Metroid Prime Trilogy

Having got ourselves a fully brand new 2D Metroid last year, perhaps there's a better chance than ever we'll be seeing this — or at least a part of it — come to Switch.

With Metroid Prime 4 scheduled to be with us some time prior to Halley's Comet return, whispers abound that Nintendo is sitting on a remastered version of Metroid Prime, just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger and whet everyone's appetite ahead of MP4's arrival. We'd rather have the trilogy in a simple HD port, to be honest, but it's not our decision.

So, what are the chances this year?

Well, assuming that Prime 4 development is progressing — however slow-and-steady that progress may be — it's not beyond the realm of possibility that we'll see the rumoured Prime remaster this year, with Prime 4 to follow in 2023. Nintendo will want to keep the Morph Ball rolling after the success of Metroid Dread, that's for sure, and releasing Metroid Prime on Switch would be a great way to do that.

Or, you know, the entire Prime trilogy. We'd take that, too.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

We got Mass Effect 3 on Wii U, remember? Remember the Wii U and Mass Effect 3? Sitting in a tree? K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Those were the days when EA execs looked at the Wii's numbers and thought they better go all-in on Wii U. Oopsidaisies.

What are the chances?

Having been stung on Wii U, EA hasn't bothered much with Switch. The likelihood of the trilogy making a surprise appearance on Switch is slim, but we'd love to go planet-hopping with Shepherd aboard the Normandy again. Go on, EA, give us this one.

Tales of Arise

An action-RPG from Bandai Namco, Tales of Arise is the most entry in the Tales series featuring such games as Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia. This latest game was very well-received on other platforms, and we'd jump at the chance of playing it on Switch.

What are the chances?

Various games from the Tales series have appeared on Nintendo platforms over the years — including Switch — and Arise is an Unreal Engine 4 game, which Switch supports. That said, the series producer said back in August that there were "no plans" to bring the game to Switch — before also adding the usual 'if we see demand' caveat.

Valheim

We might be stretching things with this one — this open-world sandbox technically isn't even out yet and is only available via Steam Early Access, but it's already a spicy meatball and one we'd love to see served up on a Nintendo console near you.

What are the chances?

The development team is focused on expanding the game right now and states that while console versions may come "further down the line", nothing is planned as yet (as per the FAQ section on the game's website).

Having said that, in an interview with Panic Button back in March 2021, Dan Hernberg told us "right now I’m playing way too much Valheim and I would love to port that to Switch". Obviously, this was a personal comment and does not mean Panic Button is working a port. However, with several talented port specialist studios out there who enjoy a good challenge, there's no reason that Valheim devs Iron Gate Studios couldn't bring in an external team to handle console ports at some stage. We can but hope.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Another regular request of ours, 2020's Yakuza: Like A Dragon and its Dragon Quest-loving turn-based gameplay would still be gratefully received on Switch.

What are the chances?

Still low, unfortunately. You would hope that the broad audience and colossal success of Switch might make the series' producers reconsider putting the game on Nintendo's console, but Sega isn't the fastest company when it comes to gauging customer trends. As much as we'd love to see Ichiban become Switchiban, we might be asking too much.

Come on — Switchiban? Giving you solid gold over here!

The Witness

Coming from Jonathan Blow – the man who arguably birthed the home console indie game revolution when Braid hit XBLA back in 2008 – this beautiful first-person environmental puzzler belongs on Switch. With some seriously brain-noodling conundrums to keep you busy on the bus, it’s an ideal platform for The Witness and we’re surprised that it hasn’t shown up yet.

What are the chances?

Unfortunately, Blow has moved on and when questioned about the possibility, seven years of development seem to have sapped his enthusiasm for more ports. Nevertheless Braid is coming, so if a porting specialist made a good offer to bring it across it could be possible.

Grand Theft Auto V

First up, it’s the fifth mainline entry in the GTA franchise. It introduced several new things to the series, the most significant being not gating the city from the beginning. Clunky in some ways, stunningly ambitious in others, the sheer scope of Rockstar’s environments is astonishing, and exploring Los Santos on Switch would be a fine thing — it was on PS3 and Xbox 360, for goodness' sake!

What are the chances?

Not impossible from a technical standpoint (PS3 and Xbox 360 just about handled it), but the game’s biggest innovation makes a Switch port less likely; GTA Online is still a colossal money-spinner for Rockstar, so a port of an old game to a console with a patchy online reputation probably isn’t an in-house priority. And after GTA Trilogy's launch state and the drubbing the developers received for it, there's probably not much inclination on Rockstar's part to get their hands dirty with a distraction like this. A shame.

An increasing number of Cloud Version games have crept onto Switch, and while some of them aren't up to snuff, others function perfectly adequately — we'll always prefer to see games running natively on the hardware, though.

Finding it hard to live without FTL on Switch? Could a COD conceivably come across? Jonesing for a good FIFA? Which games above do you think are most likely to come to Switch? What other games across platforms would you like to see on Nintendo's console? How many questions is too many at the end of an article?

Let us know below and we may well flesh out this ongoing and growing list with the best of your Switch port requests and recommendations.