Topic: The Switch Recommendations Thread

@Xyphon22

The designer and scenario writer for Eiyuden Chronicles HH was the producer for the first three Suikoden games. Playing EC would give you a good idea what to expect from the Suikoden collection. The town building aspect is more of a side questing activity. The majority of people you recruit aren't for use in combat (although you could), but to expand and enhance the vendor offerings at your home base.

Better to have everything centralized rather than running from place to place.

@Magician Thanks for the reply. So is the recruiting/town building similar to how it is in Ni no Kuni 2 (if you've played that)? Because while not my favorite part of the game, I was good with it in that game. And I was just never a fan of how those PS1 era RPGs tended to just throw party members at you, most of whom were unimportant and just took up space (looking at you, Chrono Cross).

And yeah, I knew a lot of the same people worked on both games, which is why I was kind of wondering if how I felt about Eiyuden Chronicles would probably be how I feel about Suikoden, or if they are either different enough or if one is so much better that I might like/dislike one but feel different about the other.

I've been playing some demo's recently and I'd recommend the following:

Bloomtown A Different Story
The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy
Rusty Rabbit

Oh boy... i'm gonna be playing this backlog until Switch 2 OLED arnt I... ^^'

Really enjoying Pepper Grinder at the moment, its got a wonderfully strange punky and ever so slightly dark theme running through it and the inventive mechanics have suprised me on several occasions. Short, sweet and only £15 online at the moment.

Also recommending Diofield Chronicles (not quite stellar but more solid then I was expecting with a half decent narrative) which is only £10 online.

This is random, but Fire n' Ice (Or Solomon's Key 2) is absolute puzzle gold! You can play it on the NES Switch Online service. It feels like this game was way ahead of its time. It feels like with some minor adjustments, this game could pass as a really good modern indie game.
This game has a really fun concept for its puzzle design. I don't even know how I would explain it here, so you'll have to play it yourself to see what it's like.
And another thing, it has a level editor! I spent about 15 minutes playing around with it, and I'm pretty proud of what I made. I am unaware of any other game in this era which has a level editor, and although clunky, I think it's rather fun.
Please try this gem if you like puzzle games and have the NSO service. You might like it.

@CobaltFan ooh will check that out later! If you like puzzle-esque games, you should check out INK sometime--great little platformer! Also... Take it back, M+Ms are amazing!!

I finally have time to play some of the lesser known games I've bought. I'll update often :3

Minepull
Rocket Wars
Domiverse

I hope this is good here since it's not about a game. So my son and his friends destroyed the rubber caps on the sticks on my joycon. They are still sort of attached, but just hanging on. Does anyone have any good recommendations for replacements that are easy to attach/install? It's an OLED if that matters, but the ones I've seen seem to work with any Switch.

Minepull is great for specific moments when you don't know what to do but you don't want to commit to a long game either. It is not the same, but it reminds me of the retro Sokoban video game and it takes me back to happy moments of my childhood, so thanks for sharing @Vivianeat.

@supermarido Ur welcome! I have another little list coming soon. Just playing through a lot of other stuff rn.

Explosive Jake
Alekon
Cake Bash
and Roger
Aegis
Bullet Beat

Ive got some recommendations, oh boy do I ever...

