Last week, our colleague Bahir made the mistake of asking us if buying a Nintendo Switch was a good idea. The both of us said “yes” so quickly it almost gave him whiplash. But we didn’t stop there. In fact, we had so many thoughts on the matter that we decided to spin it into this article right here. We figured that you too may be wrestling with the same dilemma and needed a nudge in the right direction.
So for all of you who have been looking to make the leap, and very importantly, if you can afford to get one at this point, consider this your nudge..
To Switch or Not to Switch?
Uma’s Take:
Playstations and Xboxes are great with their multiple cores and teraflops, but the Nintendo Switch is the console that I use on the daily. In my bed. On the couch. In the loo, while taking a poo. In a boat, with a goat. In the rain, and on a train. Being able to dip in and out of my favourite games, when I want, wherever I want (not that any of us are going anywhere anytime soon), has been this handheld’s greatest appeal. There is no debate with the significant other on who gets custody of the TV that night. I don’t have to worry about my controller running out of juice. It’s always there, it’s always on, which means it’s the easiest way for me to get going and get gaming. And I do.
The Switch is also the perfect representation of Nintendo’s gaming philosophy. I can’t quite tell you what that is, except to say that all their best games have an ineffable quality that can only be described as delightful. A lot of them are also solo endeavours. This isn’t a machine you buy if you’re looking to indulge in hours upon hours of massive multiplayer melees. So before you go out and buy one, know that the average Switch gamer isn’t the Call of Duty player. So if that’s your jam, then maybe this console isn’t the one for you.
Iain’s Take:
I’ve owned a few Nintendo handhelds over the years (the original Gameboy, Gameboy SP, DS), but before the pandemic, as an owner of “traditional consoles” I didn’t think I needed another one. How wrong I was. While the home consoles are great for “Triple A” and online multi-player games, your GTAs, Apex Legends, and Call of Dutys, my Switch has taken the place that my PC, and my dusty Steam library, was never quite able to fit into in my life. I play the smaller, weirder, often more interesting, games on my Switch, and being able to do so in bed (but never in the loo, never) and on the couch, without monopolising the TV, is a godsend.
Okay, So the Tech Is Great but What Games Will Win Over Bahir?
Goggler’s Essential Switch Games:
Uma: Here’s the deal, even if this list is supposed to be in no particular order, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is still going to come out on top. I bought his game when it came out in 2017, I completed it, but I continue to return to it at least once a year. Not just because of its rich and open ended (ish) world, and not because there is more than one way to make your way through the game. I keep coming back to Breath of the Wild because of how immersive it is. From the way the characters are drawn, to the colours and sounds of the world, everything about this game feels grand, and sweeping, and cinematic. Everything about this game is so well thought out and perfectly executed. Wearing metal during a storm will get you struck by lightning. Weapons degrade and break. Cooking the food you find isn’t just restorative, it also buttresses your various abilities.
Every outing in this game feels different. Trust me. The map is so dense that even when you’re done with the main story, there will still be large undiscovered regions for you to explore. God knows I sometimes just walk around to hear the rustle of the grass.
Iain: Up until very recently, Breath of the Wild was the only physical Switch game I owned. It might as well have been welded into the game slot. Ever so often, I’d pop into the latest iteration of Hyrule for some aimless wandering. Unlike Uma, I’m nowhere near finishing the main game. Instead I’ve played BotW in much the same way I did Skyrim, like some version of Kane from Kung Fu or a sword wielding Littlest Hobo, rolling into an area, meeting people, and helping them out. Collecting pictures of leviathan bones, seeking friends lost in the wilderness, or just picking an interesting area on the map and making my way to it just to see if there’s anything there. I’ll get to the next two divine beasts and Calamity Ganon at some stage, but for now, I’m happy enough to explore the breadth of this wild.
Iain: Hollow Knight is one of the first games I downloaded on my Switch, only to drop off it as I got lost in Breath of the Wild. I had originally planned to recommend it due to its dark, gorgeous art style – and the lack of more traditional platformers on my list – but then I reopened the game. I knew that I’d gotten stuck somehow, or worn down by its “souls borne” mechanics, but now I’m fully invested once more. Exploring it’s underworld bug kingdom, dying frequently, seeking out benches and stag beetle network stations. Every time I collect a sizeable amount of Geo (the in-game currency), the tension as I vacillate between high tailing it to the store for upgrades or exploring just a little further, in hope of finding the map maker or bench to save, is delicious. (Spoilers, there usually isn’t and I’ll die, but I’ll start out again next time with less coin, but with my resolve redoubled.)
