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GamingNintendoNintendo SwitchNintendo Games

What are the best games for the Nintendo Switch where choices matter?

9

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Considered

17

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Recs.

Apr 15, 2021

Last
Updated

9 Games Considered

Best games for the Nintendo Switch where choices matter	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings	$59.99	Role-Playing	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, PlayStation Vita
-- Moon Hunters	$14.99	Action Role-Playing, Roguelike	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Linux, macOS
-- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	$59.99	Fantasy Role-Playing	Windows, Xbox, PS, Nintendo Switch
-- Undertale	$9.99	Role-Playing	Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Linux, macOS
-- Amoeba Battle	$14.99	-	-

Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings

Top Pro

Creative concept of entering paintings to explore new worlds

The many fantasy-like worlds you explore through the mysterious paintings are very pretty and whimsical. Going into the paintings themselves is fascinating since it's something you don't get to do in real life, and you get to learn more about Lydie and Suelle as you go along. Gathering resources and fighting monsters while surrounded by waterfalls and flowery forests helps keep the gameplay from getting too repetitive or stale. All of this adds a more magical feel to the game's more ordinary slice-of-life sections. See More

Top Con

No English voices even though previous Atelier games included them

For some reason, Atelier Lydie & Suelle doesn't have an English dub and just has the original Japanese voices with English subtitles. There's nothing wrong with only having the Japanese option, but it's really weird considering the other Atelier games in the West have English voice acting. New players don't have much to worry about here unless you can't stand having to read subtitles. If you're a fan of the series and you're used to the English dub, you might be thrown off by the change. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

Charming and colorful anime art style

The art style is has many bright colors and well-drawn characters. Everyone has all sorts of colorful hairstyles, eyes, and outfits like pink, blue, and crimson that aren't too over-the-top. Their eyes have cool swirls for pupils, their skin tones are radiant, and every character has a bright and lovely smile. This is a beautiful anime style that looks good in the 3D cel-shaded graphics and the 2D cutscenes with still art that are more like a visual novel. See More

Top Con

You won't find a sprawling narrative here like in most RPGs

The stories in the Atelier games are more about everyday life mixed in with whimsical fantasy. This isn't the kind of RPG with the type of layered, rich story with dramatic twists and turns that you'd expect from the genre. If you want a heavier narrative with more to say, you won't get that with this game. See More

Top Pro

Slice-of-life story and gameplay that's relaxing and laid-back

There's a sweet simplicity to the story and gameplay that focuses more on everyday life. Playing as the two twins, Lydie and Suelle, you're mainly trying to make ends meet and become the best possible alchemists you can be. You pass the days at your own pace as you take on jobs from the townspeople, leading you to explore the worlds inside of paintings, gather materials, and craft those materials into items through alchemy. It's nice that this game lets you kick back and relax with a more low-stakes story and simplistic gameplay. See More

Top Con

Graphics for environments aren't that great

The visuals for the environments don't hold up to how pretty the cel-shaded graphics are. The textures are low-quality with jaggies sticking out. It's not so bad on the PC version and the PlayStation 4; things are much more obvious on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita. There are also some invisible walls that cut you off in places like open arches leading to shops, making the maps feel a lot smaller. If you can handle limited maps with so-so graphics, then these problems aren't that big of a deal in the long run. See More

Top Pro

Engaging gathering and crafting system with alchemy as the game's main focus

Atelier Lydie & Suelle focuses on gathering materials and synthesizing them into alchemy formulas as the main mechanics. You can lose yourself in the game for hours as you explore the fantasy-like levels, picking up resources from bushes, hacking away at trees, or mining them from rocks. You can take as long you want to gather the stuff you need before going back home to your alchemy lab, or your atelier. The puzzle-like 4x4 crafting grid has a neat strategy in how you can make the most out of your ingredients. If you just put your ingredients wherever on the grid, you'll end up with a bad product. Arranging your ingredients together in certain ways on the grid boosts the end product's effects, like putting them near green squares to improve your product's healing effect, which improves the item's overall quality. Going for quality gives you more experience points to level up and more money from the jobs you take on. Taking your time to gather the materials you need and synthesizing them into the best possible items pays off in the end. See More

