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Though this Switch port mightily struggles from a performance perspective, it’s still enjoyable on a consistent enough basis that such issues can be mostly overlooked. It literally costs you nothing more than time to give Dauntless a try, and we’d highly recommend you give it a shot.
The third Football Manager on Switch is a relatively minor upgrade to an already entertaining and compelling game. The controls are still unwieldy and the new features, while welcome, aren't exactly transformative: as such, we'd usually recommend you consider buying last year's game for a slightly lower price. However, since Sega's pulled the 2018 and 2019 editions from the eShop, you don't have much choice but to pay full price for this one.
With its single table, often obtuse mechanics and sometimes brutal difficulty, Demon's Tilt isn't going to be to everybody's tastes, but if you have even the slightest interest in pinball games then you really should check this out.
Gensou Skydrift is one of the few karting games on Switch to come even slightly close to Mario Kart in terms of its racing mechanics, and when it all comes together it's a fun time. Unfortunately, the lack of meaningful single-player content and the fact that the online is dead on arrival means this should be strictly considered a local multiplayer game if you want to get your money's worth.
Big Pharma has a lot to offer for players who want a deep management simulator.
Croteam, the creators of The Talos Principle, were previously known primarily for their silly (but fun) Serious Sam titles. The Talos Principle shows a remarkable maturity and depth of scope that's perhaps surprising, but in a very good way. It poses interesting questions, allows the player to progress at their own pace - mostly in a non-linear fashion - and is a hugely satisfying piece of game design. Utterly entrancing and highly recommended.
Trover Saves the Universe is a surprisingly fun little game. The humour will not be to everybody's tastes, and while the core gameplay is extremely strong by itself, your appreciation for their style of comedy will ultimately determine whether or not you see this one through to the end. But for us, this was a hilarious twist on the puzzle-platformer genre which we can highly recommend for anybody looking for something a bit more weird and twisted.
Buried deep within Neverwinter Nights' loins remains an entertaining, engrossing and lengthy RPG adventure, bundled with oodles of extra campaigns and one-off adventures. But to enjoy that you're going to have to put up with some of the most stuttery, bug-riddled nonsense we've seen on the Switch. Fun and frustrating in equal measure.
Make no mistake, this is a very funny game, and you’ll soon be agonising over which of the delightful main characters is your favourite. Unfortunately, it’s not quite enough to hold up the entire game – some folks will automatically gravitate to what is admittedly a unique approach to the RPG genre, but a lot more will likely desire something a bit more hands-on.
In the Hunt is an excellent shoot-'em-up and a great fit for the Switch. It offers something comfortingly familiar in the genre but shockingly, joyously different in execution. Here's hoping we see even more high-quality deep cuts fill out the already outstanding Arcade Archives line. How about R-Type?
Jamestown+ is another brilliant addition to the Nintendo Switch's ever-expanding library of excellent shmups.
Yet another fantastic rhythm game to add to the Switch's ever-growing repertoire. It may be a tad on the expensive side, but its core mechanics are rock solid, its minimalist visuals are a treat to behold and the fact it's got to much to play through and unlock means you'll be happily tapping your toes to this one for months.
Riverbond isn’t the most in-depth game on the Switch this year, nor is it the best looking. It does, however, boast an interesting art style, and its gameplay is simple yet engaging enough that almost anyone of any skill level can give it a good crack.
The short length and simple concept keep it from having much staying power, but it’s a thrilling experience if you’ve got a night to yourself and feel like giving yourself a good scare.
Yacht Club Games continues to impress with its support for Shovel Knight, and we’d highly recommend you experience Shovel Knight Showdown one way or another.
This is likely the last we’ll see of the ‘core’ Shovel Knight series for some time, and King of Cards acts as a worthy swansong for a now-legendary platformer. Bravo.
Translating a set of revered gamebooks from the '80s into video game form was always going to be something of a challenge, and while the version that's made the jump to Nintendo Switch under a new name doesn't bring anything particularly different to the tabletop party, developer Asmodee has retained the evocative world-building of Ian Livingstone's books while adding in some helpful features. It's a little lacking in the looks department, but if you fancy taking a trip back in time to RPG questing of old, Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy certainly offers plenty of retro adventures of its own.
Pine could have been a lot better. There are genuinely impressive systems at play here – for example, the other creatures inhabiting this world are gathering resources in much the same way as the player, and will even snatch up crops and objects that you were making for. But its smarter touches are totally obfuscated by the shadow of absolute technical unsuitability to the Switch hardware.
What’s most baffling about Simulacra is why more wasn’t done to make it a more authentic mobile experience.
Here are two excellent swashbuckling epics ported to Nintendo's console in fine fashion.