As to discoverability/vetting, I heartily agree with the problem. The NA eShop had 93 new entries this week. A few weeks ago it had 109. Sure, some of those are bundles and some are obvious scams but a lot of them are just games which ... probably aren't good but some of them likely are. I used to buy tons of cheap eShop games and it was pretty easy a couple years ago to pick out the ones which might be good (not necessarily excellent but lots of decent 6/10s and 7/10s and some jank but fun 5/10s). Now ... not so much. The garbage has become a tidalwave and has started looking too similar eShop-wise to the decent real indies.

It tends to be true that the truly excellent hidden gems are spotted by someone on the internet, but many of the short decent indies often have basically zero Internet presence and sorting them out from the garbage is becoming harder by the day.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Playing the brand new DLC! The new region is super pretty. I am overwhelmed with new quests and playing far too much 😆 It's fun though.
• Super Mario Maker 2 - Played a few levels by creators on my favorites list. I'm impressed people keep making levels for this game.
• Be Brave, Barb - In the mood for a puzzle game, so I've been playing a level or 2 daily of this cute gravity-shifting auto-walker.
• Crystal Project - Got this on sale because I really enjoyed the demo. Kind of hard to describe but it's a turn-based RPG adventure with a bizarre landscape you can platform all over in puzzly ways.

I'm excited; I just finished most of the content in the main game so this is timed perfectly for me.

@h3s @rjejr I mean... $15 dollars for a massive map expansion, new characters, new quest lines, and the addition of magic. Likely dozens of hours of content. For... cheaper than the tiny Donkey Kong Bananza DLC.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Even though I have been playing for ages I only finally maxed out friendship and got the not-quite-credits. So now I am doing a few quests post that while waiting for the DLC.
• Donkey Kong Bananza - I haven't heard great things about the DLC so may skip it, but I still have normal bananas to find, so onward.
• Desvelado - Kind of a level based platformer cosplaying as a metroidvania.You play as a vampire. Pretty basic but a little puzzly, and has a cute aesthetic.
• Super Mario Maker 2 - sadly we didn't get mario maker 3, but I'll console myself with a few smm2 levels.
• Tobari Dream Ocean - Silly little level based platformer with Kirby vibes because you take different abilities from enemies. It's not super great, but it's chill and kind of fun.

8/10 for me. I was happy about Yoshi and Galaxy 2 and Dragon Quest. And there were a lot of release dates I had been waiting for. Plus a couple other interesting and random things.

I'm looking forward to this one; I like this sub-series.

This is definitely a 'wait for reviews' moment. Looks kinda neat but also kinda weird.

I'm just happy they let us buy the games separately so we don't have to pay for Galaxy 1 again after getting all stars.

Kind of disappointed the DLC is so focused on multiplayer.

I'll just continue to hope for Mario Maker 3 with Wonder style eventually.

The first game is 88 GB! The whole trilogy won't fit 😆

Super Mario Maker 3 would be the dream. I wouldn't even care what else is in the direct.

I'm kinda impressed we're even up to 50+ games to compare.

@Solid_Python Bananza has one of the top metacritic scores for the year. It will be interesting to see if silksong ends up lower or higher. Considering this article is ranked by user scores and most players haven't finished silksong yet, the ranking here isn't exactly final either.

@Polvasti scrambled eggs has both a switch 1 and switch 2 release. I assume there is some small difference (maybe mouse mode?).

@Misima I assume you end up with BotW and MK8 Deluxe if you throw off the later games from Switch 'best' lists. Time will tell if Bananza can stay near the top years later like those early Switch 1 games did.

@Ooyah Thank you for the call out and I hope you enjoy Bananza! Great game. I'm definitely a sucker for some of the smaller shorter indies. There are lots of fun less known ones.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Continuing the DLC. This really makes me want a true brand new Kirby.
• Leo's Fortune - This is such a cute game. Great steam punkish aesthetic even though you play as a bright fuzzy puffy round thing with a mustache. Finished the game and played a little of hardcore mode, though beating the whole game in one life would be crazy considering some of the precision jumps.
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Focusing on recruiting visitors to move in permanently. Up to 15 now with many many more to go. 2 weeks until the DLC!
• Witchroid Vania - A silly small metroidvania where you play as a witch.
• Donkey Kong Bananza - Going to do a little fossil hunting.

I'm a little surprised the only options were 'full priced games' and 'indies'. I buy a lot of on-sale major games so those didn't get counted.