Top Con

Not for people who hate repetitive busywork

If you can't stand doing the same things over and over again in games, then Atelier Lydie & Suelle probably isn't for you. The whole game is about exploring maps to gather materials and then crafting those materials into something useful through alchemy. There are some turn-based battles thrown in, but these more or less take a backseat to the alchemy mechanics. The heavy focus on gathering and crafting can end up feeling like busywork, turning the game into a drag for players who hate that kind of thing. See More

Top Pro

Solid turn-based combat that's welcoming to beginners

Atelier Lydie & Suelle's combat is simple enough for beginners who want to try out a turn-based JRPG. The interface is clean with basic commands for attacking and using skills, magic, and items. It's easy to get the hang of when to go on offense while your health is high, and when to switch to healing when your health starts to get low. The combat doesn't overwhelm you with complicated tutorials or mechanics, staying at a beginner's level with some room to grow down the line. This is a really good choice to start with if you want to get into turn-based combat before moving onto other games. See More

Moon Hunters

Top Pro

Soundtrack is excellent

The music ranges from mysterious during exploration to a panicked beat during combat. Beautiful, soothing melodies with haunting vocals play during more emotional moments. All of the tracks in the game fit the area or experience they are made for, and do a great job of conveying the mood. Sometimes when you encounter a specific character or make a specific dialogue choice, the music will change based on the mood you just invoked. The soundtrack was so heavily beloved and requested, that it's sold as a standalone. See More

Top Con

Camera can skip around in local co-op

Sometimes during local co-op, the camera seems to jump around at times as it isn't quite sure where it's supposed to be when there are multiple players on the screen. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Roguelike

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Local

Top Pro

Gorgeous art style will draw you in

Visually, the game just looks fantastic. The graphics are crisp, clean, and have a hand drawn feel - oftentimes resembling a colorful painting. Everything has a very polished smooth feel to it, without jagged edges. There's a great use of color in the tilesets. The color ramping is handled incredibly well, especially in the shades of green in the grass. From forests with spanning mountain vista backgrounds to a fiery wasteland with crags and volcanoes, each map has a stunning level of detail to help bring you into the game world. See More

Top Con

Ranged classes are overpowered

Some classes like Druids and Mages are way too powerful because of their ranged attacks and AoE crowd control that can lock down an entire group of enemies from across the map. It can often feel like ranged has a distinct advantage due to having more control over enemy placement, whereas melee is a bit more difficult to play. See More

Top Pro

Choices are actually meaningful

This game constantly gives you interesting choices that influence gameplay. Based on the unique choices you make, your character gains certain personality traits such as proud, greedy, vengeful, and many more. Depending on which traits you earn in your playthrough, different quests and character interactions become available. For example, if you're really brave, certain other NPCs might give you an extra quest. If you're greedy, they may not want anything to do with you. When vengeful, they may request you to carry out a kill for them. Sometimes bosses can even be seduced instead of killed if your choices in the game led you to earn the seduction trait. See More

Top Pro

Upgrades are super rewarding and provide instant gratification

Since runs aren't very long, gear is immediately rewarding to cram as much power as possible into a short play session. Instead of loot just being a simple increase in stats, your power will sometimes double instantly. When you equip something new, you can immediately feel the difference in your character's power level, always making it a rewarding experience to get an upgrade. See More

Top Pro

Great for bite sized gaming sessions

Each playthrough from start to finish is designed to be completed in an hour or two. See More

Top Pro

A new experience each time you play

The overworld, levels, and vendors are randomly generated each playthrough which means you'll always be able to explore new maps or find new quests. As you play, you can also unlock different classes, personality traits, recipes, and skills which all contribute to trying something different in your next run. For example, you might learn the ability to talk to animals, so in all your future runs you can now converse with animals which could open potential new quests and interactions. You may even an unlock a new class which provides a whole fresh set of spells and abilities. See More

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Top Pro

Deep lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

Skyrim inherits the stories and world-building of The Elder Scrolls series, which stretches back 20 years. It has numerous stories surrounding the various races (orcs, elves, lizardmen, demons, etc.), mythical beasts, gods, cataclysmic events, parallel worlds, and just about any fantasy trope you could think off. What's even better you can read the lore in books found in-game, allowing you to immerse yourself for countless hours. See More

Top Con

Forgetful NPCs can break immersion

After completing certain story quests NPCs get new lines added to their dialogue based on your decisions. Sometimes the NPCs might become forgetful and return to their default dialogue, which can break immersion, especially if they talk about an event that's been long resolved. See More

