
Pinch yourselves, it's August, summer's end is approaching, and we're here to talk about video games gone by. Yep, it's time to look back at last month and talk about July's eShop Selects.
Nintendo has had another fairly quiet month on the Switch — Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was the big one, with the likes of Ace Combat 7's long-awaited Switch port proving to be a top-tier rerelease. But the eShop has been booming, as per usual. That's what we focus on for eShop Selects, and as usual, our staff and contributors vote for their top three eShop games from the list of games we've reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best of the rest).
Before we jump into July, let's celebrate Moonstone Island's victory for June! The game won the NL readers' choice poll for games we didn't review. And, well, we have a pretty good reason for not reviewing this one; erstwhile Nintendo Life staffer and current contributor Kate Gray is a writer on the game! A sparkling choice, we think.
Now, onto this month... or last month... you know what we mean!
Honourable mentions
Eight games were eligible for this edition of eShop Selects, and fourth place missed out on the top three by one vote. It was a close one — we're really spoilt for choice on Switch, aren't we? Here's what didn't quite make the top...
Nintendo Life's honourable mentions
- Darkest Dungeon II | Review: 8/10
- Princess Maker 2 Regeneration | Review: 7/10
- The Star Named EOS | Review: 8/10
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | Review: 7/10
- Toree's Panic Pack | Review: 8/10
3. Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus (Switch eShop)
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus dazzles with its visuals and style, but some unique pogo mechanics and movement options make this yet another stellar Metroidvania in the year of 2024. Developed by Squid Shock Studios with some of the names behind AM2R, there's a clear understanding of what makes this subgenre so great.
We gave Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus an 8/10 here at NL, and with good reason, it finishes in third place.
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2. SCHiM (Switch eShop)
Great premises don't always make great video games, but fortunately, SCHiM isn't one of those cases. Shadow-hopping seems like a platforming mechanic that should've been used before but SCHiM makes it the whole point of the game. it might not go much beyond that, but the novelty and the beautiful visuals make up for any shortcomings, and is a firm favourite among many here at NL.
We scored SCHiM a shadowy 7/10.
1. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (Switch eShop)
Taking the top spot by a single vote this month is Furniture & Mattress' debut title, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. And this author in particular is very pleased with the results. It's a delightful puzzler with a heartwarming story, beautiful visuals, and a central gameplay mechanic that just keeps evolving as you progress. It's short, sweet, and absolutely worth your time.
We gave Arranger an 8/10, and we particularly love those Zelda and RPG nods throughout.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - June 2024
eShop Selects Reader's Choice Vote (July 2024)
You know how this one goes by now — we can't review every single game every single month. So this is your chance to tell us about your favourite Switch eShop game we didn't get a chance to review, this time for July.
And you can also vote for your personal picks from the above, too.
What's the best Switch eShop game we missed in July 2024? (9 votes)
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 three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
Comments 19
Darkest Dungeon 2 and Bo are my picks this month. Viva la indies, gaming lives on
Unfortunately haven't played any of these games yet, but I'm also undecided about which one between them (especially Arranger and Bō) could be my favorite even just based on what I've seen and heard of them so I'm not voting this time!
Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is excellent so my personal pick. The only other one from the list I bought is Toree which is also fun though I would say less good than the first Toree game.
Although not on this list and also not missed by NL, I am absolutely loving and addicted to The New Denpa Men. Definitely less polished than Bo so I would rank it lower, but it's one of the most fun games I've played all year. This may be the first time in these articles I loved an eShop game that NL reviewed which didn't even make honourable mentions. 😆
There are a lot this month on my wishlist — I'm looking forward to eventually playing schim, TMNT, and arranger after future sales. Very strong eShop month even though there was also a near record amount of really bad looking eShop releases.
as far as the games that were reviewed here I only played Arranger and TMNT: Splintered Fate and I voted for TMNT
I would vote for the Arranger but about halfway through it I encountered a bug that made it impossible for me to progress and required starting the game from beginning, I've heard that I'm not the only one who had that happen AND it can happen in a few different points of the game, so that completely destroyed my motivation to keep playing which is a shame because I was enjoying it quite a bit, maybe I'll go back to it once they patch it up a bit
Bo definitely deserves the top spot. As of right now, I’d place Bo as the 4th best game to release in 2024 so far. Best game I’ve played since February by some margin, in my opinion.
I've been playing SPLINTERED FATE pretty much non-stop since it launched. Such a great love-letter to TMNT fans. I wish there was a greater variety in environments, but I see DLC in this game's fututre.
I vote for TMNT it is not the best of its genre, but the multi-player makes up for it. Wife and I have gotten to the last boss a few times but haven't pushed through...
I vote for Albert Einstein.
Bo is one of my fav games this year so far, gameplay is great and design wise is amazing. Also being a release without bugs and solid performance in general is a nice plus lately.
Arranger and Bo is all that I needed from your featured games here. Cracking.
Why i cannot vote for Snk vs Capcom?
@Oppyz666 The two votes are games Nintendo Life didn't review you like and which of the games in this article you like best. Since NL reviewed SnK vs Capcom but didn't put it in this article, it isn't part of either vote. Same thing happened with me and Denpa Men. tbh, it was a pretty packed month and these articles only have so many games.
Arranger has been a blast! Great puzzles, fantastic art and it all feels so smooth and satisfying to play. 10/10 for me!
Don't sleep on Pinball Quest: Jalecolle Famicom Ver. — this is a nice little adaptation of a criminally-overlooked NES game. It's packed with quality-of-life features that really make it worth revisiting today, or checking out for the first time!
Darkest Dungeon II is my pick of the month but Bo looks great as well, just haven't got around to playing it yet.
I actually have no idea what I'd pick for "best game we missed", it doesn't really feel like there's been anything noteworthy that hasn't been covered here.
Satryn DX looks fun. I would be less interested if there were any way to actually buy Robotron instead.
I haven't bought or played it yet, but Darkest Dungeon II is the highest on this list for me. I'm currently playing the first entry with all DLC and it's just such a ruthless experience. The times I lost my entire team of adventurers on a run gone wrong really hurt. No second chances is such a hardcore experience. I love it!
It's Bo and it's not even close
Unfortunately I haven't played what I mentioned, but I get good vibes from them, and they are Deathchron (surprised no fanfare or mention at all-- Lords of Exile and Panzer Paladin come to mind) and the venerable Pinball Quest by way of retro collection vehicle JALECOlle (I've heard this game whispered on the wind for quite a few years, but never played it).
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