Hello! It’s Trey from NintenDomain Podcast! Back again to give my top 5
Nintendo Switch games of the year! The year 2020 was a total burning trash heap of
a year. A lot of us lost our jobs and got stuck at home with nothing to do but
Doomscroll and hope our savings hold out til it becomes safe again. Thankfully
games were still coming out as the world burned around us. These are my top 5
favorite games for Nintendo Switch that helped distract me from our impending
doom.
5. Billion Road
After my wife and I lost our jobs due to Covid-19, we found that we had a lot
of free time together at home and needed a new addictive multiplayer game to keep
us sane. Billion Road became exactly that for us. What if you took Mario Party and
added Japanese Locations, Monster Attacks, Monster Companions, and businesses
you can own? That is Billion Road. The basis of the game is instead of a few different
maps, you have one giant map and that map is Japan. You and 3 other players race
across the map to get to a specific point chosen at random. You get 100,00 yen to
start with and you do everything you can to maximize your net worth. Look out for
when Kaiju attack! Send your personal monsters out to do maximum damage and
defend your properties! In a world and time where money is hard to come by, this
game is the perfect escapism!
4. Project Warlock
When my mom first got us a computer back in 1993, the first thing my
friends did was bring me a box of floppy discs with Wolfenstein, Doom, and all of the
freeware first person shooter knock offs. I was hooked. Project Warlock brings back
that style of game. It is the best pixel shooter I’ve played since Doom 64. So what
separates this from all the other retro first person shooters on the Nintendo Eshop
(there are a lot more than you think)? Well this one has gone above and beyond all
of the others. I was so amazed by the amount of effort put into this one. The game
has a total of 59 levels set across 5 different locations and each location has different
enemies and different power up icons. Also there is a different song for every single
level of the game! The most genius thing they did in the game was to make any door
that you open always stay open. So if you get lost you automatically know whether
you have visited the area before if the doors are open. I can’t believe no one thought
of this before. Also the sprite design and animations are some of the best that I have
seen in a very long time. This game is the perfect thing to keep you warm in the
desolate days ahead.
3. A Short Hike
A Short Hike was what I consider to be a perfect game through and through.
The controls are excellent, the objective is simple yet easy to get distracted doing
other things, and the characters are super charming and well written. The basic
objective is to get to the top of the mountain. I found myself doing much more than
the main objective just to help out these adorable little critters. Also this game
brought me something that I never knew I needed, DS Nostalgia. The graphics make
you feel like you are playing a game that was released in 2005! You can even adjust
the amount of pixilation in case you want it to look even more retro. It’s one of those
games that makes you want to keep playing and playing it to 100% way after the
main objective is completed! It’s cheap too!
2. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
I’m embarrassed to admit it but I missed out on Xenoblade Chronicles the
first time around. This genius modern jrpg graced the dying Wii in it’s twilight years
and at this time I had moved on. Also it was a Gamestop exclusive and hella
expensive. I ended up purchasing it later when it was rereleased as Xenoblade
Chronicles 3D on the “NEW” Nintendo 3DS. After playing a few hours of it I realized I
had made the wrong decision. Xenoblade was a beautiful game with gigantic
locations and gorgeous backdrops. It needed to be played on a big screen. I was so
excited to get it when it was announced on a direct as Xenoblade Chronicles
Definitive Edition. They didn’t skimp on this remake. They redid all of the designs of
the characters from the ground up making the characters much more life like. They
also added exclamation points on the map to make the side missions less
complicated. No longer do you have to memorize where the Bionis Knee Bunnit is,
the map will now show it to you. They added a 10 hour epilogue to the game as well
that you can start at any time. This game is excellent and one of my all time favorite
RPGs for switch and beyond!
1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the savior we wanted in a time that we
absolutely needed it. Animal Crossing broke barriers, it made people who had fallen
out of gaming or never played video games pick up a Switch. It was the ultimate
escapism. Tired of looking at the Covid deaths on your phone? Escape to a tropical
island where the Animal native aren’t racist and won’t call you a sheep for wearing a
mask to protect yourself. Animal Crossing New Horizons was the utopia I escaped to
day after day. Lost your job in real life? Sell fruits to pay off your debts in Animal
Crossing. For most people it was the world that we could make work when the real
one had turned it’s back on us. Also 500 hours and 9 months later, I’m still turning it
on at least once a week to catch the seasonal bugs and collect DIYs for the latest
Holiday. In a time where loot boxes run rampant and free to play games can cost you
hundreds of dollars, Animal Crossing is truly a blessing. Not to mention that K.K.
Slider is a wonder to behold with crooning that can put any tik-toker in their place.
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