Latest Features
Soapbox One Of My GOTYs Is A Game You Probably Haven't Played (But You Should)
A masterpiece of narrative design
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kate gets green fingers... Come here. Sit down. Shut up. Why haven't you played Strange Horticulture yet? No, that was rhetorical. And also, a trap. I said shut...
Full server shutdowns could be coming sooner than you think, too
Over the holidays we're republishing some choice features from the last 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinion pieces and more from NL staff and contributors, you'll find our usual blend of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, retro nostalgia, and — of course —...
Feature Nintendo Life's Alternative Game Awards 2022
Best soundtrack, best $5 game, best 'Game That Doesn't Fit Neatly On Any Of Our Genre Lists'
It's Christmas time once more, which for many of us means time off work and a glut of food. But for us in the video game journalism career path, it also means doling out awards to all the games we loved this year. But a lot of games don't quite make it into...
Feature 16 Theories About Link's Weird Arm In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2
Zelda: Arms
We know surprisingly little about the game currently titled The Sequel To The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. [Oof, it's Tears of the Kingdom, past-Kate! We'll forgive you for not knowing the name of the new Zelda game before it was announced, though. Carry on! - Ed] But that won't stop me from furiously speculating about it all the...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 24th)
Festive edition!
"So this is Christmas, and what have you done?" These were the words sung by the legendary John Lennon in perhaps the most depressing Christmas song of all time. But in answer to your question, John, we're having quite a busy one, actually. We have been prepping all things game of the year this week, with us Nintendo Life staff...
Feature Remembering The Newest Nintendo IP You'd Forgotten All About
We've been expecting you, Buddy Mission BOND
Did you know that every year Nintendo publishes at least one new IP? It’s true, they haven’t missed a year since 1983, the year the Famicom launched in Japan. [Editor's note. Except for 2022, it seems. You were on a roll, Nintendo!] In 2020 we had Good Job!, Astral Chain in 2019, Sushi Striker in...
Back Page "My Uncle Works At Nintendo" - The Man, The Myth, And The Mendacity
It’s all lies… until it’s all true
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have (paper) pages on the internet, but we still...
Feature WayForward On Expanding The 'River City Girls' Universe, And Future Plans
"Hopefully players are interested in us expanding this further"
The Kunio-kun spin-off River City Girls returned earlier this month with the release of River City Girls 2, and Nintendo Life was lucky enough to catch up recently with game director Bannon Rudis as well as WayForward's director of business development, Adam Tierney. Before we dive in,...
Feature 7 Series That Need A Strategy Spin-Off On Switch
If it's good enough for Mario and Marvel, it's good enough for Metroid
Strategy game fans have been eating well on Switch this year. We’ve gotten exciting new releases like Triangle Strategy and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope; as well as remasters of classics like Tactics Ogre and Front Mission gracing our portable scre
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Ports Of 2022
Our picks of the 10 best ports on Switch this year
In March 2023, less than three months from now, the Nintendo Switch will have been on store shelves and stacked in online retailers' warehouses for six full years. When it arrived on the scene in 2017, its mobile chipset was already old news in technological terms, but its blistering success in the...
Feature Game Of The Year 2022 - Nintendo Life Staff Awards
Our personal picks for the best Switch games of 2022
Another year has come and gone (almost) and once more we're looking back over all the games we've played, along with those we wish we had played. It's been a great year for Switch releases, with a crop of excellent first-party Nintendo games joined by some great third-party offerings (Square Enix,...
Talking Point What's The Deal With The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Switch Release?
Final Font-asy
It’s finally happening – the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series is coming to Switch, and it’s about bloomin’ time! We’re pretty darn excited here. The first six Final Fantasy games on the NES and SNES – Final Fantasy I, II, III, IV, V, and VI – on a Nintendo console for the first time since
Feature Final Fantasy's 35-Year Legacy Of Innovation - How Square Evolved A Genre On The NES & SNES
A Prelude to all future RPGs
Final Fantasy is now 35 years old, and that feels a little bit weird to say. While not the first RPG series to ever grace a home console or even the first Japanese-developed RPG, Final Fantasy is, arguably, the JRPG. Everyone knows it, and everyone has played at least one. There’s a lot of debate about what Final...
