The big joy of the Nintendo Switch comes from its portability. While I do play some games docked, on the TV like I would with the PlayStation or the Xbox, most of the time I play it handheld. I don't necessarily need to go anywhere with it. I might play it in bed before I go to sleep, at my kitchen table on my lunch break, or even just sitting on my sofa while my wife watches TV or while the football is on. The Champions League has been very dull this year, so something needs to distract me. It's supposed to be convenient, but that's making it feel like a fringe console I just can't find the time for.
I've never been too bothered by frames per second or resolution, but I'm aware that the Switch chugs along with cross platform games and misses out on some altogether. For that reason, I pick up most things on Xbox (if it's on Game Pass) or PlayStation (if it's not). The Switch is primarily reserved for two things: Nintendo exclusives, and indies I plan to dip in and out of. But recently, I've realised I'm playing some of the best games far less than I should, and it's all because of the Switch.
Tears of the Kingdom isn't a ‘pick up and play a few minutes whenever’ sort of game for me. I found myself locked out of Breath of the Wild's magic, and so far have felt similarly numb to Tears of the Kingdom's wonder. I want to give the game a fair shot, especially when I can recognise how technically impressive it is, and so I want to play for hours being immersed in it. That means treating the Switch as I would the PS5 - sitting forward on the sofa, controller in my hand, game on the big screen. In playing this way, I've realised how little time (and possibly even respect) I have started giving other Switch games.
So far, I think my game of the year would be Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, which I played on the Switch. Despite being pulled into its world, gripped far more firmly than Zelda has ever managed, I played it exclusively in handheld mode. Sometimes this was stealing 20 minutes during my lunch break or in bed on an evening, but most of the time I was sitting on my sofa, glued to it. And still, it remained handheld, easier to put down and walk away from, easier to forget, and as a result it took me longer to play this fairly linear (even with its meta chronology) game that I adored.
That's what happens when it's a personal game of the year contender. Other games have fared even worse. I've been playing Dredge and A Space For the Unbound recently, and have put about four hours into each of them, and I'm enjoying both of them enough. But on the Switch, they're too easy to ignore. Unless it's a major game like Zelda that I know is going to be a topic of discussion, I don't find myself gravitating to the Switch deliberately. Instead I use it to fill time or occupy my hands when I have some free moments.
Dredge and A Space For the Unbound feel like opposites. With Dredge, nothing has really clicked enough to drag me back, but the gameplay has that perfect 'just one more' feeling. Just one more fish. Just one more night. Just one more island. Just one more quest. Just just just. A Space For the Unbound meanwhile does have a more compelling narrative with interesting characters, but the gameplay is so open that it never tempts you to push just one more anything. As a result, both games have been picked away at but never committed to. And it's not them, it's me.
I think this started as far back as Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Like everyone else, I fell into the rabbit hole during the pandemic, and I had a nice routine. I'd wake up in the morning, do the basic weeding/rock breaking/conversation having tasks in the morning while still in bed, go about the rest of my day, then get into bed on an evening where I'd do my more creative building and island designing, before popping it on charge for when I woke up in the morning.
This was perfect for Animal Crossing's cosy, repetitive nature, and it was aided by the fact that during the pandemic I was freelancing rather than working a committed 'get up, start work' cycle that I am now. I can no longer just spend a few hours doing nothing, and mostly that's a good thing. I love my job and I'm glad that I'm no longer locked in my house going stir crazy all day. But it introduced a playing habit that I am yet to break, and I'm missing out because of it.
The Switch is a fantastic console. For the breadth of games, how much it has re-energised Nintendo, and the range of mechanics it has introduced, it's up there with the very best. The only problem is I never play it.