Thank goodness January is over, hey? It always feels like it's twice as long as it actually is, and it doesn't help that it's cold and a little quieter on the gaming front. So it's time to dig deep and take a look back at last month for our monthly eShop Selects picks!
In New Year's traditions, we're breaking our resolution already and letting some of those interesting 7/10s sneak into the vote this time around. Other than Fire Emblem Engage, there weren't too many headliners for the Switch, but there are plenty of little (and big) curios ready to download.
Let's not hang about then. We'll get started with our honourable mentions for January 2023!
Honourable Mentions
There was one clear winner this month, but every game eligible this month got at least one vote, so you can't go wrong with these highlights — even with their flaws!
- Breakers Collection | Review: 8/10
- The Excavation Of Hob's Barrow | Review: 8/10
- Lone Ruin | Review: 7/10
- Onion Assault | Review: 7/10
- Persona 3 Portable | Review: 7/10
3. Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider (Switch eShop)
We've definitely got a bit of a weakness here for retro-style platformers, and so does JoyMasher, the developer of the excellent Contra-inspired Blazing Chrome. The team has followed this up with another banger in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, which puts you in the shoes of a cybernetic ninja rebelling against its totalitarian creators.
It looks like something straight out of the SNES and Mega Drive era, and it's clearly inspired by Shinobi III, Strider, and Mega Man. Oozing with slick neo-retro style, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider embraces the quick precision platforming and sword-slashing of some of our favourite games with aplomb. It helps that it isn't super difficult either, meaning we've gone back for a few more rounds just to soak in the nostalgia.
We gave JoyMasher's excellent retro platformer a 9/10, so go and check out our review to see why you should pick this one up.
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2. A Space for the Unbound (Switch eShop)
Stunning pixel art is par the course on these kinds of lists, but A Space for the Unbound is in another league with its unique visuals and gorgeous backdrops. It's also a coming-of-age story set in '90s Indonesia, with a magical twist.
You'll start playing Mojiken's gorgeous adventure game thinking it's going in one direction, and it'll sweep the rug out from under your feet multiple times. It's heartfelt, honest, and a beautiful examination of depression, growing up, and all of the pain that life brings as a teenager. It's otherworldly. Oh, and you can pet and name every single cat in the game — what's not to love?
A Space for the Unbound got an 8/10 in our review, which we wrote while holding back tears. It's bound to make you cry.
1. Persona 4 Golden (Switch eShop)
It should be no surprise to see Persona 4 Golden at the top of January's list, and there's a good reason. Persona 5 may have the game to really explode, but critics were lauding Persona 4 Golden on PS Vita back when it first launched in 2012.
So what's the fuss? Well, it's a fantastically-written RPG set in the sleepy Japanese town of Inaba where a murderer is running lose and shoving victims into TVs via the 'Midnight Channel', a strange otherworld where demons lurk. As the protagonist, you and your school friends will need to catch the murderer while juggling school life, social life, and Persona-wielding powers. Persona 4 Golden refines many of the features that Persona 3 introduced to the series, and with a stellar story and wonderful characters to bond with, there's no surprise this RPG is considered one of the best.
Every single staff member voted for Persona 4 Golden, making it January's best eShop title in NL's eyes. If you need more convincing, our 9/10 review should help there.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - December 2022
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
Comments 8
I haven't played any of them but will definitely be getting A Space for the Unbound at some point. Just undecided whether to fork out extra for a physical copy or wait for a digital sale and get it much cheaper that way.
only played Fire Emblem Engage and Persona 4 Golden in January and out of the two P4G is the better game
The only (and therefore best) eshop game I bought which was released in January was Frido which is a less than 2 hours 3D platformer with pretty art and decent controls. It wasn't amazing, but was quite fun and worth my $4 worth of gold points.
lone ruin, space for the unbound , and persona are all sitting on my wishlist. I just noticed space for the unbound has a demo, so I may check that one out right now.
Voted for Vengeful Guardian. Look, I know P4 is a better game, but it’s 10+ years old now. I praised it 10+ years ago. Let’s celebrate new games!
I do want to try A Space for the Unbound, but I simply put it on the back-burner for purchase because January was so thick on the releases. I could see me liking that game best.
No love for Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree?
Came out on the 27th.
Actually double checked the release date before voting.
anyway, just started it,and and it's got a rhythm game's battle system (please note, not a rhythm game).
I like weird things, this qualifies
@Menomaminx hey, thanks for the tip, just looked it up, looks & feels quite interesting AND it's on sale Just about to pick it up
@tofuman86 Same, except that I probably won't get it for now, but in the wishlist it goes for sure so thanks @Menomaminx!
Haven't played any of these yet, but I still voted for Persona 4 Golden because I'll absolutely play it as soon as I finish Persona 5 Royal and Strikers.
Hope they'll fix the issues with Persona 3 Portable (but I'll play it in any case after all the other games) and couldn't agree more with A Space for the Unbound and Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider in second and third, definitely want to play those at some point (especially the former) and those honourable mentions are great, too!
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