Yet another month has flown by, and wow what a month it was. We often reach the end of each month wondering how so many great games have made it to Switch, but September really was something else. So, as is now tradition, it's time for the Nintendo Life eShop Selects!
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 September 2019!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out.
- Fight'N Rage | Review: 9/10
- Sayonara Wild Hearts | Review: 9/10
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition | Review: 9/10
- Blasphemous | Review: 9/10
- River City Girls | Review: 9/10
- Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX | Review: 8/10
- Amnesia: Collection | Review: 8/10
- Castle Crashers Remastered | Review: 8/10
- GRID Autosport | Review: 8/10
- Super Kirby Clash | Review: 8/10
- Torchlight II | Review: 8/10
- Final Fantasy VIII Remastered | Review: 7/10
3. Creature In The Well (Switch eShop)
Taking third place this month is Creature in the Well, intriguing the team with its clever pinball concept and its different approach to traditional dungeon-crawling. Despite some pacing issues getting in the way, the game's focus on puzzle-solving helps to keep things interesting and we enjoyed our time with it for review. Definitely not a bad choice if you're looking for something a little different.
2. Ori And The Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Switch eShop)
In second spot we have Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, a game that we never would have expected to see on a Nintendo system. It may well have originally been a Microsoft-only affair, but Ori and the Blind Forest is now available on Switch and is a truly special experience that we'd urge you to play. This gorgeous Metroidvania is challenging, yet never feels unfair, and has a mesmerising art style and musical score to boot. It walked away with an 'excellent' 9/10 from us - need we say more?
1. Untitled Goose Game (Switch eShop)
Taking first place this month, however, is the fantastic Untitled Goose Game. If you've been keeping an eye on the site over the past few weeks, this probably won't come as much of a surprise - we've been loving everything about the pesky honk bird and its mischievous crimes and we were happy to report that the game is a tremendous success in our review. We gave it an 8/10, praising its inventiveness, creativity and charm while feeling a little sad at its relatively short overall length.
If you check out just one game from September's offerings, it's hard to go wrong with the goose.
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< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - August 2019
What was your favourite eShop game last month? (171 votes)
- Untitled Goose Game
- Ori And The Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
- Creature In The Well
- Fight'N Rage
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
- Blasphemous
- River City Girls
- Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX0.6%
- Amnesia: Collection0%
- Castle Crashers Remastered0.6%
- GRID Autosport
- Super Kirby Clash
- Torchlight II0.6%
- Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
- Something else (comment below)
Please login to vote in this poll.
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 primarily as a digital 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 53
Fight’N Rage gets my vote, but it scratches a certain itch for me. Untitled Goose Game and Ori are brilliant too.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is way too good to vote for anything else.
Had to be GRID for me, the effort that has been put into it is excellent and great to finally have a decent car racing game on the Switch!
Grid Autosport all the way. It's absolutely superb and just mentioning makes me want to play it, so that's what I'm going to do.
1st - Grid Autosport by a country mile
2nd - Amnesia Collection
3rd - Blasphemous
I think after The Witcher 3, my next purchase will be Divinity: Original Sin 2. It looks amazing.
Untitled Goose Game only looks fun because of the meme. And will be boring after 2 seconds. Just like Goat simulator really. It's trash, a 1/10 at best.
On the other hand I'm having a BLAST with Ori and the blind forest. It's so beautiful and really good. And because of that I rate it somewhere between an 8 and a 9. Haven't completed it yet so no final score.
And how the heck do you guys rate a game you gave an 8/10 above a game you rate a 9/10??!!!!!
September was a slow month for me. I just got Spyro and preordered Yooka Laylee and I still got my hands full with those two. There are some games in the list I'd like to buy but I don't know when I'll do it. Maybe I'll just play Ori through game pass, although it's relatively cheap in the UK.
Grid Autosport for me too.
Fantastic racing game, oodles of content and looks amazing on Switch. You really get the impression the conversion had a lot of care and effort put into it. I'd say it's in my top four games for the Switch.
It shows what the Switch is capable of, and the Devs deserve praise and reward.
GRID - so many different 'Autosports' that all feel so distinct and polished, aided by sublime use of HD rumble.
Ori for sure. I could not get into creature in the well and it's a shame because i was really hyped for it.
It should be a fight between Divinity 2 and Ori, even Grid for racing lovers.
But Untitled Goose Game? Come on guys, I thought you were more serious...
@sanderev Goose Game is actually pretty fun. Maybe 7-8 out of 10 fun, but it's also about 4 hours long and then it's a game I'd uninstall and never play again. It's fun not because of the memes. But it is popular because of them. That's how everything is these days, sadly. There's no way it deserves the top spot over other games this month. Hell, virtually all of the games on the Honorable Mention list are better. River City Girls, Divinity Original Sin 2, Gunvolt, obviously Ori, etc.
Star Wars Jedi Knight ii Jedi Outcast was my favorite. I am surprised there's no love for that, it did surprise me Final Fantasy 8 so few liked.
