It’s our final installment in the ‘Remembering The…‘ series, friends! We’ve completed the journey! Now, if you’re curious, I’m not doing a PS5 article because the console still has another year or two minimum on the market, and the PS6 hasn’t been so much as rumored yet. But the Switch 2 has been announced, has an upcoming press release in April, and will almost certainly be out by the holidays. The Switch’s life is basically at an end, so why not cap off our journey with an article on it, yeah?
Let’s get into it!
The Console
Nintendo has always been one for innovation, and that’s the Switch’s strongest feature.
With the benefit of hindsight, it almost feels baffling to think that no one has ever considered during a home/handheld hybrid console like this before (at least not to this extent/execution). You want to play the Switch on the big screen? Plug into the included dock, grab an external controller, and have a blast! You want to play on the go? Slide the Switch out of the dock, nestle the two joycons onto the sides, and enjoy! It’s a simple gimmick, but one that works extraordinarily well, and the system’s unbelievable sales reflect that.
So, like with all Nintendo consoles, the power level always lags behind, and the Switch is about comparable to a base-level PS4 (though usually with worse resolution, so maybe more like a high-level PS3). It’s plenty powerful for Nintendo’s own games, though…kinda. Many Switch titles have rough performance. The Switch also has pretty janky UI, including a bare-bones home menu and a laggy shopping experience that has never been fixed for some reason. Obtuse multiplayer options too (you’re supposed to use a companion app), par for the course for Nintendo. So yeah, there’s some shortcomings, but that hybrid nature and the games themselves make up for it.
The Controller
So, yes, the default controller is just using the Switch itself with two joycons, but what about alternative options?
Presenting, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, which is as effective a controller as it is boring. Like, it’s not a bad controller by any means (it’s most peoples preferred method of control compared to using the joycons, myself included), but it’s very basic. It does everything you’d expect a controller to do, and not much more. I don’t really like the unsymmetrical analog sticks, but otherwise the controller doesn’t do anything wrong. It’s only hidden feature is a scanner for amiibos built-in to the controller, but those are kinda being phased-out anyway.
The Switch has other control options, of course, like the joycons. The joycons work fine, and the ingenuity in designing one of those silly little things so that it also has enough buttons to be a single controller is mind-blowing (now, don’t actually try to play Smash using one of them, but it is impressive and worth admiring). You can also slap the joycons on the console for handheld gaming, and it works…fine. It’s a little big and unwieldy, while ironically also being too light. The Wii U Gamepad had heft of the comfortable variety, whereas the Switch can be a little too loosey-goosey (if it hasn’t been clear so far, I literally never use the handheld nature of the Switch).
Cultural Impact
The Switch is huge. Like, huge huge. It’s the third highest selling console of all time, and it might take second place on its last legs here. And the other two competitors were early 2000s consoles! This is the biggest console in decades, which is impressive as heck. People really love the concept of a console that they can play on the go, or at home on the big screen! And competitors have taken note, as a bunch of Switch-inspired systems have come out in recent years, chief of which being the Steam Deck. There’s a market here in the ability to play traditionally console-bound games on the go, but still retaining that television capability.
The Switch also represents the era where Nintendo started doing more to try to connect with their audience, especially when it came to embracing modern gaming traditions. So yes, this means multiplayer now costs money like it does on PlayStation and Xbox, but Nintendo at least provides fun bonuses in the form of free DLC for their biggest games, coupons and gift codes, and dozens of free retro games. And speaking of games, that’s the Switch’s biggest selling point in my eyes. Super Mario Odyssey evolving the Mario formula, two open-world Zelda games that took the world by storm (especially Breath of the Wild, which 90% of current open-world games now emulate or copy), every single Xenoblade game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (did you know it’s the fifth highest-selling video game of all time, that’s crazy), the biggest and best Super Smash Bros game with Ultimate, and so much more.
Favorite Games
Like pretty much every Nintendo console (even the humble Wii U), the Switch is filled with great games. I mean, that’s what happens when you’ve got a litany of amazing IPs as big as Nintendo’s library. Even if the console somehow ends up as a dud, it’s gonna have some bangers on it. Here are four of my favorites!
Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
This is actually a remastered port of the 3DS game Hyrule Warriors Legends, which itself was a port of the original Wii U release, Hyrule Warriors. Confused? Don’t be, because the end result is simply that this is the best version of an already great game, and it provides hundreds of hours of enjoyable content to sink your teeth into. And it’s such a simple concept too! Play as your favorite character from a Zelda game, run around huge battlefields, and unleash screen-filling attacks against hordes of classic franchise monsters, like Bokoblins and Poes. It’s absurd, it’s very silly, it’s somewhat mindless, and it’s entertaining as heck.
This game is one of my primary comfort games. If I’m in a weird funk, thirty minutes with Hyrule Warriors is enough to turn my mood around in an instant. It’s just so consistently entertaining, and the almost infinite amount of content is the icing on the cake. Above all, though, the game should get awards for its stunning soundtrack and its shockingly decent story. There’s a bunch of levels, a bunch of cutscenes, and some really good stuff in here considering the typical clichés the Zelda series abounds in.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter can be a hard game to get into, but once you do finally manage to get over your initial hesitations, you’ll find a fun and engaging series that sucks up your free time before you can even blink. It’s grindy to a fault, yes, but there is simply something irresistible about the allure of defeating a monster, carving it for parts, realizing you’re only one piece away from your next upgrade, so you hop back in to do it again. But hey, now that you’ve got the upgrade, why not charge into another fight and test your mettle against a new foe? And then, and then, and then…you can see why it ends up sucking you in.
