As 2021 comes to an end there's plenty of gaming to reflect upon. It was a relatively busy year from Nintendo as it kept up momentum for the Switch, which added the OLED model and continues to be a top-seller.
The year started with Nintendo's first-party slate looking relatively quiet, but that was rapidly fixed with a steady flow of releases big and small, with some ports thrown in to fill gaps. All told we were kept busy and there were a few huge releases from the big N, while third-parties also did their bit. There were a few notable big 'uns from Capcom, SEGA and Atlus, as examples, while the eShop continued to serve up a lot of the finest Indie games.
But which were the absolute best games of 2021? You had your say through user reviews, and now Team Nintendo Life will share our picks of the best Switch games of 2021. It wasn't easy — the shortlist we drew up certainly wasn't very short! — but after each nominating our personal top 10s with points assigned, we've whittled down the following ten Switch games that cumulatively represent our absolute favourites the year.
So let's get into it, our team's top 10 Switch games of the year.
10. New Pokémon Snap (Switch)
If, like us, you've been waiting a significant chunk of your life for a sequel to Pokémon Snap, then you're in luck; New Pokémon Snap has almost everything that made the original special and fleshes it out into a much more elaborate game. This is something you can sink some serious time into and while there are some minor frustrations and pacing issues in the story, playing freely at your own pace is a pure joy. The original has gone down in history possibly as Pokémon's greatest spinoff, and it may have been dethroned.
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9. Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (Switch eShop)
The Girl Who Stands Behind is just as appealing and upgraded as The Missing Heir (which is part of the mandatory purchase in Europe, for example), and we really can't recommend one without the other, although you can play either separately. The story in The Girl Who Stands Behind is creepier, and the characters are more likeable, though they're also a little more forgettable at the same time. You can't go too far wrong with either, and we'd certainly suggest the double bill of Famicom Detective Club murder mysteries; they're must-plays for anyone who loves the genre.
8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC (Switch eShop)
Back in November Animal Crossing: New Horizons got a substantial (and long awaited) update, a lot of which was free. The free content was excellent, but the paid Happy Home Paradise DLC is well worth your investment if you're already a fan of the base game. It integrates brilliant with the core experience and you can spend many, many hours doing your 'work' designing homes and buildings in paradise. It has surprising depth, too, and is too charming for words - just lovely gaming.
7. Death's Door (Switch eShop)
Death's Door is a modern classic, utilizing old gameplay ideas in a new setting to make for a short and sweet experience you won’t want to miss. The snappy combat, rewarding exploration and relaxing music will stick with you once you've finished, and while it may not have anything 'new' to offer, Death’s Door delivers a familiar format but with true zest and beautifully refined quality. Acid Nerve crafted an experience that’s absolutely worth your time and money.
6. Axiom Verge 2 (Switch eShop)
Axiom Verge is a remarkably tough act to follow, but Thomas Happ managed to do it again in producing a pitch perfect, excellently paced Metroidvania adventure. Axiom Verge 2 perfectly balances familiar elements that made the original great and trying out new ideas that give the sequel its own identity, and while lovers of the first game may take some time to adjust, everything comes together and makes for a potent experience that no fan of the genre will want to miss out on. The mysterious atmosphere, thrilling pace, and fantastic world design all come together to make for a worthy follow up that stands well on its own.
Comments 100
Shocker 😏
Although i don’t disagree
Classic Nintendolife bias picking Pokémon Snap and a rerelease of the worst Zelda game over Shin Megami Tensei V.
No SMT V but DLC and two remasters? Hmm.
You need more RPG fans on the site! But that’s a good list, regardless. I guess not as many played SMT V, Neo TWEWY, MH Stories 2 or Bravely Default II.
Disagree with Skyward Sword for No 4. To be honest, I felt the button and motion controls weren't well-tuned and put me off the rest of the game. But that's just my opinion and experience.
One way to improve Dread is to change the intro to Dairon. Y’all know what I’m talking about, right?
Needs more SMT, obviously. And No More Heroes 3.