Grid Autosport, best racer on the Switch and probably one of the best port I've seen in a while. My other Sept choice would be Car Mechanic Pocket Edition. A thoroughly engaging mechanical sim that kind of plays like a puzzle. An observation I've made is that there is a LOT of games that slip under the radar. It's almost like there is an "Indie" type audience that discovers these unreviewed games (other than some vloggers). Grid Autosport is a game that deserves far greater credit because it is a genre defining game with it's technical mastery on the Switch.
Creature in the Well is wonderful... would love to get to Ori some day.
I love the idea of Goose Game... watched a Twitch streamer play it for a bit and that was enough for me... glad it's doing well, but I don't have much interest in playing it. My 14 year old niece, however, can't wait for me to get it for her as a bday gift this month.
What a month. Grid Autosport, Untitled Goose Game, Ori, and so much more. Also, the Amnesia Collection is awesome. It’s scary fun.
Poor Grid. 2.5 years into the Switch lifespan, and we finally got a great racing sim style game. (I'm glad i got a cube controller adapter for it.)
Defenitely Grid Autosport as no.1 for me. Although the game is a few years old, the port is outstanding and really tailord for the Switch. All the control methods implemented, even the Gamecube controller with analog triggers, shows how much love and care Feral interactive put into this port. On second place the goose game and third is most likely Ori, though I haven't gotten around to it yet.
I’ll pick up Grid eventually, as that one looks really great.
I didn’t get a chance to play Creature in the Well, but it looks interesting at least.
I really enjoyed Blasphemous and put it up there with the best games of the year.
@baller98 Wuppo looks pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation!
Inferno 2. I waited a long time to see a Radiangames' game make it to console again, and it did not disappoint. Maybe we'll get a review by Nintendo Life?
Grid was the best game last month!
@Deltath I've seen multiple streamers / youtubers (influencers; I hate that word, but) I really don't see the appeal of the game. It's popular ofcourse, because of the weird character and the meme. That doesn't make it good. Replace the character with a human character and the game would lose all of its appeal.
The only reason untitled goose game is "good" is because of the goose. And I think a game being good shouldn't be because of its popularity.
Loved Blasphemous. Really a great game although I got a gamebreaking bug after defeating tres angustias and had to rest from scratch. I really really love that game, the lore in it is fantastic. So blasphemous gets my vote.
I downloaded Ori and Gunvolt, but haven't had time to play them. Won Link's awakening in a stupid bet so I will play both of them after.
Grid is my choice but it has been one hell of a month for games. I probably won't get around to playing some of these until next September...
I feel Sayonara Wild Hearts should be higher but mainly because I loved the game!
@OorWullie delighted yourself and so many others are satisfied with GRID, so many seemed to be waiting on a real quality game in this genre, sounds like you guys got it. Switch and racing fans deserved something a bit special.
Your average ratings are too high these days. It makes it difficult to tell when a game is kind-of-a-throwaway experience, or actually something unique and exciting even-if-flawed. As someone who plays a LOT of games, many of the things you've recently rated highly look so bland and uninspired, that even if part of the gameplay loop can be fun, it's like, been there and done that, nothing new to be found... So, yeah, dunno, too many unwarranted 8s and 9s.
GRID for me then the goose. GRID with all assists off playing with my GC analogue shoulders is bliss. So good to finally have a decent racing sim.
I love Untitled Goose Game but it's very much a game of the moment. Ori will stand the test of time.
the goose will stand the test of time!
@sanderev I was interested in the game long before I realized anyone thought it was "memeworthy". And I don't read or look at memes, really, so they don't impact what I like and don't like. I agree that it shouldn't be popular because of dumb memes or "the lols". But it's also good in its own right. It's a clever little puzzle game that's an enjoyable playthrough. It's not the best game of October even by a longshot, but I don't regret buying it.
Syonara Wild Hearts deserves WAY more cred and is sadly overshadowed by untitled goose game and its meme potential. A shame.
I picked Super Kirby Clash tho because its my most played game among all these titles. Already over 45 hours of gameplay and still going. SO MANY heroic missions.
@Deltath *september
If it's your type of game you can (and should) enjoy it. But like I said, I don't have any warm feelings for it. Maybe "trash" is a bit harsh, and from what I've seen the 1/10 is harsh as well. But 8/10? Nope. 6/10 tops. (That's also mostly because I value the score of a review a little more than the reviewers on this site, as I said before I would never give a game a 10/10 and even scores between 9.000 and 9.998 are rare, with the highest currently at 9,724 (LoZ: BotW)).
@sanderev This site essentially doesn't give anything below a 7. I'd knock a full point off of every review they do, almost as a rule. More in some cases.
It was always going to be the Goose.
Ori and the Blind Forest
One of the greatest video games of its genre ever crafted. Anyone not raving about this game likely hasn’t played it. What are you doing playing that Goose meme game? Go play Ori.
Divinity Original Sin 2
One of the most highly rated games of the generation (minimum aggregate of 92 on every single platform its released on to date). Cross saves with STEAM. High quality. Just updated fixing bugs and increasing portrait res (which just goes to show Larian Studios really cares about making the game as perfect as possible).
