With June all wrapped up, we suddenly find ourselves halfway through the year and with plenty more eShop games to ponder over, buy, and probably add to the backlog.
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 June 2021!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out:
- Mushihimesama | Review: 9/10
- Overboard! | Review: 9/10
- Winds of Change | Review: 8/10
- Astalon: Tears of the Earth | Review: 8/10
- Sludge Life | Review: 8/10
- Alba: A Wildlife Adventure | Review: 8/10
3. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (Switch eShop)
Taking third spot this month is Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, a Metroidvania that's certainly been piquing the interest of gaming fans and critics alike. We awarded the title a huge 9/10 in our review, describing it as "one of the strongest Metroidvanias of 2021, and easily one of the best examples of the genre on Switch to date."
With strong, varied gameplay, excellent visuals, and a wonderful soundtrack to boot, this is definitely worth your time if you're a fan of the genre.
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2. Mighty Goose (Switch eShop)
In second we have Mighty Goose, a game that didn't score quite as highly in our review – we gave it a 7/10 – but one that won over our run 'n' gun-loving hearts regardless.
While the on-screen action can be a little too chaotic at times, this is a stylish treat for the eyes oozing with style in its character and environmental design. More importantly, though, its gameplay feels super satisfying, no doubt being the main reason behind its inclusion here. We'd urge you to give our full thoughts a read before diving in – its short playtime and harsh checkpoints might put some potential players off – but we certainly enjoyed our time with it.
1. LEGO Builder's Journey (Switch eShop)
And finally, taking this month's grand prize is none other than LEGO Builder's Journey.
It's pretty easy to guess why so many votes came flooding in from the Nintendo Life team for this one – the game seems to make players feel like a kid again, not just with the LEGO building, but also in its parent-and-child-focused story. It's touching, smart, and while it occasionally suffers from what can only be described as padding, this is a LEGO-branded title that takes things back to what LEGO's all about – creativity.
We hope this is an indication of new games to come for LEGO, and we hope you enjoy it if you decide to give it a go.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - May 2021
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 as a digital-only 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 27
Something else: Griftlands
It's such a great game. It feels like it's the Hades equivalent of the deckbuilding roguelike games.
I know reviews are entirely subjective and scores are not absolutes, but they are still attributable to the site as a whole, so it still seems odd to me that the #1 and #2 games here both scored “only” 7, while a couple of the honourable mentions got 9. Kinda undermines the value of the actually review when, a couple of weeks later, the site as a whole votes to say “this is the best game of the month, not those ones”.
Like, why bother reading the review, just wait for the monthly consensus instead...
The top three is on my wishlist already, but currently I'm playing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for GBC. Such a nostalgia trip.
@gaga64 I guess it's just a list of great games where 7/10 is still a great game
Ender lilies. Played about an hour. Loved it. But it made me realise I hadn't finished ori and the blind forest so I went back to my save file and fell in love with ori all over again.. at 70% completion now. Will most likely play will of the wisps once I am done with blind forest. Then give ender lilies a proper go
@gaga64 I actually like that they do this as a group. If a reviewer on nintendolife didn’t like a game as much as 3 or 4 other reviewers on the site, it gives the game an opportunity to get a little more praise than the site originally gave it. IMHO it doesn’t cheapen the value of a subjective review. For example growing up I couldn’t stand (and still really don’t like) turn based RPGs. So if I were reviewing final fantasy 6 I’d probably give it a 6/10. Meanwhile my friends would be giving it 9’s and 10’s.
I also think it adds some integrity to nintendolife in that they show they’re willing to have people who may not love a game give it their honest review even while other people here may have rated it differently. Nintendolife also has some classic games with drastically different reviews when they are re-reviewed for different releases (original release, VC rerelease, etc). Just my take on it.
@KnightsTemplar yes play Will of the Wisps- despite having no endgame it’s amazing in every other way
I have 3 from the games in the top 3 and from those in the honourable mentions. A little lower than normal though 2 more are on my wishlist
@gaga64 because that review score is one person's opinion and these games are voted for by multiple people.
Sludge Life for me! Had such a good time exploring that island and talking to a bunch of weirdos who are basically waiting around to die.
Isn’t that LEGO game really short. It looks like fun but if it only takes 3-5 hours to beat then I can’t justify that purchase.
@AcridSkull @AG_Awesome don’t get me wrong, I love this monthly group vote approach. It’s like a one website version of metacritic, or the way Famitsu does things and gives a broader set of opinions. But yeah, it emphasises that every reviewer’s opinion is individualistic and may not represent the group as a whole, and the reader needs to take a view of each review, make sure that reviewer’s opinions align with your own.
Which is fine. I’ve always subscribed to the theory that when reading reviews for anything, you need to find someone whose opinions aligns closest to your own, or there’s no point.
But at the same time, to me it undermines the NintendoLife brand a little. I used to think that at the very least the reviews they publish represent the views of the site as a whole - that’s the score used by MetaCritic or whoever - but it’s not that clean cut.
@Mystique no end game? Please explain. No spoilers
I really want Ender Lilies, but I feel like it's almost guaranteed to get physical further down the road, just like every other highly acclaimed MV.
Can't say the same for Mushihimesama, physical releases of shmups still aren't guaranteed in the West. So I'll be downloading that shortly.
@KnightsTemplar Once you beat the game all there is to do is find the collectibles. I still highly recommend buying it though, don’t let that be the deciding factor
@Mystique so like ori blind forest then. Just finished it and now I have to go back and collect the collectables. Still love it so dearly much
Umurangi Generation!
@gaga64 I don't think it undermines anything. If a review has a byline, it should reflect that author's opinion; nothing more and nothing less.
There are publications that hide the author's byline (Edge comes to mind) in an attempt to add a fake veneer of objectivity. Which makes no sense because all reviews are and should be subjective. That's their value.
The "collective opinion" (whatever that means) that put Lego Builder at the top spot here isn't any more true or accurate than the opinion of the reviewer who gave it a 7. They are just two different views on the same subject.
@bobzbulder get it on Apple Arcade
@bobzbulder I'm hoping to get the Lego game in a sale someday.
Need to add more to the wishlist, almost all of them this month.
@Kochambra Right. Also I look at it like just because it has a certain score, doesn’t mean that one can’t genuinely love the game higher than the number rating would indicate. Wrestling Empire is an example where I understand the 6 rating it received, but it still made the finalists for the month and I still love it regardless of its many flaws. I’ve always felt that these monthly rundowns reflect an overall emotional reaction to these games, rather than the critical ups and downs of a review.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game for me. I even liked it more than Mario Golf: Super Rush, and this is a huge Mario fan talking here.
@StephenYap3
I'm a bit disappointed by Mario Golf. It's missing lots of features in comparison to Camelot's 'Everybody's Golf' on PS4. And the 'course scan' thing is dreadful, why not just let me flick straight to a grid view of exactly where by ball is going to land? Why can't I see how much my power is affected from shooting out of rough? Just lots of odd little omissions that make it feel a little half-baked.
Mushihimesama by a mile IMO
@SpringDivorce I thought it was Clap Hanz who developed Everybody's Golf? Are Camelot and Clap Hanz the same company?
@StephenYap3
Bugger, you're right. Did Camelot used to helm it?
Checking, it seems Camelot were responsible for the original, everything else has been Clap Hanz. Hmm, Camelot could take a few tips from them in that case. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure even Mario Golf 64 had a proper grid view for landing shots, and a power % indicator? Just seem odd things for a golf game to miss.
Something Else: Definitely Griftlands for me. This game is too much fun and going to be a go to for a long time.
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