Specs

Genre:Fantasy Role-Playing

Top Pro

Unrestrictive skill-based RPG system

Skyrim has no set character classes or equipment/spell limitations. Instead, it allows you to form your own class based on how you decide to play. For example, sneaking increases your sneaking skill, hitting an enemy with a shortsword increases your one-handed skill, taking damage while wearing leather armor increases your light armor skill, and so forth. You can you play however you want and the resulting character will be a perfect match for your playstyle, giving Skyrim a different feel from other RPGs. See More

Top Con

Combat is too simple

Most of the time you can just whack an enemy until it dies and it involves very little strategy or planning to succeed. For example, targeting specific body parts doesn't deal extra damage, nor can you cripple an enemy. There are no vulnerabilities, so you can't set furry forest animals ablaze easier than humans. The enemies also lack any real variation in how they attempt to fight you – they just run at you swinging wildly or attack you from afar. Because of this the combat is very one-dimensional and can start feeling like a chore after a while. Luckily most of the combat issues can be fixed with mods, allowing you to enjoy a more varied and deeper combat experience. See More

Undertale

Top Pro

Many interesting secrets to find

There are many secrets to discover in the game, like hidden mechanics that might take you by surprise. It may take a couple of playthroughs to find them all, but once you do, it may completely change how you see the story, the characters, and a lot more. There's a lot more to Undertale beneath its simple-looking surface. See More

Top Con

Replaying can be a chore

The first time going through the game it's a nice experience, especially when you know nothing about the characters, story, mechanics, etc.. By your next playthrough, you already know all the jokes and plot points. Even when taking a new route, it can take a while for you to notice anything different from one playthrough to the next, making things feel like a drag. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Role-Playing

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Your choices lead you down different story paths

Depending on your choices, your playthrough can change in drastic ways. If you don't want to kill enemies in battle, you can choose to have a dialog with them instead. Doing this consistently is basically a pacifist playthrough where you don't kill anyone, and characters respond to you in certain ways based on that. Or you can go for a genocide playthrough, which is basically what it sounds like, where you kill everyone you come across whenever you get the chance. This can have serious consequences, since the game does its best to make you feel bad about this approach, by having certain characters hate you. It's an interesting way to get to see the world and story from different angles. See More

Top Con

The visuals could be better

Much of the game is plain-looking with simple graphics, but sometimes the visuals are just awful. The pixel art can be charming for some players, though it's hard to ignore when certain areas are barren or have ugly textures. It's notable that a single person created the whole game; it would have been nice if they'd had more time or resources to clean up some of the visual problems. See More

Top Pro

Incredible soundtrack

Just like the simple but pleasant graphics in the game, the music matches this with a retro-sounding score that fits right in with the art style. There are a lot of catchy tunes that only use a few sounds to make up memorable songs. The simplicity really adds to the charm, with some of the songs easily able to get stuck in your head for days at a time. It's nostalgic enough for older gamers who grew up in the early eras of gaming, while still having enough to pull in newer gamers who aren't as familiar with games from the 1980s and 90s. There's something here for everyone. See More

Top Pro

Amazing characters

The characters in the game are written well, each with their own unique personalities. Some may be too shy, and will lower their hit points when you attack them in battle, just to avoid offending you. Others are deeply caring and do their best to help and protect their friends and family, including you as the player. Many of the characters are quite funny in their dialog and the unexpected choices they make throughout the story, including the ways they react to your choices. Almost every character is incredibly memorable and enjoyable to get to know better. See More

Amoeba Battle

L.A. Noire

Top Pro

Interrogating witnesses and suspects is a fun challenge

During investigations, you interrogate suspects in a cool, interactive way. After collecting clues, you use your notebook to decide which questions to ask witnesses and suspects. You read their facial expressions, body language, and their tone of voice to judge if they're telling the truth or not. Using your instincts to guess correctly gets the person to open up more, giving you the information you need. If you get it wrong, they shut you down and you're out of luck. The technology used for facial expressions gives you a lot of leeway to truly spot the shifty-eyed or nervous liars just like in real life. See More

Top Con

Not a lot to do in the big open world

L.A. Noire's open world in Los Angeles is huge, but there isn't much to do in it. There's a bunch of space that's just there for the sake of it. Sure, you can take on really short cases as side missions that you find around the map, like taking out bad guys that are about to rob a place, though that's about all you can do. Including period piece locations like jazzy clubs or laid-back diners to visit whenever could have been a lot of fun. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Detective Action-Adventure

