6. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
After two and a half decades of games, the Pokémon franchise has never failed to offer a great time no matter which game you play. Nevertheless, a change to its tried and true formula has been well in demand for quite some time. Thankfully, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the most refreshing Pokémon game in years.
By being set in an era far back in time, essentially being a prequel to the rest of the series, Legends: Arceus takes the chance to bring Pokémon back to it’s roots. By doing so, it adds welcome and in-depth twists to its gameplay; crafting, stealth mechanics, Noble/Alpha Pokémon boss battles, a true open world hub for exploration, and an improved emphasis on catching Pokémon; making the series start to grow in an entirely new and overdue direction.
Exploring a vast, untamed wilderness – one where humans and Pokémon are yet to co-exist, the latter seeing the former as truly terrifying creatures – this latest instalment injects new life into a gaming world so many have grown up in. Both in gameplay and story.
In the same manner that Breath of the Wild never fails to create a sense of wonder traversing Hyrule, Pokémon Legends: Arceus will make you excited to start filling up your Pokédex again.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available to buy for £44.95 at the GameByte Shop.
7. Hades
As a genre, roguelike dungeon crawlers aren’t the most popular in gaming. It wasn’t until Supergiant Games’ Hades in 2020 that these type of high-octane action games can be a thrilling mode for storytelling as well as gameplay.
Having you hack n’ slash your way out of the underworld, Hades doesn’t hesitate to push you to your limits – with every victory being followed by another brutal challenge in its wake that may be your demise. However, its live-die-repeat formula never gets tiresome because of what it does for the plot. Whilst returning to the beginning allows you to optimise your weapon and ability loadout, you learn a little more about Hades’ lovable and dynamic characters as you go, meaning the narrative becomes far richer with every death.
This pairing of story and gameplay mirrors like that of a fine wine, making Hades one of the best roguelikes ever.
Hades is available to buy on Nintendo Switch at the Nintendo eShop for £22.49. Alternatively, you can buy Hades on PlayStation or Xbox from £18.95 at the GameByte Shop.
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Yes, the Nintendo Switch port is one of many, with Skyrim already available to play on so many platforms. Nevertheless, The Elder Scrolls V is still one of the greatest open-world games ever made, and plays beautifully on the handheld Switch. Even if this isn’t your first time journeying as the Dragonborn, Skyrim’s plethora of base game quests and DLC adventures still makes it easy to get lost in its vast world.
Where the Nintendo Switch port of Skyrim does stand out, however, is in its motion controls. You might not want to spend your whole playthrough swinging your Joy-Cons to swing your sword and block with shields, but the option adds that little bit of extra fun to an already legendary game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available to buy on Nintendo Switch at the Nintendo eShop for £49.99. Alternatively, you can also buy Skyrim from £22.95 on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
9. Octopath Traveller
One of many turn-based JRPGs to choose from, Octopath Traveller stands out from the crowd on two major fronts. One is its presentation: the utilisation of its HD-2D graphics combines retro Super NES-style characters and polygonal environments to look like you’re playing through a gorgeous pop-up storylook.
The other is its story, combined with the depths its gameplay goes to compliment said narrative. Managing a total of eight party members, Octopath Traveller balances each of those individual stories wonderfully – played in whatever order you like, before coming together for one final massive clash. The broad job system, the scope for customising your loadouts, all with the stellar soundtrack and battle system make for a thrilling story-based experience. One that you simply won’t want to put down. Octopath Traveller is definitively one of the best JRPGs you can play.
You can buy Octopath Traveler right now for £42.95 on Nintendo Switch.
10. Super Mario Odyssey
The first major Mario game released in the Switch’s life cycle, Odyssey still feels like its namesake title. In a sprawling 3D adventure, Super Mario Odyssey retains what we love about playing as the world’s favourite Italian plumber. What it adds though, is a delightful change to the formula in Mario’s companion hat, Cappy.
With a new variety of moves and shifting the adventures to an entirely new setting, Odyssey is remains of the most refreshing Mario titles in years. 5 years on, there’s now a whole bunch of newer mainline games and ports from previous consoles to try, but Odyssey is still the best Mario game to play on Nintendo Switch.
That completes our round-up of the best Nintendo Switch games to play right now. If you’re keen to check out some of our other lists, such as the best PS5 games and best Xbox Series X games to play right now.
You can buy Super Mario Odyssey right now for £43.95.
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Featured Image Credit: Nintendo