Don’t Waste Your Money on the Switch 2: My Honest Review After 48 Hours of Frustration
A loyal Nintendo fan’s brutally honest review of their biggest letdown yet.
TL,DR: The Nintendo Switch 2 is overpriced, unreliable, and frustrating to set up. I drove 30 minutes, waited an hour, and spent my whole day off trying to get it working — only to return it the next day. Between connection issues, required accessories, and battery concerns, it’s not worth the $479 price tag. Don’t waste your money
Like many lifelong Nintendo fans, I was beyond excited when the Switch 2 hit shelves. The original Switch was a game-changer for me — portable, fun, simple to use, and packed with classic Nintendo charm. So when I heard about the Switch 2, I imagined it would be even better. I was wrong.
Here’s what actually happened.
I drove 30 minutes out of my way to the nearest GameStop that still had one in stock. I waited in line for an hour just to get my hands on it. I walked out with that $479 box feeling like a kid again — thinking about Mario Kart, Zelda, and all the great nights ahead. I even planned my day off around hooking it up and spending hours breaking it in.
Instead, I spent hours… fighting it.
From the very first boot-up, the Switch 2 gave me nothing but problems. To play Mario Kart World, you apparently musthave your original Switch. Mine? Kept giving me the same “connection error” over and over again. I thought, Okay, no problem, I’ll troubleshoot.
I searched YouTube, tried every suggestion. Everyone kept recommending that manual DNS trick: change your Wi-Fi settings to manual and enter 008.008.008.008. I did it. Again. And again. And again. Restarted my router. Rebooted the console. Reset the settings. Nothing. The connection issues never went away, no matter how much I tinkered.
And it only got worse from there.
I stayed up all night trying to make it work — tutorial after tutorial, setting after setting, just to get this thing to play the game I bought it for. Nintendo has even made it so basic microSD cards (like the ones that worked just fine on the original Switch) don’t even work anymore. Now you have to go spend another $60 on a special microSD express card just to store more games. Not to mention, the games themselves are north of $70.
Then I started reading about Nintendo remotely “bricking” systems if they suspect you of hacking — even if you didn’t. For a company to have the power to completely disable the $479 system you paid for without warning? That’s unacceptable.
By the end of my second day with the Switch 2, I was done. I boxed it back up and returned it to the store. The employee who took it back didn’t even seem surprised.
This is supposed to be a fun, plug-and-play console. That’s why we loved Nintendo in the first place. But the Switch 2 is riddled with connection issues, overpricing, unnecessary restrictions, and a ton of extra hidden costs. At $479 — basically Xbox and PlayStation money — you’re buying what feels like a half-baked game brick.
If you’re thinking about getting one, don’t. Save yourself the time, frustration, and disappointment. Nintendo dropped the ball on this one, and it’s not worth your money.
Maybe someday they’ll fix these issues. But for now? The Switch 2 just plain isn’t worth it.
Style & Design: 6/10
The console itself feels solid and premium in-hand, but the base/dock feels a little cheap and flimsy.
Gameplay: N/A
I was never able to actually play Mario Kart World because of persistent connection issues that I couldn’t resolve, no matter how many tutorials I tried.
Price: 2/10
At $479, the Switch 2 simply isn’t worth it. Nintendo should’ve invested more effort into developing more games and better support for the original Switch rather than rushing this out. The need to also buy an expensive microSD express card just to expand storage — plus the high price of games — only makes the cost feel even more unreasonable.
Overall Experience: 4/10
The Nintendo Switch 2 left me frustrated and disappointed. I returned mine after just 2 days. Save your money and skip this one.