@Deltath
That’s just not true. They just gave a 4/10 (Contra Rogue Corp) and several 5/10 scores (Yuno) and 6/10 (Dead By Daylight) just in the last month alone.
If anything can be said, it’s that they never give 10/10 to big 3rd party games- only 1st party and indies. For those I add a point. Divinity Original Sin 2? 10/10. DQXIS? 10/10. Ori and the Blind Forest? That one’s definitely a 10/10 (and would usually fall in their category of indies, but being published by Microsoft it falls victim to a cap of 9).
This list is a joke, just like that 9 out of 10 that ARMS got. This site has honestly gotten pretty crappy since the Switch has came out.
@Sakisa I guess we can both revel in knowing we are the 2%. I love beat em ups just due to how short they are! But the combat in fight n rage is deeper than most beat em ups
@JaxonH Absolutely NO game should ever have a 10/10. 10 means perfect, but no game is perfect.
But to be honest. Nintendolife doesn't rate first party titles below an 7 or it must be really bad. Indies usually get an 8, 9 or 10. Third party releases only matter if the publisher is willing to give Nintendolife a free copy and or advertisements for the game. Otherwise it's 7s and 8s.
@koaeinferno this site has had bad reviews since they joined with Pushsquare. They became bigger, but not better.
the current eshop sale has way too many game going cheap to even contemplate a new release at full price.
Transistor £1.70 in South Afrcian Shop
Bastion 90p in Russia
Hellblade £12 in South Africa
@sanderev you have to take into account that Nintedolife doesn't give decimals. That makes a 10/10 very necessary many times.
@the_beaver Then I'd still rather have a 9/10 than a 10/10. Since rounding up is something I usually don't do for ratings. Even for my own rating system 9.998 = 9. But true the score is less important if you don't go into decimals. For me there are 1000 points between 9 and 10, and each game within a generation that receives a 9 will have an unique score.
@sanderev I don't agree with you at all. Because nothing is perfect, whether it be someones performance at work, how polished a game is, or a repair job.
10/10 is a standard for quality and excellence that reaches far above the standard. You have a scale from one to ten for a reason. To not use the ten because nothing is "perfect" is a poor reason to never score a game such as BOTW, Last of Us, or Celeste a perfect ten. Especially when they are genre defining games.
@Chunkboi79 I disagree. BOTW wasn't perfect, it had some major slow-downs and issues with weapons breaking. Celeste has issues with its (thin) story and difficulty (I gave it a 7.5/10). The Last of Us is not even a 5/10. (Terrible controls, basically being Uncharted with zombies, boring story)
I only once came close to giving a game a 10/10.
Which is Transport Tycoon Deluxe which I gave a 9.998/10. Because of lack of support for the modding community from the original developer. The game has completely been remade as OpenTTD, which shares its score.
@sanderev Lol okay, yeah you lost me at how last of us isn't even a 5/10. Bruh you're a hypocrite because you user rated tetris for the ds and Mario land for the gameboy a 10.
Mario land isn't perfect because of the lack of color and tetris is too simplistic. Again subjectively speaking, but "Absolutely NO game should ever have a 10/10. 10 means perfect, but no game is perfect." Says the guy with two tens on his user page.
@Chunkboi79 Those two are absolutely the best GB and DS games And I couldn't give a 9,321 and a 9.411 there. So the 10 had to be given.
And Tetris DS isn't simplistic. It's up until Tetris 99 the best Tetris game. Ever.
@sanderev "Then I'd still rather have a 9/10 than a 10/10. Since rounding up is something I usually don't do for ratings."
@Chunkboi79 usually I rate a game on its platform. So Marioland, which indeed doesn't have color, was the first ever Mario game I played. And I up to this day have the fondest feelings for. Sure that might just be nostalgia, but I also know I played that game so much when I got my original GameBoy. To my rating a 9+ is deserved, so I couldn't round it down to a 9.
Tetris DS was my favorite Tetris game because it combined NES Nintendo games with great Tetris gameplay. And it was one of the earlier DS titles with online multiplayer. It had great music and controlled awesomely. Again a 9+.
@sanderev But you said absolutely no game should have a ten? So you just like to change your opinion mid argument to suit you?
@Chunkboi79 Like you did. Taking the rating system of this site and then applying my own rules to it. Doesn't sound fair, does it?
@sanderev Who said I was changing my opinion? I believe some games do deserve a ten. You said absolutely not, then put 2 user reviews that are ten, said that I would rather have a 9 than round up, then tried to justify why you have two tens.
Youre your own worst enemy bro.
@Chunkboi79 Like I said. They don't allow decimals on this site. And rating a game a 9/10 if it's actually above 9.300 is just not really something I would do. They would've been 9.5 if they'd allowed half points. Which they don't, so that 9.5 became a 10.
Also everything > 8.5 and < 9.300 is a 9 on this site. Everything > 7.5 and < 8.4 = 8. Rounding the numbers to closest works on this site. Because the lack of decimals.
@sanderev Cool
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