with the desired ingredients.
Accompanied by annoying sound effects which I later found can, mercifully, be turned off in the settings menu and protracted, overly slow animations, it becomes stale almost instantly.
The others are all a similar story: helping out in the personal gym, for example, involves spamming the shoulder buttons at a set pace, while the afternoon tea shop is simply dragging and dropping a few items on a table.
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
The only one that I find remotely entertaining was the dentist minigame, which has you drilling Tamagotchi teeth to weed out creepy little critters causing decay and even this just involved selecting options from a menu and hitting a button.
On the other end of the spectrum is the manga shop minigame, which is just nonsensical. You’re meant to design manga panels by dragging and dropping a few pre-made assets into position, but the scoring, measured on a scale of zero to three stars, doesn’t seem to correlate to anything other than how many characters you manage to cram on the screen.
If you keep grinding a particular minigame enough, you’re eventually offered the chance to upgrade it. This introduces some new options, which does break up the monotony somewhat, but takes quite a long time to appear and isn’t substantial enough to justify the effort.
Switch it up
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
There are three additional minigames exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game too. They’re unlocked after you’ve spent some time in the initial 12 and utilize the Joy-Con 2 mouse control features. These are the strongest of the bunch, with the likes of the shuriken shop which has you using the Joy-Con 2 to aim ninja stars providing a few minutes of fun.
Unfortunately, it’s not enough to redeem the overall package and is nowhere near as interesting as some of the neat hardware tricks found in software like Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.
Best bit
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)
There are more than 100 Tamagotchi characters here, with unique models and even the odd bit of dialogue.
Outside of minigames, there’s a small hub area to explore. Aside from the occasional conversation with another Tamagotchi, it’s empty and bland. You can upgrade it using currency earned from minigames, but progress is painfully slow and adding a few trees or the odd square here and there just isn’t worth the effort.
There’s also some light story content, centred around the protagonist being recruited to help improve the town so that it’s selected as the site of the Tamagotchi festival, but it’s basic and spread incredibly thin.
At the very least, I can say that Tamagotchi Plaza has no shortage of characters. There are more than a hundred Tamagotchis to discover, all with unique models that look quite nice. I just wish that this same amount of effort was put into literally every other facet of the game too.
Should I play Tamagotchi Plaza?
Play it if…
You find it super cheap Tamagotchi Plaza might be worth buying if you find it at a heavy discount. The time spent trying each of the minigames a few times could justify a few bucks if you’re shopping for a child.
Don’t play it if…
You’re more than four years old There’s no way that anything in Tamagotchi Plaza could entertain anyone over the age of about four. If you’re able to read this, I would recommend giving it a miss.
Accessibility
There are no accessibility features in Tamagotchi Plaza. In fact, there’s barely a settings menu at all. You can adjust the game’s volume (with separate settings for music, sound, and voices) and change the direction of the camera controls, but that’s it.
How I reviewed Tamagotchi Plaza
I subjected myself to more than four hours of Tamagotchi Plaza on Nintendo Switch 2, which is roughly four hours more than any reasonable person would play it for.
I tried every minigame in the package, and spent some time exploring the tiny world. I carefully evaluated the amount of fun that I was having at every juncture and compared my experience to my testing of other Nintendo Switch 2 games like Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World.
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller: one-minute review
After around 15 hours with the Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube controller, I can safely recommend it if you’re looking for an authentic retro experience on the console. This is a pin-sharp, accurate recreation of the original pad, and thus is ideal if you’re planning to dive into those classic GameCube games as part of your Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.
It’s a faithful revision, but that doesn’t mean the purple wonder hasn’t been modernized in some ways. You’re getting wireless connectivity here - a key selling point of the original GameCube’s Wavebird controller back in the day. Battery life also seems to be incredibly impressive; after around 15 hours of play, its battery indicator on the Switch 2’s ‘Controllers’ menu appears about half full. As such, I estimate you’ll get around 25-30 hours of life before needing to charge it up again.
Still, ‘authentic’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘perfect’, and there are definitely some more improvements I’d like to have seen, even if purists would cry foul. The controller’s d-pad is still far and away its weakest element, being incredibly small and fairly mushy to the touch. And while I do enjoy those pressure-sensitive triggers, they certainly do feel clunky in comparison to the best Nintendo Switch controllers of today.
The only other real downside to talk about is availability. That’s because the Switch 2 GameCube controller is only available brand new via Nintendo’s online store, which requires a Nintendo account to log in and buy products.
On top of that, you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to be eligible for purchase. This will be a hurdle to some, but if you’re planning on buying the controller for its intended purpose, then you’re likely to already be subscribed to Nintendo’s online service.
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller review: price and availability
$64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95
Available exclusively via Nintendo’s online store
A Nintendo Switch Online-subbed account is required for purchase
The Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube controller released the same day as the Nintendo Switch 2 console (June 5, 2025), and is available to buy now for $64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95.
While this is a good deal cheaper than the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller ($84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95), keep in mind that the use case for the GameCube pad is more limited, as it’s primarily designed for the Switch 2’s GameCube Nintendo Classics library.
As mentioned above, there are some hoops to jump through in order to buy the GameCube controller for yourself. It’s only available through Nintendo’s online store, which you’ll need a Nintendo Account in order to make purchases from. On top of that, Nintendo is limiting purchases to those who have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
While that’s an annoying limitation, it does make some sense. The Switch 2’s library of GameCube titles can only be accessed through Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack tier. Thus, if you’re buying the controller for that reason, you’ll probably already have a subscription to the online service.
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller review: Specs
Price
$64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95
Weight
7.4oz / 210g
Dimensions
5.5 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 140 x 100 x 65mm
Compatibility
Nintendo Switch 2
Connection type
Wireless
Battery life
Around 25-30 hours
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller review: design and features
After the Sega Dreamcast, the Nintendo GameCube was my childhood system from that sixth generation of consoles (yes, I’m old, shut up). I spent those days playing hundreds of hours of amazing titles like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2, F-Zero GX, and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. As a result, I’m deeply familiar with the original GameCube controller, and it’s one of my all-time favorite gamepads.
In my eyes, then, the Switch 2 version of the GameCube controller had a lot to live up to. And I’m happy to report that this is very much the same controller, albeit with some modernities to make it more usable as a contemporary pad. Aside from the obvious wireless connectivity, that includes the introduction of Home, Screenshot, and GameChat buttons, as well as a small ‘ZL’ button that sort of acts as a left trigger for regular Switch and Switch 2 games (in addition to accessing the quick menu for the GameCube Classics library).
Otherwise, this is practically identical to the original controller, sans the wired port being replaced with a USB-C port. The analog stick, C-stick, d-pad, and that iconic-yet-unorthodox face button layout are all exactly where they should be, and all feel very similar to that 2001 pad.
Nintendo has even gotten the smaller details right. Like how the face buttons feel ever so slightly loose in the places, not so much as to feel flimsy, but enough where they can rock around under your thumb. It’s a weirdly tactile feel that I’ve always enjoyed. Elsewhere, the left analog stick has all the right contours, bearing the same grippy feel as the OG version. Fear not if you were after authenticity, then this is a GameCube controller through and through.
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller review: Performance
With all that in mind, design-wise, it should come as no surprise that the Switch 2 GameCube controller feels as good now as it did back then, even with my larger adult hands. Its curved design is a blessing even among contemporary controllers, and during play, my hands still rest comfortably around its grips with index fingers wrapping snugly over the triggers.
I primarily tested the Switch 2 GameCube controller with its relevant Switch Online game collection. At the time of writing, that meant plenty of gameplay in F-Zero GX, Soul Calibur 2, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Super Mario Strikers. Aside from some slightly noticeable input lag in Wind Waker (which is a problem with the emulation, as I’ve experienced the same with the Switch 2 Pro Controller), the GameCube pad performed excellently through wireless play.
There are two layers to my reasoning here. The first and rather obvious one is that the GameCube’s button layout is drastically at odds with the standard Switch format. On the GameCube controller, you have the A button in the middle, with B, X, and Y all orbiting it. If you’re dead set on using the GameCube controller for Switch 2 games, you’ll need to rely on in-game controller settings to form a more comfortable layout.
Additionally, the pad’s triggers register bumper inputs (L and R on Switch 2 Pro Controller, and Joy-Con 2), while the Z and ZL buttons are the triggers by default. That essentially means the placement has swapped around, which is more than a little awkward.
(Image credit: Future)
That’s where my second point comes in. The Switch 2 does not currently support GameCube controller button mapping from the Home dashboard, as it does for other official pads. This is a bit of a weird omission, and one I hope gets patched in somewhere down the line. Ultimately, though, I am happy that Nintendo at least offers GameCube controller compatibility as an option.
There are other control-related issues, but these are legacy problems at the very least. The triggers will definitely feel a little too clunky for some, and the d-pad is still far too small, rugged, and mushy-feeling. Would I have liked to have seen some improvements in these areas? Sure, but given my attachment to the original GameCube controller, I’m similarly hesitant to introduce any sweeping changes from a purist perspective.
Lastly, the controller at least seriously impresses in the realm of battery life. I tested the GameCube controller for around 15 hours, and while I didn’t fully drain the tank, I ended up using about half, according to the Switch 2’s controller menu. With that in mind, I’d estimate the pad houses anywhere between 25-30 hours of battery life, a similarly impressive number to that of the Switch 2 Pro Controller.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller?
Buy it if...
You want that authentic GameCube experience Switch Online’s GameCube library is set to grow each month. The controller is the best way to play these games in a faithful manner, and means you won’t have to fiddle around with the button layout on the Switch 2 Pro Controller or Joy-Con 2.
You want the full suite of official Switch 2 accessories There’s already a decent handful of official Switch 2 accessories available to buy, including the Switch 2 Pro Controller and the Switch 2 Camera. The GameCube controller is another quality Switch 2-compatible product from Nintendo, and shouldn’t be missed if you’re after the lot.
Don't buy it if...
You’re not a GameCube enjoyer Quite simply, if you’ve no interest in the Switch 2’s GameCube library, there’s little reason to own the controller. While its native Switch and Switch 2 game support is nice, it isn’t designed around them, thus its relatively awkward button layout could cause issues there.
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller review: Also consider
The Switch 2 GameCube controller is a pretty specific piece of kit, made for a very specific set of games. Here are some alternatives in case you’re having second thoughts.
Switch 2 GameCube Controller
Switch 2 Pro Controller
8BitDo Ultimate 2
Price
$64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95
$84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95
$69.99 / £59.99 / AU$90
Weight
7.4oz / 210g
8.3oz / 235g
8.7oz / 246g
Dimensions
5.5 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 140 x 100 x 65mm
5.8 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 148 x 105 x 60mm
5.7 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 147 x 103 x 61mm
Compatibility
Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Connection type
Wireless
Bluetooth, USB Type-C
2.4GHz, Bluetooth, USB Type-C
Battery life
Around 25-30 hours
Around 40 hours
10-15 hours
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Simply the best Nintendo Switch 2 controller available right now. Sublime build quality and best-in-class battery life make it a must-own for every Switch 2 owner.
8BitDo Ultimate 2 A superb upgrade over the original model, the Ultimate 2 brings drift-resistant TMR sticks, remappable extra buttons, trigger locks, and some lovely RGB ring lights around the thumbsticks. A solid, cheaper option overall if the Switch 2 Pro Controller is pricing you out.
How I tested the Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller
Tested for approximately 15 hours
Played a range of GameCube classics and Switch 2 games
Compared to the Switch 2 Pro Controller in terms of feel, performance, and battery life
I tested the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller for around 15 hours total, primarily using it for its intended purpose of playing with Nintendo Switch Online’s GameCube library. I also mixed in testing with some Switch 2 games, including Mario Kart World, Street Fighter 6, and Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Results were admittedly mixed here, as the GameCube controller’s button layout isn’t best suited for more modern titles.
