Nintendo Switch 2 Hands-on

After the better part of a decade from the original launch of the Nintendo Switch, and after months of anticipation, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 to the world earlier this week, and RPG Site had a chance to go hands-on with the system at a media event in New York City's Midtown.

As a genre website, role-playing games are our focus. This is more than obvious; look at the logo at the top of your screen. Of course, Nintendo has many beloved franchises, but given our specific purview, we are always on the lookout for announcements for certain ones, such as the likes of Fire Emblem and Xenoblade, or any Mario RPG.

It's been more than two years since Fire Emblem Engage, and maybe if we believed hard enough, Monolith Soft would have another surprise up its sleeve (have you checked out our Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition review?), but for now, neither franchise made an appearance on Nintendo's new console - aside from a very quick glimpse that the excellent Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance will be playable through the new GameCube library for Nintendo Switch Online.

(At one point before the Nintendo Direct broadcast, music from Golden Sun played at the premiere event media theater room, which turned out to be more of a cruel coincidence than a clever tease. Maybe eventually we'll get closure on the now 15-year-old cliffhanger in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn ...)

While we are still waiting for new Nintendo first-party RPGs on Nintendo Switch 2, we know of some third-party titles making the jump to the platform, including Final Fantasy VII Remake, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Wild Hearts. Some upcoming titles are also getting an additional Nintendo Switch 2 version, such Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.

Of all of these games, only the Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk 2077 was playable at the media event. While some colleagues of mine were pretty positive on Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, at least in docked mode, I was less so. As I played through a quick section of the Phantom Liberty opening sections, I was told I was playing in performance mode with framerates around ~45fps, with dynamic resolution scaling. During my short demo, I couldn't help but notice significant dithering and aliasing in character hair, as well as significant framerate dips in hectic combat action, granted it is a much more dense game compared to the likes of Kirby or Zelda. Maybe this is relatively on par with other console versions of the game, I'm not certain. Still, it's a good sign if Switch 2 can reasonably handle demanding games, and CDProjekt is continuing to iron out the port's performance ahead of launch.

I also got some quick hands-on time with Yakuza 0 Director's Cut, which is not only getting a port to the system, but also a new English & Chinese dub as well as a new multiplayer mode, alongside 26 minutes of new cutscene footage. Being a PS3 game at heart, it's probably no surprise that it runs perfectly well on a 2025 system, but I certainly wouldn't have expected Sega to add content and language options. It also brings back the original opening theme "Bubble", which was absent in the original western release of the game.

Probably one of the most impressive demos I played was those for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Higher resolutions are one thing, but simply seeing these games running at a high framerate was a delight. Practically everything is *so much snappier* compared to the Switch versions, from menu navigation to load times to even just plain ol' text boxes. As of the time of writing, the USD prices for upgrade costs on these "Switch 2 Edition" games are unstated, estimated to be $10 to $20 dollars based on official yen prices.

Seeing Switch Zelda titles running this well on the Switch 2 makes me envision what other Switch games would see huge performance benefits from the system. Pretty much any Xenoblade entry - especially Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - would be amazing to see, and I hope Nintendo has plans to roll out more Switch 2 Editions at a regular clip in the system's first years. Switch 2 Editions of certain Pokemon titles would also be appreciated. I'm not sure how likely it is, but Fire Emblem: Three Houses could also benefit significantly from an enhanced version.

While I hoped to get some hands-on time with Square Enix's port of Final Fantasy VII Remake and the newly-announced Bravely Default HD Remaster, unfortunately, neither was playable at the Switch 2 premiere event. As much as I would have loved to have tried out Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, this too was absent from the event floor.

Look, we here are RPG nerds. Sorry about that! But we do play other games, too. Personally, I adore the Metroid Prime series, so getting a chance to check out the Switch 2 version of Metroid Prime 4 was a highlight of the night for me. It looks right. It feels right. Playing a Nintendo game in 120fps feels illegal. The way the game seamlessly lets you transition from Joy-Con gyro controls to the new mouse control setup works surprisingly well. The demo level here was clearly from the opening section of the game - more linear and guided and reminiscent of Metroid Prime 3 (can you believe it's been eighteen years since Metroid Prime 3?). We'll have to see how the connected world exploration fares in this newest entry, but I can't wait to play.

Nintendo Switch 2 is set to release on June 5, priced at $449.99.