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What is the best launch game for the Nintendo Switch?

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs Shovel Knight vs I am Setsuna

 vs Fast RMX vs 1-2 Switch vs Super Bomberman R

Specs

Genre

Action-Adventure

Platforms

Wii U, Nintendo Switch

Co-Op

-

Platform

-

Genre

Action, Platformer

Platforms

Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, Linux

Co-Op

2 Player Local

Platform

-

Genre

Role-Playing

Platforms

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows

Co-Op

-

Platform

-

Genre

Arcade, Racing, Sports

Platforms

Nintendo Switch

Co-Op

4 Player Local / 4 Player Online

Platform

-

Genre

Party

Platforms

Nintendo Switch

Co-Op

2 Player Local

Platform

-

Genre

Action, Puzzle, Party, Multiplayer

Platforms

-

Co-Op

-

Platform

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows

Pros + Cons

Pro
 An open world game where exploration feels exciting

Most open world games follow the same pattern - they give you a map that's full of blips, forcefully guiding you to marked locations, causing you to ignore everything along the way. Breath of the Wild steps away from this design choice by having a map where only you can mark points of interest. It's up to you to survey the land from high vantage points, choose a direction of heading, and find interesting locations. As a result, exploring and paying attention to the world actually matters, making it a really enjoyable and refreshing experience.
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Pro
 An engaging cooking skill

Breath of the Wild features a very interesting cooking skill, allowing you to combine up to 5 different ingredients to create useful dishes or elixirs that can aid you on your journey. While the cooking process itself is really simple, only requiring you to light a fire and use a pot, experimentation is what makes it truly interesting. There is no in-game recipe log to give you hints, so most of the time you're experimenting with ingredient combinations, which can make finding a good recipe feel like winning the lottery. Some guesswork is eliminated because most areas are saturated with ingredients that can be used to create dishes useful to that specific area. For example, the cold area has ingredients that can be used to create dishes that boost your resistance to cold, so your character won't be shivering and dragging his feet as you explore. Because most of the dishes you make are useful, it can also motivate you to explore just a bit more, since there might just be a useful ingredient on top of that next mountain. As a result, Breath of the Wild has a surprisingly engaging cooking skill that blends well into the core of the game, making the experience more fun as a whole.
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Pro
 Wonderfully crafted puzzles

There's a vast array of puzzles found in Breath of the Wild where you use your abilities to move, manipulate or destroy the environment. It can be very simple like destroying rocks with a bomb to unblock a cave entrance. Or it can be fairly complex, requiring you to rotate and connect massive platforms, move stone orbs through an area filled with obstacles, and create pillars of ice on a waterfall to cross a bottomless pit. Regardless of the type of puzzle you encounter, they motivate you to think creatively, making it a delight when you arrive at the solution, especially because there's always a treasure waiting at the end.
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Pro
 A variety of fighting methods keep the combat fun

There are many ways you can fight the monsters in Breath of the Wild. You can go for close combat, using swords, spears, clubs and many other weapons, besting your goblin-like enemies with well-timed parries, dodges, slashes, and strikes. Or you can fight enemies from afar by shooting your bow, throwing your boomerang, or lobbing an infinite supply of bombs while maintaining the distance as the monsters try to helplessly get near you. You can even be stealthy, sneaking up on unsuspecting lizard-folk and stabbing them from behind. If none of the above works, you can also use the environment to your advantage. This usually involves things like pushing boulders off cliff edges, dropping them on top of oblivious casualties. All of these provide a great amount of variety that keeps the combat from going stale for the whole playthrough.
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Con
 Cooking can feel inconvenient

There's no in-game log or cookbook to record cooking recipes you discover. The only method of checking a recipe is by examining a cooked item in your inventory, which isn't very reliable since you can only check it as long as you have the item. As a result, you have to memorize and/or write down any and all cooking recipes you discover, which can feel cumbersome to some players.
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Con
 Weapon durability system can feel tedious to some

When you attack enemies, your equipped weapon quickly loses its durability, breaking when it reaches zero. This can force you to switch to new weapons multiple times during a battle, adding a micromanagement aspect that can disrupt the flow of combat. You're not just fighting enemies, you're also fighting the flimsiness of your arsenal. On top of that, most weapons can't be repaired either. This can diminish the joy of finding new weapons, since that cool sword you just found will be gone thirty minutes of gameplay later.
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Pro
 Simple yet very entertaining

Shovel Knight is a 2D platformer, meaning you only run left and right, jump up and down, and attack your enemies. You don't have to worry about the 3D environmental hazards that games nowadays love to throw at you. That simplicity doesn't take away from the game at all, and in fact is the key to making it fun; all you have to do is deal with what's on your screen.
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Pro
 A risk versus reward aspect keeps the game fresh

