The Witcher 3 has been released on just about every relevant platform. However, its release on the Switch is remarkable, as the Switch's technical capabilities are simply not enough for such technically complex games. The Witcher 3 proves it can be done and demonstrates that a substantial open-world game can work perfectly on the Nintendo Switch's "small" screen.

This game has won numerous awards, and for good reason. The Witcher is a long-running series with a deep story, a technical highlight, and a true masterpiece in terms of connections and gameplay. Beautiful stories in a vast world. Geralt is a wonderful character in a mature world with mature themes like murder, sex, and bribery. All of this is wrapped in a fairytale world filled with demons and other scum. Geralt is a monster hunter who, in a war-torn world, finds himself in a violent battle with the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt consists of an evil group of demons who want to plunge the world into complete darkness. Furthermore, the battle takes place between the Northern Kingdoms and Nilfgaard. Geralt isn't entirely clean either and is haunted by his past.

It's worth mentioning that the Witcher 3 port is impressive, but also visibly challenging. The game has suffered significant graphical setbacks compared to more technically powerful devices. When playing this game in handheld mode, the resolution is only 540p, which is exceptionally low. The same applies to the framerate. While 30 frames per second is still acceptable, Witcher 3 runs at a mere 25 frames per second. Nevertheless, you're immersed in everything, and it's the world and its accompanying stories that truly matter. And the entire world is present, including a large amount of DLC. Shortcomings are most noticeable when you're trying to pick up the pace yourself, for example, when riding a horse, where monsters or characters sometimes take a while to load. Beyond this, Novigrad is incredibly vibrant. The game remains one of the most impressive on the Nintendo Switch.

If you have the opportunity to play this powerful game elsewhere, we recommend it. If not, the Nintendo Switch version is an excellent way to experience this stunning adventure. Despite all its shortcomings, this is a fantastic and brilliant game. Once you choose this edition, you'll be stuck with it for months. You're literally buying hundreds and hundreds of hours of gameplay. If you've already finished the game and only want the DLC, luckily that's possible too, by starting immediately with the fantastic expansions. These too are time-consuming, but offer a rewarding experience. Hearts of Stone will easily take ten hours, and Blood and Wine will take at least 30 hours thanks to its completely new world.

How you choose to experience The Witcher III isn't the issue, but it is important that everyone should play it. Truly one of the best games of the decade.

Splatoon 2 arrived shortly after the Nintendo Switch's launch and offered the game just the refresh it needed to a much larger and new audience. No one was even considering the third installment. However, Nintendo decided otherwise and released the third installment in 2022.

Splatoon is a team-based shooter where the goal is to use paint to make a difference. Kills aren't the deciding factor, but the extent to which the world and your opponents display the color of paint your team sprays is. You do this with paintball guns, but also with paintbrushes, paint cans, paint rollers, bows and arrows, and countless other weapons. You control an Inkling or an Octoling. You can run through anything coated with your paint at lightning speed, or dive into it by transforming into a squid. This diving also provides new ammunition. Your opponent, on the other hand, is hindered by your paint and therefore slows down. This system results in a number of clever and cool tactics. You can play defense and slowly expand your territory, or—Rambo-style—blast through the area searching for your enemy and surrounding them with your paint. Hit an opponent, and they're temporarily out of the game. Weapons support various tactics; with a roller, you can quickly paint as much of the map as possible, making room for your teammates. Part three added some new weapons, such as Splatana (correct, it's a sword), which is perfect for close-range takedowns. A bow has also been added, which can fire multiple paint arrows simultaneously. These arrows explode. Of course, there are also new maps, new bosses in Salmon Run, and a bunch of new ultimates.

If you're tired of playing as a team, you can always try the story mode. This installment is brimming with creativity and is definitely worth it. If you're not a Splatoon expert, you'll barely notice the difference with Splatoon 2. Is that a bad thing? The third installment is actually more Splatoon, and that's perfectly fine. In fact, there are few games as fun to play as Splatoon.

Hey, there just has to be a good 2D Mario platformer on a Nintendo console's top list. For the Nintendo Switch, that's this game. And what a game! It sometimes feels like Mario on drugs. It's clear that Team Nintendo has gone all out.

Many gamers, as well as professional platformers, were already complaining that the New Mario series was starting to feel a bit dull. They've addressed this, and Mario Wonder is the most colorful, innovative, and cheerful Mario game ever. The new miracle flowers provide the aforementioned drug trip. These flowers aren't found in the Mushroom Kingdom, but in the Flower Kingdom. This Flower Kingdom is in danger of collapse, and it's up to Mario to traverse seven worlds to prevent that destruction.

