It’s November! (Yeah, me neither) That means it’s the time to start planning what to look our for during the holiday season! You know….Switch games! We thought we’d give some of our recommendations for some great games that you should definitely play if you haven’t already! They’ll both be from the back catalogue of games as well as some more recent releases.

Don’t forget that we also have gameplay of some Nintendo Switch games on our YouTube Channel! So if you haven’t seen it…see it!

Stardew Valley (2017)

I would almost expect that if you own a Switch that you’d have this game – in both our opinions it’s one of the most impressive indie games available.

If you’ve played old-school Harvest Moon games, it’s Harvest Moon. If you’re like me and had to have The Eye explain it to you, you get given a farm as inheritance and have to grow crops to make money. You can expand your house, make friends with the villagers, dungeon crawl (which is amazingly fun!), get a chicken and call it Cheese, and more! The gameplay has had both of us play this both on Steam and on Switch. Yes, it’s so good we’ve both paid for it twice. And that still feels like a reasonable price!

There’ve been a lot of improvements since the first time this came out on Switch. The addition of couch co-op makes this a great game to enjoy with friends. Don’t let the retro look fool you – this game is addictive as it gets. It’s the best way to live your dream of being a farmer. Or a renowned explorer.

The Legend of Zelda

The Eye’s Preference – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

In The Eye’s words, “I prefer Link’s Awakening because it’s a lot more linear, like a classic Zelda game.” Link’s Awakening is a remake of the original release for GameBoy, and then again for GameBoy Color as Link’s Awakening DX.

Graphically, this game feels like playing on a top down Toy-Box. If you take the gameplay of all the old-school top-down Zelda games and mix it with Lego Duplo, you get Link’s Awakening. That’s not a bad thing by any means – in fact, it really does make this game feel very different to Breath of the Wild, in a good way. The game feels right at home when played portable, especially if you’re using the Switch Lite instead of the full-cream Switch. Thinking of where it came from, that makes total sense. That isn’t to say it doesn’t fit on the TV – tilt-shift effects and the pure vibrance of the colours make this a relatively chilled game to play docked. Until a boss shows up.

The Afro’s Preference – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Mar 2017)

Breath of the Wild is different to any other Legend of Zelda game. I started on Ocarina of Time and, as much as I completed it, I found the puzzles really hard.

Unlike others which are a lot more puzzle based, this game is a bit more of a standard open world RPG. That’s great for me because I suck at puzzles. Like really bad. If you haven’t had a go at this game yet, you need to. Especially because there’s a sequel coming out in 2020 that you need to play afterwards!

You should also consider doing what I did and getting the DLC for this. Why? Because the DLC adds a lot to the game. As well as Master Mode (which I still haven’t finished) you have a few extra chapters added to the game.

It’s graphically impressive as well. Taking into account this was the launch title of the Switch, and it was originally a Wii U game, it looks right at home with some of the more recent first-party titles. Updates to the game also improved motion controls, binding them to the right Joy-Con so you can play without the grip.

The main criticisms from us? The Eye finds it a bit too open, which can make it a bit hard to return to compared to other games.Mine? Frame rates. I have a feeling it’s to do with making sure the game worked well on both Switch and Wii U, but there are some times (a specific forest) where it tanks. It’s nowhere an actual battle takes place, so it’s not really a problem – It’s just annoying. But it’s there.

Octopath Traveller (2017)

Classic Final Fantasy (as in, before 3D) ranks highly on my list of favourite game styles. A top-down (almost) game where you look to gather 4 crystals or something to do some stuff and save the world. That’s a bad explanation that makes perfect sense to anyone familiar with old Final Fantasy.

Enter Octopath Traveller. What’s interesting about this game is the way the story works. Normally, you play as one character and go through the story, with people joining and leaving as and when. Octopath Traveller instead has you start as one character, but meet all the other playable characters. With each main character you meet, you play their prologue chapter so you get up to speed. It’s basically playing each character’s backstory. Like when you first played as Vivi in Final Fantasy IX. I really want to play that game again…

Once you play this game and then get told the battle system borrows from Bravely Default and Bravely Second, it all starts to make sense. You can stockpile what I’ll call “yellow dots of power” to make your attacks more powerful, or use them the moment they show up. Normal battles don’t really benefit from it a huge amount. On over levelled enemies or bosses where you’ll see the benefit to the battle system. Outside of the yellow dots of power, it’s all pretty familiar. If you’re an RPG fan, pick this up!

Super Mario Odyssey (2018)

If you want a game that you can buy in December and then play until March, Super Mario Odyssey is definitely the way to go.

The gameplay goes back to what you’d get from Super Mario Sunshine, or Super Mario 64. It’s level based, but gives you large levels to be able to explore without necessarily needing a hub world. Think, Ratchet and Clank, but with Mario and Cappy. You can even turn into a frog in some levels so….that’s good?

Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! (2018)

This game is based off of the arcade games available in Japan and some parts of Korea. The aim is to drum along to a track as it plays. Basically, think of Dance Dance Revolution but with drums instead of…feet.

Most of the songs are Japanese pop songs, with some Anime theme tunes and video game favourites put in there as well. That’s great for us because we know some of them! And even better because the ones we don’t know are ones both of us don’t know so we’re on a level playing field.

The down side? The game is both more true to it’s arcade roots and fun with the drum controller. Which means spending about £50/$60 on the bundle that comes with it, and also playing in docked mode. If you’re only playing on Switch Lite this definitely isn’t a recommended game. But for some interesting use of the Joy-Con or Drum Controller it’s a pretty decent party game.

Overcooked 2 (2018)

Have you ever watched Hell’s Kitchen and thought, “I could do better than that?” Well, now you can try to with Overcooked 2! This is the sequel (surprise) to the original Overcooked that came out on Steam and then Switch. The gameplay is basically exactly as you’d expect, with added play with your friends online.

You control a character (or in single player, multiple characters) and chop, mince, boil and cook ingredients. The aim is to get everyone’s orders out on time. The quicker they’re done, the higher the score, and the better you score, the more you can gloat!

It’s at the cost of an average indie game (£20/$25) so it’s not too heavy. For something that would be fun to play with friends, it’s a great game! If, however, you’re playing on Switch Lite, you might only get the benefit of this playing online.

Summary

There are a lot of great games that likely would (and should) be on this list, but then this would be too long! Hopefully this gives you some starting points for games that are a bit older, but still really good overall!