I finally got to play the Switch 2. It happened as part of a demo here at PAX East, and though my time with the system was brief (and I wasn’t even allowed to look at the console itself as it was hidden beneath a demo station), it did give me a chance to play around with one of the features I was most curious about: the mouse controls. I don’t typically play games on my PC, and when I do, I don’t often use my mouse if I can help it. However, I’m always interested in control methods that can bridge the gap between styles of play we typically associate with other platforms. PlayStation’s touch pads have given console players a trackpad equivalent, for instance, so naturally, someone needed to build a proper mouse into a console controller at some point. I found a surprisingly convincing tech demo for the Switch 2’s mouse controls in Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster. The specific playing experience I had wasn’t ideal, but it did sell me on the tech.
The reason I had a less-than-optimal experience with the Switch 2 Joy-Cons was just bad circumstances. Square Enix’s demo space had us set up at a coffee table that I had to lean over to use the mouse controls. My wrists were already slightly twisted in an uncomfortable position just to hold the controllers properly, so having to adjust further to reach the low-sitting table wasn’t conducive to a great first impression. However, I quickly realized that if I could put the Joy-Cons at about the level I would normally use a mouse, a lot of that discomfort would go away. Nintendo has been adamant that the Switch 2 Joy-Cons work as a mouse even if you’re using them on your pants, and while that’s cool and novel, it really doesn’t feel like a good setup for extended play.
I use my Switch in tabletop mode fairly often, and I could see the mouse controls becoming a standard control scheme for me when I have my Switch 2 propped up on my desk. Then, I can have my wrists more comfortably resting on a surface, rather than contorting them to reach a coffee table. I thankfully didn’t have much issue holding the controllers in the sideways position to use them as mice, but I can imagine that if you’re someone with bigger hands or a tighter grip, doing so might add to the wrist fatigue. The Joy-Con 2s are a bit bulkier than the toy-like controllers you’ll find on the original Switch, but your mileage may vary.
Once I got past the suboptimal setup, the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls were surprisingly very intuitive in Bravely Default’s new Switch 2-specific mini-games. Square is bringing over the full turn-based RPG to the console, but it’s also including new extracurricular activities that take advantage of the console/handheld hybrid’s tech. I was able to play two different games at the event, including a rhythm game that had me dragging the Joy-Con 2s across the table in accordance with visual prompts, such as moving a connected line to strike through visual clutter on the screen and bringing both cursors together to line up with beats in time with the music. That was neat, but the real test of the mouse controls was a ship mini-game that had me using the mouse controls to man the party’s airship from a first-person perspective in the cockpit. Compared to the rhythm game, it was surprisingly involved. It’s partially a flight sim, with you using the mouse controls to steer the vessel through rings as you make your way through the air, and then you also control its artillery in ship combat. The mouse controls are responsive, and the game doesn’t throw too much at you at once, so it’s a neat little tech demo that got me curious to see if more third-party devs will make use of the mouse controls.
The Switch 2 isn’t even out yet, so we have very little concept yet of how developers will use the feature. We can speculate that some games that have historically been tough sells on a controller, like Civilization, will be a more natural fit on the Switch 2 than a PlayStation or Xbox (my mind immediately went to the idea of mouse controls for a hypothetical Baldur’s Gate 3 port), but after playing a bit of Bravely Default’s new mini-games, I’m more interested in whether or not developers will make games and experiences tailored specifically to dual mouse controls than I am in ports. I’ll need to make sure I set the device up on a more comfortable spot than a coffee table, but I’m sold on the tech. The Switch 2 and Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster both launch on June 5.