Mario Wonder is aptly named. Every level in this game is a little wonder. The color pops off the screen, the flowers encourage you, the power-ups are insane (ever turned into an elephant? Now you have...), and every level is packed with secrets. You can't just find those secrets; you need to have complete control over Mario, and especially his power-ups, and a keen eye for the (im)possibilities of the environment. Each time you complete a level, you receive a Wonder Star. You need Wonder Stars to unlock the final level in a world. If you don't feel like tackling a difficult level, you can choose an easy one. Mario Wonder shows you the difficulty level beforehand.

The animations in this game are on par with the movie. When Mario crawls into a tube, he quickly grabs his hat. When he leaves the tube, you see him looking around and checking if the environment is safe. Transformations aren't instantaneous either, but very natural. Eating an elephant apple is smooth, and the transformation is substantial. You can really feel your character getting heavier. Elephant Mario has a trunk that can be used as a weapon, but also as a hose to store water and then use it further down the line to, for example, reach higher ground. The wonder flowers provide a real trip and are unique to each level. Sometimes an angry herd suddenly rushes towards you, sometimes a tube transforms into a moving worm, sometimes a huge number of air bubbles, rockets, and so on appear. You can be sure that a level will be significantly modified if you find a wonder flower.

If you've managed to complete all the worlds, there are bonus worlds that will really demand all your skills and abilities to complete. These challenges are fantastic. Mario Wonder is a breath of fresh air and is packed with innovations. The beautiful graphics and abundance of secrets provide the innovation Mario needed. Highly recommended for literally everyone.

Conquer that mountain and defeat your bogeymen

Do you like platformers? Then this isn't a recommended game, but a must-play. Celeste is a must-play classic. It's not just challenging, but also gives you food for thought.

Celeste is unique because of its combination of challenging gameplay, an emotional story, and themes that address mental health issues like anxiety and depression honestly and realistically. The tight controls and creative level design create an immersive experience, while the accessible Assist Mode and narrative elements of self-forgiveness make the game understandable and playable for a wide audience. The tight controls are also essential for making the desired combinations and collecting the coveted strawberries. You use precise jumps and dashes to achieve this. Besides the tight platforming, Celeste is also an excellent puzzle game. You have to carefully consider the actions you need to take in each room to escape alive. If you don't manage to find that tricky strawberry, you can always go back and try again. Besides convenience, this also gives you tactical choices: do I go for 100%, or do I finish this level as quickly as possible to continue the impressive story and come back later?

Make no mistake, Celeste is incredibly challenging. While we initially went for 100%, we had to adjust our tactics just to finish the game. Respawn, however, is incredibly fast. So if you lose, you're back in the game in a second. That makes it much easier to make a hundred attempts to land that perfect jump/combination. Along the way, you also learn new mechanics that allow you to approach things differently (wave dash is one example).

The story of Madeline, who climbs a mountain while battling her own anxiety and depression, hits home and stays there. It's absurdly impressive how a game can evoke so much emotion with so little dialogue. This is literally a game you'll never forget.

A refreshing new Pokémon game

The Nintendo Switch has welcomed several Pokémon games, from Pokémon Let's Go, a remake of the very first installment, to Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Each installment has its pros and cons. Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn't a main game, so the developers dared to adjust quite a few elements. And these significant changes have surprisingly well-integrated into this game. The game is especially enjoyable because of its innovative gameplay, such as the open world, the ability to catch Pokémon in nature, and the revamped battle system with Alpha Pokémon. The nostalgic storyline that harks back to an older version of Sinnoh (Hisui) and the blend of catching/battling and exploring is also a nice mix that yields positives.

Catching Pokémon is much more satisfying than the old-fashioned setup. This is because you can now catch Pokémon directly without battling them with a well-thrown Pokéball. If you do end up battling, there are new styles like strong and agile. Then there are the Alpha Pokémon, which are exceptionally strong. You have to choose whether or not to avoid these giants. If you want to catch a Pokémon in the wild, you can try to remain unseen by crouching closer in the grass, and sometimes you have to quickly roll out of the way of aggressive monsters that attack you. This makes catching Pokémon much more interactive and "real." At times, the game even reminds you of the freedom of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The story of this game unfolds nicely. The characters have depth, and other characters like Professor Laventon, Adaman, Irida, and Rei/Akari are also great characters who contribute greatly to the game.

The Pokémon series on the Nintendo Switch really relies on its gameplay, as almost all of them are hideous, lack voice acting, and suffer from performance issues. Legends Arceus also suffers from this. The graphics are subpar. You can count the serrations, and the ground textures look like they've been lifted straight from 2001. If you can see past that, then Arceus is the coolest Pokémon of the past ten years.