I primarily played on my LG CX OLED TV, and compared its performance with GameCube games to that of the Switch 2 Pro Controller. Both are well-suited, though I did find myself having to tweak button settings for the latter to better suit the control schemes of titles like F-Zero GX and Soul Calibur 2. With the GameCube controller, I didn’t have to worry about this as the controls are all mapped as intended.
Action adventure title Donkey Kong Bananza harnesses the powerful Nintendo Switch 2 hardware to offer a gigantic, open-ended world with dazzling destruction that lets you bash, smash, and crash through practically anything.
Its seemingly endless stream of hidden collectibles and secrets makes exploration especially rewarding and ensures that each of its many massive layers presents tens of hours of entertainment, even after the credits roll.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: July 17, 2025
It feels like a true follow-up to 2017’s ground-breaking Super Mario Odyssey, with everything that made that game so enjoyable dialed up to the max. That includes an attempt at more elaborate storytelling, though unfortunately this is the one area where the overall package falters. Its basic plot is enhanced by compelling voice acting, though it feels a tad rushed - especially when the action kicks into overdrive towards the end.
This isn’t a dealbreaker by any means as the beautiful visuals and wonderfully expressive animations ensure that every cutscene is still thoroughly enjoyable, and ultimately does little to detract from what is undoubtedly one of the very best Nintendo Switch 2 games right now.
Go bananas
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Set in a labyrinthine subterranean world beneath the distant Ingot Isle, you would be forgiven for thinking that the environments in Donkey Kong Bananza would be nothing more than a series of dark caves. Although it’s true that the story starts in a rather cramped, conventional mineshaft, this quickly gives way to a string of bright and colorful locations that wouldn’t look out of place in a Super Mario game.
The themes of each one aren’t anything that you haven’t experienced before, an ice world or a poison jungle is hardly uncharted territory, but are nevertheless elevated by some imaginative flair. The ice world, for example, is styled like a massive freezer drawer, its rolling snowing hills covered with colorful scoops of ice cream and mounds of densely packed chocolate sprinkles, while the poison jungle is home to a fancy egg-shaped hotel. It’s admirable that, after all these years, Nintendo can still find ways to make such well-worn concepts feel exciting and fresh.
The distinct animal residents of each world contribute to this too, and there are plenty of non-playable characters (NPCs) to chat to on your travels that dispense everything from useful tips to interesting worldbuilding and occasionally little jokes or references. The end result are stages that you desperately want to spend as much time as possible in, which is easy to do given the sheer volume of collectibles here
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
There’s plenty of variety, with some levels featuring their own memorable segments. A favorite is a full-on racing minigame which sees DK and Pauline facing off against Diddy and Dixie Kong on the back of a charging rhinoceros.
Donkey Kong Bananza is densely packed with hidden goodies, the most significant of which are the Banandium gems. These crystalline bananas are Donkey Kong’s favorite snack, and can be found absolutely anywhere, buried beneath mounds of earth, hanging from the top of undersides of hard-to-reach ledges, and so much more.
You’re practically always within a few meters of a new gem, highlighted on screen every time you use a sonar-like clap, and it’s impossible to resist the temptation of going after each and every one.
Most of the time, this involves exploiting the fully destructible terrain, tearing through layers of material with immensely cathartic punches. Building tunnels is as simple as mashing the B button for a downward hit or pushing Y for a forward attack while walking in the direction that you’re facing. X targets the surface above you, ideal for breaking up through to the surface once you’ve reached your destination.
The destruction is absolutely glorious, and your efforts are rewarded with constant bursts of gold that you can hoover up and later spend on constructing hideouts (little rest points that allow you to restore health easily), placing things like barrel launchers that let you traverse more easily, or in at a vendor that sells useful items like health boosts.
Monkeying around
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Early on, you’re introduced to the young Pauline, who accompanies DK throughout much of his adventure. The pair have a great chemistry, with plenty of amusing facial expressions to chuckle at, though the overall plot, which follows DK and Pauline’s quest to reach the magical core buried deep beneath the surface, is sloppy at times.
The main antagonists, three employees of the sinister mining group VoidCo, don’t get a huge amount of screen time, and a dramatic reveal in the final hour is sudden and unexpected, but as a result seems almost shoehorned in.
Still, I was never bored by the events unfolding on screen as they’re conveyed with some beautifully animated cutscenes. In fact, every aspect of Donkey Kong Bananza is absolutely stunning and brimming with remarkably complex effects.
Materials are all heavily stylized, but just lifelike enough to look believable. Every hit on a surface spawns realistic debris, and you can frequently set off complex chain reactions as more destructive materials, such as explosive gold chunks, interact.
In addition to providing plenty of charming interactions as the pair explores, Pauline also has her own destructive special abilities based on her singing. She can clear magical purple obstacles placed by VoidCo and, if you’ve managed to accumulate enough gold, trigger a powerful Bananza transformation.
This morphs DK into another giant animal, be that a flying ostrich that allows you to float for a short amount of time or a racing zebra that can sprint over collapsing surfaces.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Each one is unique with some creative skills and can be enhanced, alongside your base abilities, by investing points into the robust skill tree. To quickly rack up skill points, granted for every five Banandium gems consumed, I’d recommend pursuing the challenge levels.
These are accessed via little doors strewn throughout each world, and are all memorable and unique. Highlights for me include a full-on 2D section in the style of Donkey Kong Country Returns, complete with a few cool easter eggs to discover, and the many combat challenges that have you using all of your moves to try and defeat a set number of foes within a strict time limit.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The clothing system is also surprisingly important. Like Super Mario Odyssey, you can outfit your protagonists with a wide range of eye-catching options using a currency acquired in each level (fossils embedded in rocks), though this time around, each item of clothing can provide powerful bonuses too. Experimentation is encouraged, and you can upgrade certain clothing to dramatically enhance its effects if you're relying on it frequently.
Investing in your gear can make a big difference when it's time to face off against one of the powerful bosses, usually found at the end of each layer. Encounters are well-designed, taking full advantage of the destruction system and each Bananza transformation. It’s a shame that some are repeated a couple of times later on, which certainly diminishes the novelty, but the repeats are at least well spaced out so as not to become annoying.
This all comes together in a game that is a delight to pick and play, and almost impossible to put down. Donkey Kong Bananza is a brilliant showcase of the power of the Nintendo Switch 2, thanks to its crisp visuals and showstopping destruction, and the hundreds of collectibles will provide tens of hours of entertainment even after the credits roll for those willing to put the time in.
It’s a worthy Super Mario Odyssey successor in almost every regard, and if Nintendo can keep this level of quality up with future Nintendo Switch 2 releases, it’s clear that the console will have a long and successful run just like its predecessor.
Should I play Donkey Kong Bananza?
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Play it if…
You want hours and hours of fun With loads of levels and hundreds of hidden collectibles, Donkey Kong Bananza is a massive adventure that can easily provide hours and hours of entertainment. Pick it up if you want a Nintendo Switch 2 title that’s going to last you a very long time.
You crave bombastic destruction The destruction system in Donkey Kong Bananza is particularly impressive, letting you smash your way through almost the entire world. It’s a great showcase of what the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware can do.
You loved Super Mario Odyssey Hailing from the same development team, it shouldn't come as much surprise that Donkey Kong Bananza shares a lot in common with Super Mario Odyssey. If you loved that high-quality Nintendo Switch platformer, then you’re going to adore this.View Deal
Don’t play it if…
You expect the best story around Although entertaining, the story here could be better. The main antagonists don’t get much screen time, and a big reveal feels out of place.
Accessibility
Donkey Kong Bananza has some accessibility features. This includes an assist mode, which makes the game easier overall. Camera controls can also be adjusted with inverted options.
Your main actions can also be tweaked with a variety of button presets. Subtitles are enabled by default and featured throughout though the size, font, and color cannot be adjusted.
How I reviewed Donkey Kong Bananza
I played almost 20 hours of Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch 2. During that time, I reached the credits of the main game and made a fair dent in hoovering up many of the available collectibles.
I relied on the Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode for the majority of my playtime, though I also tested it in docked mode with a 4K TV and the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller. For audio, I used the console’s built-in speakers and a pair of Final VR500gaming earbuds.
There are ample means by which you could learn about the fascinating intricacies of feudal Japan. Still, Koei Tecmo presents the option for a doubly steep learning curve with the latest addition to its turn-based grand strategy RPG series, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition (a repackaged edition of the initial 2023 game released for Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5).
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: PS5 (Complete Edition); PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, (original edition) Release date: June 5, 2025
In this Nintendo Switch 2 game (also available on PlayStation 5), you play as a contemporary daimyō, acting as a Japanese feudal lord ruling over a province during the turbulent Sengoku period. There’s the option to follow the story of the series’ titular character, Nobunaga, head of the Oda clan, but you can also play as a host of other historical leaders from the era.
So, what is Nobunaga’s ambition? Oh, just the small feat of unifying Japan; a contentious matter among those he wished to suppress to achieve his dream. Your objective in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is to help realize this vision – whether or not you’re playing as the man himself – by developing your lands, conducting diplomacy, and, of course, a healthy dose of feudal warfare as you strive to dominate the various territories of Japan.
Along the way, you’ll also encounter cutscenes reimagining famous battles from the time, as well as rumors from your various officers, which reflect the era’s propensity for near-constant drama and gossip among its magnates.
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
It’s a game that struggles to find its footing; in one part, it’s a gruelling uphill battle to learn complex political systems, heightened only by the game’s stunted UI and some slightly half-baked gameplay mechanics that I accidentally manipulated to win the game in less than a minute (more on that later).
On the other hand, there is something intangibly captivating about this historical part-fiction. Combat mechanics are satisfying, there’s a fulfilling base management system, and great care and attention have been paid to injecting the game with ample historical education and context-based events to keep things interesting. It’s just so brutally difficult that any enjoyment I could find is as yet out of reach.
I played over 30 hours of the game (it felt like at least ten of those were spent reading endless text boxes and tutorials) before I got to a point where I was happy upping the difficulty to medium.
Naturally, I instantly lost, and another ten hours later, I’m still in the throes of learning the next level of strategy required to win past dumb-dumb difficulty; but I’m comforted to read online that I am one of so, so many gamers to say the same.
Humble beginnings
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
You begin the game by selecting a date from 1543 to 1614 and then choosing a clan to play as. Each begins the game with different setups: alliances, provinces, and officers, which you’ll take custody of and command as you grow your control of Japan.
There is a tutorial, but as you may expect if you’re familiar with the genre, it’s pretty bare-bones, covering only the fundamentals you’ll need to get started and win a campaign on the easiest settings. After that, you’re on your own, left to unpack the other 70% of the game that the tutorial scarcely mentions.
It’s worth noting that, as the game advises, you’ll want to pick one of the easier levels first, not least because the tutorial can almost sabotage you at higher difficulties. I mistakenly jumped straight in at a medium difficulty level and followed the tutorial religiously, which led me straight into war with a far more powerful enemy.
You’ll want to start your game by checking out your territories, each of which consists of a castle and counties that contribute to resource production. Each district has a farm and fair that you can harvest to increase your monthly earnings, as well as slots for settlements that offer different benefits.
The castle county also has a town square that you can develop with various facilities. That’s not always down to you to decide, though; the art of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening, really, is delegation.
Rise above your station
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
The first port of call, then, is assigning dominion over your lands to your officers. Officers can make or break your strategy; they’ll make judgment calls for you within their lands, though you can give guidance and structure if you want to micro-manage. You’ll recruit more and more as the game progresses through covert operations and recruitment drives, and you can choose which ones to hire based on how well their unique traits, skills, and relationships mesh with your strategy.
