Nintendo Switch Online is the paid membership service that Nintendo offers for its Switch console. It lets you play games online, back up your save data to the cloud, play retro NES and SNES titles, and more.

While Nintendo Switch Online isn't overly expensive, it's still terrible. Here are all the reasons why Nintendo Switch Online sucks and why you shouldn't subscribe.

1. Cloud Saves Should Be Standard

The Nintendo Switch stores all your save game data on the internal storage. You can't store it on your SD card, nor to the game's cartridge (like you could on some older Nintendo systems).

This means that if your Switch gets lost or stolen, or the data gets corrupted somehow, you've lost all of that save data with no way of recovery.

That's why one of the key Nintendo Switch Online benefits is cloud saves. It stores your data on Nintendo's servers, so you can easily access it on another Switch (like your friend's or if you buy a new one).

That's all well and good, but why isn't this functionality free, especially considering Nintendo don't let you store your save games on any other storage device? Valve's portable PC the Steam Deck offers cloud saves at no cost, so it's archaic that Nintendo make you pay for it.

To make matters worse, if your Nintendo Switch Online membership expires, you can't access your cloud data. Plus, if you don't resubscribe within 180 days, that data gets deleted.

2. Not All Games Support Cloud Saves

On the topic of cloud saves, a baffling number of Nintendo Switch games don't support the feature—and there's not even good reason for it.

This includes 1-2-Switch, Dark Souls, FIFA, Fortnite, Minecraft, Overwatch, most Pokémon games, and plenty more. You can see a full list on Nintendo Support.

Animal Crossing: New Horizon offered no cloud saves at launch, though eventually received a separate feature. However, this is only intended for island recovery in certain cases, and you have to contact Nintendo to request recovery. Madness.

3. No Native Voice Chat

One of the best parts about playing games online is the ability to chat to the other players, especially if they're your friends. Except, unbelievably, the Nintendo Switch doesn't support native voice chat.

Instead, you're forced to download the Nintendo Switch Online app to your phone. While you might want to connect a headset to your phone, it's not recommended because the Switch audio will continue to come from the console or your TV.

Voice chat through the app isn't even available on every multiplayer game. While every NES title supports it, only a handful of modern games do, including Mario Tennis Aces and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. You also have to be playing these games and in a lobby to join voice chat, so good luck if you were just hoping to chat with your friends.

It's all overcomplicated and makes for a terrible user experience. You're far better off chatting with your friends through a third-party service like Discord than you are using the Nintendo Switch Online app.

Why didn't Nintendo build this into the Switch itself? You should be able to message your friends from the console, voice call them, group them together for party chat, and so on. All of this is available on other consoles and platforms, and has been for years.

4. No Free Modern Games

Nintendo Switch Online comes with over a hundred classic NES and Super NES games, some of which you can play online. That's great, though it would be nice to make these games available for purchase outside the membership.

The main problem here is that it's paltry in comparison to what competitors offer. Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus provide new games every month—not classic games from the vault, but modern titles designed for the console.

If you then compare against something like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which offers access to over 300 games, the difference between what Nintendo offers grows greater. Considering Nintendo's first-party games rarely drop in price, it'd be impressive to see some of those on Nintendo Switch Online, rather than games nearly four decades old.

5. Content Locked Behind an Expansion Pass

Rather than improve its base experience, Nintendo decided to launch the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. This costs $49.99/year, as opposed to the standard service's $19.99/year.

The expansion includes extra benefits like a selection of N64 and Genesis/Mega Drive games, and access to the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC.

These benefits are fine, especially if you play Animal Crossing and Mario Kart 8. Whether they're worth the steep asking price is highly debatable, especially since you're renting access to the DLC.

Ultimately, these benefits should be wrapped in to the standard Nintendo Switch Online experience. Asking players who have been complaining about the service's inadequacies to pay more is a kick in the teeth.

6. Online Multiplayer Used to Be Free

Historically, Nintendo has never charged for its online service. Even when competitors Microsoft and Sony were raking it in with their subscription services, you could load up your Wii U or 3DS and play online at no extra cost.

Granted, the online experience wasn't always the smoothest, and the lacked features offered by Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus, but at least it was free.

When the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, online multiplayer was free, though Nintendo noted it would eventually require a subscription. In September 2018, after a delay, Nintendo Switch Online was introduced.

It's a shame the service couldn't have stayed free; at least then some of its flaws would have been more palatable.

It's Not All Bad on the Nintendo Switch

While the Nintendo Switch might offer an iffy online experience, that doesn't mean the console itself is bad. On the contrary, it offers plenty of excellent games from franchises like Zelda and Mario, and the ability to play them on your TV and the handheld is brilliant.