Nintendo Life

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Harvestella could be described as one of the best 'good' games you’ll play this year. Its performance issues and rather simplistic mechanics hold it back from being great, but its quest design, dungeon exploration, and successful fusion of very distinct gameplay mechanics make it quite compelling all the same. That launch day $60 price tag feels a little high for what’s on offer here, but this is absolutely a title that we’d recommend farm sim fans buy when the inevitable sales start to crop up. Harvestella may not be a challenger to Stardew Valley’s crown, but it does enough to distinguish itself as a worthwhile experience anyway.

• SWITCH
• 8 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

If you were even half-aware of games news at the end of 2021, you will already be a bit interested in this game. It’s brimming with fun, uniquely committed to co-op gaming, plays solidly and distinctively, and usually discards one cool idea in favour of another before there’s time to get bored. Now-standard graphical compromises have been made for Switch, and the typical perk of playing handheld is questionable for an always-split-screen co-op-only game. Nonetheless, it keeps the frames moving well enough not to undermine its Game-of-the-Year sparkle. It Takes Two and the good old Switch may not be a perfect marriage, but it’s probably worth sticking it out, now that we’re five years in.

• SWITCH
• 10 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Bayonetta 3 cranks up the chaos, improves the combat, polishes the level design, and adds a ton of new mechanics to the mix, making for the very best entry in this storied series to date. PlatinumGames has absolutely nailed it this time around, carefully layering on more ways to engage enemies, piling on the OTT gameplay sequences, and giving us multiple protagonists without upsetting the balance of what makes these games amongst the very best examples of their genre. With solid performance in docked and handheld modes, impressive visuals, non-stop action, and a hugely replayable campaign that's a joy from start to finish, this really is a huge celebration of everything we love about Bayonetta, an action all-timer and one of the gaming highlights of 2022 so far, on Switch or any other platform.

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Resident Evil: Village is an excellent continuation of the mainline Resident Evil series that pays homage to Resident Evil 4 while showcasing its own style and identity. The first-person perspective allows for some truly terrifying moments (though a third-person mode is also on the way in the Winters' Expansion DLC) and the boss encounters are some of the best in the entire series. Of course, running via the cloud means you'll likely come across some hiccups, along with some dodgy load times and potential slowdown. Our experience with this was pleasantly minimal compared to other cloud versions we've played, but be sure to test the demo for yourself. If you've only got access to a Switch, this is a pretty solid way to experience a great game.

• SWITCH
• 6 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Lego Bricktales isn’t perfect, but it offers up a refreshingly unique experience relative to the litany of action platformers based on licensed IP we’ve been getting for nearly two decades now. We sincerely appreciated the focus on low-stress building puzzles that encourage and reward creative solutions. It's the kind of game that you just take at your own pace and lose yourself for a bit to the relaxing tunes and simple act of building. It's a shame, then, that awkward controls hamper your creativity and hold it back from greatness. Couple that with performance issues on Switch, and we'd recommend playing on PC if you can. Still, Bricktales is the closest thing in years that a Lego video game has gotten to the actual feeling of playing with Lego, and those of you who appreciate the famous toy will find something to love here.

• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

We'll be diving into Waypoint as soon as it hits Switch to test out all its new features and see how they further improve the core gameplay experience. But for now, the keen intergalactic travellers among you can rest assured that if you're thinking about hopping aboard this particular space adventure at launch, a super solid Switch port awaits. Watch this space.

• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

NieR:Automata is a modern classic. Most importantly for Switch owners, this is a top-notch port that has clearly been produced with respect and focus, often surpassing our expectations in both visuals and performance. Finding a comfortable seat and a pair of headphones makes the Switch version a wonderful way to experience the game, and it is an unforgettable journey. Nothing is as it seems, either in the story or gameplay, and it's one of the finest gaming achievements of the last decade. If you haven't played NieR:Automata yet, now is a great time.