Each castle will need a Lord stationed from your more senior officers, and then you’ll want to assign dominion to counties to ensure the land is worked efficiently. As your Lord’s station improves, they’ll be able to pick up the slack and manage counties within their territory, too.
Officers will also recommend actions and make suggestions for how to engage in military or covert operations, which you can choose to accept or decline; but lean too far and you may find they’ll start acting on their own accord or lose loyalty towards you. As the fearless leader, you’ll also have your own castle; this can be managed autonomously by Substitutes instead.
Occasionally, they’ll even want to barter with you, whether because their loyalty has dropped low enough that they wish to part ways or because they’re offering a boon in exchange for land holdings. In each trade, you’ll need to hit a certain point value to secure the officer, and if you really want what they’re offering, you can up the ante to ensure they stick around for longer.
I found this mechanic to be a bit frustrating, given that I rarely seemed to have much to barter with, and when I did, it either drastically overdelivered or underdelivered.
Overall, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening’s staff management mechanics are pretty satisfying and well-rounded. The game does well to give you tips and pointers in this department, and you can really affect the game’s outcomes with your staffing decisions. Unique traits of officers really can drive the game, especially when it comes to battle mechanics and officer proposals.
A council of your peers
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
Another core tenet of running an effective kingdom is consulting your council. However, much of this council management is left unexplained, and as the game gets pretty tied up in its own Sengoku-specific vocabulary, it’s hard to even find the help you need within game guides.
User guides online are fairly scant, too, but I can understand why. I can’t see myself pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into learning this behemoth of a strategy game and then spelling it out for the next player for free, either.
Policies are the backbone of progress in the game, and one of the areas I enjoyed the most during my playthroughs; they allow you to unlock new features, better delegation, and strengthen your forces. However, you’ll want to wait until you have excess gold before setting up any new ones, as some are pricey.
From the council menu, you can also bestow accolades to your officers, which increases their abilities and can even grant them special effects. These are earned by achieving significant accomplishments like clan targets and demonstrating loyalty.
You can also choose to give gifts of treasure to your officers to improve their stats and loyalty, marry them to an eligible Hime, and grant titles earned by appeasing the Imperial Court from this menu.
As you grow your lands, you’ll also want to divest more responsibilities onto your officers by heading to your council and setting up a new province to be ruled over by a regent.
These run fairly autonomously, and especially on harder difficulties, the choices you make to staff these regions can make or break your game; choose a warmongering Lord and you stand to lose a fair few allies.
Friends we made along the way
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
With your ultimate goal being unification, you might want to make some friends in high places, so you’ll need to put on your diplomacy hat and send your highest officers – or your daimyō – as a diplomat to rack up some goodwill with your neighbors, including a monthly gold stipend to woo them.
Once you’ve built trust, you can ask them to be your allies and help you in combat, negotiate peace between warring territories, or even solidify your alliance through marriage. You’ll also want to conduct diplomacy with powerful entities like the Shōgun and the Imperial Court, the latter of which can offer you official postsin exchange for (costly) diplomatic activities to help you improve your prestige.
I’ve mentioned vassals already; once you’re allied with a smaller clan that may want or need protection and acknowledges you as a superior force, you can ask them to become your vassal and effectively join your territory.In time, and especially under pressure, your vassals might decide to just absorb themselves into your clan altogether, but either way, these relationships count towards the end goal of unification.
Do be warned, though, if you don’t want to cheese the game too much; there’s at least one clan scenario you can play where the goal territory is occupied entirely by allies, meaning you can just load a new save, vassal-ize your allies and win before you’ve even assigned your first officer.
Generally speaking, the diplomacy in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is a good enough system, though you’ll want to really think about which allies make the most sense based on your goals; some allies may end up getting in the way of your expansion or be more trouble than they’re worth when enemies come knocking at their doors.
That being said, diplomacy lacks the intricacy required to offer a rewarding alternative to war. One frustration I found was that you seemingly can’t make a country with existing vassals your own vassal. I say seemingly because in the rafts of game guides available within the software, I can’t for the life of me find an alternative other than straight-up demolishing the vassal and then building relations with your target nation, at which point it’s likely better to just chip away at the territory of theirs that you want.
It’s also really frustrating that you work so hard for what can often be so little; it can take anywhere from two to six months even to accrue enough goodwill for reinforcements, and you don’t always get the all-out assault you want.
Considering it’s six to ten months to achieve enough goodwill for an alliance, too, you can wipe out a senior officer all year-round with diplomacy if you’re not careful, leaving their civil affairs at home unmanaged.
What are we doing today, brain?
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
Okay then, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening – if it’s war you want, it’s war you’ll get. It’s nigh-on impossible to dodge combat for an entire save, so if you enjoy a pacifist playthrough, you might be better off with a more flexible strategy game like Sid Meier's Civilization 7.
Once you’ve chosen an enemy's castle as your target, your castles will start amassing soldiers and readying supplies for war, indicating preparedness with a little flame icon next to the castle town(s) selected as your militarization base. Once completed, you’ll direct troops to march, choosing from various strategies suggested by your officers as to the route taken as well as which, if any, provinces you control will join the fray. You can also conduct covert operations to spread rumors or incite revolts across enemy territory and weaken forces, or just raze or destroy target castles to help with upcoming battles.
En route, you’ll undoubtedly encounter enemy units, and if your senior commanders or daimyō are on the field, you’ll be able to trigger a battle event. Instead of passively watching the unit counters trickle down in an autonomous head-to-head, you have the opportunity to command each of your troops yourself with the assistance of your officer’s recommendations, and broadly speaking, I’d recommend doing so if you really want to cut down their troops.
Battling is generally quite fun, especially when the game throws you a historical fight sequence with a good lore drop.
Best bit
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
After hours of trial and error in higher difficulties, followed by more hours of learning the ropes in lower difficulties, I returned to the scenario that had me stumped to begin with and opted to manually control my troops for a challenging siege that I won in the first try. Nothing beats that feeling.
There are a few ways to win here: destroy the enemies’ path to escape, decimate their forces, or crush their morale with consecutive defeats on the field. Some battlefields also have strategic key points, and controlling these improves your armies’ standings and morale, too.
Battling is fun, but Siege encounters are a bit trickier. Maps are slightly more complex, and if you don’t manage to launch your attack on the castle before it’s finished preparing for your attack, you’ll have an even harder time as you encounter traps and barricades. These can be brutal, especially in the early stages, and if you don’t follow your officers’ advice to always bring three to five times the units your enemy has – and I’d really recommend you aim high.
If you want to skip these siege sequences altogether, you can – and they can be a little tedious if you mostly want to auto-play – but then you miss out on the authority mechanic. Winning battles will earn you authority, which can mean anything from lands submitting themselves to you to new (or fallen) alliances.
A beautiful mess
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
So, that’s gameplay covered, but what about the actual user experience of the game?
I mentioned already that the user interface is a little disappointing, and that point stands; crowded menus, unclear navigation, and clumsy controls make an already challenging game downright frustrating. It’s a shame, because the game itself isn’t bad, aesthetically. Sure, the map and menus are all dated, but the splash art is delightful, the music is immersive, and the voice lines are delivered with conviction and minimal cheese.
The standard button layout is really confusing and unintuitive, especially for navigation and menu access, but the biggest crime is the UI clarity and visibility. Battle and siege interactions play out on an unzoomable field, and when more than three or four units on each side are on the battlefield, it’s nigh-on impossible to see where your forces start and your enemies end, which can make manual controls for retreating and resting troops hard.
Thankfully, some of these complaints are deftly handled by having the Switch 2 as my platform of choice for this review; mouse mode makes navigating through rafts of menus and directing your troops far smoother than using a controller. In fact, I’d say unless you’re used to how the games lay out their UI on a controller, it’s the de facto way to enjoy Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening (outside of a PC, of course).
Still, there’s just a lot of chaos in the game and abundant quick fixes that could be made to streamline the interface. For example, annoyingly, if you want allies to send reinforcements as you march to battle, you’ll have to head to the alliance interface instead of conducting from your marching orders screen, which can often mean they arrive long after or before your troops.
Generally, automation and management are fine, but more options to issue mass directives for castle or province management would really help to reduce time spent clicking through various menus.
Not easy to love
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)
Over time, I grew to really enjoy Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening. It’s an addictive uphill slouch for infrequent strategy players, but even for the more experienced, the work needed to fully learn the game might come as a blow.
Had I not needed to play it for this review, I might just have given up after the third or fourth false start, but having to persevere has earned the series a new fan. I can’t, in good conscience, rate it more highly than I have; it’s just too messy and inconsistent, and too many parts of the game stick out like a sore thumb for their shallowness when compared to the richness and complexity elsewhere.
Winning feels good, though, and not just because it’s despite the issues the game presents. Even on easier modes, nothing is handed to you on a platter, and you need to engage with the game’s source material and setting to reap the many rewards of playing Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening. If you’re up to the challenge, this game will bring it.
Should I play Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening?
Play it if…
You love grand strategy As far as strategy games go, this one has got most others beat with the sheer amount of micro controls, all while also giving you plenty to do at a macro level. View Deal
You enjoy battle tactics War mechanics in this game are rich and fulfilling, offering a few different ways to play and clear direction to victory. Provided you can read the UI. View Deal
You want to keep coming back for more There is so much replayability to Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening; not only to beat your own runtime, but also to play all the various clans across the years.View Deal
Don't play it if…
You hate a steep learning curve Hoo boy, this is not the game for you. From controls all the way to core functions in the game, it’s a long road to knowing how to play.View Deal
You want more ways to win Diplomacy plays a role in the game, yes, but I’ve yet to find a way you can achieve Nobunaga’s Ambition without at least a little bloodshed.View Deal
You can’t tolerate bad UI and UX From confusing button layouts to nonsensical menus to its weak tutorial and hard-to-parse interfaces, sometimes Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is physically tiring in its poor design. View Deal
Accessibility
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is far from an accessibility-first game, but there are some features of note.
The difficulty is adjustable to a fairly granular level; different scenarios offer different star ratings, but you can also head to settings before starting a scenario to adjust AI difficulty and behaviors right down to how clans form alliances.
You can also opt to spend more of the game delegating and focusing on macro controls if the micro management proves challenging.
Mouse controls are a boon to the game’s unwieldy AI, and could double as useful alternatives for those who can’t use Joy-Con control layouts. There are no specific audio accessibility features, nor are there colorblind or graphics settings.
How I reviewed Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening
I played Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition on the Nintendo Switch 2, racking up over thirty hours of gameplay. In that time, I set up multiple campaigns in different scenarios and difficulty settings, playing through to the victory scenario in each and trying all of the various features.
While using docked mode, I was playing on a 4K TV with the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller. I also tried handheld mode using the Joy-Con 2 controllers and used mouse mode.
I love a good strategy game, clocking in over 250 hours playing Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 (and that’s only on one console where I own it!) and reviewing strategy games like Age of Empires 4.
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: June 5, 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games of all time, so I fully expected the sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to capture my heart too.
Unfortunately, I never clicked with Tears of the Kingdom when it launched in 2023, despite loving the concepts at play that gave players an endless sandbox to experiment with and an incredible physics engine.
Why, you might ask? Well, unlike when its predecessor, launched in 2017 on magical new hybrid hardware, Tears of the Kingdom not only chugged along at 30 frames per second (fps) with a lower resolution than the games I had become accustomed to playing on other consoles, but I also felt it lacked the feeling of new that made Breath of the Wild so magical.
