Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a game I think every viewer of the Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 presentation found puzzling. Everything about this game was set around learning about Nintendo Switch 2 and the features the console has, yet instead of being a pack-in, Nintendo revealed it would be priced at $10. Naturally, this became a hot topic of conversation online, as many pointed to Astro’s Playroom as a similar type of game that was bundled free with PlayStation 5.
As someone very intrigued by the technology behind Nintendo Switch 2, I was happy to spend the $10 to see what Welcome Tour was all about. After spending quite a bit of time with the game, I unfortunately feel that while Nintendo Switch 2 can be unapologetically Nintendo and fun at times, its repetitive nature leads to an experience that can quickly become both tedious and tiring. It’s clear that this isn’t a game made for everyone.
Welcome to Nintendo Switch 2
If I were to summarize this game, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour feels like the ultimate user manual. This is an incredibly comprehensive overview of everything the Nintendo Switch 2 has to offer, from accessories to even the internals of the console and Joy-Con themselves. There are four main kinds of content offerings in this game: stamps you collect by visiting each part of the console and its accessories, tech demos that showcase how the Switch 2 uses its hardware, mini-games that you can play for fun to earn medals, and quizzes to test your knowledge.
I’ll start with the good: for the most part, I found the tech demos to be quite entertaining. Nintendo took the approach you’d expect of making even complicated DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology seem simple by breaking it down in a friendly, bite-sized way. One tech demo focuses on this exactly, allowing you to slide between an object rendered at 360p and the same object rendered at 1080p with “Super Resolution”.
There are quite a few tech demos scattered across each of the Switch 2 accessories, and these do a great job of demonstrating technology such as 4K, HDR, HD Rumble 2, Mouse Mode, and more. While these aren’t something that will keep you busy for long, it’s a fun novelty that opens the door to the technology that Nintendo packed into the system.
Limited Fun
As for the other content offerings (stamps, quizzes, and minigames), I really struggled to get engaged. Stamps are collectibles that you must get from every accessory inside the game. Basically, every piece of an accessory has a stamp, from each button to even rubber feet. While it’s nice to see each functional piece of every Switch 2-related product, you have to aimlessly run around until a small kiosk pops up to see these. It felt more like a forced progression blocker than something useful.
Then, we have the quizzes. These kick off as a selection of pop-ups that are filled with information about a certain Switch 2 technology, and then you’re tasked with answering questions about what you just read. I enjoyed the extensive detail that was provided here, but after so much, it’s hard not to get bored. I have no idea how any of the younger or non-technical audience will get any enjoyment out of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It is an information overload for the average player, almost to the point of exhaustion.
Finally, minigames felt much like a letdown, overall. Each is small, offering a few medals to earn for meeting a certain time requirement or score threshold. You may be forced to use the Joy-Con 2 Mouse Mode, the touchscreen, or another control method. I found a few select fun easter eggs throughout these, but my main issue lies in the fact that there is no reason to replay anything here. Some minigames are as simple as scraping off paint with the Joy-Con 2, and while this is neat to see in action, it’s not something that makes any effort to provide value to the player.
And to address the elephant in the room once more, yes, this absolutely should have been a pack-in title. When you look across the industry and see other first-party companies like Sony release Astro’s Playroom as a pack-in, it leaves a sour taste after experiencing Welcome Tour. However, while the price is a factor, most of my issues with the game lie with its lack of engaging content. The charm may be there in very few cases, but I can’t see myself ever returning to Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.
Additionally, I can’t help but feel that the game could have benefited from a different title. While yes, you learn about the features of the Nintendo Switch 2 here, this feels less like a welcome to the system and more like a behind-the-scenes technical deep dive. As someone who is quite interested in the technology powering the Switch 2, I appreciated the surprising depth that Nintendo offers inside Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. However, for families or those simply uninterested in how each hardware component of the system is utilized for its features, this can quickly feel overwhelming and nothing close to a welcome.
To me, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is more like an interactive Nintendo Switch 2 design document museum. It’s a game made for the hardcore crowd and those invested in the technological upgrades Nintendo managed to pack into this console we’ve waited over eight years for. I personally really enjoyed hearing what went into the design of this console directly from the source, in addition to seeing Nintendo be overly technical for once. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling as I was learning about various design elements like the approach to shielding electromagnetic noise that this is something that will only appeal to a very niche crowd. Again, in my mind, this game should have a different name.
A Tour Not for Everyone
For $10, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour offers an experience that will satisfy a select number of fans, but not everyone. Even then, the checklist-like nature of the game and limited replayability leave it a hard one to recommend. I do not think that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a bad product. However, it falls well short of what it could have been had Nintendo put in more effort into creating a more varied welcome package.
If you’re a die-hard Nintendo fan or someone very interested in the details of the Switch 2 hardware, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour can be worth a few hours of your time. There’s information to be learned and tech demos to try out, but don’t expect to return once you clear off your checklist. However, if you have no interest in taking quizzes on Switch 2 components and checking out tech demos, this is absolutely $10 you should spend elsewhere.
