2022 is certainly picking up momentum in terms of game releases, with the Switch eShop serving up some excellent titles throughout February. It was a tough month of voting for our staff this time around!
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch's ever-growing library.
So, let's get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of February 2022!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out:
- Grapple Dog | Review: 9/10
- PowerSlave Exhumed | Review: 9/10
- Retro Bowl | Review: 9/10
- Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments | Review: 8/10
- Egglia Rebirth | Review: 7/10
- Ocean's Heart | Review: 7/10
- River City Girls Zero | Review: 7/10
- Sol Cresta | Review: 7/10
- Swords & Bones | Review: 7/10
3. Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden (Switch eShop)
Coming in third this month was a very welcome, and slightly surprising, arrival from Square Enix.
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden arrived on the eShop around four months after predecessor Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, showing that the card-based storytelling is allowing creative director Yoko Taro and the development team to turn these unique RPG experiences around rather quickly. The speed of release didn't harm the quality, though, as mechanic familiarity nevertheless made way for an enjoyable story and experience.
We gave it a strong recommendation in our review.
2. Infernax (Switch eShop)
Taking the silver medal this time around is Infernax, the excellent title from Berzerk Studio (Just Shapes & Beats).
It's a retro throwback that nevertheless has a strong sense of its own style; you work through a large world while fighting all sorts of monstrosities, also suffering plenty of gory deaths as you go. It's tough but undoubtedly fair, and smart design combines with terrific presentation to help it stand out among the best 'new retro'-style games on the eShop.
In our review we said it's "a cut above most efforts in the subgenre, Infernax both demands and requires attention."
1. OlliOlli World (Switch eShop)
This month's winner is the latest entry in a popular series from Roll7, and a worthy gold medal recipient.
It's OlliOlli World, a title that takes the skateboarding series in a bold new direction while retaining the core of what makes the series so popular. Whether you like skating games, its visual style, or simply enjoy a challenge and chasing high scores, this one's hard to ignore. Below is part of the summary from its 9/10 review.
"OlliOlli World takes Roll7's refined 2D skateboarding concept to cosmic heights. Tight and challenging gameplay, a high skill ceiling, dozens of hours of content, and a remarkably stylish sense of presentation combine to make this a release you absolutely don’t want to miss."
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - January 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 26
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden for me. It's the only new eShop game I bought last month so it wasn't exactly a difficult choice but it's a worthy choice regardless. The first game was already really good and I think this one was a step up.
I've been dedicating quite some time to Arceus, Mario Kart 8 (replaying everything in every level before the DLC comes) and the next two games in my backlog are Trials of Mana and Bravely Default 2, so February was a quiet month in terms of buying games for me, but one I'll surely get some point in the future is Infernax
I went for space-themed deck builder "For The Warp". Hasn't had much attention but thought I'd take a punt. Fairly decent but a bit derivative, got bored pretty quickly. So got Dungeontop for £1.50 in the latest eShop sale and that's way better, really scratches that strategic itch.
@John_Deacon Trials of mana was everything the secret of mana remake should have been fun. Fun combat, great quality of life improvements. Poor voice acting, but you can change it to Japanese if it bothers you too much.
Still waiting for Nintendolife or someone who’s played Exhumed to confirm if it contains Death tank? Before I purchase.
wow ocean heart only have 10% vote its strange its best zelda clone ever
@Lord Hello! I read game's review on one of the sites, and one of the reviewers said that the game didn't have Death Tank. There is no Death Tank in the game.
My selects come down to browsing Dekudeals. No point paying full price for games that will be half off long before I've cleared my backlog.
@NotoriousWhiz When japanese voice acting is available, it's usually my choice, but it's good to know it might not even be worth trying the English language track. Thanks for the heads up! I'm hyped to start it!
No games for my taste this month.
I know I’d like the Voice of Cards games, but I’ll hold off and see if they ever release it physically - a bundle some day would be so cool, especially if they wrap up the series in a trilogy.