Fast forward to 2025 and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition has completely revitalized my love for open-world games, and thanks to a huge performance boost, it’s now poised to sit on my Mount Rushmore of this decade’s video game releases. Read on to find out why it's one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games, but let it be known: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition is one of the best video games ever made.
A breath of fresh air
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched to rave reviews, cementing it as one of the best sequels of all time when it launched two years ago. There’s nothing else I can say about the game’s mechanics and story that haven’t already been said, so I want to specifically focus on the upgrades the Nintendo Switch 2 brings to Hyrule.
Back when I first played Tears of the Kingdom on the original Switch, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d played the game before. And despite running impressively on an underpowered handheld console, the experience was jarring, and it just never clicked for me.
As a massive fan of the series, I was incredibly disappointed; it almost felt like I had outgrown my childhood, and the magic had disappeared. Thankfully, I can confidently say today that’s not the case; I just needed a boost from 2025 hardware to make Tears of the Kingdom look and feel like it should’ve back in 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition is a paid upgrade to the original, available for free for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass subscribers, a paid upgrade if you already own the game, or by buying the full Nintendo Switch 2 version.
The game itself has no new content, per se; instead, it brings buttery smooth 60fps, a beautifully sharp resolution, and HDR, which makes the colors absolutely pop. I can’t emphasize enough just how much this version of the game feels like a total facelift compared to the outdated original version.
(Image credit: Future)
My biggest gripes with the game when it originally came out were all related to the magic of Hyrule’s expansive world feeling limited due to performance bottlenecks, and now on Switch 2, it plays like the definitive version of this absolutely incredible game.
Think of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition like wearing glasses for the first time, it’s as if the blurriness is gone and you can finally experience what you’d dreamt of as a kid exploring Hyrule for the first time, whether that was playing Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess.
Throughout my 70-hour playthrough, I haven’t encountered one performance hiccup, and on many occasions, I’ve had to pause to just stare in awe at the beautiful contrasting colors of the sky - I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sunset in any game, ever.
The definitive way to experience Hyrule
(Image credit: Nintendo)
If, like me, you couldn’t click with the original game, not to any fault of it own, but rather a fault of the hardware limitations it was confined to, then not only should you run out and buy this game, but it’s enough to justify a Nintendo Switch 2 console in itself.
While I haven’t played Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Edition, reading the review of that game on Switch 2 hardware tells a similar story to my experience with its successor. These Zelda games are just so good that an improvement to the experience by bringing them up to date for 2025’s standards makes them must-play, even if you experienced the land of Hyrule on Switch before.
Not only have I loved exploring Hyrule on my OLED TV in 1440p upscaled to 4K, but the performance upgrades here make the game a delight on Switch 2’s handheld mode. Running at 1080p with HDR enabled, it’s just the perfect experience to take your adventure on the go and not feel like you’re compromising.
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Gliding through the world of Hyrule on Switch 2 feels like you're experiencing freedom for the first time. Now with a crisp resolution and steady framerate, exploration has never felt so good.
Eight years ago, when I first experienced that feeling of continuing my adventure on my commute to work, in the park, or on vacation, it was the best gaming experience I had ever had in my life. Now, thanks to the Switch 2’s hardware, that experience is amplified to a whole new level, and all I want to do is finish writing this article so I can delve back into the land of Hyrule.
While some fans of the series will be disappointed at the lack of new content in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition, I think the game can already feel a little overwhelming with just how much it offers.
At no point in my playthrough did I wish for new experiences; I was just happy to relive one of the best games of all time, but better. And, truth be told, while there’s not really any new content, despite an option for a second save file (Thank you, Nintendo!) on the Switch 2 itself, do not underestimate just how good the Zelda Notes companion app is.
The cherry on top
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(Image credit: Nintendo)
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(Image credit: Nintendo)
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Zelda Notes, an exclusive feature to the Switch 2 Edition of this game, can be found in the iOS or Android Nintendo Switch app. It’s almost an app within an app, bringing a whole new extra element to your adventure.
Not only can you navigate the map in real-time on your smartphone or tablet, but the app also unlocks dozens upon dozens of Voice Memories, which makes Hyrule feel even more alive. While I would’ve preferred Voice Memories, audio clips you can stumble upon in different locations in the world, to be included in the game, rather than in the app, the added lore has made me want to explore every nook and cranny to try and uncover the hidden details of the adventure.
The Zelda Notes app also gives you access to your full playthrough data, which is a lovely addition considering Nintendo still doesn’t give you detailed playing stats on the Switch 2 console, as well as the ability to share items and building concepts for Autobuild via QR codes.
One of my favorite additions to the game via Zelda Notes, however, is the Daily Bonus, which lets you spin a wheel every 24 hours to unlock a nutritious meal or other stat boost that might help you explore the deepest depths or highest skies of Hyrule. I found myself playing the game more regularly just to experience my Daily Bonus, and it was just the incentive I needed to keep venturing on with my journey.
Should you buy The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition?
Buy it if...
You’ve never played Tears of the Kingdom before, or are looking to replay it This version of the game is the definitive way to play one of the best video games of all time. If you've never played Tears of the Kingdom, couldn't vibe with the less-than-stellar performance when it launched, or love the game and want to delve back in, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is worth picking up.
You’re looking for a reason to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Yes, Mario Kart World is awesome, but after a while, it becomes your go-to party game rather than a reason to pick up your Nintendo Switch 2 after work. If you're looking for a reason to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2, this upgraded version of one of the best games of all time might be the perfect opportunity to do so. I don't say this lightly: Tears of the Kingdom in full 60fps is a system seller.
Don't buy it if...
You didn't enjoy the game the first time around While I've just written over a thousand words on why this version of Tears of the Kingdom makes me love the game despite not enjoying it the first time around, my reasons for not clicking with the game were never related to the gameplay itself. If you don't enjoy open-world adventure and didn't click with Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom in the past, this new version of the game won't change your mind.
Accessibility
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have much going on with it, accessibility wise. While you still have access to gyro aiming and the ability to rebind your controls from the Switch 2 menu (which won’t translate to the correct button prompts in-game), there’s nothing much to write home about.
You can't increase the text size, turn off motion blur, or make any other adjustments to help with playing the game. There's also no difficulty setting, so if you find the nature of an open world with breakable weapons too difficult, tough luck.
How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
I played over 70 hours of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo Switch 2, venturing throughout the main story as well as completing a variety of side quests dotted around Hyrule.
I had previously played the game on Nintendo Switch 1, but was never able to complete it. Combined, I must have over 150 hours of gameplay in Tears of the Kingdom, and I've also played and completed every other mainline Zelda game.
I played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition in a mixture of handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and on one of the best OLED TVs, the Samsung Q90D, using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: June 5, 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games of all time, so I fully expected the sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, to capture my heart too.
Unfortunately, I never clicked with Tears of the Kingdom when it launched in 2023, despite loving the concepts at play that gave players an endless sandbox to experiment with and an incredible physics engine.
Why, you might ask? Well, unlike when its predecessor, launched in 2017 on magical new hybrid hardware, Tears of the Kingdom not only chugged along at 30 frames per second (fps) with a lower resolution than the games I had become accustomed to playing on other consoles, but I also felt it lacked the feeling of new that made Breath of the Wild so magical.
Fast forward to 2025 and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition has completely revitalized my love for open-world games, and thanks to a huge performance boost, it’s now poised to sit on my Mount Rushmore of this decade’s video game releases. Read on to find out why it's one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games, but let it be known: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition is one of the best video games ever made.
A breath of fresh air
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched to rave reviews, cementing it as one of the best sequels of all time when it launched two years ago. There’s nothing else I can say about the game’s mechanics and story that haven’t already been said, so I want to specifically focus on the upgrades the Nintendo Switch 2 brings to Hyrule.
Back when I first played Tears of the Kingdom on the original Switch, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d played the game before. And despite running impressively on an underpowered handheld console, the experience was jarring, and it just never clicked for me.
As a massive fan of the series, I was incredibly disappointed; it almost felt like I had outgrown my childhood, and the magic had disappeared. Thankfully, I can confidently say today that’s not the case; I just needed a boost from 2025 hardware to make Tears of the Kingdom look and feel like it should’ve back in 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition is a paid upgrade to the original, available for free for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass subscribers, a paid upgrade if you already own the game, or by buying the full Nintendo Switch 2 version.
The game itself has no new content, per se; instead, it brings buttery smooth 60fps, a beautifully sharp resolution, and HDR, which makes the colors absolutely pop. I can’t emphasize enough just how much this version of the game feels like a total facelift compared to the outdated original version.
(Image credit: Future)
My biggest gripes with the game when it originally came out were all related to the magic of Hyrule’s expansive world feeling limited due to performance bottlenecks, and now on Switch 2, it plays like the definitive version of this absolutely incredible game.
Think of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition like wearing glasses for the first time, it’s as if the blurriness is gone and you can finally experience what you’d dreamt of as a kid exploring Hyrule for the first time, whether that was playing Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess.
Throughout my 70-hour playthrough, I haven’t encountered one performance hiccup, and on many occasions, I’ve had to pause to just stare in awe at the beautiful contrasting colors of the sky - I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sunset in any game, ever.
The definitive way to experience Hyrule
(Image credit: Nintendo)
If, like me, you couldn’t click with the original game, not to any fault of it own, but rather a fault of the hardware limitations it was confined to, then not only should you run out and buy this game, but it’s enough to justify a Nintendo Switch 2 console in itself.
While I haven’t played Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Edition, reading the review of that game on Switch 2 hardware tells a similar story to my experience with its successor. These Zelda games are just so good that an improvement to the experience by bringing them up to date for 2025’s standards makes them must-play, even if you experienced the land of Hyrule on Switch before.
Not only have I loved exploring Hyrule on my OLED TV in 1440p upscaled to 4K, but the performance upgrades here make the game a delight on Switch 2’s handheld mode. Running at 1080p with HDR enabled, it’s just the perfect experience to take your adventure on the go and not feel like you’re compromising.
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Gliding through the world of Hyrule on Switch 2 feels like you're experiencing freedom for the first time. Now with a crisp resolution and steady framerate, exploration has never felt so good.
Eight years ago, when I first experienced that feeling of continuing my adventure on my commute to work, in the park, or on vacation, it was the best gaming experience I had ever had in my life. Now, thanks to the Switch 2’s hardware, that experience is amplified to a whole new level, and all I want to do is finish writing this article so I can delve back into the land of Hyrule.
While some fans of the series will be disappointed at the lack of new content in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition, I think the game can already feel a little overwhelming with just how much it offers.
At no point in my playthrough did I wish for new experiences; I was just happy to relive one of the best games of all time, but better. And, truth be told, while there’s not really any new content, despite an option for a second save file (Thank you, Nintendo!) on the Switch 2 itself, do not underestimate just how good the Zelda Notes companion app is.
The cherry on top
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Zelda Notes, an exclusive feature to the Switch 2 Edition of this game, can be found in the iOS or Android Nintendo Switch app. It’s almost an app within an app, bringing a whole new extra element to your adventure.
Not only can you navigate the map in real-time on your smartphone or tablet, but the app also unlocks dozens upon dozens of Voice Memories, which makes Hyrule feel even more alive. While I would’ve preferred Voice Memories, audio clips you can stumble upon in different locations in the world, to be included in the game, rather than in the app, the added lore has made me want to explore every nook and cranny to try and uncover the hidden details of the adventure.
The Zelda Notes app also gives you access to your full playthrough data, which is a lovely addition considering Nintendo still doesn’t give you detailed playing stats on the Switch 2 console, as well as the ability to share items and building concepts for Autobuild via QR codes.
