Nintendo Switch: Thread 2: The Drift

[peanutbutter]

What would be a good get on Switch for someone who has played Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley to death? Was thinking Minecraft might have some similar mileage but maybe not.

[Pink Gregory]

Slime Rancher, maybe?

I've heard Stardew-ish things about Graveyard Keeper but I know nowt about it otherwise

[Chedney Honks]

My Time At Portia is supposed to be really good if you have dementia.

[ImmaculateClump]

Diablo 3 at the lower difficulties might scratch that itch. Genuinely. Long slow grind, numbers going up, new weapons and gear dropping, nice and relaxing.

[Kelvin]

I just went and bought a Switch today in a semi-impulse purchase. Other than the obvious (BOTW), what games have I missed out on that I should definitely check out??
And are there any Switch versions of games that really benefit from the portable-ness that might be worth a re-purchase?

Hard to know where to start, as I don't know what sort of games you like, how au fait you are with Nintendo's recent games, and where you fall on indie games, etc.

However, here's a list of my favourite games on the console. There's nothing here I'd give less that a 7 out of 10, and most are 8's or 9's for me:

Breath of the Wild - My favourite game of the last few years. It sounds like you already know the deal with this.

Super Smash Bros: Ultimate - Best, most comprehensive iteration of the party game / multiplayer beat em up series

Metroid: Dread - Difficult new metroidvania that seems to have split opinion on here a little, but is (imo) extremely good overall

Mario Kart 8 - Port of the Wii U Mario Kart, with all DLC and other content included. Unquestionably the best Mario Kart ever.

Pikmin 3: Deluxe - Wii U Port of the superb real-time strategy game set in various gardens.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Life Sim with animals. I played it for something crazy like 300 hours during lockdown, then dropped it and lost interest in it instantly. Great so long as you have a project on the go, otherwise the spell is broken

Mario Maker 2 - Great game, with endless 2D Mario levels on tap, ad imo the best 2D Mario single player since World on the SNES. It's not a big step forward after the original game, but if you never played that and you like platformers, I'd say it's a must buy.

Ape Out - A stylish, jazz fueled action game where you have to escape as an Ape while using your enemies as weapons and shields. Watch a video, it's great!

Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - I don't rate 3D World too highly, it's a solid multiplayer Mario platformer, but nothing special. However, the standalone game that comes with it, Bowser's Fury, is arguably one of the best 3D Mario games, and probably my game of the year.  10 hours long, and just non-stop joy.

Monster Hunter: Rise - A very good Monster Hunter game with cool mobility

Hades -  roguelike action dungeon crawler with really good characters and story

Blasphemous - A visually striking, but very dour and disturbing metroidvania, set in a world obsessed with it's religion

Zelda: Link's Awakening Remake - A lovely looking, very faithful remake of the Gameboy game, albeit with a bit too much slowdown

Luigi's Mansion 3 - Great puzzle action adventure game where Luigi hoovers up ghosts in fun locales.

Sonic Mania - one of only two good sonic games

Shovel Knight - Everyone's played this by now, but if you haven't, it's a great 2D platformer heavily influenced by classic nes and snes platformers

Steamworld Dig 2 - A roguelite where you dig down into a planet looking for your friend. Very addictive loop.

Tetris 99 - Comes with the Nintendo Online service, play Tetris against 98 other people

Mario Odyssey - Another brilliant 3D Mario and probably one of the easiest recommendations on the console, after Zelda

Fire Emblem: three Houses - Great strategy game, not too pretty, but incredibly in depth and satisfying

Cuphead - run-and-gun shooter with art inspired by the "golden age" of animation

Overcooked - multiplayer / co-op game where you and your friends try to make and serve enough meals to win without killing each other

Astral Chain - Crazy action adventure game with some incredibly cool anime set pieces and some weird sections where you carry out police investigations using interdimensional monsters

Splatoon 2 - Good online multiplayer shooter from Nintendo, but Splatoon 3 is out next year, so I'd say maybe for that instead at this point

Hollow Knight - Metroidvania with gorgeous art and music, very hard but satisfying

Dark Souls Remastered - Everyone knows what this is

Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth - Demented Roguelite

Celeste - really good platformer with a fairly naff story about overcoming yourself

Metal Slug 1 + 2 - Classic shooters that I really enjoyed playing on Switch handheld

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Great platformer with nice visuals and a steep difficulty curve

[ImmaculateClump]

The Binding of isaac and mario kart 8 are the good games on that list.
Those two, spelunky and neko navy, you'll be golden.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

next to none of the good switch games were made for switch

[Jerzy Bondov]

I'd like to disagree in the strongest possible terms about Mario 3D World, which is actually the best Mario game ever made

[Timothy]

I'd like to disagree in the strongest possible terms about Mario 3D World, which is actually the best Mario game ever made

Couldn't agree more. Bowser's Fury was a great little stand alone game (can't wait to see a full game like it), but Mario 3D World is not only the best Mario Game on the Switch but imo also indeed the best Mario game ever made.

I want to add Mario and Rabbids to Kelvin's (great) list. Didn't have much expectations due to the Rabbids but it's one of the best games I've played on the Switch. Great tactical puzzles.

