Switch 2 Game Reviews
So that puts it at an M, right?
I honestly never thought I’d fall in love with Pokémon battles. That’s not why I play Pokémon – I don’t play competitively either – because I play a ton of RPGs where combat is the draw. I can get my fix elsewhere. But Pokémon Legends: Z-A may have done the impossible; in Kalos, I can’t wait to get into...
It takes two (consoles)
When the original Little Nightmares was released in 2017, it won praise for its fresh take on puzzle platforming horror. Its sequel upped the scare factor even further, earning critical acclaim while deepening the series’ mythos. With a new developer at the helm of its threequel, the question on everyone’s minds is...
Review Yooka-Replaylee (Switch 2) - Feels Like The Game It Was Meant To Be, Finally
Capital B here now
11 (!) years ago, a bunch of ex-Rare staff formed a studio called Playtonic to make Yooka-Laylee, a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie that promised to skillfully carry the 3D platforming torch. Yet when the actual game launched in 2017, following an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, it didn’t fully deliver on that...
Mini Review The Touryst: Deluxe (Switch 2) - An Upgrade To First Class For The Return Trip
Has it all gone Pete Tong?
It feels like absolutely ages ago that I first reviewed The Touryst on Switch, and returning to it so far down the line, and on the Switch 2 no less, I've been excited to see just how it's held up in the six years since I last took a vacation. Seriously, though. I was bowled over back in the day, giving Shin'en's...
Why do humans read the air?
We reported on the Switch 2 version of Kuukiyomi 4: Consider It having arrived with new features, including a bunch of exclusive mouse-mode content, and as a result of that, well, I agreed in writing in the comments that I'd review it. Thanks, past me. Thanks a bunch. I jest, of course. This is an off-kilter Japanese...
Review Disgaea 7 Complete (Switch 2) - A Definitive Return For This Tactical RPG Giant
Limits were meant to be broken
Disgaea fans know the drill by now. Whenever a new mainline entry in the long-running tactical RPG series breaks onto the scene, it’s only a matter of time before it gets a re-released edition that bundles in the base game’s DLC along with a suite of gameplay tweaks and additions. It’s series tradition at this...
Happy Trails
Whether you're a long-time fan or just curious, it’s natural to approach the release of a new JRPG with measured expectations. These games often build on rich lore and deep series history, rewarding those who enjoy exploring vast worlds and narratives. On the surface, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter might seem like just another drop in...
Review Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Switch 2) - Short, Sweet, Prettified, And Not For Everyone
Waka Waka Waka 2: Much Prettier
I admit it. When this review came along, my gaming patience was being tested to its limit by Silksong’s brutal difficulty. So I rolled pretty enthusiastically towards an alternative I hoped would be more relaxing. (I genuinely regret the hours I spent defeating The Last Judge.) Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac seemed the...
Review Hades 2 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - A Bewitching Sequel That's A Spell Off Perfect
Time's (not) up
“Can time not be stopped?” That’s the question Hades II asks you every time you clear a run. The stakes are bigger in Supergiant Games’ first-ever sequel: This is no longer just about family drama, it’s about a dysfunctional family defending all they have against the clutches of the Titan of Time. It’s a story of tragedy,...
A dark night for Onion Knight fans?
Final Fantasy Tactics is probably, all things considered, my favourite Final Fantasy. As someone who isn't really a huge video game lore person at the best of times, as in I forget most of it because my brain needs the storage space for memories of food, in my eyes it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the...
Review EA SPORTS FC 26 (Switch 2) - A Fantastic Football Game, Once You're Used To The Frame Rate
Well worth a Lewandownload
EA’s football series has had a turbulent time on modern Nintendo consoles, as any long-time Nintendo Life reader will doubtless already know. When the Switch got its first entry in the form of FIFA 18, this very reviewer pointed out that it was essentially a port of the Legacy Edition on Xbox 360 and PS3 at the time,...
Review LEGO Voyagers (Switch 2) - A Beautiful But Very Short & Simple Co-Op Adventure
Birds of a feather, brick together
If you asked me what sort of game genre I think makes the best use of the Lego brick-building format, I’m not sure I’d answer with a two-player co-op adventure game. But here we are with LEGO Voyagers, a touching co-op title from Light Brick Studio (LEGO Builder's Journey) that uses the brick-based gameplay to...
Ore and Awe?
I've become so used to Nintendo taking its sweet time with DLC rollouts I assumed there was no way we'd get first-party add-ons within the first year of Switch 2. Happy Home Paradise, the Booster Course Pass and Side Order were all pleasantly surprising, not because of their packed bonus content (though that was a welcome factor), but...
Review Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Woven To Brutal Perfection
Pain and pleasure
Hollow Knight: Silksong didn’t need to do much; it just needed to be 'more Hollow Knight'. That’s a huge task in itself; a slightly bigger, slightly better version of an already amazing, genre-defining game. But it’s clear that, after seven years of refining and perfecting and toiling, Team Cherry wanted more than just 'more...
Review NBA 2K26 (Switch 2) - Brilliant B-Ball Has A Disappointing Debut On Switch 2
Hoops!...they did it again
As much as I can understand the derision from some quarters regarding NBA 2K26, FC 26, Madden — any of these big sports' games in their yearly, money-grubbing modern forms — I have, unfortunately, got a few of them to thank for several things that I enjoy in life these days. One of which is the old basketballs. For...