One of my favorite additions to the game via Zelda Notes, however, is the Daily Bonus, which lets you spin a wheel every 24 hours to unlock a nutritious meal or other stat boost that might help you explore the deepest depths or highest skies of Hyrule. I found myself playing the game more regularly just to experience my Daily Bonus, and it was just the incentive I needed to keep venturing on with my journey.
Should you buy The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition?
Buy it if...
You’ve never played Tears of the Kingdom before, or are looking to replay it This version of the game is the definitive way to play one of the best video games of all time. If you've never played Tears of the Kingdom, couldn't vibe with the less-than-stellar performance when it launched, or love the game and want to delve back in, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is worth picking up.
You’re looking for a reason to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Yes, Mario Kart World is awesome, but after a while, it becomes your go-to party game rather than a reason to pick up your Nintendo Switch 2 after work. If you're looking for a reason to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2, this upgraded version of one of the best games of all time might be the perfect opportunity to do so. I don't say this lightly: Tears of the Kingdom in full 60fps is a system seller.
Don't buy it if...
You didn't enjoy the game the first time around While I've just written over a thousand words on why this version of Tears of the Kingdom makes me love the game despite not enjoying it the first time around, my reasons for not clicking with the game were never related to the gameplay itself. If you don't enjoy open-world adventure and didn't click with Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom in the past, this new version of the game won't change your mind.
Accessibility
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have much going on with it, accessibility wise. While you still have access to gyro aiming and the ability to rebind your controls from the Switch 2 menu (which won’t translate to the correct button prompts in-game), there’s nothing much to write home about.
You can't increase the text size, turn off motion blur, or make any other adjustments to help with playing the game. There's also no difficulty setting, so if you find the nature of an open world with breakable weapons too difficult, tough luck.
How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
I played over 70 hours of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo Switch 2, venturing throughout the main story as well as completing a variety of side quests dotted around Hyrule.
I had previously played the game on Nintendo Switch 1, but was never able to complete it. Combined, I must have over 150 hours of gameplay in Tears of the Kingdom, and I've also played and completed every other mainline Zelda game.
I played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition in a mixture of handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and on one of the best OLED TVs, the Samsung Q90D, using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller: one-minute review
The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller launched alongside the console itself, and I’ve been using it as my go-to Switch 2 gamepad since launch day. While I was already impressed with it at a Switch 2 hands-on preview event a few months back, actually having it at home has solidified it as perhaps my favorite controller of the year.
The mission statement is a simple one: provide an updated version of the excellent Nintendo Switch Pro Controller - easily one of the best Nintendo Switch controllers for that original console - while keeping the things players loved about that original model intact. I feel this has mostly been achieved with the Switch 2 Pro Controller.
It’s incredibly comfortable in the hands, sporting simply lovely build quality from chassis to buttons. The thumbsticks are ultra-smooth and responsive, and additions like two remappable buttons on the rear, as well as a headphone jack, are extremely welcome.
Furthermore, the original Pro Controller is remembered fondly for its frankly absurd battery life, lasting around 40 hours on a single charge. I’m happy to report that’s also the case with the Switch 2 Pro Controller; after three weeks of testing for a few hours most days, I’ve only just seen the low battery warning flash up on my screen.
So what’s holding it back from truly being the greatest of all time? Well, unlike the original Pro Controller, this new model isn’t currently compatible with PC. It’s likely we’ll need to wait for a Steam compatibility update, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens in the near future. I also would’ve loved a trigger lock feature, allowing players to switch between digital and analog sensitivities to suit a wider range of genres (analog triggers naturally work better for racing games, for example).
Lastly, Nintendo seemingly remains committed to not having Hall effect thumbsticks, which is a massive shame. What this means is that, eventually, I expect the Switch 2 Pro Controller to develop stick drift. Perhaps not as quickly as the Joy-Con 2 - of which there are already reports of users experiencing drift - but for a controller that costs as much as it does, the lack of sturdier Hall effect thumbsticks hurts. Doubly so, considering the sticks themselves feel fantastic during play.
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: price and availability
$84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95
Cheaper on average than a set of Joy-Con 2 ($94.99 / £74.99 / AU$139.95)
A price increase in the US bumped it up from the originally planned $79.99
If there’s one potential criticism I can levy at the Switch 2 Pro Controller, it’s that it certainly isn’t cheap.
It’s available to purchase now from Nintendo’s own website as well as stocking retailers for $84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95. US folks have it slightly worse here due to a price increase that’s seen the controller’s RRP pushed up from the original $79.99.
Overall, though, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is cheaper in the US than a pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers ($94.99), while being priced the same as those in the UK (£74.99).
That said, cheaper alternatives do exist in controllers like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 ($69.99 / £59.99 - around AU$90). This is an exceptional controller that’s well worth looking into, especially as it’s recently received a firmware update to allow for Switch 2 connectivity.
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: Specs
Price
$84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95
Weight
8.3oz / 235g
Dimensions
5.8 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 148 x 105 x 60mm
Compatibility
Nintendo Switch 2
Connection type
Wireless (Bluetooth), Wired (USB Type-C)
Battery life
Around 40 hours
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: design and features
Pleasing light gray-on-black aesthetic design
Adds GameChat and GL/GR buttons, as well as a headphone jack
Otherwise, very similar to the original Pro Controller
Put the Switch 2 Pro Controller side by side with the original model, and you’ll notice a lot of similarities. Its large face buttons are about the same size here, the d-pad is very similar, and the controller still uses digital triggers. I think an option for quicker triggers would’ve been nice here, via trigger locks, for genres like racing games. But there are some other upgrades here that I’m very happy about.
The Switch 2 Pro Controller adds some very welcome features. There’s a dedicated GameChat button like we see on the Joy-Con 2 for accessing the console’s bespoke voice chat system. Additionally, you’re getting a 3.5mm headphone jack, which - alarmingly - wasn’t present on the original Pro Controller. Lastly, a pair of GL/GR buttons on the rear of the pad can be remapped on a per-game basis, though I’ll touch more on those in the following performance section.
In terms of looks, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is simple, but pretty eye-catching. The semi-translucent look of the original has been replaced with a matte black shell. Meanwhile, the top that houses the bumpers and triggers - as well as the thumbstick shafts - have taken on a light gray coating that I think looks nice juxtaposed against the otherwise all-black gamepad. I wouldn’t say it’s winning any awards in the aesthetics department, but it’s a simple and elegant design that doesn’t look out of place.
Otherwise, there isn’t much to report on the design front beyond the fact that this is an incredibly comfortable asymmetrical controller that sits firmly in the hands. I find that the Switch 2 Pro Controller’s grips are of a perfect size, and the pad fits snugly in my hands with my index fingers set firmly on the triggers. I felt this way about the original Pro Controller, too, but its successor does feel ever so slightly more refined in this regard.
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: Performance
Thumbsticks feel excellent during gameplay
A frankly absurd amount of battery life
GL/GR buttons are actually a godsend
Right away, let’s talk about the thing that most people fondly remember the original Pro Controller for - its seemingly endless battery life. While there have been no noticeable improvements here with the Switch 2 Pro Controller, I can’t exactly say that’s a bad thing.
Yep, you can expect this new model to go the distance with around 40-45 hours of battery life. Since launch, on average, I’ve played my Switch 2 with the Pro Controller for around 1-3 hours daily.
Three weeks later, I have only just seen the low battery warning flash up on my screen. This is absolutely best-in-class battery life that leaves even the best Nintendo Switch controllers in the dust. It is worth noting that such a hefty battery does take some time to charge up again - around 3-4 hours to be exact - but do this overnight via USB-C and you’ll never need to worry about running out of juice.
Otherwise, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is just a joy to play games with. The thumbsticks are the real heroes here, feeling almost impossibly smooth and incredibly responsive during play.
This makes precise platformers like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury or white knuckle racers like F-Zero GX feel fantastic to play (even if the latter still benefits more from the wireless GameCube controller’s button layout).
(Image credit: Future)
My one gripe here would be that the thumbsticks are not Hall effect, with Nintendo seemingly opting once again for more traditional potentiometers. It’s a frustrating commitment that we also see from Sony and Microsoft in their first-party pads, and as a result, it’s currently hard to gauge just how long the Switch 2 Pro Controller’s sticks will last before developing drift. That said, the thumbsticks here do feel decidedly sturdier than those on the Joy-Con 2, so I do expect them to last a good deal longer.
However, I think my favorite addition to the Switch 2 Pro Controller has to be the rear GL/GR buttons. We’ve seen remappable buttons like these on countless third-party controllers, but I really like how Nintendo has implemented them. By holding down the Home button while in-game, you’ll bring up a quick menu that lets you assign GL and GR as secondary inputs.
This works on a per-game basis, too, meaning you don’t need to constantly reassign them while you’re hopping from game to game. They can be an absolute lifesaver, too. In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, for example, I bound the sprint and jump actions to these buttons, letting me still have access to camera controls.
Similarly, in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, binding the left and right d-pad inputs to GL/GR let me cycle through my inventory of items without having to stop moving or adopt an awkward claw grip instead.
Otherwise, you can expect a controller that performs just as well as the original where it counts. Gyro aiming is still incredibly solid and accurate for games like Splatoon 3, and you still have near-field communication (NFC) support for scanning amiibo figures in your favorite games.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller?
Buy it if...
You want a cheaper (and better) Joy-Con 2 alternative Sure, you’re not getting the Joy-Con 2’s fancy directional rumble or their aptitude for co-op play. But given the lower US price point, higher comfort factor, and sublime thumbsticks and GL/GR buttons, the Pro Controller wins out for me.
You prefer wireless play You’re absolutely laughing here, as the Switch 2 Pro Controller seriously goes the distance in terms of battery life, putting in an impressive 40+ hours on an average full charge.
Don't buy it if...
You’re on a budget While I wholeheartedly recommend the Switch 2 Pro Controller at its price point, I can’t say it’s exactly cheap. There are more affordable options around $10-$20 cheaper that do a similar job, such as the excellent 8BitDo Ultimate 2, or indeed the original Pro Controller.
You’ve had bad luck with stick drift Without drift-resistant Hall effect sticks, I can’t say for sure just how long the Switch 2 Pro Controller’s thumbsticks will last before developing drift. If you’ve fallen foul of stick drift in the past, you may want to consider some alternatives.
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller review: Also consider
If the Switch 2 Pro Controller isn’t exactly what you’re after, there are a couple of great alternatives for you to consider.
PC, Android (Switch/Switch 2 version sold separately)
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Connection type
Bluetooth, USB Type-C
2.4GHz, Bluetooth, USB Type-C
Bluetooth, USB Type-C
Battery life
Around 40 hours
10-15 hours
Around 40 hours
8BitDo Ultimate 2 A fantastic follow-up to my favorite Nintendo Switch controller, the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 takes everything that made the original so good - Hall effect sticks, superb build quality, included charging dock - and upgrades it. Battery life is sadly worse overall, but you honestly can’t go wrong with either this or the original model.
Nintendo Switch Pro Controller The original Pro Controller is still a worthy purchase and compatible with Nintendo Switch 2. You may want to opt for this one if you’re looking to save some cash, especially as it’s still a top contender in the field of Switch accessories.
Tested for three weeks, on average 1-3 hours per day
Compared to the original Pro Controller and similar third-party gamepads
Played a wide variety of games, both modern and retro
I tested the Switch 2 Pro Controller from launch until now - a period of around three weeks. On average, I played with the controller for around one to three hours a day, largely opting for docked mode play on my LG CX OLED TV.
In my time with the controller, I put it through its paces with games across a wide variety of genres. This includes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, Mario Kart World, Street Fighter 6, F-Zero GX, Deltarune, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
I compared the Switch 2 Pro Controller’s feature set to that of the original Pro Controller and third-party gamepads, including the GameSir Tarantula Pro and the original 8BitDo Ultimate. While I do wish Nintendo’s pad brought Hall effect sticks to the table, its overall feature set and comfortable play experience still make it well worth considering in a crowded controller market.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting after all the leaks and eventual official announcement back in January 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here.
