I’ll be honest, JoyCon Drift hasn’t ever affected me because I stopped using JoyCons quite early on with my Switch.

Between my love of the Pro Controller and grabbing those Hori side pads, I was all set and even put them in a cupboard somewhere, only pulling them out for Ring Fit sessions!

So imagine my surprise when getting a Switch 2 last week that I’ve used the JoyCon 2 as much as my Pro Controller and the main reason for that – Mouse Control.

Now, sure, I’ve got some of the games in the launch lineup that make best use of it – Welcome Tour, Nobunaga’s Ambition, Puyo Puyo 2S, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess – but it’s also opened my mind up to broader possibilities and what my future might hold with Switch 2.

Some games haven’t quite got it down right. Puyo Puyo 2S, as I mentioned in my review, is a little bit hit and miss. It works, you can see the potential, but it’s not totally fluid and I felt like I was missing a level of control needed to really maximise the opportunities. But navigating through the menus and the responsiveness of moving my blobs and blocks around, really cannot be understated.

It wasn’t until I played Welcome Tour that I really saw just how good this was. Of course, the experience is catered to the functionality and there are several games there purposefully designed to really show off what it can do. It’s a Nintendo product at the end of the day, but if nothing else, Welcome Tour is a fantastic eye-opener to one of Switch 2’s biggest, most game changing functions. And really helps you understand the vision.

Between dodging spiked balls falling from the skies, to finding the right HD Pressure point, you can feel how smooth it all is and the movement is as free-flowing as JoyCon movement was on Switch 1. It’s great. But the immediately difference between waggling your arm around in the air versus dragging it on your lap is it’s a more natural way for you to play and interact, considering we’ve all probably used a mouse at some point.

But considering these are just glorified tech demos, it’s important to see how they work in practice in a game and while I didn’t get the opportunity to try this with Civ 7, I got the next best thing Nobunaga’s Ambition and folks, this is a game changer for strategy games on consoles.

It’s been a divisive topic over the years. Like yeah, sure, it’s great to have Crusader Kings 3 playable on Xbox and Game Pass, but if it’s a choice between mouse and a controller interface, it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Developers have done a magnificent job mapping these experiences with all kinds of wild and wonderful techniques, but Nintendo might have finally used their creativity to their advantage and found a native solution.

Sure, most consoles these days let you plug in a USB mouse to play and that’s great, but out of the box, day one, you’ve got a mouse with Switch 2, which means everyone has that and can play games this way and Nintendo are purposefully trying to get you to do that. It’s smart and where the system doesn’t have the horsepower of a PS5 and Series X, instead Nintendo are finding ways to actually break down other barriers for gameplay and it works.

The mouse control is accurate, you can add the grip to the JoyCon for even more responsive motion and there’s even face buttons on the side which offer further flexibility you can’t easily find elsewhere. Hell, Nintendo even give you the option to play Mouse Akimbo with both JoyCons! Something you really will struggle to find elsewhere.

It just feels natural playing a deep strategy game like this, lying on the sofa, turning the JoyCon face down and clicking the shoulder buttons to cycle through dialogue and select objectives. Or even playing in handheld or tabletop mode if you’re out and about and doing it portably, almost like a mini tablet. It’s great stuff. To the point where I really just might have to grab Civ 7 to play it this way and I already own and love it on PC.

But the game that really sold me was Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. I’m a huge Capcom fan and I’ve played almost every one of their games in recent years – aside from this one. Apart from feeling immediate regret that I hadn’t done that – please play Kunitsu-Gami! – the mouse controls were truly excellent.

Essentially, it gives you full control over the camera in this isometric style game, while fighting freely with enemies on the shoulder buttons. I literally don’t want to play the game any other way now because it’s so effortless, freeing, like it was designed for Switch 2 to begin with and has quietly become my go-to launch title now.

It helps of course that the game is fantastic and we’ll have a review for you realllly soon!

But yes, TL:DR, JoyCon 2 Mouse Support is going to be quite important for Switch 2, I feel. Where Nintendo often get smirked at for their gimmicks at the expense of other features, this time, they really are ahead of the curve and just like the Switch 1 revolutionised this hybrid console approach, I think Nintendo might have found a way to finally make strategy and clicker games bigger than ever on consoles.

It’s also now the most accessible console on the market, offering touch, gyro, and mouse support, as well as standard controller fare.

And we know it’s just getting started. Other games I didn’t get to check out include Cyberpunk 2077 and even Bravely Default Flying Fairy has some JoyCon Mouse functionality. And still to come, of course, we have the likes of Drag x Drive   and Metroid Prime 4.

I’d also love to see them add some support to backwards compatible games. Splatoon 3 just got a major update and that feels like an obvious home to throw in mouse support. Perhaps Pikmin 3/4, offering an entirely new way to play, as well as Captain Toad. Fire Emblem? Hell yes!

It’s also going to work wonders for games like Diablo IV, Two Point Museum, and maybe games like Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Frostpunk. Switch 2 has the horse power to run these games and now it has the obvious interactive tool to make them infinitely more replayable.

Don’t sleep on those mouse controls. And if you haven’t tried them out on your Switch 2 yet, you may find yourself like me, suddenly using those JoyCons a lot more this generation!

A Nintendo Switch 2 console was provided by Nintendo for review purposes.