This fifth year of Switch has been better in some ways than the previous year, but for me there have been very few standout releases across it. If you’ve read my Looking Back at 2021 article, you’ll know that plenty of the big releases I was excited to get into I’ve not really been invested in for one reason or another.
Monster Hunter Rise brought the World formula to the Switch in a great new game. Miitopia saw the quirky RPG get a second lease of life. The chance to run through Skyward Sword has been great, but I keep getting put off by the controls – so it’s months between progression. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only new release I’ve really been invested in are the Pokémon games.
I’ve been interested in giving Pokémon Snap a try for many years, and then along comes a new one. One that keeps the core the same while updating the graphics for the modern age with some new locations to visit. I was a bit apprehensive about it being on-rails, since I really like the freedom to position the camera exactly how I want to get shots. I certainly got into it despite that, though.
As for those of the core series, replaying Pearl with the remake while live on Twitch was a lot of fun. Still haven’t beaten the league… as I got too drawn into Legends: Arceus. This evolution of the core formula has me hooked. The open nature of the game is what Pokémon should really be. Exploring the world and encountering the critters of it as you want. Pushing what Legends: Arceus gave us is what I want to see from Generation Nine.
Running down everything else in the order I got them, I bought YouTuber’s Life at the beginning of March, since I wanted to satisfy the want of that type of game on Switch. It was fun, yet frustrating. Occasional glitches and crashes mired the experience, and eventually it became more frustrating than fun. At the end of the month, I bought Littlewood – which is a game I’d played when it was Early Access on Steam. It was still as fun as ever.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town I had felt unsure of. I was still invested in the remake of Friends of Mineral Town, so wasn’t fully dedicating myself to this new one. Once I’d abandoned that previous, I came to enjoy the new one a lot more, but it still felt as though it was missing something. I think Harvest Moon DS just had too much of an impact on me that nothing will come close to replicating such an experience.
Ubisoft announced a new Mario + Rabbids game in June, so I decided it was finally time to see what the first game was about. Helps that it was also on sale. Having done the first world, I had enjoyed it. The strategy gameplay was easy to get into, with the battles presenting a good challenge even with it being the first world. That boss battle was a fun one, too. Eventually I’ll get around to the rest of it in time for the new game’s release.
I might not be all that good at golf, but I still enjoy it. As such, getting Mario Golf: Super Rush seemed an easy choice. And enjoy it I did. I would often be playing of a night before bed. Just one or two courses each time. A very nice, relaxing game for such an occasion. Of course, I’d always be playing in Speed Golf mode, just to enjoy strolling across the courses as I played on them.
Kairosoft might have a hook on putting their brand of business management onto whatever theme they can, but there’s no denying the formula they present is a fun one. As such, I found myself with three of their games in this fifth year of Switch. Shiny Ski Resort allowed me to manage a ski resort, building the place where budding sporting enthusiasts would come to hit the slopes, and the relax afterward. The second I found myself with was Dream House Days DX, which worked less well.
See, the idea behind Kairosoft games is building up numbers with what you place, finding combos to increase those numbers. Such a system feels it goes against the idea of managing a housing estate. You feel you should provide everything for these people, but doing so means their rent is so high you’ll barely get any money from them to start with. Once I changed tack, it became more enjoyable, but I was still prone to falling back to my old way of thinking with it. The third I’ll talk of later, since it’s a recent purchase. And I mean recent.
Between the two were Haven Park and Rush Rally Origins. Haven Park offered a small journey of discovery around a nature-based holiday resort, which I enjoyed a lot. Rush Rally Origins was a back-to-basics top-down racer that had me enjoying such a game for the first time thanks to its behind-the-car overhead view.
A new Cruis’n on the Switch was a surprise, and one I wanted to enjoy. Blast was pure, arcade thrills on a portable. I spent quite a bit of time making sure I had everything unlocked to try all those vehicles out, and it really is something to see a triceratops running among cars. The locations on offer were varied, if few, with the theming of each cup making sure that despite a reuse of routes there was something new to see.
Off The Road Unleashed was something I had considered before, but had eventually opted for Crash Drive 3 on the Xbox. So from a recommendation by jawa of GRcade, I found myself with this one, too. And I loved it. It satisfied the exploration I love with an open world experience, giving things to find and events to take part in across five maps. So far I’ve only visited three of those locations, since I’m taking my time with things and seeing as much as I can of what they offer.
What should have been a great celebration was mired with how the Trilogy had been handled. It was GTA on the Switch. In fact, mainline GTA on any Nintendo system. But with terrible performance and awful motion blur, playing through Vice City and San Andreas wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be. Recent updates have fixed most of the issues I have with the games, so at some point I will definitely be returning to them.
Epic Chef I’d had my eye on since announcement, as the idea of a Farm Story styled game centred around cooking contests held interest for me. The humour was on-point from the moment I started, and it certainly held my attention as I became more than the weirdo who’d moved into the haunted house.
911 Operator seemed a simple one. Be an emergency services call centre operator, responding to everything that comes in. But reports come fast, and it becomes a game of prioritisation as you manage your task force to those reports. It’s a very quick-paced game, listening in on the phone calls you get while also dealing with other reports, and certainly manages to get you a bit stressed with wanting to make the right decisions.
Truck and Logistics Simulator was the first game of 2022 that I bought. I’d been waiting for most of 2021 for it to go on sale, and finally decided there was no point waiting. I held out, hoping that maybe it would be on the New Year sales, but no luck. So I bought it and enjoyed the simple gameplay loop that it provided. Just being on the open road in one of my vehicles hauling goods around with not a care in the world (except the randomness of the AI) is a lot of fun.
Gear.Club Unlimited had a massive sale going for it, so I had to buy it to add another racer to my Switch library. I was immediately happy that the very first car it allowed me to drive was a Mini. With arcade styled driving physics that feel very loose at times, it can be a bit difficult to get into, but I guess that’s on me for disabling all the assists from the off.
Another game that saw a massive sale was Urban Flow, bought two days back. Control the lights to direct the traffic and make sure no crashes happen. Simple enough? Oh, not at all. Some are easy enough, with only two directions for the traffic to be going, but then you get levels with multiple areas of focus. Throw in other things to be aware of, such as tanks that will not stop even if there’s traffic in their way, making three stars on all levels a challenge I’m more than happy to take up.
And then – yesterday, the third of the Kairosoft games I’ve bought this year of Switch. 8-Bit Farm sees you managing a farm that’s open to the public, using the same combo system in all their games to manage how those guests react to your farm. It’s an enjoyable theme, with festivals bringing the addition of minigames to play, such as a matching puzzle game.
There was a lot I’ve been experiencing with the Switch’s fifth year, then. But the sixth… that is looking to be full of some big hitters. Already we’ve got a new Kirby arriving this month, a new Splatoon, Switch Sports, and the return of Advance Wars. Not to mention the multi-platform releases such as LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. If any year were to match 2017, it would be this one coming. I’m certain of it.
Images Taken From:
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Original Screenshot)
Mario Golf: Super Rush (Original Screenshot)
Cruis’n Blast (Original Screenshot)
Truck and Logistics Simulator (Original Screenshot)
