Happy early birthday, Nintendo Switch! Today’s sheer amount of games pull a gamer’s attention in a million directions. However, regardless if you’re a new gamer or someone who’s been around the gaming block, this is a list of ten games you NEED to have in your Nintendo Switch library (in no particular order).
Metroid Dread
Imagine yourself locked in an unknown and hostile environment, with only a spacesuit and your wits to accompany you. This is Metroid: Dread. As with every Metroid game, there’s a slew of weapons and upgrades to collect, making Samus Aran more powerful with each item. The bosses are challenging, the mechanics and feel of movement is tight, and every death or hit sustained make you feel that you could have done better. Through the game, you must navigate various environments ranging from underwater depths to hellish lava rivers, each peppered with hidden items and collectibles, such as permanent health upgrades.
Giving the sense of dread throughout the game, you’re being hunted by mechanical and deadly beings called EMMIs. Each is a puzzle to solve utilizing your skills and weapons to outmaneuver each EMMI; should you be cornered by them, you have one chance to time a parry before it’s an instant death, sending you back to a checkpoint. I can’t tell you how many times I died to them (it’s in the triple digits). Overall, if you’re looking for a shorter, 10-hour (not including replaying on Dread Mode) platformer that will challenge you, look no further than here.
Hades
Talk about a game that forced its company (SuperGiant Games) to make their first sequel to any of their games. That’s how successful this was. For the uninitiated, Hades (the game) is a roguelike that’s based on the Olympic gods, particularly Hades (the god), and his son, Zagreus. The latter resents his father and attempts to escape from Hell to get to the surface, thus the roguelike system. It’s one of the first roguelikes that I played (and I’m a huge fan of them) that really emphasized story within each run. It carried me through the pandemic and stayed much longer afterwards.
Every single mechanic in this game is spectacular, between the varying degrees of weapons, upgrades, boons (think attack modifiers and abilities) and deep character interactions. The depth in which how unique every run can be is sheer insanity. Nothing beats slinging a shield like Captain America, which then electrocutes nearby enemies; then charging at them on a wave with the power granted by your uncle sea god – it’s awe-inspiring. We’ll do a breakdown of the game in future posts, but in the meantime (after reading this post), go add it to your library if you haven’t already to brace yourself for the eventual Hades II.
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is the compilation and ultimate homage to the previous Mario games. There are so many callbacks to all sorts of details through the history of Mario, you can tell it’s a love-letter to all Mario fans. The most recent entry in the 3-D platforming Super Mario games has been a staple on the Switch since its release in 2017. Following Mario on yet another journey to rescue Princess Peach from a forced marriage to his eternal nemesis, Bowser.
The gimmick in this game: Mario’s hat. Seriously. But it’s actually a character named Cappy. When thrown, Cappy allows Mario to essentially possess whatever the hat lands on. My favorites include capturing:
- A T-Rex
- A Cheep Cheep
- A modern tank
- A literal slab of meat
It’s ridiculous how much fun it is to use these captures to solve your way through puzzles presented throughout the game.the platforming is fun and inviting, and it’s both easy enough for younger children to play while having more challenging bits for more experienced gamers.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem popularity in the U.S. has really taken off ever since the release of Fire Emblem: Awakening in 2013. Based on December 2022 numbers, Three Houses sold 4.12 million copies, making it the most successful Fire Emblem game to date. And not without reason either. Featuring three young lords, an amnesic teacher, and lots of serious undertones through the story, this game has some serious chops and replayability.
The basic premise – you control Byleth, a merc-turned-teacher to one of three lords, who are house leaders at Garret Mach Monastery (think religious Hogwarts). Each house has their own storyline, which ramps up tremendously in terms of more serious social topics and brutality after a timeskip later in the game. The gameplay is superb, yet accessible to newcomers with a new mechanic, Divine Pulse. It allows you to go back a number of turns to replay a battle, a first in the series. Additionally, you get to really customize your students into various classes and skills. This flexibility, the charm between students, and fun strategic gameplay earns its place handily on our list.
*I chose Three Houses over the more recently released Fire Emblem: Engage due to the story being more cohesive and the depth of character relationships were more fleshed out. While the combat mechanics are a touch better in Engage, it is completely enjoyable in Three Houses too. Both are very good in their own right, but my rec goes to Three Houses in the end.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Ever think about the days where you just pull out some action figures and have them do battle on the kitchen sink? This is kinda like that, except with some highly popular video game characters. The newest entry in the Super Smash Bros. series adds some of the biggest names to the already massive roster. Newcomers include Ridley from the Metroid series, Simon and Richter Belmont from Castlevania, and Inkling from Splatoon. Additional DLC fighters like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Kazuya from the Tekken series, Steve from Minecraft are available to purchase. Regardless, the amount of content is sheerly bonkers.
