Topic: Nintendo Switch 2

I think I can safely do a top 10 2025 list at this point in time:
1. XCX Definitive Edition
2. DK Bananza
3. Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered
4. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
5. Metroid Prime 4
6. Pokemon Legends Z-A
7. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds, MK World
9. DKC Returns HD
10. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1+2 Remastered (physical release was in July 2025 so I'm counting it in my 2025 list)

Production has ended for the Mario Kart World Switch 2 bundle.

It's still currently available at BestBuy on sale for $449.99, and once it's gone, it'll just be the base system for $449.99, so you can essentially buy now and get a free $80 game, or buy later and have to spend an extra $80. Even if they did a price drop several years from now I doubt we'll see a better deal than that (excluding a potential die shrink to extend battery for a cheaper $350 Lite model down the line, but then you lose docking, mouse mode, removable joycon, rumble, etc).

Minor gripe about virtual game cards...

I am about to travel and want to swap a specific collection of virtual game cards to my Switch Lite. These are just the games which are already downloaded on my Lite and in my 'travel' directory. For some reason you can't do this from the '+' menu on a game even though it mentions virtual game cards. Instead you have to go to the virtual game card menu, sort games by alphabetical (no 'recent played' option) and select the games from there. Which is a real pain if you are trying to move 30 specific games from a list of 300 sorted in a non helpful way.

@FishyS
Imo it's easier to just let it do an online check and don't even bother with the VGCs. Not for a huge amount like that. Though you can hide whatever VGC you want, leaving just the ones you swap back and forth making it super easy (also nice to just pay to have your Lite chipped, dump your games and install on emuNAND where you can play without swapping VGC or online checks, plus docked image output with overclocks for stable performance).

But ya, that can be a little bit of a commitment to get all set up (worth it though). Otherwise, mobile phone hotspot for easy online connection if you're booting up a new game or I recommend hiding all VGC except ones you intend to swap so you can just eject all, then load on the other, and vise versa when you're done.

I often do that at home (although you then have to be careful about copying over cloud save files so it's not always more convenient), but I'm about to be on an airplane with no internet and then at my mother's house which currently has no wifi so I was getting things sorted before I left.

Anyways, I agree there are workarounds, but my main point was how remarkably bad Nintendo made the UX design for sending over a collection of virtual game cards when it's not simply all your games. It's very odd they don't let you move game cards directly from the game's + screen or from the folders screen. And that they basically only let you sort the virtual game cards by alphabetical (or by order of purchase which, while interesting, is not super useful for finding things).

I realize all of this is only a problem for the relatively small number of people who have far more than the 18 virtual games which show up on one screen, but it's still very odd that every game on the main screen has a menu which says 'virtual game card' and instead of checking in and out there, it just tells you to go to the seperate virtual game card area. It almost feels like they were planning to add some convenient feature and then never got around to it.

As I said, relatively minor gripe which doesn't effect most people. But it's a situation which was trivial before virtual game cards and unnecessarily convoluted now.

@FishyS
I have mine set up to auto upload and auto download cloud saves so that's never an issue. But ya I'd recommend hiding all but the games you'd typically wanna transfer because it's much easier to eject all at once than do it game by game, even if that were available from the other screen. Still have to insert one by one but that goes really fast just loading.

Takes a bit of time setting up hiding the irrelevant stuff but pays dividends for all future instances where you may want to swap back and forth. I think it's worth doing anyways.

@FishyS Also not being able to search for a game's name in your list of games in the game card menu, instead having to go to the eShop, search in all games, find your game, and then open the game card menu from the game's page there to redownload it...

It's such a convoluted approach, particularly in contrast to something like Steam OS.

Maybe next generation Nintendo will improve the UX a little bit. I have little hope though, after how little they improved going from Switch to Switch 2. I guess we should be happy the eShop isn't a useless laggy mire this time around, at the very least.

You can also search in the folders menu ... but only by editing a folder 😆 It's truly bizarre that Nintendo has all these sorting and search features built into their UI but they only let you access random pieces of them depending on which similar menu you are in.

