Looking for some Switch recommendations
Hey guys,
I've had a Switch for a couple of years but I haven't really played it lately because I've kinda been disappointed with the last two titles I've played. I've played God of War recently and I was just blown away by how much fun I had and I kinda of want to replicate that? Sadly, my friend wants his PS5 back so I'm looking for some game recommendations for the Switch.
I've played BOTW and I just found it so boring. I played maybe two hours and I was at no point entertained. I also played the Link Awakening remake but I didn't really like the graphics and so I just stopped playing after two hours or so. 2D Zeldas are among my favorite games of all time (OOS/OOA; Minish Cap/LADX), I'm kinda scared to say this, but I also didn't really like OOT (although I played it a good 10 years after its initial release). I don't really like open worlds and much prefer having "guided" gameplay, but I do enjoy a mix of both (like God of War).
I've played Hades and absolutely loved it, just like Rayman Origins, but since I've been disappointed with BOTW and Link's Awakening, I'm kinda scared to buy another critically acclaimed game just to not like it... Looking at the list of games and picking one seems so daunting, I don't really know what to do.
You guys have any suggestions?
The best part about the Switch, to me, are Nintendo first party games. Games I'll focus on are ones that are fairly easy to jump into but also have a decent skill ceiling to keep you entertained
Mario Wonder - great 2D platformer, super trippy. Great get in, play a level or two and get out kind of game and 100% the game can be a fun challenge
Super Mario Odyssey - Movement focused 3D platformer. Similar feel to all Mario games where you get just get into a level, play it and jump out after short session. The best part is the fact levels have a good amount of depth
Metroid Dread - may not be a perfect fit but it is a little more open world-y but as far as Metroidvanias go, it's more linear as back tracking is far easier. Like GoW, it has some challenging combat that feels fair
Non-first party games that are engaging, some what "linear" but challenging are
+1 for Super Mario Wonder and Super Mario Odyssey.
As a kid I loved New Super Mario Bros. on my DS and Super Mario Wonder felt like a modern version of that but on the Switch. I'm not one to try and 100% games but Super Mario Wonder was one such game where I tried to 100% it.
Super Mario Odyssey is also great fun. I love the casual aspect of collecting moons. I remember in some interview, the developers stated that they wanted to make a game that you could pick up and play for a few minutes whenever you have free time and I think they absolutely nailed that.
Just a note on Into the Breach - if you have a Netflix subscription it can be played for free on mobile, last time I checked, and it works very well on a phone.
Thank you for all of those! I have played Gungeon and Into the Breach on PC, amazing games!
Yea sure thing. I really enjoyed GoW as well so I tried to think of games that gave me a similar buzz but weren't the same type of game.
If you want an old school Zelda, that's not Zelda, maybe Tunic might tickle your fancy? It's not as on rails as a traditional Zelda, and will absolutely blow your mind with its puzzles and weird interactions. But on the other hand, if you wandered around Zelda 1 having no idea what to do and didn't like that, there is quite a bit of that if you don't immediately get what the game is trying to tell you. It is also on Game Pass if that is relevant to your interest.
Tunic is a masterpiece that I think just about everyone should at least try, because if you DO like it, it's amazing.
I'd also recommend Hyperlight Drifter, which is fairly close to Tunic in its structure. I also found it harder than Tunic, with fights and bosses being much more hectic. Both have wonderful post-post-apo worlds that reward exploration.
Some good ones that are on other platforms (I think), but really shine on the Switch:
Came here to recommend Balatro and Slay the Spire! Both "indie" games that people usually associate with PCs/Steam but run great on Switch.
Dredge is cool. Great atmosphere.
The games I've enjoyed on Switch, in no order and in complete indifference to genre:
Oh, and Ring Fit, a infinity runner fitness game.
Spiritfarer is great. Highly recommended to anyone who likes growing vegetables and crying.
That's it, every other switch game I have tried is boring af, overpriced (no refunds eh!), or a very low fps/bad graphics port. I have mostly given up on giving Nintendo money. Luckily I bought the Switch 2nd hand for very cheap due to broken joysticks, which I replaced myself with hall effect sticks.
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw looked good....but the controls are not customizable, and kind of awful. Also it looks like you need to do a bunch of trade missions which are really boring just to upgrade your ship enough to start doing the fun combat missions. I put maybe 20 minutes into the game and got bored.
Kingdom Come Deliverance is on sale now, it might be ok? I have kind of been spoiled by Mount & Blade's combat system though, anything without directional blocking and with built in special attacks seems kinda lame to me (Chiv 2, Mordhau, KCD). Also melee combat games are way more fun in multiplayer (Chiv 2 kinda wins at this, low toxicity, and it's just randomly fun even if you are bad).
Be very careful of YT reviewers, it seems like a lot of them come from fanbois, or some kind of AI automated script that maybe an actual human reads (sometimes it's obviously an AI script + AI voice).
Sorry for the depressing "review". Nothing beats PC gaming if that's what you grew up with (+SNES). Definitely get the full package of DLC for Outer Wilds if you haven't played it....I wish that game had lasted longer, and I didn't get the DLC, but now am not too interested in a DLC replay since I already know the general story.
Also yeah, BOTW sucks. Nice looking game, but the ingredients/recipes stuff is literally just never ending fetch quests turned up to 11, while the weapon combat is really simple (the overall combat seemed to mostly be abusing potions + abilities on the glorified ability selection/pause screen).
Ittle Dew is a great little 2D indie Zelda-like.