Along with the content is a slew of game modes. SSBU makes the list for the amount of fun you can have with a whole party of people. All items on with stage hazards is a near guarantee blast. Personally, I like to play more competitive-style matches, so 3-stock online battles are my jam (despite the iffy online stability). There’s also the World of Light mode, a single-player adventure/story mode with loads of battles with different scenarios; many of them are themed or homages to other video games. SSBU is an absolute must for the amount of hours you can sink in and the vast representation of video games (both in and outside of Nintendo) as a whole.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The follow up to the wildly successful The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW) became an instant buy after seeing how the developers changed the meaning of an open world game. For those who don’t know or haven’t played another essential to add to the library (I chose this due to it being more recent), BotW married the Zelda franchise to open world and redefined core mechanics needed to make a living and engaging space. Mechanics like temperature, magnetism, air flow and currents, rain, etc. all factored into gameplay and puzzles and were intertwined in a way that made the game unique from other similar games.
The sequel follows the story of BotW, and features Link and Zelda navigate the aftermath of the Calamity; upon discovering a hidden underground ruin, they accidentally unleash an ancient horror. Tears of the Kingdom expands on the open world formula threefold with adding both traversable floating islands in the sky and an eerie underground area under the main world. Also expanded is crafting, where you can literally become an engineer and make your own creations for both weapons and makeshift vehicles. This YouTube video by DPadGamer does a great job in explaining how the new ability works in crafting.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is such a charming and relaxing game where you can do so much. Think of it as Animal Crossing with additional mechanics like combat, expanded farming, even building a brewery. There is a slew of personalities in each of the townsfolk and so much depth to the gameplays it’s near impossible to become bored of this game. The last update the game received was 1.5 in 2020; however, ConcernedApe, creator of the game, announced there in fact will be a 1.6 update in March.
It’s like if aspects of Minecraft, Harvest Moon, and Terraria were combined into a singular game, and then painted with a relaxing atmosphere and ambiance. Personally, I’ve put in over 50 hours into the game, and it’s still a go-to for when I’m having a stressful day, and I just wanna farm beets or go fishing. The soundtrack is light and airy and matches when the season changes; this not only changes the atmosphere and music, but gameplay mechanics such as farming and crafting. Stardew Valley is must have for Switch owners who might be looking for some relaxation on the go.
Mario Kart 8
Who hasn’t been hit with a blue sheep while in first-place in Mario Kart? I’d be shocked if you’ve never had the privilege. The ultimate party game, Mario Kart 8, brings (including the Booster Course Pack) 96 track for drivers to race on, spanning across all previous Mario Kart games. With a solid online feature to put you against 11 other players, there’s no end of fun to be had.
According to the most recent update from Install Base, the game has sold over 52 million copies, in part due to being the most common bundle sold with the Switch itself. While it released nearly a decade ago (ouch), the fun hasn’t stopped them from continually updating the game and adding more content through the aforementioned Booster Course pack. With 50+ racers choices, endless customization options for karts and bikes, and almost 100 tracks, I’m sure we’ll be playing this one until the heat-death of the universe (or when we hopefully have a Mario Kart 9).
Vampire Survivors
When I saw the launch trailer for Vampire Survivors, there was a line in it that said:
BE THE BULLET HELL
Vampire Survivors Trailer
And I thought, “it’s looks fine but I’ll pass for now.” Since then, I regretted the time I missed on it and have eaten my words entirely. Vampire Survivors is a game that keeps giving, layered with secrets and unlocks, additional content through DLC. You can visibly see the passion that went into this game to make it the phenomenon that it is today.
Essentially, you are the bullet hell. Instead of dodging bullet-like attacks from enemies like in most roguelikes, you are launching attacks into hordes of enemies. And it. Feels. Awesome. Dozens of weapons, over 30 characters, a modifier system, upgrades, evolutions. The game has it all and then some. Go check it out for yourself; maybe you’ll be like me and realize that it’s a damn good game.
Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire release back in 2017; but it’s still one of my favorite games of all times. Do you like deck builder games? Roguelikes? Math? This game is made personally for you. There are plenty of combinations of builds you can make for each of the four characters. Every character has their own traits; for example, the Silent focuses on poison or combo attacks while the Watcher has access to switching stances for more risk/reward gameplay.
Random events factor into each run in addition to relics, items you can find through random events or fighting elite enemies. The gameplay itself is based off cards, both for attacking and defending, abiding by an energy meter. Cards can be upgraded to either console less energy,m or give more points to an attack or defense card.
The art style is just fun and simple; but each attack has heft to it. There’s just a “one more game” mindset when playing this. It’s addictive due to the replayability and the core mechanics being accessible to many players. For those wanting more pain, there are ascension levels as well, earned by beating a run.
The modifiers range from A1-A20 and include things such as enemies have more health, you start with one less potion slot, or items from the shop cost more. For parents with young kids, you can modify the controls to play one handed too – perfect to stretch that itch while the little one is fast asleep in the other arm. Go get this game now if you don’t have it tucked away already. I mean it. Go, now!!!
With the inevitable Switch 2 coming around in the next year, and rumors indicating a potential for backwards compatibility, this is a can’t-miss-out list that (hopefully) can stick around for a very long time.
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