Why is rise below a zelda port and a dlc? Smh
#4 and #1 oooooh yeahhhhh
Shin megami tensei V should have absolutely taken the spot of most likely Zelda and at least of Pokemon Snap 2 in my perspective.
Metroid at spot 1 made me smile though . Love that franchise returning.
2 VNs shows it’s breaking through as a genre
Pretty boring list, imo.
Monster Hunter Rise should be higher imo.
Here we go again.
@Tinglemies Wow yeah, almost like this article is an opinion piece or something. How wild.
@NerdyBoutKirby Nope, that's all fine.
Skyward Sword is 100% worth it for anyone who didn't play the Wii original.
It's just a solid, classic 3D Zelda experience with some good variety in the gameplay, and having two options for control methods is a boon.
Not that great a list, honestly. Super Mario 3D World, as fantastic as it is, shouldn’t be on here, same with Skyward Sword. They belong with the games of their actual release year. Give credit to the new games.
Glad to see Axiom Verge 2 get a mention though. The game has been slammed by a lot of people since release then forgotten and I just don’t get it. It was wonderful to me. Glad NLife liked it too!
Astalon Tears of the Earth has been left out in the cold 🥶
Absolutely a phenomenal game that really outshines most games in the over crowded indie Metroidvania market.
Honestly, I was far more absorbed into the exploration of Astalon than even that of Metroid Dread (which I loved).
Monster hunter rise was my personal game of the year. I had not been sucked into a game like that in a long time. The online multiplayer worked great and with all the different weapons you could use it felt like there was always something new to try. I’ll be looking forward to the DLC.
No More Heroes III is missing but DLC and a port of a Wii and Wii U game are in the top 10.
@Strumpan Adored No More Heroes 3 but I feel like if you weren’t enamoured with the other games then 3 wouldn’t be anything special for you either, can understand the general lack of end of year love for it.
If there’s one game that does deserve to be on this list that doesn’t have niche franchise appeal holding it back, it’s Eastward. I’m shocked at how snubbed that game has been in most round ups I’ve seen so far, it’s amazing!
Happy to see Monster Hunter Rise in the top 5. 250 plus hours of my 2021 that I don’t regret. BUT Metroid Dread was my favorite experience overall! Here’s to 2022
A lot of people here seem to be misreading, this is the staff's personal game of the year, we already voted ourselves.
Either that or people don't seem to know what opinions are.
@sketchturner thanks for the recommandations, this one completely missed my radar! And merry Christmas to all
No SMT but DLCs and remasters. Lmao.
Glad to see Axiom Verge 2 on there. Very underrated game, in my opinion, and one of the best Metroidvania games I played on my Switch. I even liked it more than Metroid Dread, which was also great.
@CharlieGirl seeing as I didn’t play it on the wii I guess it’s worth it.😅
At least The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles made it higher in this list than the reader list so that automatically makes it better than that one. Still a couple of spots too low though.
Once again, I haven't played any of these games (except the demo for Metroid Dread). My Game of the Year is Eastward.
Ok...how many people are gonna get triggered?
damn, not a good year if it is dominated by remasters and old port... (and if you're including ports, where's Tetris effect?)
My top 3..
1. cruisin blast
2. the cave ports
3. Mario Golf
4. tetris effect
5. pokemon snap
How can Skyward Sword be at 4 and Monster Hunter Rise on 5?!
If a Wii U port is at Number 2, this was either a god awful year for the Switch or this list is just awful. Gonna assume the latter.
Dang, hardly any love for Cyber Shadow. Too much badassery for modern society to handle.
No Shin Megami Tensei V shows an incredible lack of taste, too bad.
@SpeedRunRocks Cyber Shadow is soooooo good!
Obviously SMT V is a much better game than a port of Skyward Sword, I mean come on
Everyone noticed the absence of SMTV. It is the staff pick. However, I think ports already had their year when the game released.In the end it is just opinion.