Top Pro

Detailed crime investigation gameplay

Investigating crime scenes is great because of the attention to detail in each mission. Looking over murder victims for patterns in their wounds, for example, gives you an idea of how or why they might have died, which you then jot down in your handy notebook that keeps track of all the information you collect. Observing tire tracks, bloody murder weapons, business cards, and even picking through trash cans leads you to new clues to find and paths to follow. It's up to you to pick out which details may or may not be important, keeping you in control of where each investigation leads. See More

Top Con

The finale is bland

After all the excitement and gritty realism in the story, the final mission and the ending are a real drag in comparison. The momentum from the plot gets sucked out at the end as you play through an uninspired and predictable sequence of events. It looks too much like the developers phoned this part in for the sake of having an ending that wraps up everything nicely. See More

Top Pro

Great story set in 1940s Los Angeles

The detective drama in L.A. Noire is creative and intriguing. Playing as an honest cop named Cole, you get to see the magnitude of crime and racial tension in Los Angeles in the years after World War II, told through the stories of the authentic cast of characters you meet. As a cop, you solve crimes and nail crooks, moving up the ladder in the police department. Each of your investigations take you all around the great rendition of the city in the 1940s, rich with the styles of cars, fashion, and music from the time period. It's a unique experience and setting that not many other games explore. See More

Top Con

No real consequences for failing to solve cases

Even if you continually mess up with the cases, you still get promoted in the police force. You could be the worst cop ever, making terrible decisions and getting yelled at by your superiors. But then in the next cutscene, your bosses tell you what a great job you did and that you're moving up to a more important department. It doesn't make any sense and gives you no reason to do your best during investigations. See More

Top Pro

Incredibly realistic facial expressions

Every single character in the game looks true-to-life because of how their faces look and move. The developers used some neat motion scanning technology to capture the voice actors' faces as they gave their lines. You get to see every wrinkle, every shift of their jaw lines, and every twitch of their mouths as they speak and emote. There's so much attention to detail that it looks like you're watching a movie with real people. It's really stunning and stands out as a great example of advancing technology in video games. See More

The Banner Saga Trilogy

Top Pro

Your choices have true consequences throughout the stories

The Banner Saga trilogy has an involved story over the course of three games where your decisions matter in the long-run. You're part of a group of soldiers traveling to eventually save the world from an encroaching darkness taking over the planet. The first two games do a great job of investing you in the plot, while leading up to the dramatic events of the third game. All three games tell a compelling story where you have to decide how all of the battles unfold, along with who lives and who dies. Certain choices you make can have some unintended consequences as well, so you always want to choose carefully before deciding. It's an overall gripping tale, showing how war can really affect people. See More

Top Con

If a party member dies in battle, it's permanent

Permadeath in battle is the main way that combat stays tense and engaging, forcing you to make the best decisions at every opportunity. But this can get draining over time. When things spiral out of your control, you can end up losing a valued party member, who's then completely axed from the main story. Depending on how important they are, this may or may not be a big deal, but it's still a significant mechanic that you need to keep an eye on as you play. See More

Specs

Genre:Turn-Based Strategy, Role-Playing

Top Pro

You can carry over your save files across all three games

There's a good incentive to play through the whole Banner Saga tale through carrying your save files over from the first and second games. Plenty of the choices you make have an impact across the trilogy. Characters who survived across games also acknowledge how far they've come, with enough character development to keep them relevant for the most part. Getting to see how your choices affect the entire trilogy adds a lot of replay to all three games, giving you the chance to tweak certain outcomes here and there whenever you decide to go back and play from the beginning. See More

Top Con

The story in the third game is short

Even though you get to carry over save files from the previous games, the story is incredibly short as a finale to the entire trilogy, lasting about ten hours or so. It's underwhelming to spend so little time piecing together all of the threads across the games. Going for a completionist run can take you about twenty hours, which is a bit better, but it's still disappointing that this third installment doesn't have more to offer. See More

Top Pro

Engaging turn-based tactical combat that plays in an isometric view

The Banner Saga games have a great combat system that's familiar to anyone who enjoys strategy RPGs. You have all of your units with the enemies on square grids, taking turns to attack, defend, and use special skills. The battles are tough enough to keep your attention, meaning you have to do your best to make the right decisions during each of your turns. And the stakes are pretty high, where deaths can result in permanently losing your party members, including missing out on any story bits that they're a part of. The isometric view keeps things classic and traditional as well, which is great for fans of the genre or players looking to get into this style of games for the first time. See More