You're able to destroy checkpoints, and in return you receive promises of loot. This is a system unique to Shovel Knight. It also makes the game more challenging, but since you're able to control it there's never really the issue of things getting overly difficult. Added (optional) challenge inherently makes games more fun, and Shovel Knight does it very well.
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Pro
 Fast-paced gameplay

Shovel Knight really moves when it comes to gameplay. While you have the ability to take it slow and steady if you're stuck on a particularly difficult level, generally you're cutting through enemies and picking up treasure at high speeds. The faster you're moving through levels, the more loot you pick up, and more loot usually means more fun.
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Pro
 The controls are very intuitive

Not only are the controls very easy to get down, or even master, the way they work together is seamless. On top of the fluid movement the game provides, it just feels good to play. They're quite simple - you can only move in two directions, left and right, and can jump up and down the different levels. You can also attack your enemies while doing any number of other things (climbing, jumping, etc). You really only need to worry about the 4 directions, jumping, and fighting.
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Con
 Some enemies are simply palette swapped

This can come off as lazy and uninspired. Others may feel it keeps the tradition of 2D platformers alive.
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Pro
 The environment really drags you into the game

I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game.
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Pro
 The combat system is familiar to almost everyone

I Am Setsuna uses a turn-based battle system that has been used in countless other games, bringing a sense of familiarity to the game. You're able to attack with your weapons, cast devastating spells, or even use combination attacks with your teammates. The combo attacks are particularly fun to use, as you'll have to experiment with different characters in order to achieve different effects.
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Pro
 Impressive character development

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Pro
 The characters aren't what you'd expect

The characters of most RPG are fairly standard. The hero who started from nothing, or the strong, silent adventurer, or the hyperactive, overly enthusiastic type. I Am Setsuna deviates from the standard tropes of the classic JRPGs, and lets each character tell their own story without taking away from the overall feel of the game.
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Pro
 You can build your characters however you like

Characters in I Am Setsuna have their own active skills that are unique to them. However, there's a large pool of passive skills that can be used by anybody, which can lead to all sorts of interesting combinations. For example, you could have a taunting ability (something that makes enemies attack you) that also raises the user's stats, or a fire spell that somehow does cold damage.
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Con
 It relies on nostalgia and story telling to cover up mediocre gameplay

While the turn-based combat systems of JRPGs have been going strong for longer than 20 years, it also means that there's generally nothing new to expect, and that is certainly true of I Am Setsuna. Fans of the genre will enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, but newcomers may feel put off by the slow speed and rather uninteresting combat.
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Con
 Combat may be too easy

I Am Setsuna allows you to customize your character's abilities, which can end up making you severely overpowered relatively early on. Some players may find this a little boring.
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Con
 The sad and depressing tone of the game may bring you down

The entirety of the game fills you with a feeling of sadness and regret. This overtone never really lets up, though there are glimmers of hope and levity during your adventure.
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Pro
 Interesting racing mechanics add a fun challenge

There are a couple of interesting game play mechanics that add a fun challenge to the racing genre. First is the power orbs. Trying to collect them all as you zip around the tracks can add a nice little challenge as you'll have to maneuver just right. They can be used to give you a boost of speed when no boost zone is nearby. This allows you to recover easily from crashes, overtake tricky opponents, and get boosts of speed on-demand. Knowing when and how to use them adds a fun layer to racing. The second is the blue and orange boost zones themselves. You can phase shift your vehicle to blue or orange to take advantage of these zones. Shifting color to take full advantage of each boost while also keeping an eye on your driving provides a pretty unique challenge not often seen in other racing games.
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Pro
 Intense racing action thanks to blistering speeds

Fast RMX is built around simply driving fast, and that sheer sense of speed is translated incredibly well into the gameplay. The background scenery whips past you as you're picking up power orbs, hitting boost zones, and dodging hazards. Maneuvering around the tracks, taking tight corners, and overtaking opponents all happens at such a fast speed that it's hard not to enjoy. Hitting a ramp with full boost just in time to overtake an opponent is awesome. Everything just moves so fast resulting in some pretty intense racing action.
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Pro
 Enjoyable selection of tracks

There are around 30 race tracks, all of them with their own unique aesthetic. No two tracks will play out in the same way either, as each one features its own distinct style and hazards. One has you zipping around a rain forest during an intense storm. Another has you racing in a futuristic city in the sky with insane jumps. There's even a desert with raging sandstorms that will roll over the track. From futuristic cities to natural landscapes, it has a little bit of everything.
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Pro
 Great split-screen multiplayer