NSW1

• Trails In The Sky demo (5+ hrs and transfers to full game! This is the Trails game to start with! Its a full 3D remake of the original on PSP, and its a very good NSW1 port. Impressively so.
• Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door. You've heard everyone sing its praises but you still haven't played it. Time to change that. As of 2026 we're revoking gamer cards if you haven't at least tried this game before. Fair warning 😉
• Trials Rising. One of the best video games ever made that no one talks about or understands. It starts off with easy tracks. But by the time you get to Hard and Extreme tracks, you need to have mastered bunny hops, chaining them, landing on near vertical surfaces, avoiding needless air time to trim down total run time, bunny hopping and rotating vertically to slam rear wheel into ledge thats too high to reach, which then causes it to bounce off and rotate your front tire up and over tbe ledge, then apply front break and let rear wheel swing up above ledge and even 45 degrees up above, then release break and front tire will roll forward just enough from rear wheel weight above so by the time it drops down it'll be on tbe platform also. The game has a very thorough "University of Trials" with a top dev teaching you these techniques with obstacle courses to practice on, and a ghost to watch and imitate. Best played on chipped OLED while overclocked or NSW2 to avoid framerate issues
• Resident Evil Revelations 2. I could easily say RE Rev 1 but most have played that one. The 2nd is so much better than ppl give it credit for. And RE5, that game is really good. All have gyro aiming if using joycon (can use in grip if you want a pro controller like experience).
• Portal and Portal 2. Ya, if youre reading this and haven't played these games, shame on you. The Switch versions are on par with the PC versions and look identical to if playing on Deck, complete with gyro aiming. I'm not even kidding when I say most critics would rank these games in the top 10 of all time. Certainly Portal 2.
• Prince of Persia Lost Crown. Best 2D Metroidvania Ive ever played. Even tops Metroid Dread and Ori games, and I adore those. Definitely better than Hollow Knight and Silksong (I kickstarted those games and do appreciate them, but I think they are overrated compared to other games in the genre like Prince of Persia).
• Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak. My fave MH of all time and definitely better than the recent MH Wilds. I got 800+ hours on Switch. You don't have to spend that much time in it- but its so good you may end up wanting to. Not that it happens all at once. It took many many months, even a year+ of playing off and on to rack up that many hours.
• Monster Hunter Stories 2. Best played on NSW2 where uncapped framerate maxes at 60fps all the time. But if you have a NSW2, do not sleep on this game. Especially with MH Stories 3 dropping in March. You like Pokémon? You'll love this more. You love Monster Hunter? You'll love this almost as much. You just love great games? You'll love this.
• Fire Emblem Three Houses. With Fortune's Weave dropping next year and clearly taking place in the same world, its time to get up to speed and discover why so many regard Three Houses as being among the best games they've ever played.
• Xenoblade Chronicles X. This was the 2nd JRPG I ever played (1st was Final Fantasy X on Vita, though technically I played my first srpg before that- Fire Emblem Awakening on 3DS, and thats what opened my eyes to the appeal of turn based combat). If I managed being so inexperienced, anyone can. Its even better on Switch. So many QoL changes. Don't miss this gem.
• Ni No Kuni 2. Only play on modchipped OLED capping framerate at 30fps or play on NSW2 for full 60fps. But if you have either of those, this is a heck of a game.

NSW2

• Persona 3 Reload demo. Its fire. As expected. Demo is several hours and transfers to full game. We protested and demonstrated for years to get Persona on Switch. Don't take this game for granted. It's very good. And its a demo- it costs you nothing! Download Trails demo while youre at it. Just a reminder 😀
• Star Wars Outlaws. This game is way better than its reputation would lead you to believe. And the new gyro aiming makes it immaculate levels of fun.
• Fantasy Life i. Look, this isn't typically the type of gameI play, but once I tried it out, I couldn't put it down. Its just so dang addictive and fun. And a nice crisp 1080p in handheld mode at 60fps.
• Wildhearts S. Its not as good as Monster Hunter, but its the one non-MH game in the genre I regard as being worth playing. Its really good, and guess what, theres a demo!
• Cyberpunk 2077. Easily one of the best games on the system and there's no reason anyone should miss this masterpiece. Gyro and mouse aiming. Get it in!
• Hogwarts Legacy. If you even remotely enjoy Harry Potter this game will charm you seven ways to Sunday. The characters are incredibly well done and fleshed out. I felt personal attachment to many of the professors, even moreso than I did with the movies (except Snape, he'll always be #1).

There. I tried to avoid the obvious stuff like Zelda and DK Bonanza and Mario Kart cuz everyone knows they should play those games already. Tried to give a list of games that don't get quite that level of attention or that get overlooked too often.

@Xyphon22
Easy? Not really. I took my brothers joycon apart once and it wasn't easy getting it to all snap back together with the shell being flush.

But Etsy has ppl who repair stuff like that for around $20, even providing the new analog and installing for you. Ship it to them and they'll fix it and ship it back. I got HALL Effect analogs on my d-pad modded joycon and metal release latches since the stock plastic ones wear down (which is how joycon can eventually just push off without pressing the button). I paid $15 for the metal latches and install and another $10 to do the analogs which I purchased myself ahead of time. But again most will have an option where they provide it.

Check out Etsy.

@JaxonH, thanks for the suggestions 😃! I already have the following on my wishlist, though I probably won't get all of them because of my tight gaming schedule (also, in the case of Xenoblade X, I at least want to play the other three mainline Xenoblades first):

Paper Mario the Thousand-Year Door
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Fantasy Life i

Just discovered a newish racing game from December. Victory Heat Rally! It’s quite good.

@JaxonH oh my word, I got the Portal Companion Collection a few months back and fell in love with the games! I have been researching all the lore since then haha, and yes, I am now among those who proudly show up to every game show with a "Portal 3 When?" comment ready to go!

@JaxonH wow! that seems like the ultimate list of recommendations for NSW1&2

I'm still quite new in this forum and I have not had enough time to read many pages of this thread, but your summary is definitely the perfect info to start.