We may well have safely arrived into 2020, but there's one last thing we need to do to wrap up 2019. That's right, it's 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 December 2019!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out.
- The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition | Review: 9/10
- Ashen | Review: 8/10
- STEINS;GATE 0 | Review: 8/10
- Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger | Review: 8/10
- Jamestown+ | Review: 8/10
- Shovel Knight Showdown | Review: 8/10
- SuperEpic: The Entertainment War | Review: 8/10
- EarthNight | Review: 8/10
- Dauntless | Review: 7/10
3. Demon's Tilt (Switch eShop)
Taking third place this month is Demon's Tilt, a gothic take on pinball that's had us bouncing off the walls over the past couple of weeks. The game isn't for everyone - unlike other pinball games it only has one table and the difficulty can get pretty brutal - but it does offer a pinball experience of stunning depth and complexity which rewards methodical players who aren't afraid to invest their time. Add in the ability to play the game in TATE mode and you've got yourself a winner.
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
2. Alien: Isolation (Switch eShop)
In second place this month is Alien: Isolation. If you've already played this one, you probably don't need us to tell you why, but to put it simply, this is one of the best horror games available on Switch. We went as far as calling it a survival horror masterpiece in our review, praising it for its excellent stealth-based gameplay, wonderful motion control integration, and plenty more besides.
If you like survival horrors, consider this a must-play.
1. Shovel Knight: King Of Cards (Switch eShop)
Taking the mighty gold this month, though, is Shovel Knight: King of Cards.
The game has topped our pile of December games in part thanks to its status as 'the last core Shovel Knight game ever maybe', but also because it's yet another fantastic expansion to the series in its own right. It's hard to say whether this one is the best of the bunch, but it's certainly a welcome addition and one that fans of the series will want to get stuck into.
King of Cards has cemented the Shovel Knight series' status of being a legendary platformer, and we'd urge you to dive right in.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - November 2019
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 (23)
Pretty quiet month of eShop releases as you'd expect at this time of year. That being said there's a some good stuff there. Steins;Gate 0 being the clear standout.
The games I'm looking most forward to for 2020:
Resident evil 3 remake.
Final fantasy 7 remake
Doom eternal.
Breath of the wild sequel.
2020 is all about waiting for SkateBird.
My favorite Dec release was Jets 'n' Guns, nice side-scrolling shooter! Only 7 bucks or so.
@Pirlo_ze_sniper The games I'm most looking forward to this year are
Doom Eternal
Bayonetta 3
Breath of the Wild 2
Mario Galaxy 1&2 HD
Starfox Grand Prix (I still believe in it)
Other than Doom it's a bit of a wishful list but I'm confident at least 2 of them will come true and release this year.
Demon’s Tilt has just been amazing thus far. The synopsis above is correct - it absolutely rewards you for continuing to try and learn. Remarkable depth for a pinball game, and it looks great both docked and portable in Tate mode.
Still can't get over how dauntless got a 7/10 when it chuggs along with appauling framerate issues.
@N64-ROX aka Tony squawk!
@OorWullie never played mario galaxy so would definitely pick that one up. On the positive side I've heard rumors that BOTW might come out this year, seeing as how the 1st game was released 3 years ago, and will still be using the same engine so game development will be easy. Just hope a new direct comes along soon.
@Fazermint I hadn't heard of it till I read your comment. I watched a video and enjoyed it. Gonna pick it up
@OorWullie: I could see Nintendo releasing a graphically-enhanced Super Mario Galaxy, & 2. For either Switch, or the successor to it. I feel likewise about Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo has no issue porting titles from even recent systems, like WU, except for the technical issues, like control schemes.
@Pirlo_ze_sniper I keep hearing BotW2 might be out this year. Many think that Nintendo will, because not this past holiday season, but this upcoming holiday season (2020), supposedly Microsoft is releasing Scarlett(?), or whatever they've decided to call their next machine. This is only rumor, from what I understand.
I’ve been playing Ashen and absolutely loving it.
Making me think I might enjoy Dark Souls after all
I'm still looking forward to metroid dread.
I certainlt didn't read that as "Demon's Tilt."
I finally tried shovel knight. Got it for Xmas. I was blown away. Such an amazing game.
@KoopaTheQuick I'm generally not skilled enough for scrolling shooters (especially the retro, one hit = death type). This one's quite doable for me, but it's important to start on the easiest difficulty. There's kind of a NG+ where you just do the campaign again in the next difficulty, and the game is balanced with that in mind. That said, there are a few difficulty spikes here and there (which usually means you gotta optimize your ship and guns).
I'd give Gensou SkyDrift an honorable mention. I mean, it's not as "big" as Mario Kart, CTR, or Team Sonic Racing even, but at $24? Why not?
Also more than a 6/10...
The only game I have on that list is the King of Cards expansion for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, but I haven't played it yet. I think Specter Knight's campaign is my favorite one so far, though, then Plague Knight's, & then Shovel Knight's. They're all really fun, though.
Rush Rally 3! Great game loving it.
@xxMPJxx I bought it the other night and yep, it's good. Just don't try to connect online or it will crash, every single time. At least for me it is. Have you had any crashes?
@kevin74 King of Cards was fantastic. I think it's the easiest of the 4 as his move set allows you to whizz through levels- he's possibly slightly overpowered, however this is countered by losing a full heart instead of half a heart like in the other three adventures. For sure it took me the least amount of time to complete out of the 4 but the decreased difficulty level made it slightly more enjoyable than the other 3 (from memory) as I don't remember ever getting frustrated by being stuck on a certain segment for more than a few tries. Even the final boss I think I defeated on the 3rd go?
@OorWullie @xxMPJxx Completely agree, the gameplay is fantastic. No crashes yet for me
No crashes yet, a few frame rate drops but I've heard there's a fix on the way.
Let's hope it keeps getting updated.
Tap here to load 23 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...