A few weeks ago we had the third in our 'Reader Recommendations' series featuring a dozen community-nominated gems that slipped through our review net but which Nintendo Life readers believe deserve some love and attention.
Well, we had so many nominations for Part 3 that we've decided to bring the next entry in the series forward with another 12 nominees. In fact, we've even got a handful more waiting in the wings, so if there are other games you'd like to see featured, feel free to follow the instructions at the end of the article and nominate other entries — perhaps we'll get on to Part 5 sooner than we originally planned, too.
Thank you to everyone who responded. As with the last articles, we've discounting several nominations for games we have in fact reviewed and assembled the following list of games we missed. As before, each entry features a brief user comment (lightly edited for brevity or spelling in some cases), plus a trailer for some flavour. There's also a poll at the end where you can hopefully get a sense for how other readers feel about these games.
So let's take a look — in no particular order — at another batch of games NL readers recommend looking out for.
Eagle Island (Switch eShop)
Here's what NL reader cherryghost14 has to say about Eagle Island:
Eagle Island is a very fun and challenging game, that I don't think gets the attention it deserves. It is a 2D platformer with some rogue-lite elements and procedurally generated levels.
What stands out to me is the combat. Your owl companion is used as a projectile attack, and you can build up combos to restore mana and health. There are a few different biomes, and abilities to unlock as you go. A free expansion recently released with a new character and 45 new creator-designed levels.
Shaolin vs Wutang (Switch eShop)
Toshiro_Baloney was impressed by Shaolin vs Wutang:
I know… it’s made by one guy and the fighting is pretty barebones. But the effort and presentation on display is magnificent. Every fighter is modelled after famous Kung Fu movie actors/characters, the sound/music is actually licensed from these films (and punches you in the face). And while the action seems at first uninspired, it’s almost Virtua Fighter-esque in being easy-to-learn-hard-to-master.
It’s as close as one will find to playing an old Kung Fu movie and my heart grew a whole other size while doing so.
Linelight (Switch eShop)
Justin found puzzler Linelight to be a calming experience:
Linelight is a delightfully beautiful game whose minimalist setting and music make for a relaxing, but still challenging puzzle solving experience. The whole game takes place on a line, and there is no talking or plot. Just moving along a line. But increasingly challenging puzzle mechanics are introduced to get you from point A to point B. Avoid getting caught by enemies, or use their movements to your advantage! Or put the controller down and just get lost staring at the beautifully designed lines and listening to one of the best soundtracks around.
If My Heart Had Wings (Switch eShop)
AstroTheGamosian had good things to say about visual novel If My Heart Had Wings:
A darling visual novel about a boy named Aoi who comes back to his hometown, meets old and new friends, enrolls in school, joins a club where they build and fly gliders, and falls in love (you can choose between Kotori, a paraplegic you meet in the beginning of the game; Ageha, your childhood friend; Amane, the head of the Soaring Club; and the twin girls Asa and Yoru who are first-years at the school).
The art style is beautiful, the music is amazing, the characters are fun and lively, each with their own personalities, and the story is engaging, making you want to know what happens next. It is ripe for an anime adaptation, in my opinion. Of course, the more graphic content has been removed for the North American localization, but a patch does exist to restore it; however, this patch is only for the PC version of the game.
Down in Bermuda (Switch eShop)
holygeez03 kept things brief while recommending Down in Bermuda:
Simple puzzles with a good mix of difficulty... charming art style... decent story to keep you engaged.
BQM -BlockQuest Maker- (Switch eShop)
Low_ink was impressed by BQM -BlockQuest Maker-:
It's essentially a Zelda dungeon maker, with deep enough mechanics to not get stale quickly. The system in place for getting new course parts is very good, unlike SMM2. On top of making and playing people's levels, there are some dev made levels too! While a bit too hard for me, I'm sure some people would greatly enjoy them. I recommend it to anyone wanting a Zelda Maker in their life.
Comments 39
Momodora!!!
Love Momodora. Beautiful pixel art, difficult boss fights, and a subtle, sombre story.
Even though it says "2019's Momodora", it is actually a game from 2016 just ported over to Switch in 2019. That's why it's in 4:3 aspect ratio - It's already a classic!
Momodora is a fantastic shout, but there’s some decidedly average games in this list, too.
BQM is a great dungeon creator, and a fraction of the price of Super Mario Maker 2.
Cubixx is great! I first learned of this game in the NL forums.
I had never heard of pifffle.I’m downloading it as I type this.
Love these articles
Momodora is the only one out of this list I've played and aside from looking nice I found it completely and utterly mediocre. Though I suppose if you're looking for a mediocre Metroidvania it is a better option that Timespinner at least.
“ you can choose between … and the twin girls Asa and Yoru who are first-years at the school”
Both at the same time? 🤔
Definitely keep these articles coming!
Been meaning to check out Shaolin vs Wutang.
Couple good ones I can recommend are, Thy Sword and Null Drifter. Both seemingly simplistic retro arcadey type games with addictive gameplay that I find myself revisiting fairly often.
I'm loving Lucah! It has one of the most interesting art styles I've ever seen!