And if you like visual novels you can't go wrong with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy.

[brat-sampson]

And Ace Attorney Chronicles, which I'm still treating as a bedtime story. I'm on case 2-3 (second game, third case) and it's been fantastic for journeys and such.

[Chedney Honks]

Nintendo-only games:

BotW
Odyssey
MK8D

Universally regarded as three of the best games ever made, regardless of anyone's opinion here.

Splatoon 2 and ARMS were extremely good when they had active online, but they're more or less pointless now, and too distinctive for most people, anyway. I just couldn't miss them out.

Beyond that, it's a matter of individual tastes and tolerances.

[thecuriousorange]

What are the differences between Mario Kart 8 on the Switch and Wii U? Apart from the unlockable stuff being included from the start.

[Pink Gregory]

I think there was some DLC stuff on WiiU that's included in the Switch version

[Kelvin]

Yeah, all the dlc is included in Deluxe, 16 more tracks than the base Wii U game, and maybe some extra characters and car parts.

[madhair60]

Sonic Mania - one of only two good sonic games

I'm a big fan of Sonic and I still find this quite difficult to disagree with

[Magnum Valentino]

What's the other, 3-and-Knuckles?

[Kelvin]

I was being a scamp, but I personally only like Sonic 2 and Mania. I've never really enjoyed 3 for some reason.

[ImmaculateClump]

I'd like to disagree in the strongest possible terms about Mario 3D World, which is actually the best Mario game ever made

The best 3d mario, by a country mile. Yeah, it's fab.
I sanction that one, schrodinger, put that on your shopping list too.

So you've got

Spelunky
neko navy
mario kart 8
The Binding of isaac
super mario 3d world

That's a great place to start.

[Kelvin]

3D World is so dull single player though, even if its good fun with other people. You can't go wrong with it on Switch, though, really. You get that and Bowser's Fury, so a great single player and a good multiplayer /  co-op.

[ImmaculateClump]

I played with my nephew and he likes to make you fall down lava pits and delete your save when you're getting him a can of pop, that sort of thing.
As fun as that is, I did enjoy the game slightly more when I got to play on my own :D

My sister gave me such a look when I was playing as the princess once and I did a handstand on the top of a tree and went "woohoo! You can see my knickers, don't look at me, I'm shy, such boring foreign knickers" like Lucy Montgomery.

I didn't think it was dull, I really liked it. I suppose it just goes to show how subjective all this is. I know honks means well by saying "look, these games are objectively good", the rest is just opinion, but you just can't say that, especially about the games he's picked.

I think you can say it about mario kart, maybe. I think even people who didn't like kart racing or it wasn't their favourite in the series would have to admit that it's objectively a good game no whatever what your tastes.

[madhair60]

I enjoyed it alone as well but it really comes to life with pals, as you'd expect.

Didn't get much out of Bowser's Fury. lol

[Chedney Honks]

Just to clarify I wasn't saying they're objectively good, rather that they're extremely widely regarded as being three of the best games ever, as borne out by the review scores. Pretty much everything else first party comes with some caveat, no matter how much I might like or dislike individual games. I'm just suggesting the most likely, most enjoyable options for someone new to the system. Maybe only one of them would make my own top five.

[Kelvin]

Maybe only one of them would make my own top five.

Just trying to remember if there's a bit in Odyssey where a big boobied woman pilots a spaceship through a billion pink dots.   :)

[madhair60]

Just trying to remember if there's a bit in Odyssey where a big boobied woman pilots a spaceship through a billion pink dots.   :)

Nice try, but they're all lolis in that genre

[Kelvin]

Nice try, but they're all lolis in that genre

Baby Peach is in Mario Kart.

[ImmaculateClump]

Shhhh, he doesn't like being reminded of his virile daredevil space pilot days.
He likes to pick a game from his "retirement home tier" list and relax with a cup of cocoa of a nighttime.

[weaseldust]

What would be a good get on Switch for someone who has played Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley to death? Was thinking Minecraft might have some similar mileage but maybe not.

check out rune factory 4 special - i often hear people comparing it to stardew valley (which i haven't played) but i have also played animal crossing to death. rune factory has a lot more stuff to do - farming, combat, forging and upgrading weapons, fishing, exploration, friendships, etc but you can choose what you want to do really. i like the fact that time only passes when you're playing the game so you don't miss out on anything if you leave it for a while

[Pink Gregory]

The Rune Factory series is widely considered to the the continuation of Harvest Moon, as the official sequels aren't well regarded due to certain design choices, I think?

[Ignatius_S]

The Rune Factory series is widely considered to the the continuation of Harvest Moon, as the official sequels aren't well regarded due to certain design choices, I think?

No, I would say they are well regarded - and the last one got excellent reviews. IIRC, each one builds nicely on the last with decent improvements.

[Pink Gregory]

Admittedly what I said there was based on something I heard on a games forum in like 2013, so it's entirely likely I'm talking out of my arse RE: Harvest Moon

Maybe it's only in reference to the DS Harvest Moons?  Don't know.