I totally get that Nintendo simply doesn't care too much about the 1% of Switch owners who have zillions of games, but given the polish they normally put into games, the lack of consistency and somewhat standard QoL featured in the UI is weird. Some of that might be the fact that they were keeping the OS super slim for Switch 1, but that doesn't explain e.g. being able to search in the edit-folder menu but not directly in the folder menu.

My only thought for how few changes there were in the new UI is their strategy to keep the UIs consistent between Switch 1 and 2 combined with the continued extremely limited resources for the Switch 1 OS. I wish they had changed a bit more.

The extreme improvements in the eShop are definitely appreciated though since that was by far the biggest issue.

Cyberpunk 2077 is on sale for $17.49

I'm at the point of no return, and wrapping up some Johnny/Rogue side quests (just finished Panam's) and plan to hit Phantom Liberty last.

For that price, with gyro/mouse aiming... well, do whatever but I'll go on the record saying Cyberpunk 2077 is better than Witcher 3.

Persona 3 Reload 1.03 update out now on Nintendo Switch 2 - frame rate boost, 60 FPS target when docked https://nintendoeverything.com/persona-3-reload-1-03-update-out-now-on-nintendo-switch-2-frame-rate-boost-60-fps-target-when-docked/

Hallelujah! Frame pacing issues have been fixed and a TV-mode exclusive 60fps option has been added.

Some deals you guys should really strongly consider. Some bangers for essentially pennies on the dollar here.

• Cyberpunk 2077 – $17.49
  Better than The Witcher 3. In fact, it's probably in my top 30 of all time list at this point.
• Fast Fusion – $10.49
  F-Zero what? This IS the futuristic arcade racer you've been waiting for. It's a much better game than Fast RMX, and Fast RMX was already a solid entry.
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Gold Edition – $8.99
  Just read the person below absolutely glowing over this game. And I concur. One of the finest, and a better entry than Kingdom Battle (both are worth playing though).
• Portal: Companion Collection – $4.99
  Portal 2 is top 10 of all time, maybe even top 5. If you haven't played these games with gyro aiming, I'm petitioning the union to revoke your gamer card indefinitely.
• NieR: Automata – $15.99
  Platinum at its finest. If you like Bayonetta, Astral Chain, Wonderful 101... heck even if you don't, this is almost certainly a game you'll adore.

$57.95 gets you every game listed above. That's less than a last-gen full priced game, and every single one of those is a masterpiece in its own right. You haven't heard me gush about Fast Fusion yet but it's THE best F-Zero game I've played since GX. In fact the Ikaruga-like color swapping for boost pads kinda makes it even more enjoyable.

And Portal 1 and 2, both at 1080p 60fps with gyro aiming for $4.99 playable in hybrid handheld format? Guys. I know most have played these games but IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED PORTAL 1 AND 2, GO BUY THEM NOW! I'm dang near tempted to buy them for you just to see you marvel at their greatness.

@Nintoz
For real?

OK let me go check this out quick and see how it plays. Cyberpunk 2077 you'll have to hang out in backlog for a bit.

Not that I ever felt Persona 3 Reload "needed" more than 30 fps- again, kinda getting back to what I said earlier, but it's always appreciated, always a smoother experience, and I'll never thumb my nose at an improvement over 30 frames whenever offered.

edit
Playing now. Yup, it's in Config. Change Performance Mode to ON, and it's 60 frames when docked. Handheld is still 30 but that's fine.

@JaxonH How does it hold up at 60? Is it pretty solid?

Can't help but think it would be hanging by a thread being only for TV mode.

@JaxonH,

Sparks of Hope with all DLC for $9.00?!?!?!?!?!

Holy heck. I got the exact same thing for $42 back in 2023. This is a great deal that no one should sleep on. It's one of my most favorite games, of all time, as you can see from the top 5 ranking on my forum signature.