Infernax is really tempting too - I wishlisted it and will wait till I’m in an angry mood someday to buy and play. 😅
This is the best feature of the month for me and I download independent games purely on the strength of this article.
@Lord Digital Foundry Retro confirmed it's not in and spoke about why it's not included.
Only downloaded 2 on that list (including the honourable mentions). I have 2 on my wishlist awaiting deep discount.
Olli Olli World and Voice of Cards are fairly enjoyable and satisfying games to play. Sol Cresta and Sherlock Holmes are on my wishlist still. I put Sol Cresta back on the wishlist after reading all the reliable reviews as a whole.
Olli Olli World all day! I might be the only person playing the game but do not sleep on this one. The price is a bit steep for an “indie” title but it is absolutely worth it. Tons of value and replay ability with this game , it oozes with style and it’s really unlike anything you’ve played before…at heart the gameplay is still that classic Olli Olli from previous iterations but they’ve done an excellent job redefining this game with an entirely unique aesthetic.
I love Platinum Games but Sol Cresta hasn’t lured me in at all. That Sherlock Holmes game is my the watch list, think it’s on a sale in the Eshop right now.
@AcridSkull ah that’s a shame, I must of missed that.
I didn't get any on this list - The top 3 look like good games but personally although I like rpgs, love action platformers, and like artsy and fast-paced games, I just have never enjoyed the subgenres of card-rpgs, overly gruesome action games, or skateboarding. So this month was designed for not-me.
Some of the runner-ups are on my wishlist but I didn't want any enough to buy new. I've just been playing Arceus as well as some of my backlog games while waiting for Kirby.
The only new eshop game I bought in Feb was Mr Maker 3D which I impulse bought for 3 dollars and beat in an hour or 2. It was kinda fun, but I rated it 5/10 so a little silly to call it my top new game of the month even if it technically was by being the only.
Only played Egglia so far and it's quite fine indeed, so easy vote for me.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is turning out to be a delightful surprise. A really good detective game that captures the feel of Conan Doyle's creation and offers some really cool mechanics too. I love the deduction mechanic and the fact that they actually allow you to make wrong choices. Really worth playing, in my opinion.
Also, I bought it before the invasion, but it may be worth getting it to support Ukrainian developers, too.
@Kochambra any idea if plays well on handheld (Lite) or it's only worth it docked?
@veseo I'm playing mostly handheld on a regular Switch and it plays well; no problems with text being too small or anything like that.
It's also fluid enough. This being a slow paced game with relatively small environments, I didn't notice any slow downs or frame drops; only some small texture glitches in a few places.
Load times are not the fastest, but the game uses a clever device to disguise them: You see Sherlock traveling in a carriage and you can use that time to review the case facts, the clues you've gathered so far and your deductions.
All in all, I'd say it's a pretty good port and it works well in handheld mode.
Also, the episodic nature of the game fits portable gaming pretty neatly
@NotoriousWhiz
I love Trials of Mana. Great combat, exciting yet relaxing game. I wish they'd make more games in this style.
@John_Deacon Bravely Default 2 is incredibly grind heavy. The exact opposite of Trials of Mana. It's traditional 90s JRPG stuff through and through.
Infernax is a pretty solid metroidvania + Zelda 2 nods.
@talllennart I’ve haven’t played Ocean Heart yet, but if you like Zelda-likes imo…
The best 2D-Top-Down Zelda-likes or homages are still 3D Dot Game Heroes & Blossom Tales by far imo. For a more recent entries that I've played, I'd say also include Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos & Death's Door to a lesser extent.
All great games in their own right that I hope get new sequels eventually! But for now, I think admittedly I've played enough of this current wave of Zelda-likes of late on Switch that I can wait for the next superb, standout one (or until I get the yearning for one again). Although I may try Tunic and also Sable that are on Xbox if they ever comes to Switch.
... Wun can only hope.
@wuntyme8 true cant agree more and lets hope
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