It's fun - it's more Forgotten Lands. But also very short. I don't normally rate DLC because it's hard to know what to compare it to.

Shantae is definitely my favorite of the month. Great game; one of my favorites in the series.

Drag x Drive was fun but the demo was enough for me. I'll likely get Gradius Origins and UFO 50 eventually.

I considered getting UFO 50 immediately but my mind went 'but I haven't played all the NSO games yet' 😆

Miis would be kind of bizarre in that game tbh, but more colorful characters and environments and more mini games and single player challenges would improve things.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Really enjoying the new DLC levels, although I wish there were more. Some of the new mouthful mode transformation are pretty fun.
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - Playing the open network test. It's quite fun; good combination of simple controls but slightly chaotic racing. I'm probably not buying it because there are too many racing games this year, but I'm glad I got to try it.
• Super Mario Maker 2 - Played through a whole fun Super World made by someone on this site (0DV-9NP-WXG @Robot99). Sometimes it's just relaxing to play a really well made normal difficulty traditional mario game.
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - I've finally started on the flower quests which require permanent visitors. The fact that the game hid so many flower plots all over the island is kind of impressive.
• Picross LogiartGrimoire - Back to Picross. The second DLC has a lot of good puzzles.
• Tetris 99 - Playing the event. There are no new themes, but it's a good excuse to play a little anyways.

Edit: I enjoy the fact that Mario Maker 2 is ranked high in the poll this week, 6 years in. Maybe the upcoming anniversary is giving people Mario fever. I notice Odyssey and some other old Mario games surprisingly high in the rankings as well.

I'm glad they're slowly adding the button remap ability to more consoles. Hopefully they'll add it to all of them.

I'm maybe a third in and really enjoying it so far. I have all the Shantae games and so far this one rates near the top. The lack of map is odd but hasn't caused any problems for me so far even though my sense of direction sucks - the game does a good job at plopping you back where you need to be most of the time.

Glad it's looking good. This is a port I have been waiting for for years.

I already own the game, but I encourage people who don't to try the demo/trial. Fun game.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Kind of in a waiting period for main quests so I am mostly trying to lure lots of vistors to move in permanenty.
• Donkey Kong Bananza - Didn't play all week but I'm hoping to have a long session this weekend and knock out another layer or two.
• Picross LogiartGrimoire - After a Picross break, back on the horse. Starting the second DLC.
• Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution - Haven't started yet but I can never resist Shantae so I snagged this on day 1. Now I can use the power of Switch 2 to play a new GBA game 😆
• Neva - Can never resist petting the dog/ mystical wolf spirit puppy.

@Morsel Welcome back to the Hello Kitty club. I'm looking forward to the big DLC in September.

Glad to see the positive reactions so far. I didn't get Mario Kart World so I'm excited to get a more unique Switch 2 racer.

Release date waiting for September Direct maybe?

It took me about 3 minutes to hate the default and change button mappings. Dig down is not a button I use that much but having jump and attack be far from each other was awful.

I wonder how many playtesters complained before they added the easy to find button remapping.

Thank you for adding Infinity Nikki; that's my number one wish.

I would definitely get Baldur's Gate 3.

I'm a little surprised Stellar Blade didn't make the list

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Well over 100 hours in and I have somehow gotten increasingly addicted. My current goal is to decorate a bunch of visitor cabins.
• Donkey Kong Bananza - Pacing myself with this game, but I have fun in each session.
• Super Mario Maker 2 - Some levels have been shared recently in the Nintendo Life forums which I've been playing.
• Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe - Super silly 3D platformer collectathon I grabbed off my backlog.
• Cassette Beasts - Bought on a good sale recently for a few bucks. It's a very interesting variant of monster collection since you yourself are sort of the monster.

Not sure about this game... I'm not a huge fan of urban environments in games and I'm very unsure about the combat - it doesn't sound great but it's hard to tell without trying it. Also not a big fan of Mega Evolution. I adored Arceus but Z-A sounds different on almost all fronts.

On the other hand... I have a Switch 1 voucher which will expire soon so I will likely buy Z-A just because I need to buy something. Hopefully it will be better than it sounds.

I definitely want Shantae but haven't decided if I will buy it immediately or wait.

This makes me more tempted to finally sub to expansion pack.

@ShieldHero copywrite is it's own issues, but is it really good for consumer choice to allow games which are actively trying to deceive the consumer?