Review Cronos: The New Dawn (Switch 2) - Strong Story Elevates Otherwise Safe Survival Horror
Horror homage
In the run-up to the launch of Bloober Team’s new IP, Cronos: The New Dawn, chances are you saw one or two (or ten) comparisons to EA’s Dead Space series. And yes, while there are definitely some similarities between the two, I’d feel more comfortable describing Cronos as an amalgamation of nearly every major survival horror game...
Review BOKURA: Planet (Switch 2) - A Little GameChat Gem That Nobody's Talking About
Twin peeks
BOKURA: planet is a two-player, two-device-only co-op game that launched on Switch and Switch 2 on 7th August. A follow-up to 2023's BOKURA, indie developer tokoronyori says of the first game that he "kept wondering what scenery I might have seen if I'd gone in the complete opposite direction...In the end, I couldn't hold back. I ran the...
Review Star Wars Outlaws (Switch 2) - An Underrated Adventure, A Super-Solid Port
Your lack of faith is disturbing
I find myself in a bit of an unusual position with Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2 in that, having already played through the entire thing and reviewed it for our sister site Pure Xbox in 2024, I feel like I'm getting a quick second chance to see if my 8/10 score was justified. Spoiler alert: it was absolutely...
Review Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion (Switch 2) - Decently Deep Mech Combat, But Clunky In Parts
Mecha for robot-fighting fans?
Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion arrives at an interesting time in these early months after the release of Switch 2. There haven't been many AAA-styled heavy-hitters to push this system so far, certainly not in terms of action games, at least. And so, Titanic Scion feels like it should give us a reasonable idea of how...
Mini Review The Exit 8 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Unnerving Horror Loop Is Worth The Budget Price
Loop de loop
To celebrate the newly released movie adaptation of The Exit 8, the Switch version has received a minor, yet welcome upgrade for the Switch 2. If you're unaware of the premise, The Exit 8 takes place in a looping corridor within a Japanese metro station. Your job is to escape, but to do so, you’ll need to keep an eye on your...
Once more, with gear-mouth feeling!
Recently, I was back reading over my original Kirby and the Forgotten Land review to get a quick reminder of how I found the base game when it released in 2022 (what is time?) and, yeah, it seems I fairly enjoyed that one, now that I've rebooted my brain a little bit. I jest, of course, I fully remember the...
Review Story Of Seasons: Grand Bazaar - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - The Series' Best Remake Yet
This bazaar adventure is a real diamond
Sometimes the lines between remaster and remake can be blurred. Metroid Prime Remastered seems much more like a full remake, and a few games called remakes don’t quite live up to expectations. For Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar - based on Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar - even the term remake doesn’t quite...
Mini Review Arcade Archives 2: Aqua Jet (Switch 2) - Classic Aquatic Racer Lags Behind Wave Race
Let’s Jet
Once upon a time, Jet-Ski games were all the rage. Arcade cabinets and fifth generation consoles were replete with these high-speed polygonal racers that sent you careening around tracks set in sunny locales with bobbing water physics. Aqua Jet was an early example of the trend and released the very same year as Wave Race 64. Now, you...
Review Drag x Drive (Switch 2) - A Real Baller With Friends, But Is There Enough To Do?
Is it a swish or an air ball?
Drag x Drive is Nintendo's latest attempt to give us a unique sports game that utilises their latest console's flashy tech. And this time, it isn't just any old sport. If you've ever watched wheelchair basketball, you know how technical it can get, and Drag x Drive takes this to the extreme. It's a brilliant choice of...
Review Chillin' By The Fire (Switch 2) - Novel Camera Integration, But Won't Set Your World Alight
RV there yet?
There's usually a number of a certain type of game that drops when a brand new console arrives on the scene. You know the ones, the quirky ones, the ones that utilise new tech and features — such as the Switch 2's camera and game-sharing abilities — to give us something we haven't seen before. And so it is that we come to be...
Show me the frame rates!
One of the biggest misses for me personally with the original Switch is that none of the more popular sports games of our time, and I mean these big EA and 2K efforts like Madden NFL 26 here, and the likes of FC 24 or 25, aren't up to standard seen elsewhere. There have been decent enough-ish attempts, some of those footie...
Mini Review Apex Legends (Switch 2) - A Giant Leap Over The Tragic Switch 1 Version
Pitch perfect pings and performance, pals
I love Apex Legends. I feel like I have to remind myself of that sometimes, as I'm so bored off my face with shooters in general, and don't really play online competitively anymore. I just can't be bothered with the stress and/or real emotion of it all. However, Apex Legends, once I get over myself and turn...
Puck around and find out
It's not that often that a perfectly good and functional air hockey video game drops. In fact, considering that the grotty arcade staple translates so readily to the sphere, very few air hockey games release in general. One of life's persisting mysteries, right there. However, fear not Switch 2-owning air hockey fans (which...
Review Dear Me, I Was... (Switch 2) - A Bold, Heartfelt, Wordless Visual Novel
Crying speedrun (Any%)
A common complaint levied against visual novels is that they’re some of the most text-heavy games one can find on the market. Who wants to spend hours upon hours reading dialogue during precious gaming time? Answer: me, and plenty of other people, but it’s a valid perspective to consider. Visual novels are generally wordy...
Review WWE 2K25 (Switch 2) - The Best Wrestling Game You'll Find On A Switch
Holy smooth frame rates, brother
Now that we've got over the excitement of the initial wave of Switch 2 games (well, just about), we're entering an interesting phase for the new console where certain types of third-party titles — stuff that's either been pretty awful or non-existent on Switch 1 — is now starting to drop. We haven't had a big...