To say the console’s had a rough start is an understatement, though, with retail stock difficult to come by at this early stage. This, plus the console’s relatively lofty price tag (as well as those of its games), means there are some folks seeking handheld gaming console alternatives.
At the time of writing, I’ve had my Nintendo Switch 2 a couple of weeks, and I’ve been spending each and every day playing its games and testing the hardware to rate its performance and assess any improvements over the original 2017 console.
Despite the lack of ambition and innovation (at least compared to prior consoles like the Wii and Nintendo DS), I think Nintendo has produced an exceptional system here that finally realizes the full potential of the Switch concept.
The obvious upgrades, such as support for 4K and 1440p resolutions in docked mode and 120Hz capabilities (both in portable mode and docked on compatible displays) are extremely welcome, and move the Switch 2 a step closer to parity with its more powerful peers in the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Of course, the Switch 2 doesn’t quite have the raw graphical prowess of those Sony and Microsoft-built machines, but it’s not a million miles away, as we see with certain Nintendo Switch 2 ports like Street Fighter 6 or Cyberpunk 2077.
Other display-oriented modernities are present here, too, such as HDR10 and VRR support (though, confusingly, variable refresh rate is currently only available in handheld play).
The former provides juicier contrast and richer colors on compatible displays, while the latter smooths out framerates for more stable performance.
Unfortunately, it’s fair to say that the Switch 2’s launch game line-up is on the slighter side. Mario Kart Worldis great and an ideal title to have from day one, but a good chunk of launch day games have been ports of original Switch games or ones carried over from other platforms.
While it is great to see big hitters like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomrock an extremely solid 4K/60fps on Switch 2, it hasn’t been the most fulsome launch if you’re coming at it from a strictly first-party point of view.
(Image credit: Future)
Thankfully, the Switch 2 breathes life into original Switch titles via impressive backwards compatibility. I’ll delve more into this in its own section, but I’ve seen monumental results playing some of my own Switch favorites on the new console – some of which Nintendo itself hasn’t even officially mentioned.
There are some downsides worth talking about, of course. For one, battery life is sorely lacking in handheld mode and feels like an abject downgrade compared to the original Switch models.
I also clocked some very noticeable audio delay with multiple gaming headsets and earbuds via Bluetooth connection. Furthermore, the skeleton of the original Switch is still present in many ways, with an almost identical Home dashboard, a lack of customization, and the ongoing threat of drift prevailing in the new Joy-Con 2 controllers.
Still, the Switch 2 is an accomplished bit of kit, and one that provides a night and day upgrade over its eight-year-old predecessor. I’m definitely looking forward to its game library expanding, as well as the system itself receiving various quality-of-life upgrades via future firmware updates.
Nintendo Switch 2: price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
The Nintendo Switch 2 went on sale on June 5, 2025. The console by itself costs $449.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.95. There is also an official bundle that packs in a digital copy of Mario Kart World alongside the console for $499.99 / £429.99 / AU$769.95. Some US and UK retailers have also stocked their own bundles, often throwing in an extra pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers or Nintendo Switch Online subscription time, but you can expect to pay a premium for these.
Price-wise, though, the Nintendo Switch 2 (while certainly more expensive than its predecessor) falls about in line with similar contemporary handheld gaming devices, including the original Steam Deck ($399 / £349 / AU$649) and the Asus ROG Ally ($549.99 / £449 / AU$999). Premium devices like the Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally X are even more expensive, positioning the Switch 2 at a relatively mid-range price point among gaming handhelds, but certainly on the more affordable side within the space.
In terms of home consoles, the Switch 2 does come in cheaper than the PS5 ($499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.95) and lands in the same ballpark as the PS5 Digital Edition ($399.99 / £389.99 / AU$649.95). It’s also comparable in price to the Xbox Series X Digital Edition ($449.99 / £429.99 / AU$699).
It’s also worth noting that Nintendo Switch 2 stock has been an ongoing issue since the pre-order phase. At launch, it’s been incredibly difficult to purchase a Switch 2 at retail, and flashes of stock in all major regions come and go in an instant. However, this was also the case with the original Switch and competing systems like the PS5. In both cases, stock became much more plentiful in the months after launch, so I’m hoping the same is true for Nintendo’s latest.
Nintendo Switch 2: specs
Price
$429.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.95
Weight
1.18lbs / 535g (with Joy-Con 2 attached)
Dimensions
10.7 x 4.5 x 0.6in / 272 x 114 x 15mm
Storage capacity
256GB internal
Storage expansion
microSD Express
Connectivity
WiFi 6, ethernet, Bluetooth
Display
Vivid LCD
Resolution (docked)
Up to 4K
Resolution (handheld)
Up to 1080p
GPU
Custom Nvidia processor
CPU
Custom Nvidia processor
Battery life
2-5 hours
Ports
2 x USB, 1 x HDMI, 1 x LAN, 2 x USB-C, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
Nintendo Switch 2: design and build quality
(Image credit: Future)
What’s most striking about the Nintendo Switch 2 out of the box is its look and build quality improvements over its predecessor. The console looks distinctly less toy-like, largely helped by an overall sleeker design and the ditching of the original Joy-Con’s neon red/blue aesthetic.
Some may lament the loss of whimsy, and that’s fair enough. But it nonetheless stands out amongst the busy gaming handheld crowd. The Switch 2, despite its increased size, remains impressively slim. In fact, it’s just as thin as the original Switch, and importantly, lacks the bulk of the likes of the Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally X. This means that even though it is bigger thanks to the larger display size, it remains an eminently portable console.
Though I would recommend investing in a carry case if you’re planning on taking your Switch 2 out and about. While it’s undoubtedly sturdier than the Switch, it’s still prone to the same environmental wear and tear of any handheld system.
The Switch 2 dock has also seen a size increase, but for good reason. This time, the dock houses an internal fan to help keep the unit cool during lengthy play sessions. Thankfully, the dock is still small enough to fit into even the most compact gaming spaces. Whether that be on a TV stand or your computer desk, or elsewhere, you should have little issue incorporating your Switch 2 into a docked setup. The dock also houses two USB ports, one ethernet port, and a HDMI slot for use on TVs or gaming monitors.
(Image credit: Future)
As for the handheld itself, there’s a lot to go over in terms of design. The unit now houses two USB-C ports - one on the top and the other at the bottom. Next to each port are sets of speakers. At the top, you’ll also find the power and volume buttons, as well as the game card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a built-in microphone.
The Switch 2’s kickstand is a huge improvement. The 2017 model had a simple stub kickstand on one side, which felt extremely rigid. The Switch OLED did widen this design idea, but it wasn’t much better overall. On Switch 2, the kickstand has been entirely redesigned. It spans almost the entire length of the handheld and can be rotated to a much greater degree. This allows for greater freedom with how you place your Switch 2 on a surface for tabletop play.
Another massive improvement comes in how the Joy-Con 2 controllers attach to the handheld. Instead of the original Switch’s rigid rail system, the Switch 2 opts for a magnetic connection. As such, the Joy-Con 2 click into place seamlessly and instantaneously. You can also easily pop them back out by pushing in a button housed just underneath the ZL/ZR trigger buttons.
One last thing to note is that the Switch 2 is impressively lightweight. At just 1.18lbs (535g), it’s only marginally heavier than the original Switch, which was 0.88lbs (399g), and the Switch OLED’s 0.93lbs (422g). Admittedly, I was expecting something much heavier before my hands-on preview some months ago, but I remain pleasantly surprised by the Switch 2’s slimness. And when compared to the bulkier Steam Deck OLED’s 1.41lbs (640g), playing with Switch 2 in bed or on the go is less strenuous overall.
Nintendo Switch 2: display
(Image credit: Future)
Unlike the namesake screen of the Switch OLED, Nintendo has opted for an LCD display for the Switch 2. This may come across as a downgrade on paper, but in reality, the move back to LCD has its own advantages. For one, LCD is less prone to screen burn-in than OLED, allowing for a panel that should last longer.
I have no complaints when it comes to the Switch 2’s display. It is a monumental upgrade over the original’s 720p LCD screen.
Furthermore, Nintendo has still managed to ensure that your games still look crisp and vividly colorful during portable play. Nintendo describes its display as ‘Vivid LCD,’ and it’s an accurate description to say the least. The display supports HDR10, meaning games that support this screen tech (like Super Mario Odyssey and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond) can be just as eye-poppingly colorful on the handheld as they would be on a larger OLED panel.
This 1080p screen also supports VRR (variable refresh rate), helping demanding games maintain a smooth framerate and helping 120Hz-compatible titles meet that target. At launch, there aren’t many games that benefit from the Switch 2 screen’s 120Hz capability, though Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is confirmed to have a 1080p performance mode that targets this high refresh rate. It’s bound to look stunning on the handheld that already has a native 1080p resolution.
Of course, there will be times when you won’t want to make use of HDR10, perhaps in order to save battery or to have a play experience that’s less demanding on the eyes. Nintendo has thankfully thought of this, and there are options in the settings menu to disable HDR entirely or to only enable it for true HDR-compatible games.
In my testing, I have no complaints when it comes to the Switch 2’s display. It is a monumental upgrade over the original’s 720p LCD screen. The jump to 1080p helps both Switch 2 and OG Switch games look incredibly sharp. Even titles that utilize a dynamic resolution in handheld mode - like Bayonetta 3 and Astral Chain - are better able to meet this target thanks to the increased power of the Switch 2.
Nintendo Switch 2: user interface and settings
(Image credit: Future)
The Switch 2’s Home dashboard is a disappointment at first glance. In fact, you might not be able to tell it apart from the original console’s menu if it weren’t for the rounded edges applied to game icons on the Switch 2. It’s still aggressively bland, then, and you’ve still only got the choice between two basic white and black themes, but there have been some key improvements worth talking about.
The big thing to make note of is performance. Issues with the glacial input delay are practically nonexistent now, and nowhere is this more apparent than the revamped Nintendo eShop. There’s a completely new user interface here, and items are organized much more cleanly and smartly than before. And while, yes, you still won’t be escaping the mountains of genAI shovelware when looking through the deals section, I’d still argue that the eShop now is a good deal more responsive than even the PlayStation and Microsoft Stores.
Over to System Settings, then, and you’ll find much of what was available on the original Switch. On Switch 2, there are plenty more options to take advantage of the hardware’s new features. These include setting TV output to 1440p or 4K, fine-tuning HDR, as well as preventing your system from topping up its battery all the way to full in order to help the battery last longer in the years to come. A similar option is common with best iPhones and best Android smartphones, so it’s nice to see it here on a portable gaming device.
Nintendo Switch 2: audio
(Image credit: Future)
One important addition to the Nintendo Switch 2 is the implementation of a bespoke surround sound system, supported by the speakers on both the top and bottom of the handheld.
What impressed me the most here was the surprising level of audio quality when not using a pair of headphones in handheld mode. The speakers are significantly less tinny than the original Switch (though that did also see an improvement with the OLED model), and they provide surprisingly clear audio for such a compact device.
The speakers work great for a wide range of games, whether that’s the vast immersive soundscape of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or the infectiously catchy tunes of Splatoon 3. Even older NES and SNES games that are playable via Nintendo Switch Online benefit, with their simpler melodies coming through with great clarity.
Bluetooth support is where the Switch 2 falters in the audio department. Don’t get me wrong, you’re still getting strong surround sound support here. But with the gaming headsets and earbuds I tested - including the RIG 900 Max HS and the Nothing Ear (a) earbuds - there was a very noticeable audio delay of around half a second. This was the case in both docked and handheld modes, though it was certainly more pronounced with the latter.