Top Con

Combat can get overwhelming at times (The Banner Saga 3)

Much of the difficulty in this game's combat revolves around the constant wave of enemies that come after your units, one after another. You have to pace yourself when deciding to take on these waves of foes, or else you may lose too many party members and have to pay a heavy price throughout the story. You can also choose to run away, but this also has negative plot-related consequences. It can get pretty frustrating having to deal with these waves so often, especially when you end up losing valuable party members by trying to push onward. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful hand-drawn art style

The games have such a gorgeous, effortless art style that really shines during cutscenes. Even though the graphics are cartoon-like, the characters and environments look mature and full of vibrant details. It's such a distinct style that drives home how unique it is to the Banner Saga and is immediately recognizable. See More

The Banner Saga 3

Top Pro

Your choices have true consequences throughout the story

The Banner Saga 3 has an involved story where your decisions matter in the long-run. You're part of a group of soldiers traveling to save the world from an encroaching darkness taking over the planet. There's a lot of in-fighting among those journeying to stop the darkness as well as the only remaining tribe of normal citizens living in fear for their lives every day. All of this fighting, and the journey, sets up a compelling story where you have to decide how the overarching battle unfolds, along with who lives and who dies. Certain choices you make can have some unintended consequences as well, so you always want to choose carefully before deciding. It's an overall gripping finale to the Banner Saga trilogy, showing how war and the end of the world can affect people. See More

Top Con

The story is short

Even though you get to carry over save files from the previous games, the story is incredibly short as a finale to the entire trilogy, lasting about ten hours or so. It's underwhelming to spend so little time piecing together all of the threads across the games. Going for a completionist run can take you about twenty hours, which is a bit better, but it's still disappointing that this third installment doesn't have more to offer. See More

Specs

Genre:Turn-based, RPG

Top Pro

You can carry over your save files from the first two Banner Saga games

There's a good incentive to play through the whole Banner Saga tale through carrying your save files over from the first and second games. Plenty of the choices you make in the previous games have an impact here in the third game, which lets you see how different decisions play out. Characters who survived across games also acknowledge how far they've come, with enough character development to keep them relevant for the most part. Getting to see how your choices affect the entire trilogy adds a lot of replay to all three games, giving you the chance to tweak certain outcomes here and there whenever you decide to go back and play the other games. See More

Top Con

Combat can get overwhelming at times

Much of the difficulty in combat revolves around the constant wave of enemies that come after your units, one after another. You have to pace yourself when deciding to take on these waves of foes, or else you may lose too many party members and have to pay a heavy price throughout the story. You can also choose to run away, but this also has negative plot-related consequences. It can get pretty frustrating having to deal with these waves so often, especially when you end up losing valuable party members by trying to push onward. See More

Top Pro

Engaging turn-based tactical combat that plays in an isometric view

The Banner Saga 3 has a great combat system that's familiar to anyone who enjoys strategy RPGs. You have all of your units with the enemies on square grids, taking turns to attack, defend, and use special skills. The battles are tough enough to keep your attention, meaning you have to do your best to make the right decisions during each of your turns. And the stakes are pretty high, where deaths can result in permanently losing your party members, including missing out on any story bits that they're a part of. The isometric view keeps things classic and traditional as well, which is great for fans of the genre or players looking to get into this style of games for the first time. See More

Top Con

If a party member dies in battle, it's permanent

Permadeath in battle is the main way that combat stays tense and engaging, forcing you to make the best decisions at every opportunity. But this can get draining over time. When things spiral out of your control, you can end up losing a valued party member, who's then completely axed from the main story. Depending on how important they are, this may or may not be a big deal, but it's still a significant mechanic that you need to keep an eye on throughout the entire game. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful hand-drawn art style

The game has such a gorgeous, effortless art style that really shines during cutscenes. Even though the graphics are cartoon-like, the characters and environments look mature and full of vibrant details. The supernatural elements are fantastical in the best of ways, going a long way to show off the seriousness of the darkness overtaking the world and how the remaining people cope with the looming threat on an emotional level. It's such a distinct style that drives home how unique it is to the Banner Saga and is immediately recognizable. See More

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