The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild is one of my all-time favourite games which is crazy considering when I bought it, I fully expected not to like it that much. I even purposely bought the physical game over digital because I thought I’d just end up selling it but I just wanted to see what the hype was about. I love the open-world aspect of the game and the fact that once you’ve completed the first area, The Great Plateau which is basically like the tutorial, you can literally go anywhere you like. There is a good storyline/main quest which is all about rescuing Princess Zelda from Hyrule Castle where she is being held captive by Ganon and the main quest takes you on a journey around the map and sees you fight (or run away from) the many monsters and bosses of the game whilst you are working your way across Hyrule all so you can free the Divine Beasts which have been corrupted. However, my favourite part of the game is exploring, collecting fruit, flowers and vegetables and making dishes that don’t just heal you but can give you extra abilities such as increased stealth or attack for a short time. I also love completing shrines so I can increase my hearts and stamina as well as completing the huge amount of side quests. It’s such an immersive game and I can’t recommend it enough if you’re looking for an open-world adventure game on the Switch. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom has also just been released which is set in the same world but without spoiling it, a lot has changed since the first game. I’m loving ToTK so far but I think you should play Breath of The Wild beforehand or at the very least get up to speed on the story before picking up Tears of The Kingdom.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Disney Dreamlight Valley is basically the new Animal Crossing: New Horizons which by the way, I do recommend but I feel like the hype and the community of Animal Crossing has died down a lot since they announced there would be no further game updates. It’s still a great game though and it’s actually my most-played game on my Switch too. Anyway, Disney Dreamlight Valley is a life sim-adventure game where you help the valley to go back to how it was before the ‘Forgetting’ and you do this by completing quests set by the many Disney and Pixar characters so they’re able to feel safe and happy in Dreamlight Valley again. You can grow your own fruit and veg, forage, mine for gems, shop, fish, cook and more. You can also decorate and furnish your home and make the valley look exactly how you want. It isn’t a fully released game but there’s already loads of content to keep you busy and they add new content every couple of months as well. New content can include anything from new characters, realms, things to collect, a new Starpath and more and they usually add a decent amount of new things each update. You can also buy this game on PC and other consoles but I really like playing it on my Switch as it’s just a nice chilled game.
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey was one of the first games I got on the Nintendo Switch and it’s my favourite Super Mario game of all time. It’s an open-world sandbox-style game and once again you are tasked to save Princess Peach from Bowser and stop his wedding plans to her. This time Mario has a friend, his cap called Cappy to help him along the way and the main objective of the game is to collect the moons which are scattered around each of the Kingdoms in order to power up the Airship so that you can travel around the map in the footsteps of Bowser. Each Kingdom is completely different to the last and there are little secrets and sometimes even mini-games in each kingdom as well. You also collect coins in order to boost your hearts and you can collect costumes at each Kingdom’s store too.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is one of my favourite games, I still can’t believe that it was made by just one person and the fact that it’s still so cheap to buy on the eShop. I love the freedom you have in the game to build up your farm that has been left to you by your late grandfather like most farming sim games. There’s no real tutorial with Stardew Valley, it just kind of throws you in and you learn along the way but you’ll probably need to Google things to help you too. You can plant crops, fish, make food, build relationships with the locals, visit the mine and more. It’s just a super cosy, chill game and it’s got such a good soundtrack as well. I’ve put many hours into Stardew Valley and I’ve still not 100%-ed the game because there’s so much to do. I know you can buy it on other consoles and you can pick it up on PC where you can mod the game but I just think it’s perfect for the Switch.
Ring Fit Adventure
Ring Fit Adventure is hands down the best exercise-based game on the Switch. It’s an RPG-style game but instead of using your controller to defeat the enemies you use exercise moves. It comes with a copy of the game, the Ring-Con also a leg strap and it’s best played on a TV although you could technically play it in table-top mode too. The main storyline or ‘adventure mode’ as they call it has over 100 levels and 23 worlds and is all about defeating bad guy Dragaux and throughout each of the levels you have to defeat mini monsters by performing exercise moves such as squats, overhead presses, yoga moves, lunges and more and the further you get in the game the longer the levels are and/or more exercises or enemies you’re given. In the beginning, there are not many exercise moves to choose from for the mini monster battles but you ‘collect’ more exercise moves the more you play as you gain experience points. If a monster is red then it’s best to choose an exercise move that is in red as it will help defeat it quicker (but it’s up to you really) and you can also bypass an exercise if you're struggling by using the buttons on the JoyCon in the Ring-Con which is great from an accessible point of view as well. There are three different difficulty modes to choose from and because you have to unlock the various areas in each world, collect the coins and other helpful items and then beat the main boss at the end of each world, I feel like it makes it really motivating and fun. Away from the adventure mode, you can also create your own workouts focusing on whichever area of the body you want or you can just put together your favourite/most accessible workouts, there’s also a mini-game section such as Crate Crasher, Squaterry Wheel, Robo-Wrecker and more which you can add into your own workout playlist too. There’s so much content in the game and if you’re looking to do some at-home exercise that actually feels like it’s working then I would definitely recommend picking it up. Also just a side note, you don’t have to jog on the spot throughout every world as there is a ‘silent mode’ option which is for people living in apartments and such. So you can just do mini squats or walk fast to make your character move and as someone with chronic pain, I find using the silent mode a lot easier on my body and it's still technically exercise.
Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
If you’re looking for a racing game then Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best on the Switch but I do think considering it is technically a 9-year-old game it is expensive so if you can it on offer or even second hand on eBay for a cheaper price then I would go down that route. It is a really fun game and it’s best played when you’re playing against other people either in your household or online. There’s a good array of characters, carts and tracks you can race in and there’s also the Booster Course Pass which is basically an expansion pack you can buy to add new courses. However, if you’re looking for something cheaper then there’s also Crash Tag Team Racing which I’ve heard is also a good racing game but I’ve not played it myself so I can’t say from my own experience but it’s around £20 cheaper than Mario Kart.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a single-player, open-world adventure game. It starts off with your character shipwrecked on an island and the citizens of the island need your help to remove the ‘Murk’ across the island of Gemea. The map kind of reminds me of Zelda: Breath of The Wild in a way but there are no enemies or threats in the game which is ideal if you're not a fan of combat in games. You can mine, fish, harvest and collect items and also befriend wild animals that you can have on your farm. Each section of the map has objectives and quests for you to complete and it tells you how far along you are in each area. To unlock more areas of the map to explore you have to remove the ‘Murk’ and you do this by collecting Sprites and each area will require a certain amount of Sprites. You can also use the travel statues once you unlock them to help you travel around the map faster. Overall, it’s a cute adventure game with a decent amount of hours of gameplay if you want to 100% complete the game. It tends to be on offer on the eShop and if you’re in the UK, you can pick it up from Argos for just £11.99.
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