On that note, I’d recommend hooking up a pair of wired headphones via the 3.5mm jack. In this case, I tested my Razer BlackShark V2 headphones, and audio came through crystal clear without a hint of delay.
Nintendo Switch 2: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Now, overall gaming performance is where the Nintendo Switch 2 really impresses. At least at this early stage in the console’s life, the notion of poor framerates and heavily compromised Nintendo Switch ports seems to be a thing of the past.
Nintendo’s own output has thus far been stellar on this front. Mario Kart World runs at a clean 1440p while docked (1080p on the handheld) at a solid 60 frames per second (fps) at all times. That’s especially impressive given the series’ shift to a vibrant open world.
However, I was even more surprised by some of the console’s ports. Street Fighter 6, for example (while slightly worse off in terms of image quality with some noticeable graining), runs superbly at 60fps both online and offline. The marquee single-player World Tour mode does take some hits with battles being locked to 30fps, but that’s the only real blemish on this otherwise exceptional port.
The one major downside to all this is the Switch 2’s shockingly poor battery life. In handheld mode, Nintendo itself estimates that you can get anywhere between two to six and a half hours. However, in all my testing, I simply didn’t find this to be the case. Of course, more demanding titles will drain the battery a good deal more, but even with original Switch games, I struggled to get more than three hours at full charge. And yes, that’s even after bypassing the bug where the console thinks it’s got around 10% less battery life than what it actually has.
Even when playing less demanding titles, such as side-scrollers or Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) retro games, battery life struggles. You can, of course, mitigate things by turning down the console’s brightness and disabling HDR for certain games, but this does come at the cost of overall image clarity.
I’d say, at a push, you can get around five hours tops with less visually demanding games, after testing titles like Hollow Knight, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S, and numerous Switch Online classic titles. Heck, even idling on the Home dashboard seems to drain the battery at an alarming clip, so do make sure to keep your console in standby when you’re out and about and it’s not in use.
Nintendo Switch 2: Backwards compatibility
(Image credit: Future)
Nintendo Switch 2’s backwards compatibility is - in a word - excellent. Particularly when it comes to running and playing original Switch games. Firstly, most Switch games at a baseline level benefit from Switch 2’s faster internal storage. That means you can expect games to boot and load scenes much faster on average.
For example, booting Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editiontook me from the Home dashboard to the in-game menu in around 4 seconds. Then, from the menu to in-game was roughly 10 seconds. It’s a similar story with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which loads into a match in literally less than 3 seconds. Another standout example is Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, which I’ve already written about as being one of my favorite Switch 2 experiences so far, despite being an original Switch title. In the main story mode, the game transitioned from level selection to loading to gameplay in, again, around 3 or 4 seconds.
Many Switch games also benefit from an increase in image quality and overall performance, not just games that have received paid Nintendo Switch 2 Editions. The standout example here is Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Most would agree that the original Switch release was a mess, with horrific image quality and choppy animations. On Switch 2, the game has been transformed, rocking a solid 60fps and targeting 4K while docked and 1080p on the handheld. Now, the game’s overall art style still does feel a bit flat, but with its key performance issues solved on Switch 2, it’s now well worth playing, as it’s still a fine Pokémon adventure.
Another game that benefits is, again, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. That game originally had an uncapped framerate, meaning the Switch 2 is able to brute force a 60fps performance at all times. Image quality in handheld mode is also sublime, with the game sporting a 1080p output and no longer needing to downsample to 720p to fit the original Switch display. If you know of any other OG Switch titles with uncapped framerates, definitely give them a try on Switch 2, as the results may surprise you.
Nintendo Switch 2: Joy-Con 2
(Image credit: Future)
Now onto the Switch 2’s pack-in controllers - the Joy-Con 2. And again, we find a pretty sizable improvement over the previous model in some ways. Their overall design is much sleeker, and they’re slightly rounder than the original Joy-Con controllers. Their larger size also makes them much more comfortable to play with for longer sessions - even when sharing an individual Joy-Con 2 with a pal for co-op play.
The big addition here is mouse controls, which are supported by certain titles, including Civilization 7and Cyberpunk 2077. Mouse controls can also be used to navigate the Switch 2’s Home dashboard and Nintendo eShop (though the lack of a scroll wheel does hurt things a little here). It’s a very smart implementation, and performance is extremely smooth with no unnecessary acceleration. You can even adjust mouse sensitivity in the System Settings menu and in supported games.
It is worth mentioning that there have already been reports of Joy-Con 2 controllers suffering from stick drift, and the sticks themselves appear to have the same design as the originals.
This is a huge shame and a big disappointment, as one of my biggest concerns before launch was the lack of improvements in this regard. Nintendo does offer a free repair and replacement service for Joy-Con 2 controllers suffering from stick drift, but I’d obviously prefer a Hall effect solution in order to avoid this issue entirely.
Nintendo Switch 2: GameChat
(Image credit: Future)
Finally, Nintendo has a true party voice chat solution built into one of its consoles. While numerous titles on the original Switch supported voice chat via the official Nintendo Switch Online app, chatting with friends this way was nothing short of awful - often thanks to forced disconnections between matches and low-quality audio.
So, is GameChat a decent alternative to the likes of Discord? Well, yes and no. GameChat obviously takes great inspiration from the world’s leading group chat software. Audio quality via the Switch 2’s built-in mic is surprisingly clear, and headset microphones are also supported. It is objectively a big improvement over Nintendo’s prior efforts.
The problems come with its implementation. Namely, shrinking the game screen down in order to display your friends’ Switch 2 profile icons. This seems needless, especially when not using the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera accessory, not to mention the fact that GameChat adds massive black borders around your game screen. Discord already solved this with its simple and effective overlay that maintains image resolution while displaying profile icons off to the side in a semi-transparent manner.
Editor's note
Good news - the potential issue we identified with GameChat compressing your game's live feed has been accounted for. If you head to the settings within GameChat, you'll see you have two further display options; Extend Main Screen and Fullscreen. The former shrinks the GameChat UI, and the latter removes your friends' icons entirely, instead showing a small overlay in the lower right-hand corner with the name of whoever is currently speaking.
GameChat isn’t lacking ambition, though, and there are some neat ideas here. For example, being able to see your friends’ game screens is a novel idea, and a neat way of translating split-screen play in an online space. The problem, again, is the execution of it. Your friends’ displays are rendered at an uncomfortably low framerate, to the point where it can actually be quite distracting.
I hope Nintendo continues to improve the GameChat service going forward and flesh it out with more customizable options, because it is a handy thing to have for party chat with friends online, and it does have some neat ideas of its own. But for now, I would still recommend setting up a chat with friends via Discord.
Should I buy the Nintendo Switch 2?
Buy it if...
You want a night and day upgrade over the original Switch Simply put, the Nintendo Switch 2 is the Switch’s vision fully realized. An astronomical performance improvement, paired with superb load times and a crisp 1080p display, arguably makes it the definitive gaming handheld.
You already have a decent-sized Switch game collection Your original Switch games play better than ever on Switch 2. While not all benefit from image quality and performance improvements, those that do have never been better. Plus, most games do benefit from the console’s snappier load times.
You want a handheld gaming device that’s genuinely portable While larger than the original Switch, it remains just as thin. If you’re put off by the bulk of the Steam Deck in particular, then the Switch 2 is an excellent portable alternative if you like to game while out and about.
Don't buy it if...
You’re waiting on more first-party games Nintendo’s own launch roster for the Switch 2 is very slim. If Mario Kart World isn’t your bag, and you’re not too keen on playing some of these Switch 2 Edition games again, I’d say it’s best to hold off until the game library improves.
You want a gaming handheld that’ll go the distance, battery-wise The Switch 2’s battery life is incredibly poor. And while battery packs do exist to extend portable playtime, these do have the unfortunate side effect of bulking up the console. If you’re a frequent flyer or regularly find yourself on long commutes, the Switch 2’s battery life might let you down.
Also consider...
If the Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t quite for you, or if you simply can’t find stock for the currently hard-to-get console, here are a couple of alternatives that might better suit your preferences.
Nintendo Switch 2
Steam Deck OLED
Asus ROG Ally X
Price
$429.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.95
$549 / £479 (around AU$849)
$799.99 / £799 / AU$1,599
Weight
1.18lbs / 535g
1.41lbs / 640g
1.49lbs / 678g
Dimensions
10.7 x 4.5 x 0.6in / 272 x 114 x 15mm
11.7 x 4.6 x 1.9in / 298 x 117 x 49mm
11 x 4.5 x 1.5in / 280.2 x 114 x 37mm
Storage capacity
256GB internal
512GB NVMe SSD
1TB M.2 2280 SSD
Storage expansion
microSD Express
microSD
microSD
Connectivity
WiFi 6, ethernet, Bluetooth
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Display
7.9in Vivid LCD
7.4in OLED
7-inch FHD
Resolution
4K docked, 1080p handheld
1080p
1080p
CPU
Custom Nvidia processor
AMD Zen 2 four core 2.4-3.5GHz
AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
GPU
Custom Nvidia processor
AMD RDNA 2
AMD Radeon Graphics
Battery life
2-5 hours
2-3 hours
Around 8 hours
Ports
2 x USB, 1 x HDMI, 1 x LAN, 2 x USB-C, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
1 x USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD
2x USB-C, 1 x combo jack, 1 x SD card reader slot
Steam Deck OLED Valve’s premium gaming handheld is impressively customizable, supporting your entire Steam library as well as third-party apps and emulators. The OLED screen is a real treat, too. Just be prepared for some Steam games not being perfectly compatible with the handheld, and expect some performance hits for the more demanding titles.
Asus ROG Ally X A performance powerhouse and decent battery life position the Asus ROG Ally X as a seriously tempting gaming handheld. While still not quite up to spec with gaming laptops and Windows 11 not being the best fit as an operating system, it’s nonetheless a superb way to play Steam, Xbox Game Pass, GOG titles, and more.
Nintendo Switch OLED It does belong to the original Switch family, meaning it’s certainly not packing the power of the Switch 2. But still, the OLED is still a worthwhile and more affordable alternative, and packs a gorgeous 7-inch OLED display.
I tested the Nintendo Switch 2 for just over two weeks for this review. In docked mode, I played on a 4K-capable LG CX OLED TV, but I also split my time evenly between docked and handheld play. My picks for controllers during my testing were the Joy-Con 2, Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, and the wireless Nintendo GameCube Controller for use with the new GameCube classics library via Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.
My testing also involved playing a whole bunch of Switch 2 and original Switch games. These include Mario Kart World, Street Fighter 6, Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Deltarune, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition.
I also compared the Switch 2’s gaming performance to that of the base PS5 and the Switch OLED. While it does lack the sheer power of the former, it’s not too far off the mark as we see with some of the Switch 2’s excellent ports. And in the case of the latter, it’s no contest, and I found it exceptionally hard to revisit my older Switch especially when the new system is almost fully backwards compatible.
For audio, I mostly relied on the Switch 2 handheld’s in-built speakers, but tested headset audio with the RIG 900 Max HS, Nothing Ear (a) earbuds, and the Razer BlackShark V2 gaming headset.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Alters, the latest game from developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios. From the trailers I'd watched, it seemed almost like parts of several different games were grabbed and hastily cobbled together into something that shouldn't work - and yet, much like my hastily-cobbled-together base in-game, it does.
Review information
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Release date: June 13, 2025
Following Jan Dolski, a construction specialist on a space mission to find the ultra-rare element Unobtaini- sorry, ‘Rapidium’, The Alters meshes together survival, management sim, third-person action adventure, and decision-based narrative elements with apparent grace and ease. There's a well-struck balance here, never tipping too far in any one direction, keeping you constantly engaged and on your toes. Less than two hours in, I was already having a blast.