This game was made as a celebration of the entire series up to this point, before things took a pretty dramatic evolutionary pivot with Monster Hunter World on modern consoles, and the World style has continued into the recently-released Monster Hunter Wilds. As the last hoorah of the old generation of games, Generations Ultimate certainly has its quirks and peculiarities, but it’s still a fantastic time. Of particularly highlight are the anime-inspired hunting styles that allow you to switch up your core hunting controls, letting you pull of physics-defying maneuvers and flashy attacks that are as ridiculous as they are cool. And with the largest collection of monsters in the series, there’s a big playground to test your tools out on here!
Fire Emblem Engage
To the surprise of absolutely no one, between the two big Fire Emblem releases on the Switch (Three Houses and Engage), I much prefer the dramatically more maligned and underappreciated of the two. This blog ain’t The Contrarian Corner for no reason. Forgive me for being a sucker for anime, a huge fan of crazy plot developments and twists, and an enjoyer of some good old reliable comfort food, as opposed to Three Houses‘ undercooked five-star meal (okay, okay, I’ll stop dunking on that game now, I’m sorry). Engage is the perfect Fire Emblem when you’re just looking for your quick-fix of the core experience the series is known for, but with all the quality of life changes from the modern titles.
For as bright and cheerful as Engage is, it’s combat is equally as stunning, and I don’t just mean the really cool animations for critical attacks and doges. Engage revitalized the speed and energy of the combat with new combat arts, new classes, new skills, new weapons, and the ability to ‘Engage’ with past Fire Emblem protagonists to gain new abilities. There’s so much customization available in this game that it’ll make your head spin, perhaps just as much as the wacky directions the plot goes in. Seriously, if you allow yourself to have fun with this game, I promise that you will. Also, incredible soundtrack, one of the best in the franchise.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
The Switch is an absolute beast when it comes to Xenoblade games, and given I’ve talked at length about most of them on this blog, I decided to just give the definitive remastered version of the OG the spotlight here. And, to be fair, this remastered version does mean a lot to me. As someone who fell deeply in love with the original back when it came out all those years ago, it was staggering to see the improvements in performance, visual fidelity, quality of life features, and additional secret goodies (like the Casual Mode option to alleviate grinding annoyances in the late-game, or the Battle Arena which has fun bonuses to unlock). A built-in cutscene viewer is amazing too, something I and my older brother would’ve appreciated a while ago. There’s a beefy post-game story too, which has plenty of awesome moments for Melia.
But at the end of the day, my favorite thing about the game is simply that it exists in this remastered form at all. The original Wii version is not only just rare to begin with, but not everyone has a Wii lying around and the cash to shell out for a copy on eBay. With this remaster, everyone with the plentifully-available Switch can experience this masterpiece of a JRPG, and it warms my heart to know how many more Xenoblade fans will be born because this game exists. I feel like an older sibling who introduces their younger sibling to their favorite game, only on a much broader scale. It’s still crazy to think that Xenoblade is so mainstream these days, and I for one am very happy about that!
Gaming Memories
Despite being the most recent console that I’ve done an article about for this series, I really do still have plenty of great memories involving this little machine! I remember the ordeal of actually buying a Switch (I got it from Walmart), and the big dumb grin on my face when I set it up that first night and played an hour or two of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I remember realizing the Switch was a fair bit bigger than I expected, and despite being half-handheld it’s actually a little cumbersome to carry around. I remember hours upon hours of battling in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, as I’ve always had an affinity for endlessly enjoying that game’s multiplayer.
I remember crying at multiple points during the visceral and emotional journey of one of the best games ever made, Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I remember being shockingly impressed at how fluid and fun Fire Emblem Warriors was, even if it lacked a compelling story. I remember reliving my childhood when the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection came out (64, Sunshine, and Galaxy). I remember begrudgingly coming to enjoy my time with Breath of the Wild (the 2020 pandemic/lockdown helped). I remember making and playing fun (and not so fun) levels in Super Mario Maker 2. I remember being dazzled by the Bowser’s Fury mode in the remaster of Super Mario 3D World. And I remember taking countless silly screenshots and videos for the Switch’s capture gallery, because there’s just a straight-up button on the controller to do that, which is awesome.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Switch is Nintendo’s best console on a conceptual level, because really how do you beat a home/handheld hybrid? You don’t, I suppose, given the upcoming Switch 2 is just the Switch but more powerful. The Switch does indeed lack a fair bit of personality with regards to its UI and presentation, and even from its inception it’s had constant issues with performance. But consoles are, at the end of the day, about games, and you’d be lying if you tried to say that the Switch doesn’t have a good library of games. It has an amazing library of games, and I can’t wait to continue playing them for years to come, especially with the backwards-compatibility the Switch 2 has!
(Thanks for joining me on this ‘Remembering The…’ journey! I hope you had as much fun as I did!)
The Contrarian Corner 