Talking Point What Would You Want To See In A 'Mega Man 12'?
Mega (old) Man
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the first Mega Man, the game that kickstarted a remarkably iconic franchise in the video game industry, spawning ten direct sequels, multiple spin-off games, comics, tv shows, and more. The latest entry to the series, Mega Man 11, launched back in 2018 and we thought it was excellent. In our 9/10...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 17th)
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It has certainly been a festive week this time around at Nintendo Life. We've been busy getting all things ready for the end of the year and are now ready to catch up on all of the great games that we have missed in the meantime. The week brought us our Nintendo Switch Year in Review (always a reminder...
Feature Nintendo Life's Most Anticipated Games For 2023 (That Aren't Zelda)
Let the other games have some space, too!
It's that time of the year again where we all turn backwards to appreciate the good things about 2022, but also start to look forward to the brand new year ahead, full of video game releases and surprises. And yes, when you think "2023" and "video games", we know that one obvious answer comes to mind: The...
Back Page 8 Video Games That Would Make Perfect Christmas Getaways
Chestnuts roasting on a pixelated fire
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love...
Feature Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2022 - Our Most Played Games
From the impressive to the embarrassing
Just this week Nintendo has provided us with our Switch Year in Review - a round-up of our most-played games for 2022 and in which months we were obsessed by them. Aside from a touching reminder that Big Bowser is always watching, the summaries provide a nice look at the year in focus, flagging the games that...
Back Page How Many Eyes Does Sonic Really Have?
An eye for an eye
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible jokes — so...
Feature The Best Pokémon Glow Ups In Pokémon Scarlet And Violet
It's time for a makeover!
Every new generation of Pokémon offers new stories, makeovers, and evolutions to some of the more overlooked 'mons in the 'dex, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is no different. Although we've only got a handful of regional variations in Paldea, that doesn't mean that ScarVi hasn't revitalised and re-imagined some of the...
Talking Point As Zelda: Wind Waker Turns 20, Doesn't Toon Link Deserve A Second Chance?
Big eyes, big dreams
Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’s Japanese release and after all of these years, we think that it is finally safe to say that Nintendo’s punt paid off. By ‘punt’ we don’t refer to the idea of putting Link on a boat – whatever will they think of next, putting him on a train??...
Feature 30 More Things You Might Have Missed In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
Easter Eggs, secrets, and tips!
Remember our feature that highlighted 30 Things You Might Have Missed In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet? Well, we've already found 30 more things, from neat Easter Eggs to things that make battling a whole lot easier. Let's dive in — how many do you already know? More Things You Didn't Know About Pokémon Scarlet...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 10th)
Award winners and wheel spinners
It has been yet another fun-filled week here at Nintendo Life and we are ready to once again hit the ol' games this weekend. In the past seven days we have had The Game Awards (and the absence of any Tears of the Kingdom news thereof), a brand new
Soapbox The Steam Deck And The Switch Aren't Rivals, They're Siblings
Switch 'em up
I have a Switch. And I have a Steam Deck. I am a fancy lady with two consoles designed for the kind of people who really like to be horizontal when playing games, which suits me just fine, because I am often to be found being horizontal and/or playing games. But I see a lot of folks pitting my two expensive rectangles against one...
Feature Yuji Horii And Tachi Inuzuka - Making A Dragon Quest That Can Be "Enjoyed Casually"
Lifting the lid on Dragon Quest Treasures
The chest has been opened, and Dragon Quest Treasures has finally launched on the Switch today, 9th December. Originally proposed as an entry in the spin-off series Dragon Quest Monsters, Treasures sees fan-favourite character from Dragon Quest XI — Erik — and his little sister Mia embark on an...
Round Up Everything Announced At The Game Awards 2022 - Every Game Reveal And Trailer
What was your favourite announcement?