Predictably, things go wrong almost immediately for poor Jan, and despite finding an abundance of Rapidium, he's left stranded on a hostile planet with an approaching sunrise that will scorch him and his base to an irradiated crisp. Alone, desperate, and running out of options, he follows the highly questionable directions of a crackly voice on the base comms to utilize Rapidium’s mysterious qualities and create a duplicate of himself: an ‘alter’. After all, many hands make light work - and the rest of the original crew are too dead to help out.
Seeing double
Needless to say, this planet is not exactly hospitable. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
The thing is, Jan’s duplicates aren't exactly that. The core premise of The Alters is right there in the name, with each alternate Jan Dolski having a distinct - though familiar - personality and memories of a life that went a different direction at one pivotal moment or another. It's an excellent central conceit for both a story and a game. Need a miner to help gather the resources required to survive on this desolate planet? Good news: in another life, Jan chose to pursue his father’s mining career. Bad news: Miner Jan has a substance abuse problem and crippling self-esteem issues, and you're going to have to deal with that now.
This is where the narrative segment of the game comes in, with a wide variety of both one-on-one chats and group interactions to be had with Jan’s parallel selves. It's reminiscent of chatting to your crew aboard the Normandy between missions in the Mass Effect series; although instead of a sleek spaceship, your base of operations in The Alters is a thin, blocky structure housed on a gyro inside a gigantic tire. It gives the story a sort of twisted road trip vibe, which I loved - check out Overland and Get In The Car, Loser! If you’re interested in some other very weird virtual road trips.
Best bit
(Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Jan's rolling base is certainly unique - just don't question the physical logistics of how such a vehicle would remain upright.
The ‘mobile base’ is just one part of the fantastic and occasionally goofy world-building on display here. True to 11 Bit Studios’ Polish heritage, the life Jan left behind to join this mission is a corporate sci-fi dystopia with a distinctly Eastern European flavor. Janky Europop plays from a jukebox in the social room you can build for the Alters to relax in; Jan’s childhood home is a nondescript mining town with brutalist concrete architecture; two Jan Dolskis bond over their shared love of pierogi. While the planetary backdrop of Jan’s current predicament might be a bit more par for the course, the injection of a little cultural identity helps massively in creating a more unique, interesting setting. The soundtrack is pretty good too, an appropriate blend of synthy overtures and foreboding background music.
I won’t delve too much into the plot to avoid spoilers (this is a story best experienced as blind as possible), but I will say as a lifelong sci-fi lover that the story is solid. The writing and voice acting are both excellent, with some interesting supporting characters and plenty of dialogue that serves to flesh out the characters and move the story along. Particular props go to Alex Jordan, who voices not just Jan but also all of his titular alters - and make no mistake, despite sharing the same origins, this is a greatly varied group of characters who don't always get along. Listen up, Geoff Keighley, because I fully expect to see him nominated for Best Performance at the next Game Awards.
Too many cooks
See that weird glowing stuff? That's Rapidium - and Jan's going to need a lot of it to make more alters. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Speaking of not getting along, though: we're all going to need to get along, or we're all going to die.
Befriending Jan’s alters isn't enough to survive with the radioactive sunrise mere days away. You need to put them to work, whether that's producing food or equipment aboard the mobile base or gathering resources in the dangerous environment outside.
This is mostly done through a series of menu screens, which have clean, well-designed UIs, and managing your alters takes up a decent portion of your time in-game. They're quite proactive; for example, if an alter in the workshop finishes building all the tools you've queued up for manufacturing, they'll suggest moving to a different assignment, prioritizing stations aboard the base with unfinished workflows and no assigned staff.
It's not the deepest management sim system I've ever seen - 11 Bit Studios previously developed Frostpunk and Frostpunk 2, which offers great complexity for hardcore fans of the genre - but it works well as one component of a broader story-driven survival game and keeps the focus on the micro rather than the macro. You can only have a maximum of six alters out of a possible nine (although two of them, Technician Jan and Scientist Jan, are mandatory for the plot - so it's more like picking four out of seven).
Laying out your base smartly (as I have very much not done in this screenshot) is key to making the most of your limited resources. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
You're also responsible for the base itself, meaning that you'll need an alter - or yourself - on hand to carry out repair work when needed, and you'll need to modify and expand the base to match the evolving demands of your journey across the planet's surface to a promised rescue rendezvous. Thanks to the two-dimensional nature of your base-in-a-giant-tire, rooms are laid out in a grid and can be moved and slotted together Tetris-style to make the most of your available space.
This is another balancing act; everything needs to be correctly connected to function, and every new room added increases the total weight of your base and thus the amount of resources you'll need to travel to the next area. There's always a tradeoff; should you build the alters private cabins to help improve their mood, or make them bunk together in a far more space-efficient dorm room? Do you really need that greenhouse for manually producing proper food, when you could all survive perfectly well on processed organic mush?
Venturing forth
Scanning for mining deposits as you explore each new area is a vital task if you want to stay alive. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Of course, even with your alters hard at work, this is a team effort. Real boy Jan doesn't get to sit on his hands while his clones do all the heavy lifting, no, sir. You need to make use of every precious hour before sunrise comes, because every single job your alters can do is also something you could also be doing yourself.
This is where the third-person exploration and action elements of the game come into play - though I use the word ‘action’ quite generously here, since The Alters doesn't really have traditional combat. When I said ‘hostile planet’ earlier on, I wasn't talking about angry local megafauna or marauding aliens. The areas outside the base are populated by strange, pulsating anomalies, which can deliver a potentially lethal dose of radiation on contact. Luckily, you can research and build the Luminator: a magic UV flashlight that can be used to target the floating cores of the anomalies and shrink them into a stable ball of useful resources with an admittedly rather satisfying vwoosh.
It's perhaps the weakest component in The Alters’ otherwise flawless assembly of disparate parts, but it's far from a deal-breaker. The anomalies just aren't a particularly engaging threat, although later on, some more interesting variants do show up. One variety has two cores and rhythmically grows and shrinks in size; another warps spacetime in close proximity, causing you to lose hours in seconds while you remain within its radius.
I like the design of the Ally Corp spacesuits Jan and his alters wear - and even their standard-issue on-base clothes have little variations to help keep the alters distinct. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
The rest of the off-base gameplay is a bit more appealing; you explore, gather resources, and map out locations for fixed mining stations, which must then be connected to the base by setting up pylons before being operated by yourself or one of the alters. Your rolling base only makes pit stops at a handful of locations throughout the game, and the maps aren't that large, but they do feel densely populated and hand-crafted - no sprawling procedurally-generated wilderness here. Sometimes, you'll stumble across wreckage from your original crashed ship, and can recover personal effects that certain alters might appreciate, improving their mood.
Brothers in arms
Keeping those alters happy is no laughing matter, however. They can go hungry or become depressed, get injured on the job, or fall sick from radiation poisoning if you force them to work outside for too long. Sometimes you'll find two or more of them in disagreement, at which point you'll need to find a solution - and it's not always possible to stay on everyone’s good side.
Some of these disputes are key to the overarching plot, while others are merely for character development and establishing personal conflicts - but I really appreciate how The Alters makes you stand on your decisions, even the smaller ones. A lesser game would have you pick a side and mete out judgment, with corresponding mood shifts based on your choice, but here you have to back up your words with actions or deal with the consequences. When one alter argues that we need more protection from radiation, while another insists that we should stop gathering irradiated metals altogether, you're expected to follow through on your decision. Fail to build that radiation shield quickly enough after choosing to support that plan? Tough, now both alters have lost some respect for you.
I probably spent more time playing the beer pong minigame than I needed to. But I needed Jan's alters to understand that he's the king, and there's no beating him. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to boost your alters' mental states. Assigning them to work that fits their specialism is a good start, but you can also prepare better food, play beer pong (which has its own minigame), build a gym or a therapy room, or even settle in for a movie night with all of your alternate selves. Hilariously, the ‘movies’ you can uncover from the ship’s scattered wreckage are all live-action shorts made by YouTube comedy duo Chris & Jack, which can be viewed in their entirety while the Jans provide occasional commentary. It's weird, but great. Hell, the only thing you can't do is exactly what I would do in this situation, which is a sloppy make-out session with my clones.
Whatever your methods, ensuring that your self-made crew is healthy in body and mind is of paramount importance. An unhappy or rebellious alter will work fewer hours; an injured one can't work at all. It all plays into the core idea that Jan - perhaps every version of him, in fact - simply wasn't cut out for this job, and you're constantly flying from one near-catastrophe to another. I opted to pick Doctor Jan as my final alter quite late in the game, and I'm glad I did: Miner Jan decided to overwork himself not long after, and kept coming back to base with increasingly severe radiation sickness.
The human touch
It's nice to find your alters gathered to relax in their off-time during the (rare) periods when everyone seems to be getting along. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
In short, The Alters is nothing short of an artistic triumph. It's a cheerfully strange game with a lot of heart, using its premise to ask genuine philosophical questions about the nature of memories and identity, but also managing to remain grounded in a story about people just trying to survive a terrible situation. At one point, Jan leads the alters in a (shockingly good) impromptu musical number. It's silly, but it's hard not to like how downright earnest it all is. It feels like something that was created with genuine love and care, an increasing rarity in today’s game industry landscape.
I wouldn't call it an extremely challenging game overall, so if you're expecting a gritty, difficult survival experience, you might be disappointed - although I've been a fan of management sims for a while, so players less familiar with the genre may find it a bit tougher to stay on top of each new crisis. There are separate difficulty settings for the anomaly combat and the resource economy, which is a nice touch.
The game isn't particularly long, either - my first playthrough clocked in at just shy of 20 hours, and I felt was taking my time with it - but there's certainly some room for replayability based on the different available alters and multiple endings. After getting what I'd like to call a ‘good’ ending, I'm already itching to start over and say all the mean things I avoided saying the first time around. Watch out, space: here comes Asshole Jan.
Should I buy The Alters?
Buy it if...
You want a meaningful story The Alters delivers emotional beat after beat across its whole plot, taking the time to muse on human nature while keeping its focus on Jan's struggle for survival.
You like base-building From fitting together rooms in your mobile base to laying out connected pylons and power lines to support your fast-travel mining outposts, The Alters has a little something for everyone who likes to build stuff.
Don't buy it if...
You want an intense survival experience Simply put, the various elements of The Alters all work to serve the central narrative - if you want a game that's all hardcore survival or management sim, look elsewhere.
You want fast-paced action This isn't exactly a slow-paced game - seeing 'SUNRISE IN 3 DAYS' will certainly get you galvanized - but the infrequent combat sections are fairly basic.
Accessibility
There are a small number of accessibility features available in The Alters, primarily focused on reducing some intrusive visual effects (like those caused by certain anomalies, or when Jan is drunk after too much beer pong). There's also the option to adjust the font size of the subtitles and change the entire HUD scale - potentially useful for anyone who struggles to read small text.
A notable omission is a colorblind mode, although this might be a game where it wouldn't actually make much difference; most of the management menu screens are fairly monochrome, and the game broadly manages to avoid overlapping UI elements.
How I reviewed Mario Kart World
I played through the majority of The Alters on a gaming PC equipped with an RTX 4080 GPU and Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, at 1440p resolution, and got a consistent 60+ fps at max settings. I also played a short segment of the game on my laptop, which has an RTX 3060, and found similarly reliable performance at 1080p once I'd tweaked the graphical settings a little.
It took me about 20 hours to complete a full playthrough of the game, which I spread out over the course of a week. I played with a mouse and keyboard, but you can use a controller too if that's your preference. The game is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