Top 4 is solid though I would personally have SMTV as number 1. Shockingly, it is completely missing from your top 10! Virtually "sacrilegious" 😉. Also, though I like the game, Pokemon Snap in the top 10 of 2021?! However, I like the acknowledgement the remake of Skyward Sword gets here
All I know is that BD/SP not appearing on this list was the right choice.
Strongly disagree with the omission of SMT V in the top 10, but different strokes. Just goes to show how great of a year the Switch had.
My GOTY 2021.
What no Cruis'n Blast, Ys IX, Trails of Cold Steel IV, Shin Megami Tensei V, Eastward, or Ni no kuni II, all of which are fifty times better than Death's Door, the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, the Animal Crossing DLC, and Famicom Detective Club?
It’s not a bad list, it’s just… sterile
Like what you’d see from any generic Nintendo fan that doesn’t play anything other than official Nintendo licensed game releases.
No offense to the staff, their preferences are what they are, but I think it would be healthy to see more diverse interests among the staff. Monster Hunter Rise is a way better game than the 5th best of the year. Shin Megami Tensei V, Cruis’n Blast, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Neo TWEWY… these are some of the year’s absolute best, but games like Famicom Detective Club? I mean, come on. Even the most diehard Nintendo fan who plays nothin else, even they would struggle to tell you that was one of the years best.
edit
And for the record, I don’t disagree with putting games like Zelda Skyward Sword and Mario 3D World on the list. At the end of the day, a great game is a great game, and both of those were definitely great games. New games don’t “automatically” deserve a spot over a remaster if they’re not actually better. Both those games absolutely deserve spots on the list, as they were definitely 2 of the year’s best.
My Top 10 Off Top of My Head
Bowser’s Fury is my top pick. I liked it more than Odyssey.
Skyward Sword was a bit of a strange choice. Good list though!
Dread deserves the top spot but no smt5 and why is rise so dam low it should be at least at 2nd spot.
Except mh rise, I didn’t enjoy any of the nintendo exclusive this year. But they had alot of good ports, so can’t complain.
@SuperZeldaFun
Different peoples have different gaming interest. 😉
@Tinglemies it did better in the user ranking
Switch had like 3-4 new AAA (or AA) original games and you still left SMT V out of top 10? Rest are remakes, ports or DLC
If this truly was the top 10 for this year, it's a pretty lousy year. DLC, an experimental add-on for an old WiiU game. And I'm biased because I didn't like how they modified the controls on Skyward Sword (likely best they could do considering, but was awful to play without motion control) but that was nowhere near my top pick. I'll agree with the poster above who called this list pedestrian. Cruis'n Blast was an ambitious knockout of a fun game and should be here. I would have thought Suda51 would have had more fans and got NMH3 on the list. Monster Hunter Rise was awesome enough that in know people who had no interest in the Switch a year ago who bought the system just for that game (#2 on my personal list after Dread). Eastward amazing and criminally snubbed here like Cruis'n. This site usually has a better showing than this. Makes this year look kinda lame when I thought it was pretty good considering. Oh well.
What? Where's Doki Doki Literature Club Plus? Thought that would have been top 5 for sure!
Really guys, Legend of zelda? Come on we all knew you had bias, but come on.
The fact that only half of this list is actually new, full games is confusing.
If only Advance Wars 1+2: reboot-camp had released in November as originally on planned. It would have been top 3 GOTY.
@Snatcher It's a personal list. Also, should they lie just to avoid backlash? Personally, aside from Dread, MH Rise and Animal Crossing I didn't care about any other game here, but still I get that it's their choice. No idea why people are so bitter about it.
@Sketchturner Astalon is fantastic. I wouldn't put it above Dread but it's definitely an underrated gem.
@roy130390 That is true, and its there opinion, But I just personally Agree with that spot on the list, i'm fine with the rest tho.
But I think the reason why people are so bitter about it, is because it does kinda feel like, well, bias, just a little bit, If SMTV was on the list, no one would have complained, but a wii (That sadly not to many people like) re-release Gets picked over this new game That was great to a lot of people?
the thoughts above Aren't really my own, and more or less why I think people are mad about it, Because I have yet to play SMTV.