Random other genre suggestions:
If you ever at any point liked Pokémon, I heavily recommend Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It's a technical mess that a lot of people understandably can't look past, but the gameplay loop is what I wanted a Pokémon game to feel like when I was 5. You're in a semi-open environment doing things like catching Teddiursa when a mama Ursaring is right near and ready to fuck you up - not your Pokémon, but you, the trainer. The writing feels fresh and actually does things with the world for a solid narrative, and it feels like it was made by people who grew up loving Pokémon. You need a suspension of disbelief that Nintendo has a partial stake in a company that releases stuff this janky, but when the game and the world were so engaging I couldn't give less of a shit. It revitalized my love of the series and it's one of my favorite games I've ever played.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a fantastic remake with some good QoL fixes from the original. I don't generally like JRPGs and I think it's because I played this at a young age; it made everything else in the genre feel really unengaging, and the writing has this x-factor where every time you interact with something it'll randomly knock you off-guard with a joke. Ridiculously charming.
Seconding Odyssey and Dread. I never finished Odyssey, but it's mainly because 3D platformers generally aren't my jam and it's absurdly satisfying to the point I pick it up, play it for like 5-10 hours in a week, and then put it back down. Dread is extremely hand-holdy on direction, but it's an excellent parkour-action game, for what that's worth to you.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is so much fun! I'm pretty excited for PL: Zygarde just because of how engaged I was with Arceus.
Much like you God of War prompted a re-awakening for my love of video games.
Since you mentioned Zelda as a favorite, have your tried Dark Souls? Zelda is a big inspiration for Miyazaki, knowing that I can see the fingerprints. It's renowned for being hard, but if it clicks, then it just requires a bit of grit. You die often but that's part of the game. I'm playing it now on the Steam Deck and it is quite a good game in handheld format.
I haven't played any of the games, but you could also check out Monster Hunter.
I'll second many of the games listed by other as well. But the above two are some of the closest analogs to God of War.
I've never tried Dark Souls just because it's always so expensive and I've never really catched it on sale.
I have tried Monster Hunter but I really didn't like not seeing the hp bar and be stuck in animations. I thought the game was absolutely awesome apart from that... but it's such a huge part of the game that I really couldn't keep playing it.
I played a bit of Tails of Iron, it's sort of a side-scrolling souls-like. I found it pretty enjoyable.
I'm currently playing Eastward and enjoying it, so that might be worth checking out. Also, Luigi's Mansion 3 is probably my favorite of the first-party games I've played thus far despite never really touching that franchise before. It's just a well-made game that really shows off the system's strengths in my opinion.
I'd say, check out some (no-spoiler) videos of CrossCode and see if you're into it. It's more or less a 2D indie RPG that you can play for thousands of hours before actually finishing it. I've known this game for a decade now and I was really excited about it when I first saw it, but back then all we had were some demo versions because the game had not yet been released
My wife is currently playing Dave the diver and really enjoying it. I really enjoyed Guacamelee in the past.
Not a lot of people talk about this one, but I highly recommend No More Heroes 3. Suda 51 at his best. It’s unique and hilarious and the gameplay is so satisfying. The rereleases of the first two games are also on switch at a reasonable price if you haven’t played them either.
Check out Immortals: Fenyx Rising. It’s like BOTW with humor in a world inspired by Greek Mythology. The Witcher 3 is on Switch as well. It’s an excellent game.
I highly recommend the Switch port of Okami HD. It's very Zelda-like, and although it's 3D and technically an open world, it really feels very linear. You can go back to previous areas to get items with new abilities, but it's optional, and it feels much more focused and less overwhelming than open world Zelda games to me. It's a gorgeous game with engaging characterization and gameplay (action combat with the ability to draw simple runes for extra powers). You can draw the runes directly on the touchscreen, or you can use the original controls and draw with joysticks (I would NOT use the joycons for this but a pro controller, as I'd think you need real sticks to make the drawing feel good). One caveat I always have to mention when I recommend this game: it was originally made for the PS2 and has some retro aspects that don't always jive well with modern expectations, such as a slow intro before you get into the meat of the game (between 45-90 minutes, I think?) and slow text during some cutscenes (just a few, the most important ones) that can't be sped up. You sound like you're into oldschool games, so if you're able to fire up that mentality of sitting back for a few minutes before rushing on to the next part, you'll be golden.
I'd also like to tentatively recommend Dragon Quest Builders 2. I was expecting to like this game when I played it, but it took me by surprise how much I actually loved it. It helps if you're familiar with the Dragon Quest series, but I don't think it's necessary because it's a radically different spinoff series. I've never been able to get into Minecraft because it's just too open and I never know what to build... but this is a building game with a story and objectives as well as the freedom to build what you want at your home base, if you like, or you can just use the blueprints the game suggests. Although it's rather cartoony, I actually got pretty emotional about the story. And the DQ localization team always does a fantastic job in my opinion -- the dialogue sparkles (one character even speaks in (understandable) Polari, which is maximum effort).
I'm going to second Metroid Dread, I had a fantastic time with it. There's also the remake of Metroid Prime which was wonderful then and is wonderful now, and has new various control schemes to choose from, including using the gyroscope to aim. These are both more challenging than the previous titles I recommended, if challenging action is what you're after. (Okami has a few boss fights that can feel a bit skin-of-your-teeth, but for the most part not a real challenge to someone used to action gaming.)
I have a few other thoughts, but they're veering off into some of my favorite games that don't fit the genres you've mentioned you enjoyed, so let me know if you'd like to hear them or if I should be done here. (Arguably DQB2 doesn't quite fit those either, but it felt like it had a tangential vibe? I could just be projecting there.)