After the obvious financial failure in the Wii U, Nintendo finally releases their next console, the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch released on March 3rd 2017 to a plethora of mixed reviews, some positive and some negative.

Power

A five-year old can observe that the Switch is not as powerful as the Ps4 or Xbox One just by looking at the gameplay. Even with Nintendo’s highly anticipated launch-title, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Switch struggles to keep a high frame rate.

Luckily for Nintendo, most of their fans don’t care that the Switch has sub-par graphics and processing power, so long as the gameplay is fun. One way that Nintendo tried to provide a better gameplay experience for their gamers is by introducing a portable aspect to the Switch, allowing it to be taken on the go. While this is a great idea and provides many exciting gameplay opportunities, the battery life is very disappointing. According to Trusted Reviews, when playing breath of the wild on the go, you can honestly expect to get between 2 hours 45 minutes an 3 hours 15 minutes of gameplay. This is unfortunate, because with a battery life that short, the possibility of playing the console on a long car or plane ride has been eliminated.

On top of that, the processing power on the go isn’t even as good as it is while docked. Even though the screen is 720p, it’s still an obvious subordinate to playing it while docked.

Despite all the disappointments regarding the portability of the Switch, I still love it. The battery life is definitely long enough for a commute. With the quick transition between docked and portable mode, it’s easy to take the Switch to the bedroom to play before bed, for example.

Overall, the Switch’s power is one of its worst features. It fails to compete with the Ps4 and Xbox One. However, with a relatively low price tag, you really can’t argue.

Controls

One of the Switch’s best features is it’s versatility to fit any game style. The standard controller for the Switch has multiple different forms. The Joy-Con controllers can be together in a typical-looking controller or taken apart two form two separate handheld controllers. With the Joy-Con controllers separated, a more relaxed and comfortable gaming position is provided. This new controller setup is very unique to the Switch, in some respects setting it apart from the Ps4 and Xbox One.

Furthermore, the controllers also have motion sensitivity, which would cost extra for Sony or Microsoft. Although these motion controllers don’t add too much more to the algorithm set up with the Wii, it’s still an effective feature which adds to the overall gameplay experience.

Lastly, the Switch has a touch screen while portable, which opens even more gaming opportunities. Firstly, and more obviously, games can be built with optional touch controls to allow for a more complex, diverse game style. Also, this allows Nintendo the possibility of allowing the Switch to be a tablet of sorts, playing casual games like Super Mario Run. Although Nintendo really hasn’t mentioned anything related to that, the touch screen allows for that to be an added feature to the Switch in the future.

Overall, the controls on the Switch are very well done. They are fun to use, comfortable, and versatile.

Games

The most important part of a console is its games. If a console does not have a solid library of good games, it doesn’t matter how powerful it is or how good its controls are. In the case of the Switch, it’s too early to decide whether or not the Switch will eventually have an expansive library, unlike the Wii U. However, based on the games that have been released or confirmed, it looks pretty promising. 

As a launch-title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a great title. The sand-box game is expansive, with a beautiful map to explore. The dungeons are puzzling and fun– not gimmicky like some past Zelda titles. Foes are exciting challenges awaiting you at every corner. The story is thought-out. Overall, it’s a great game, and Nintendo spent a lot of time refining it. If they dedicate the amount of resources dedicated to this game to every game, Nintendo would destroy Playstation and Microsoft.

Furthermore, Skyrim, a third-party title has been confirmed. This sort of third-party support is something which the Wii U lacked. Not only will this be the first time that Skyrim can be taken on the go, but it is also the first time a Nintendo device has been able to play the game.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon… honestly the list goes on and on. Hopefully Nintendo keeps this pace up throughout the Switch’s lifetime.

Conclusion: Is it Fun?

The Switch gathered voluminous amounts of attention throughout the past year. Nintendo fans prayed that the Switch would be better than the Wii U. Well, luckily, it is, by a lot. The Wii U tried to introduce a liaison between portable consoles and ho,me consoles, yet failed miserably. The Switch succeeded in this subject. It’s controls are fluid and game library is already arguably better than the Wii U’s, with more promising titles on the way. the games, controls, and portability definitely make up for the slight downfall which the lack of prestige processing power entails.

Chekc it out for purchase here: Nintedno Switch