@Snatcher I understand that mate, but maybe it just happens to be that reviewers here aren't fond with the SMT series, at least not enough to include it. Besides, since it is a shared list, even though it might be on the personal list of some of them, they didn't make the cut as a collective opinion.
I think that people claiming "bias" on a Nintendo focused site because reviewers happen to really enjoy many Nintendo games is absurd. Remakes, ports or whatever, they came out this year on Switch so it's expected that they include them.
@roy130390 Look, can I really argue with that logic, I'm here saying Bias and Here I i'm on a nintendo Focused site! LMAO.
Have a good Christmas mate!
@Snatcher Same to you mate! I'll be seeing you on the chit-chat thread haha.
@somnambulance these are 10 best games released on switch in 2021. Zelda and mario 3d were released on switch in 2021, so yeah they're eligible
@shoeses makes no sense but sure
No SMT? Wow. No wonder Atlus never ported P5.
Cyber Shadow was my game of the year this year.
Definitely agree with the top pick. But I would have put Shin Megami Tensei V at number 2. A shame that it didn't even make the list.
DLC in a GOTY list is out of place.
Shoddy list, no SMT V, Rise is far too low. DLC isn't even a game.
@sketchturner wow high praise for astalon huh? I've had my eye on it since it launched and I've been waiting for a sale. It's on sale right now but I'm also so deep in xenoblade chronicles 2 that it would be a good while. I don't remember the game gaining much traction on here back at launch, so it's good to know people out there like it. Maybe ill check it out.
Hard to take this list seriously when random indie games and Animal Crossing DLC makes the cut, but major exclusives like SMT V and Monster Hunter Stories 2 don't.
Lol, april fools is early
@WallyWest yes, where the heck is SMTV? And skyward sword better the MH rise?
Nice to see some love for the The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. These two when played back to back are probably my favourite games in the franchise.
These lists are always subjective so people getting up in arms over (the lack of) certain inclusions should calm down. Overall I think 2021 was a pretty good year for me in terms of releases and I am sure my empty wallet would agree with me
How much does Axiom Verge 2 improve the original? I found the first game being downright bad, especially story-wise it felt like it was written by some teenager.
Wow, it's by far the worst list I've seen. Where is Shin Megami Tensei V...?? Makes no sense at all.
I am very surprised shin megaman is not on here as much I hear people rave about it. I still need to open my copy and play it. I’d have to put Metroid as my #1 switch game as well. Skyward sword I gave another try and it was just a reminder of how bad a game it was from back in the day. I just wasn’t interested in it and found the world very boring. It’s the only Zelda I can say that about.
I really don't care about anyone's personal list, but when a top list from the NL staff as a whole has ports/remakes and DLC of all things over some major Switch titles, it just doesn't paint a pretty picture. I should probably look for a different Nintendo-oriented news website.
No Shin Megami Tensei V? What a snub!
No Eastward? The game I got hornswaggled into buying from NL’s glowing write-up?
DLC and re-releases? Brutal. Decent list otherwise.
@iLikeUrAttitude But they’re presenting opinions about facts, not facts about opinions... it’s “the finest games” not “games we liked most”.
Skyward Sword needs to be moved out of the top 10.
3D World is one of the best co-op games ever... And Bowser's Fury is quite good.
Would like to see more Indie Games... May e a Top 10 Indie Games list.
Good list. I like how there is no mention of the Pokemon Remasters but there is Animal Crossing DLC there
That is giving me hope because people should consider quality over reputation
Great list of games! I’m shocked Warioware Get it Together didn’t make the cut though!
Good list, i aprove it
Dang y'all need to chill on SMT V. The real snub here is Monster Hunter Stories 2
@Spiders Its the finest games they played in their opinion how is that so hard to understand?
Pure Xbox made a great selection way better that nintendo life picks they live in a nostalgia trap here and can’t seem to see better things than what Nintendo is doing, they keep reselling them the same games over and over on different consloes and here they continue to give those games attention and rewards for best games of the year but these games are old games they don’t deserve best game of 2021 !
