20. AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative (Switch)

AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative is one of the most interesting visual novels we’ve played through in a while. The murder mystery at its heart is brought to life by some great writing and quirky characters alongside the satisfyingly integrated, beautifully balanced Psync puzzle elements.

Even with some minor control issues, there is a lot to love in this game, even if you never picked up the original. Highly recommended if you're even a little bit curious.

19. Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Switch)

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a seminal and still-enjoyable SRPG that manages to respectfully hold its own against the many descendants it now exists alongside. Though some elements of its design feel a little archaic, its deeply political and branching narrative, orchestrated soundtrack, and solidly built strategic combat all come together to make for a worthwhile experience. Visually, this version is disappointing, and we wouldn't say Reborn is one to rush out and buy immediately, but if you're a sucker for strategy and want to experience an influential classic with some mod cons thrown in, we'd suggest you keep this on your watchlist.

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18. OMORI (Switch eShop)

Omori isn’t a game that we would say is for everyone, but it’s the kind of thing that seems like it will deeply resonate with its intended audience. If you’re looking for a funny, sad, creepy, and downright disorienting RPG adventure, Omori is something you won’t want to miss. The memorable narrative, offbeat sense of style, and high replayability make this one easy to recommend, even if the plot pacing can feel sluggish and the combat doesn’t always deliver on its potential. Omori is an experience that’s worth your time; give it a shot if you want to try something a little different.

17. Live A Live (Switch)

Live A Live on Switch reintroduces an influential, unique JRPG to the wider world with aplomb, with a cacophony of different gameplay styles, music, and visuals that somehow hang together beautifully.

Despite looking like Octopath Traveler and perfecting the HD-2D visual style, you'd do well to remember that this is still a Super Famicom RPG, with many of the frustrations that come with ‘90s RPGs still intact in this remake.

Still, we admire that Square Enix decided not to change too much with this remake, instead delivering an authentic and faithful update to the game that the majority of players outside Japan missed nearly three decades ago. This is a piece of gaming history we have loved getting to experience for the first time.

16. Neon White (Switch eShop)

From its excellent writing, music, and presentation to its intense and satisfying core gameplay, Neon White is one of the most exciting things we’ve played all year, and it’s a game we can't see ourselves putting down for a long time as we try to best our previous times. It successfully brings together elements from apparently disparate genres in new and exciting ways and seems poised to become the next great speedrunning title. It's one that action game fans and Switch owners in general won't want to miss.

15. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Switch eShop)

A thoroughly enjoyable expansion of an already classic game treated with love, care, and most importantly a meta awareness that pays tribute to everything that made the original so beloved. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe may leave a small few questioning more than they’d like, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

14. Bayonetta 3 (Switch)

Bayonetta 3 cranks up the chaos, improves the combat, polishes the level design, and adds a ton of new mechanics to the mix, making for the very best entry in this storied series to date.

PlatinumGames absolutely nailed it this time around, carefully layering on more ways to engage enemies, piling on the OTT gameplay sequences, and giving us multiple protagonists without upsetting the balance of what makes these games amongst the very best examples of their genre.

With solid performance in docked and handheld modes, impressive visuals, non-stop action, and a hugely replayable campaign that's a joy from start to finish, this really is a huge celebration of everything we love about Bayonetta, an action all-timer and one of the highlights of Switch's impressive library.

13. Chained Echoes (Switch eShop)

Chained Echoes is a wonderful mash-up of '90s JRPG tropes, masterfully woven together to produce an experience that feels simultaneously nostalgic and fresh. A well-paced story, unconventional progression system, tactical combat system, and expansive world all come together to make for a game that is shockingly one of the very best RPGs that we played in 2022.

Really, there’s no place where it feels like Chained Echoes drops the ball, which is all the more impressive when you consider that the vast majority of it was put together by one person. It stands as a shining example of everything that makes RPGs great.

12. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Switch eShop)

If you're a fan of Skyrim, we reckon this is an upgrade (available as paid DLC if you already own the 'vanilla' version) that's worth grabbing. If you've never played the game before — and we 100% refuse to believe there's anyone who hasn't — this really is the best, most feature-rich, content-packed version of an RPG that, no matter how much we make fun of it, always completely sucks us right back into its world every single time we boot it up.

Now, when is the 'Anniversary of the Release of the Anniversary Edition' coming out?

11. Splatoon 3 (Switch)

Splatoon 3 is more of the same, but refined to borderline mechanical perfection. It's the most fun we’ve had with an online shooter in years, and for series veterans it makes Splatoon 2 feel entirely redundant for all but its unique single-player content. The developers solved every problem the Splatoon community was bleating on about, and then fixed some more that we didn’t even realise were problems.

There's nothing revolutionary about it compared to its predecessors, and it's perhaps missing a Big New Idea™ that you might have expected, but Splatoon 3 is the pinnacle of the series, and the pinnacle of shooters on Switch.