There are a zillion vampire survival clones on the eShop and that is ok — no one is going to mix up cat survivors with vampire survivors and most of them are quite honest about what they are. Palland though? The name was chosen only to trick people into thinking this is palworld. It won't trick you as an avid follower of game news, but you're not the target. It's like having a game called Mareo Cart World and then letting some non gamer grandparents on the eShop. On top of that, games which use fake screen shots not indicative of the actual game are simply lying to the consumer. Note that this is against Nintendo's eShop rules (similar rules apply to non-game-related products sold in normal stores) but it seems to be policed very poorly. A grocery store is not allowed to sell a chicken breast as a chicken breast which is secretly just chicken skin stuffed with cabbage.

That said, if the game was not deceptively named and had an honest description and screen shots, I would have no issue with it. It would also inevitably sell less which is kind of the point.

The demo event was fun but I feel like I got what I needed out it and have no real urge to buy the full game.

I suspect the 'use two mouses at once' gimmick will be used extremely rarely on Switch 2 so I'm glad I got to try it and although it works better than I anticipated, it's also not something I would enjoy doing for a significant amount of time.

I want this but not for the price, especially since I own several of the games separately. I'm hoping for a good sale down the line.

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Donkey Kong Bananza - Hundreds of bananas collected, hundreds more to collect. It is very easy to get distracted from the actual plotline in this game.
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Stuck on some long quests so grinding a bit each day.
• Mina The Hollower (demo) - The demo is super cute and fun. Definitely getting the full game eventually.
• Drag x Drive (demo) - Planning to try this game out during the weekend demo event.
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons - According to my villagers, it has been over 3 years since I last booted up this game 👀 575 hours playtime. It has been nice to visit and remember everything but I don't think I will play much unless I eventually get expansion pack/ACNH DLC. After playing so much Hello Kitty, I was briefly confused when I couldn't jump.

@Automated_Unit_4937 I would guess either because they are waiting to do a Switch 2 update as part of the Mario 40th celebrations in September or because Mario Maker 3 is far enough along they aren't bothering with mario maker 2.

I keep forgetting to try out mouse mode in this game.

I'm really hoping all the attention means there is a sequel in the works. Great maker game concept but it's a bit limited and they decided to go for zero in-game stage discoverability for some reason. A sequel could improve things both technically if it were a Switch 2 game and community-wise.

Not expecting anything big in this one, but always fun to see the new indies.

Switch 2 games and backlog has been controlling me so I haven't played any of these, but I definitely plan to get Dear me, I was... eventually.

Still no Klonoa fixed sadly

Happy weekend and gaming everyone. This week I have been playing:

• Donkey Kong Bananza - Must... Destroy... Everything. I've been pacing myself how much I play, but loving the game still.
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Finally got to 15 best friends and opened up a ton of new quests. This game has a serious amount of lore.
• The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (demo) - Looking forward to trying this out after watching the direct.
• Tetris 99 - Loving the music in the new Donkey Kong theme.
• Donkey Kong '94 (NSO) - My current NSO game. Getting some retro DK along with modern DK

Definitely grabbing the Kirby and the Forgotten Land DLC.

@OctolingKing13 I'm thinking August Prime 4 direct and September release.

When a game Nintendo Life gave a 4/10 is the highlight game, probably not the top week for the eshop.

Dear me, I was... really intrigues me though. I may get it.

The firewood game's existence amuses me but I'm not buying it.

Has anyone here bought any of the EGGCONSOLE games? I'm always curious about those.

I guess I am in the minority for not getting Mario Kart 😝

6 million Switch 2s and only 3 million non-mario-kart software sales is interesting. So 1 and a half games per person, where the half is spread across Switch 2 editions of BotW/TotK, Welcome Tour, and various 3rd party games.

It's interesting they're going out of their way not to specify whether Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is 2025 or 2026. I assume 2026 at this point.

@Lenzo New Super Mario Bros U was the only mainline 2D Mario game on Switch for a long long time so of course it sold well (I'm not counting Mario maker since it's a semi spinoff).

6/10 for me. I'm pretty excited by Monster Hunter Stories 3. The Elliot game looked potentially interesting as well. Most of the rest I already either knew about (Warriors, Shinobi) or wasn't too excited about. Decent but it only partially filled the direct void in my heart.

This was the most exciting announcement of the direct for me. I really Enjoyed stories 2.

Fall Guys was actually one of the first games I played on Switch 2 a few weeks ago. Performance of the game never bothered me even on Switch 1 but I'll definitely try the update.