You can play with up to 4 players in split screen mode. You'll be able to select the track, number of laps, and the vehicle speed. A really nice addition to the multiplayer mode is the option to turn the AI vehicles off. That way you can just enjoy the racing action with your friends and not have to deal with any computer controlled racers.
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Con
 All vehicles play the same

There are 15 vehicles to choose from, each with their own stats, but they all pretty much play exactly the same. The minor stat differences between the individual vehicles don't have enough variance to effect the gameplay. Each vehicle controls and acts in a similar manner, with the only difference being the physical appearance.
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Con
 Overlypunishing Hero mode

In Hero mode, you only get one life. If you crash or make a single mistake (such as falling off the edge by accident), you will have to restart the entire race. Also, you must come in first place to advance.
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Con
 Some annoying track hazards

While some tracks feature hazards and obstacles that are easy to plan around such as careful jumps and rotating blades, some are fairly obnoxious in their presentation. It can feel super cheap when you wreck due to a random boulder or asteroid hitting you. This can be especially devastating in Hero mode, where you only get one life.
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Pro
 Hilarious party game for friends looking to goof around

1-2 Switch is perfect for joking around with a group of friends at a party. The game is a collection of mini-games that you play primarily with the Joy-Con controllers through the Nintendo Switch's camera. The rules all consist of either shaking the controllers, grabbing them, or motioning with them in some way with your imagination, like gunslinging against someone like cowboys, eating sandwiches in quick succession, or milking a cow (seriously). The most you'll probably find yourself doing is goofing off with friends and laughing at how silly everyone looks while trying to pull off the motion controls.
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Pro
 Good selection of different mini-games to choose from

There's a good amount of mini-games to play, with all of them having you role-play certain pretend situations and use your imagination. You and a friend can have magical duels with wands and spells, act as secretaries to see who can pick up your ringing phones the fastest, play baseball together, practice samurai training with katanas, rock a crying baby to sleep, and quite a lot more. Whenever you get tired of one mini-game, you can easily pick another one that's vastly different, helping to keep things fresh.
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Con
 Way overpriced

Considering how little content it offers, 1-2 Switch is just too expensive. Even during the launch of the Nintendo Switch when this game first released, it was at full retail price, and is unlikely to see a drastic price drop any time soon. The asking price is still ridiculous these days, since there really isn't enough depth to the gameplay to justify the cost. This should have been bundled with the console for free instead.
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Con
 More of a gimmick than an actual game

This is a cool demo of what the Joy-Con controllers are able to do, but that's about it. 1-2 Switch relies on you making hand gestures with the controller in your hands with you miming out the actions for any given mini-game. But this is all that the game can do, boiling down to a gimmick of you and your friends gesturing wildly with the controllers as "gameplay".
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Con
 Hard to take it seriously

These types of motion controls have never really caught on because of how ridiculous they look, and 1-2 Switch is no exception. This is one of those games that you try once, laugh at, and probably will never try again unless you want to joke around with your friends. It's shallow and has almost no depth aside from the technology with the controllers.
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Pro
 It has a charming story mode

While it's clearly no RPG, Super Bomberman R has a delightful story mode that supports drop in co-op play if you want to play with someone else. The cartoon characters and ridiculous antics make it quite fun to play, and interestingly enough, it has a decent variety of missions. You won't be stuck killing X amount of enemies every level, which definitely breaks the routine of monotonous, repetitive quests in these types of games.
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Pro
 Multiplayer has a lot of options available

Super Bomberman R offers a few options for multiplayer. Up to 4 people can play on the portable screen, or up to 8 on a TV. Even if you've got no one to play with, there's an online play option for the first time in the Bomberman series.
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Pro
 Retains the classic Bomberman feel

Super Bomberman R takes the classic gameplay of the Bomberman series and holds on tight. It's got familiar controls, and the overall concept hasn't changed: blow people up without getting blown up. You can only move in 4 directions, and are able to place or throw bombs in the spot where you want them in order to either destroy your opponents, or the blocks around the map, which may reveal powerups (additional bombs, larger blasts, etc.) or even power-downs (fewer bombs, smaller blasts).
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Pro
 Easy to just play a couple of games thanks to how quick they are

Super Bomberman R has an average game time of under 2 minutes. This makes it perfect if you and your friends just want to hop on and blow each other up for a little while.
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Con
 The controls feel unresponsive online

When you're playing online, there's a decent amount of lag when inputting an order to your character. Konami has released a "significant upgrade" for Bomberman in order to combat this, and there are plans to further improve upon the issue.
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Con
 The handheld screen is too small for 4 person multiplayer

The Nintendo Switch, while convenient in a ton of ways, simply has a small handheld screen. Four people huddling around the 6.2 inch screen would make this unplayable for many players.
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