If you bought anything from Limited Run Games, file a claim for settlement payment due to them selling your data to Meta without permission.

https://forms.ksacms.com/efiling/fr/singlepage/carbone_v_limi...

@Nintoz
Yup it's fine. Divinity Original Sin 2 also did 60 fps in TV mode. Think it's just cause halving the clock speeds makes achieving stable 60 a bit more difficult in handheld mode. Of course, devs should be prioritizing 40 fps more which they're not and that bugs me to no end, but ya. It's fine in TV mode.

I have this bean bag weighted mouse pad that drapes over the arm of my recliner, and I wanted to find where something similar is sold to recommend to others besides just the Seihoo firm mouse pad, but I can't seem to find anyone anywhere that sells these anymore.

If anyone knows where to buy mouse pads like this one I have, let me know please.

@Nep-Nep-Freak
That's what I'm saying!

All those games are worth every penny at full price. But getting discounts of 75%, 80%, even 85% off? Any gamer who doesn't own any of those games should be on the eShop adding to cart asap.

Technically it's even better in Australia because we're getting it for $10.80AU with all the DLC. It is a Ubisoft game so you CAN get it for cheap outside of this deal but from what I can tell it's more like $18AU or so? Without the DLC. So $10.80 with all the DLC is nuts

The way I see it VGCs are little more than just making it so that the primary console is set per-game rather than per-system. Which is certainly a decent step forward but it's still inherently clunky and restrictive

Personally I would have less issues with it if they allowed more than two systems to swap VGCs between and allowed me to lend VGC to people in my family group remotely. The first because my OG Switch I have in a dock behind a TV at my parents, for holiday gaming eg Switch Sports. I'd like to load stuff like Switch Sports on there without having to do online checks or having to bring around my Switch OLED or my Switch 2 and Dock. If it was three consoles? Problem solved.

Remote-lending? Honestly, I can see what they were going with in that you're restricted to lending in a way that means you physically have to have the two consoles within range. Not unlike how if you physically hand a cartridge there's a physical exchange. But that doesn't gel well with how I want to lend games to my sister for example. We'll catch up and neither of us will have our consoles with us and I'll mention a game I think she'd like.... at that point why can't I just lend it to her directly from my phone? Or if I do lend a game to her and, both of us being relatively busy, she doesn't get around to playing it during the two weeks. What, now I we have to organise to have our consoles together again?

And yes, before the usual suspect chimes in, I know Steam does this better and opens both of these things up entirely. And yes, obviously, this setup is built around "families" and the idea would be that everyone is living under the same roof where the issues I have with it would not apply. Even so, these two barriers are the ones I tend to run up against when it comes to VGCs.

Tried asking in the actual Switch 1 game thread but haven't heard anything so far:

Anybody here play Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time?

Specifically looking to see if anyone can compare it to Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma for me. I loved Azuma, and Fantasy Life seems similar with the mix of combat and traditional "life" stuff. I heard it's pretty good but wanted some feedback from people who've played it.

Thinking about importing the physical Japanese cart.

@rallydefault I haven't played Rune Factory Guardians of Azuma so I can't really say how it compares (still waiting for it to have bigger discount)

But I will say that Fantasy Life i's story is the weakest part of the game. The gameplay is pretty simplistic, but the loop is the most fun part for me. The part where you go farm one thing that leads to another and that leads to another, and so on (Example of this is like, you went to farm some lumbers, but around there is also some monster you need for your combat jobs... so you hunt them too. And then you went to mine a few metals since might as well, right? And then before you know it you are harvesting and slaying everything). Especially since now you can just move between one Job to the next very simply in this game xD

I think I still prefer the first game... but FLi isn't bad too. It's a solid game.

@darkfenrir
Thanks! Does it have a day/night cycle? Do you farm, or is it just crafting?

@rallydefault yeah it has day/night cycle, and there's also farming (which uses real time so it's a bit annoying when you want to grind it up... It's a bit RNG as well unfortunately for this one )

So you overall have like gathering jobs -> which you then use to craft -> which you then use the result of to do combat with. It's real satisfying