Another year, another Game Awards event. It was a pretty good one though, right? There were plenty of cracking game announcements for all platforms, including the Switch, and for your convenience, we've compiled them all for you right here. You'll find all relevant game trailers below along with a link to our...
Feature Cuphead Creators On The Perfect Physical Edition, Animation, And Working With Netflix
"Partnering with the team at iam8bit was right for us"
It's kind of amazing to think that, before this month, Cuphead had never had a physical launch. This seminal run-and-gun indie, visually inspired by the rubber hose animation from the 1930s and the Jazz age, made a huge splash in 2017 on Xbox and Windows, and with a Switch port finally...
Talking Point Are You Excited To See Call Of Duty Return To Nintendo Platforms?
Whisky tango foxtrot
In case you missed the recent bombshell from Xbox Game Studios' CEO Phil Spencer, the business executive confirmed in a tweet that Microsoft would enter into a ten-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms following the presumed merger of Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard. <related ids="142197"> The...
Feature The Best Pokédex Pictures In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
How many references can you spot?
One of our favourite new features in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has to be the new Pokédex. Instead of being a dry encyclopaedic list of Pokémon you've seen and caught, ScarVi takes the boring old 'Dex formula and throws it out of the window in favour of a stylish bookcase of Pokémon. And it's gorgeous. We began...
Feature Nintendo eShop Selects - November 2022
Nintendo Life's picks for the best Switch eShop games in November!
It's technically the last eShop Selects of the year. Yep, the next time we do this, it'll be 2023, even if we'll be looking back at December's games. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves yet! We've got November to look back on — a month dominated by Pokémon, but an early...
Feature Our Verdict On Splatoon 3's Chill Season 2022 Update - New Stages, Weapons, And Modes
A splat in the right direction
Splatoon 3 came out back in September and we've been having a great time with it ever since. While the list of tweaks and additions in this threequel was long, and the mechanics have never been smoother, there were some out there (us included, to an extent) who felt that the series' third entry was good, but...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 3rd)
Splatting, catching and slashing
"How many different franchise can we feasibly hear news about this week?" We might have asked on Monday here at Nintendo life. The answer: all of them. The past seven days have seen us reporting on the new Mario movie trailer, breaking down the intricacies of Splatoon 3's new update, reporting on Nintendo Switch...
Feature Which Characters Are Next For Disney Dreamlight Valley? Every Hint From The Game
Who's next to be welcomed into the valley?
We now have confirmation that the next update for Disney Dreamlight Valley will bring Toy Story characters, clothing, furniture, and a themed realm to the game. We've also seen very strong hints at Stitch from Lilo and Stitch coming to the game as part of a winter update
Soapbox Xenoblade Chronicles X's Influence Is Bigger Than You Think
So why is it *still* stuck on the Wii U?
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, on the 5th anniversary of Xenoblade Chronicles 2's release, Alana wants to celebrate the influence of its predecessor and series spin-off... Xenoblade...
Soapbox Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Is The Most Friction-Free Pokémon Yet
We can go where we want to
I often tell people that I am not a Pokémon fan. I say this while sitting in a Pikachu-branded chair, with my handmade Snom figurine hanging out on my desk next to my my off-brand plastic Swinub figurine, having played 90% of the available Pokémon games out there (I didn't bother with Black and White 2 and I didn't like...
Feature 14 Things That Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Get Absolutely Right
It's not all jank and bugs!
Let's get this out of the way: The technical state of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is pretty shocking. It's buggy, it's broken, and sure, it makes for very funny glitch videos, but for what a full-price Nintendo Switch game costs these days, it should have launched in a much better state. But we've already written...
Soapbox The Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Remake Doesn't Look Weird Enough Yet
What have they done to my boy Gustafa
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kate's not impressed by what she's seen of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life so far... My very first Harvest Moon game was A Wonderful Life on the GameCube,...
Feature 30 Changes We'd Like To See In The Next Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Update
Customisation, better settings, and little hats for Koraidon
Let's start this off with a big old disclaimer: We are not game developers. We are not good at programming. We don't really know why Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were broken and buggy on release. And also, we definitely don't just want to join the pile-on of hate aimed at Game Freak right...