Im sorry but metroid dread was the worst game of the year and that is why it lost at the main awards this year.. I'll just stick to zero mission, super metroid and metroid fusion and pretend dread never happened. Heck id rather be forced to play other M again over that dread mess
I feel like this list should have included Mario Party, but I 100% agree with Dread winning
This list proves how poor Nintendo's output has been. A Wii port, a Wii U port and a new but divisive, limited and small in scope Metroid game on top. I hope that next year is better with Breath of the Wild 2 but I think that Metroid Prime 4 won't launch next year.
It's really quite alarming that several ports, a Pokemon spin-off and an 8 hour platformer (as amazing as Snap and Dread are) are so high here.
Imagine Best Wii Games of 2009 list where the top 5 includes New Play Control Pikmin 2, Majora's Mask (Virtual Console), with Other M being the best game that year
Really hoping 2022 brings us new Switch games, other than the 6 we currently know about
gave my kids pokemon snap and super mario 3d world for christmas both 6 and 8 my little pokemon daft boy loved snap. sm 3d world is painfull to play with them.
Pretending full price ports of 10 year old games are new..hehe silly people.
I guess it's different when you get games for free, but I can't be alone thinking Dread isn't nearly worth that asking price that it will stay at forever for 8 whole hours.
That's pretty dire when the game of the year list is mostly a scrapbook of games of the past 15 years....
Other platforms just call that "BC"
@iLikeUrAttitude How is it so hard to understand the difference between “My favorite game of 2021 is Metroid Dread” and “The best game of 2021 is Metroid Dread”?
You don’t get to advance a statement as fact and retreat to it being an opinion whenever it’s convenient, and even so, opinions aren’t some protected class of statement.
@UglyCasanova You’re not alone, but plenty of people also think it was well worth it, and others don’t stop playing the game when credits roll the first time. I got 45 hours out of it and when I get it back from loaning it out I will play through again.
The thing is you’re absolutely right for you, and absolutely wrong that that is the case for everybody. Different strokes, but respect that they made a great game for many, many people. Game of the year, even.
@Tchunga I forgot that even came out haha. For real, I think fans of Bravely Default II, MH Stories 2, Deltarune 1+2 and SMTV — three strong JRPG titles — can all give the side-eye to some of the games (and DLC) in this list.
Even at best, the list currently makes 2021 look way more barren than it actually was. Really great games all year ‘round, just no “blockbuster” titles that got a ton of hype.
Bowser’s Fury is supposedly is that good, and not really an expansion or DLC, but I don’t think anyone even expected Animal Crossing DLC or a re-release of the least popular Zelda to even be nominated.
@Spiders
It literally couldn't be more obvious that this is an opinionated article its says multiple times by the author that its "our picks" or staff picks. If that is so hard for you and other people to understand then you either have an inability to read or lack common sense.
Well for one none of the statements or games listed in this article were stated as a fact as stated multiple times; this is just their opinions and their personal picks for the best games of this year you just came to your conclusion on your own despite everything else pointing otherwise. This article isn't even marked as a guide or anything, its just a feature.
And as for the second part of your statement I agree that you can't use the opinion excuse for everything, but thats a different discussion altogether and this situation doesn't fit the criteria for it at all (as pointed out in my previous comments).
At the end of the day this is the staffs top games for this year, a subjective list that they personally chose themselves. Sure you could argue that they have bad taste or this it was a bad list cause its all opinionated. But I just thought that it was neat to see their views and saw some interesting games that slipped my radar.
@iLikeUrAttitude I appreciate you taking the time to write that, and it makes it easy to see where we’re getting hung up. You’re emphasizing “Their picks...”, I’m emphasizing “... for Game of The Year”. Not their favorite games, not the ones they enjoyed the most, but the best games.
Of course it’s subjective and flawed at some point, but well before at the moment of discussion at criticism.
I’m glad you agree with my sentiment on retreating to opinion. We’re just not agreeing on what this article is. I don’t think it’s an opinion piece, I think it’s a judgment, or a ruling, and that opens it up to different kind of criticism.
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