Summary
There’s no denying that when compared to the Xbox, Playstation, and PC, the Nintendo Switch is an underpowered machine, even when it was first released. However, this lack of power didn’t stop it from becoming incredibly popular, and also the best place to play some of gaming’s greatest games.
Whether it’s brilliant roguelikes that benefit from pick-up-and-play spontaneity, or mega-RPGs that harken back to the golden age of JPRGs past on the NES and SNES, the Nintendo Switch has plenty of cross-platform games that play the best on its small but mighty hardware. These are some of the best.
WhenDead Cellsreleased, it came out to a market dominated by hundreds of roguelike indie games, so standing out from the crowd was always going to be a challenge. Yet,Dead Cellsmanaged to gain an audience by sticking to its guns and delivering on high-difficulty platforming action.
WhileDead Cellscan be played on most consoles, it plays best on the Switch, not because of its power or because ofthe many crossover events, but because of the Switch’s portability. There’s nothing quite like doing a run ofDead Cellswhen a half an hour appears out of nowhere, and the Switch is a great console to do it on.
Before its release in 2017,Cupheadhad already gained a reputation purely due to its unique 1930s-inspired cartoon art style that made it stand out from the pack. However, when it released, gamers were surprised to play a game that was almost defined more by the brutal difficulty that would put Soulslikes to shame.
Because the game’sbrutal but entertaining bossesrequire near-perfection for a couple of minutes, rather than long extended play sessions, the Switch is a great place to play the game where it can be picked up for a couple of minutes. Players can hone their skills, then put the game back down again. It’s an ideal game for portable play that the Switch delivers on perfectly.
These days, JRPGs can be found on almost every platform. But back in the day, the Nintendo consoles were well known for hosting the very best that JRPGs had to offer, including theFinal Fantasygames before the 3D era began withFinal Fantasy 7.
Therefore, the Switch is a great place to playOctopath Traveler, a loving tribute to those genre-defining games that have a lot of affection from gamers all over the world. The tribute adventure plays perfectly in bite-size pieces, making it a great one for the Switch.
After the release ofFTL: Faster Than Light, gamers wondered what would be next for the breakout indie studio of Subset Games. Would they bring out a sequel? Maybe a grander space game?
To most people’s surprise, the follow-up came withInto the Breach, a deceptively simple grid-based tactical combat game which relies on positioning enemies in advance to minimize their harmful impact. The game gets really difficult and requires deep thinking, making it perfect for on-the-go play when players want to tackle problems a little bit a time.
To call Toby Fox’sUndertalea sensation would be to undersell one of the biggest indie games ever made outside ofMinecraft. The game, a send-up of old-school RPGs likeMother,tells a wholly unique story that to say too much about would spoil its greatest surprises. Needless to say, it’s great, and isfull of powerful quotes.
Considering thatUndertale’s lineage comes directly from the old-school RPGs that dominated the NES and SNES, the Switch is a perfect legacy console for the game, sitting alongside the very RPGs that inspired Toby Fox’s masterpiece.
It’s hard to stand out from the indie crowd. Most indie games go unnoticed by the world for no good reason, and some gain popularity through sheer luck. Luckily, the world took notice ofHollow Knightas not just one of the greatest indie games ever made, but one of the greatest Metroidvania games ever made, partially due to itsincredible roster of tricky bosses.
The Switch is a great home forHollow Knight, not just because of the legacy of theMetroid PrimeandCastlevaniagames that call Nintendo home, but because the bite-size world ofHollow Knightfits perfectly onto the portable platform. Players can tackle small areas of the world at their leisure.
At the very peak of the roguelike’s popularity, Supergiant Games deliveredHades, perhaps the greatest version of the roguelike ever made. It is yet to be surpassed by anything else, even its own sequel. It’s hard to imagine whether the roguelike can ever ascend to these kinds of heights again.
While the Switch is more underpowered than its console cousins, the roguelike structure of doing discrete runs is perfect for the portable device. Players can squeeze in another run on their lunch break without having to sit down in front of a TV or computer. It’s a match made in roguelike heaven.
For a long time, theHarvest Moonfranchise was dead, and there was no market for cozy games. All at once,Stardew Valleyseemed to change the game entirely, not just reinvigorating the farming simulator genre, but introducing hordes of new players to the world of video games and breeding awhole new strand of completionists.
AsStardew Valleytakes place one day at a time, it’s a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch pick-up-and-play portability. Players can squeeze in a day of play while they’re waiting on the train, and make meaningful progress towards making the farm of their dreams. It’s a great symbiosis between game and console that beats out all the other platforms.