Feature "We Received Many Requests To Bring Back The Puzzle Bobble Series"
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble's director on Bub and Bob's upcoming return
We're big fans of Taito's Bubble Bobble spin-off series Puzzle Bobble around these parts. We used to know it as Bust-A-Move in the West, and news that a new entry in the series was coming to Switch next year courtesy of publisher ININ got us rather excited. Puzzle Bobble...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 26th)
The reign of Pokémon continues
After last week's release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, you might have thought that it would have been a slightly quieter one for Nintendo Life this time around - well think again! To say that it has been a week of Pokémon would be an understatement. We have discussed the games' best new 'mon designs, noted
Feature 25 Things We'd Love To See In The Next Disney Dreamlight Valley Update
(that aren't just new characters and bugfixes)
We've finally been given a date for the next Disney Dreamlight Valley update, and it's pretty soon — December 6th! The game, which is still in early access, has a long way to go before it can be a full release, with all the content required to make it feel busy and lively, plus the promised...
Talking Point What's The Best New Pokémon Design In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet?
Gotta judge 'em all
There are 107 new Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, including all new evolutions, forms, and legendaries — and we're here today to pick the very best of them. Our writers (the ones playing Pokémon, anyway) have sat down to decide their favourite Pokémon designs out of those 107 — and even though our picks are sometimes...
Feature Poké Ball Onigiri: A Review - Which Poké Ball Tastes Best?
Made with real Pokémon!*
Pokémon – both the games and the anime – have always featured food prominently. Moomoo milk, sodapops, slowpoke tails, and more recently curry mixes and sandwiches – there’s no end to the edible and drinkable in the Pokéworld. We’ve even covered Pokéfood before on Nintendo Life, both reviewing Japan-exclusive...
Feature 30 Things You Might Have Missed In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
Go to school, make some eggs, and take off that hat
Alright, so you've got Pokémon Scarlet and/or Violet, and you're making your way through Paldea. But this game can be a little hands-off when it comes to tutorials. In one way, that's great — you get to discover things for yourself — but it can also leave you feeling a little bit lost. Fear...
Soapbox How To Improve Pokémon Scarlet And Violet's Open World
We have some ideas
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, our video host Alex Olney has some ideas on how to make Pokémon Scarlet and Violet better... The Pokémon series is slowly, painfully evolving its games into open-world...
Feature Missing In Action - What Happened To These Switch Games?
Genshin Impact, Silksong, Metroid Prime 4, and Outer Wilds
Note: Having heard (finally!) about Pikmin 4, we've updated and added to this article (first published back in June). Enjoy! The media cycle that exists around video games these days can be quite punishing. After all, if you announce a game before it's ready, and then realise that it needs...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Pokémon Scarlet And Violet?
Colour us intrigued
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are out now and fans have had a lot to say about the new generation of Pokémon. We've all now had a weekend to get acquainted with the world of Paldea and its inhabitants, and we've already seen a whole bunch of hot takes around the internet, ranging from folks professing this to be the greatest new...
Hands On Demonschool Is A Love Letter To DS Games And Italian Horror Movies
Persona, Stranger Things, and Suspiria, together at last
Every now and again, the world seems to collectively decide that the way things were X number of years ago was the peak of culture. This happens everywhere: Fashion, movies, makeup, and even language tend to rely on this ever-revolving cycle of nostalgia, fuelled by a yearning for the...
Feature Every Metroid Prime Location, Ranked
From Phazon to Phendrana
Note: the YouTube embeds featured in this article will naturally contain footage of some of the boss encounters within Metroid Prime, including the final boss. If you've never played the game, take this as your spoiler warning! (Also, you've never played Metroid Prime!? *tuts and shakes head for several minutes*) The...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 19th)
ScaViikend
It looks like we are just about there folks, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is finally here which surely means there are no more trailers, 'mon reveals or surprise announcements for the next few weeks, right? This week has been a busy one here at Nintendo Life. Aside from the release of Scarlet and Violet (for which we discussed the pros...