Sorry but Cooking Simulator is a great game on PC, not on Switch (unless they heavily patched it). I was really excited for this but mix 1 part choppy framerates with 2 parts non-adjustable controls and no gyro aim and 1 part massively downgraded visuals and you got a whole mess. Selecting a knife that's a couple of pixels wide is a pain when the controls just don't allow for tiny movements. I can see people having fun with it if they have a high frustration threshold. Again, great game, just not a good port, unless it has been patched up.
Momodora, Eagle Island, and Juiced look pretty good.
That Shaolin vs Wutang game looks so bad... but I'm glad people are enjoying it! I do love how each fighter is style-based...
I would love a Bushido Blade style, "one-hit kill" no life-meter weapon fighting game to come to Switch. Even a port of the pretty good Deadliest Warrior games would be fine.
For now, Nidhogg and One Strike is as close as we get?
Down In Bermuda and Piffle seem like great games to try out. On the wish list they go.
Watch all the trailers: man "cooking sim" seems complex but the frame rate and resolution looks ass. Is this just the trailer ?
I've been delaying picking Eagle Island up since it was launched. It caught my eye, but maybe we've never had such a huge offer of games, some of them really cheap. It's not easy to keep up with so many releases and rereleases
Thanks for giving Momodora a shout out @Nintendolife!
So happy to see Shaolin vs Wutang on this list! With the NintendoLife community as great, diverse and passionate as you all are, you help cut through the noise of the eshop to highlight titles I have totally overlooked. Adding to my wish list right now. Thank you!
Luna Nights should also be included. One of the best metroidvanias on Switch, and it was never reviewed here.
My recommendation, if you like open world, 3D stealth games: Ghost of a Tale!
Piffle is really fun.
I think I bought Juiced fairly recently, looked too good to pass up.
I am so incredibly humbled that you guys published my mini-review of "If My Heart Had Wings!" Truly, it is a great story, one that I still have to finish. I finished the Asa and Yoru routes, but I still have to complete the Kotori, Ageha, and Amane routes.
As I said in my review, some of the more graphic (as in, erotic) content has been taken out for the Western localization, but there does exist a patch in the PC version of the game to restore it (it is even compatible with the Steam version).
So if you want the full experience with the graphic content, I do recommend playing it on PC/Steam, as I do (I will admit, I based my review on that version). Otherwise, if that kind of content doesn't suit your fancy, play it on Switch, and it's even on mobile.
@BulkSlash Actually, yes, but you have to complete the Asa route first to unlock Yoru. If you play it on PC/Steam and download the patch to restore the graphic (as in, erotic) content, you actually do... "things" with the both of them at the same time.
@Lone_Beagle 👍 Ghost of a Tale looks very good! They did include it in a previous list of recommended games (part 3).
https://www.nintendolife.com/features/community-12-nintendo-switch-games-we-missed-recommended-by-you
One of my favourite features on this sight as the eShop is a veritable vast sea of video games.
I have Momodora on my wishlist I think and I have played Cubixx. I can't say I knew much about the others despite being one who likes to read about Indie games in general
griftlands is being overlooked, a great deckbuilder from klei, super cheap too. do a review and get the word out
Didn't get on with Momodora - found the controls 'stiff' feeling. Switching to Iconocalsts immediately afterwards was like night and day.
As someone who grew up as a PC gamer in the 90s, looking at my friend's SNES's with green eyes, I have to ask the question: why would anyone deliberately recreate the hell of DOS platformers?
No comments about Void Terrarium being on the list
Albeit I'm a little surprised it isn't really known, such a charming game with a killer limited edition physical.
@SonOfVon It’s excellent.
"Shaolin vs Wutang"... huh? Go on.
"it's soundtrack is actually licensed..." ... yesss... go on...
I was disappointed that it didn't continue in "... music from the Wu Tang Clan as well as kung fu movies."
Momodora is the only one of these I've played. I liked it for a little bit but then got super lost and just quit. I typically never do that but the game just wasn't interesting enough to push through.
I am curious about Cubixx...
Momodora has been in my Steam wishlist for a while now. I would love to recommend Battle Brothers but I only played the PC version (it quickly reached almost the top of my most played games) and the Switch one may have some bugs or questionable UI choices I am not aware of. Not to mention the game gets repetitive fast without at least the barbarians DLC.
@ian_beale Because someone has nostalgia for them.
@Tandy255 Thanks, good to know!
Thanks for posting my review of Piffle, I really love this game, even more than I was expecting, and I'd already put it on my wishlist before it ever came out simply cos I love the art style. I really wanted to bring people's attention to it because I never see anyone discussing it online. But yeah the gameplay is as addictive as any great puzzle game is, like tetris or puzzle bobble. And it has much more variety than those games too, with all the bonus items. You can really load up and cheese levels with the items if you want, which is a lot of chaotic fun, but yeah. It can get quite difficult as it gets to later in the game, it looks very cute but eventually one level or another will stump you and you'll have to have quite a few tries at the level before you can get past it. But the early game is very easy.
I try to recommend this game on places like Reddit but nobody ever talks about it or replies to my posts like that, so I thought I had to write into this in the hopes you'd bring more attention to it
So thank you
Also I have seen it on sale before. So there'll probably be other times it'll go on sale, if you wanna wait for that. But it's worth it at full price, for me anyway
@SonOfVon the point of these articles is that readers of the site write the reviews and Nintendo Life publish them. So you could try and write one yourself and see if they do wanna publish it. It's only 100 words, it won't take long
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