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Overwatch 2 is a lot of things, but a proper sequel to the original Overwatch is not one of them. Although a few new maps and heroes are welcome, and the gameplay itself remains just as enjoyably intense as it always was, there is nothing here that feels innovative or notable enough to justify that ‘2’ in the title. At this stage, Overwatch 2 feels more like a few updates Blizzard could have pushed to the original release. Couple this with the heightened focus on monetization and the absence at launch of the promised co-op story content, and you’re left with an experience that feels like it falls short of the potential it had. As a live service free-to-play game, perhaps time will eventually see this new release grow in fresh and unexpected ways to eventually prove itself a worthy sequel, but the game we have at launch feels just ‘fine’. At any rate, it costs you nothing but time to try, and it is just about as fun in a match as it always has been. As long as you’re not too bothered by what it could have been, we’d recommend giving Overwatch 2 a shot.

• SWITCH
• 2 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

This is the fifth time Switch owners have been asked to pay at least $40 for little more than updated kits and rosters, and the fifth time we urge you not to reward such disrespect with your hard-earned money. FIFA 23 still plays a good game of football but so did all the other identical ones, so if you absolutely must have a football game on Switch, track down a cheap copy of FIFA 19-22.

• SWITCH
• 8 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

You’d be wrong to assume the cute fox-like protagonist and colourful world implies Tunic is a relaxing little adventure for all ages – it’s anything but. Tunic requires a lot of intuitive thinking and patience to navigate its beautiful world with its brilliant in-game instruction manual. Coupled with an unforgiving combat system that punishes impatience and rewards measured study of opponents, Tunic is a game designed for those versed in old-school adventuring and experienced in difficult, sometimes frustrating swordplay. Given all this and its evident Hylian inspirations, and even with some unfortunate performance hitches and obvious downgrades from the versions on other platforms, Tunic feels right at home on a Nintendo console and we recommend it as a creative and concise adventure that both draws and expands upon some prestigious inspirations.

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Despite its shortcomings, The DioField Chronicle is still a solid tactical RPG experience with enough JRPG tropes to interest fans of both genres. The unique gameplay provides plenty of challenge, though it can require a lot of grinding to keep pace with the difficulty curve. The art style is beautiful both in and out of combat but the characters and plot fail to live up to the same standard. In this case, its ambition outstretched its means and it fell just short of where it wanted to be.

• SWITCH
• 6 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Disney Dreamlight Valley is a frictionless, relaxing spin on life sims that manages to remain heartwarming and charming, despite a few Switch-related rough patches. Dreamlight Valley’s unique identity relies heavily on fresh interactions with your in-game friends, and Gameloft will need to continue supporting it with regular updates to keep the Night Thorns from creeping back in. However, what's here at launch is surprisingly touching and thoughtful, and cleverly plays on the nostalgia of anyone who's ever been a Disney fan.

• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

Splatoon 3 is more of the same, but refined to borderline mechanical perfection. It's the most fun we’ve had with an online shooter in years, and for series veterans it makes Splatoon 2 feel entirely redundant for all but its unique single-player content. It feels like the development team has solved every problem the Splatoon community was bleating on about, and then fixed some more that we didn’t even realise were problems until they were fixed. There's nothing revolutionary about it compared to its predecessors, and it's perhaps missing a Big New Idea™ that you might expect after five years, but Splatoon 3 is the pinnacle of the series, and the pinnacle of shooters on Switch.

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

While you won't find an Evo-calibre fighting game here depth-wise, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R is miles ahead of your typical 3D-arena anime fighter affair. It would be a hard game to recommend to someone unfamiliar with the franchise, as without the fan service aspect you’re left with a basic fighter with some barebones modes. However, for those who adore JoJo, it’s an excellent example of how to do fan service right, and one where you can feel the love and adoration of the franchise's 35-year history flowing through every part of the package.

• SWITCH
• 4 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• Royaume-Uni

TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection is indisputably the best thing Konami has released in a long while, meeting all expectations and then some. Bar absent difficulty settings for the arcade games, it’s an anthology that finally gets it totally right. Digital Eclipse and Konami have done the fans justice, offering a comprehensive library that doesn’t hide content behind a paywall, while going above and beyond in terms of features and bonuses. With online functionality and rollback netcode being the icing on the cake, this is now the gold standard for retro collections. Capcom, pay close attention.

• SWITCH
• 6 / 10
• Royaume-Uni