Uma: Mario’s first outing on the Nintendo Switch is still his best. I could tell you that Super Mario Odyssey is a 3D platformer in which your goal is to collect all the things and also save Princess Peach, but that would be to understate the giddy joy that you will derive from playing this game. This is Mario. It is familiar, but nothing about it feels samey. It isn’t a reinvention of a classic, but it is constantly evolving. Hours into it and you will still be surprised at what it throws at you.
Uma: Hands down the best game of 2019. Untitled Goose Game will teach you to embrace your inner asshole like never before.
Iain: There’s no better description of House House’s goose-em-up than the Australian developers own description: “It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose.” Steal stuff. Wreck house. Goad villagers into fulfilling your horrible whims. Honk!
Bliss.
Iain: Yoku’s Island Express is a weird game to explain, but despite coming out on everything, it’s perfectly suited to the Switch. I originally played the the game on PS4 but bounced off it on the big TV. Its “adventure-pinball” gameplay feels like a far more natural fit on the Switch. The triggers feel like they were custom designed for the in-game pinball bumpers. As Yoku, you are the beetle postman on an island (naturally), and have to rally the locals to face a threat, getting around while attached to a giant ball. Handy bumpers all over the Island can be used to propel said ball, (and you) to new areas, collecting fruit and opening up new paths and friends to chat to. With its chill island vibes, and mostly stress free challenges, Yoku’s was the first game that I “completed” in quite some time, after a long spate of only playing online multiplayer games.
Uma: Fun, charming, and innovative, with plenty of slapstick comedy and just enough scares to make this instalment of Luigi’s haunted mansion adventures a must play. The levels in Luigi’s Mansion 3 are intricately designed, full of depth and detail that reward the most curious of gamers. Tired of waiting for the next Ghostbusters movie? Luigi’s Mansion 3 might just scratch that itch.
Iain: The Return of the Obra Dinn is the game that finally broke my addiction to buying games in steam sales only to never play them (the PC is for WORK!). I waited patiently, the Switch port arrived, and I spent a beautiful couple of weeks investigating the doomed ship and her crew. There is plenty of death in Obra Dinn but you can’t die in-game. Instead you explore the haunting Apple IIe/original Gameboy hued ship with your magic pocket watch, every corpse you find triggering a static diorama of how that person died.
It’s up to you to deduce the identity of each corpse using only the ship’s manifest, an illustration of the crew and your own reasoning. Obra Dinn is unlike any other game I’ve played and I Ioved every minute of it. From the shock of some of the memories, to finally managing to identify some crew members by their footwear in two difference scenes, to the amazing music which still pops into my head from time to time, I’ve never felt so much like a detective.
Now I’m also holding out for more PC to Switch ports like Umurangi Generation and Disco Elysium.
Uma: Paper Mario: The Origami King might be the most inventive Mario game since… ever. One part collect-a-thon platformer, one part RPG, this beautifully rendered adventure is as involving as Breath of the Wild. Only far more self-aware and self-referential. The story is an absurdist fantasy in which the evil Origami King flattens the world (and everyone in it) into 2D dioramas. The script is sharp, plumbing (geddit?) the depths of the franchise’s history for some great jokes and truly moving moments. I won’t spoil it, but there is a narrative arc involving an amnesiac Bob-omb called Bobby that will leave you absolutely heartbroken. The battle mechanics can get a little tedious, but even that can’t take away from how much fun this is.
Iain: I’m a big fan of old school adventure games, particularly The Secret of Monkey Island 1 and 2 which married together point and click adventuring with a frankly bizarre sense of humour that landed just right for me. Lair of the Clockwork God pulls off something similar and adds some platforming to the mix. The third in the Ben and Dan series (the previous two languishing in my steam library), Ben performs the point and click aspects of the game, combining objects, pushing switches, declining to jump over even the smallest obstacle, while Dan refuses to pick up anything and prefers to jump everywhere. “The bants” between Ben and Dan as they try to avoid the “apocalypses” occurring outside the titular lair never failed to bring a smile to my face. That said, the platforming section, specifically designed to elicit rage, worked almost too well. Don’t forget to play the bundled “visual novel” either. Seriously.
Uma: I love Animal Crossing: New Horizons so much I wrote a whole thing about it. I’m not sure there’s anything to say about Animal Crossing that hasn’t already been said. Except maybe this. One year later and the game remains a friendly and relaxing escape. I’m no longer obsessively chopping down trees and hunting scorpions in order to repay my debt to that loan shark racoon. These days I just pop into my island every now and then to check in on my furry friends. It is precisely these sorts of calm and casual social sims that the Switch was built for.
Iain: It’s not a game, but the Nintendo eShop Wish List is one of the most essentials features of the platform for me. I purchased almost all my games in sales and trying to keep up with the various promotions and developer deals by scrolling through the store would be a full time job. Logging into my wish list just before a quick game of Breath Of The Wild has snagged me some real bargains over the years and can help keep the cost of entertainment down.
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