The 10 Best Games on the Nintendo Switch

Newsweek

15-07-2025

Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors
The Nintendo Switch is nearing the end of its life, with its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, finally upon us and performing very well. There are still a few games in the pipeline for Nintendo's original hybrid console, but most developers' biggest and best will be moving to the new console in no time at all.
Thankfully, the Nintendo Switch already has plenty of incredible games to play, with thousands of games released on the console over its eight years on the market. If you're not ready to pull the trigger on the new console just yet, there's a lot to catch up on.
That's why we've put together this list of the best Nintendo Switch games of all time, according to critics on Metacritic, a review score aggregator.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Score: 97/100
The 3D Legend of Zelda series started strong with Ocarina of Time, but everything that followed was more evolution than revolution. The games in the series that followed were good, to be sure, but none of them took particularly big swings — and then Breath of the Wild took the biggest swing imaginable.
In a big shift from mostly linear, railroaded stories, Breath of the Wild dropped players into a big, open sandbox. With a few tools at their disposal and endless activities in front of them, players wrote their own story through the land of Hyrule, and the results speak for themselves. Not only is Breath of the Wild one of the best games on the Switch, it's simply one of the best games on any platform.
Super Mario Odyssey
Score: 97/100
If Breath of the Wild was a new start for 3D Zelda games, then Odyssey is a new start for 3D Mario games. 3D Mario games have always been good, but Odyssey takes it to the next level, with tight platforming and incredible level design that always has you coming back for more.
There are 17 kingdoms to jump around in, literally hundreds of power moons to discover and collect, and plenty of creatures to possess and control, each with unique abilities. No matter your skill level, this is some of the most fun you can have with the Mario series.
The House in Fata Morgana
Score: 96/100
Visual novels usually fly under the radar, so it's impressive that The House in Fata Morgana ended up so high in the list. It's no surprise, though — it's a fantastic game with an astonishingly good story that absolutely has to be experienced firsthand.
The House in Fata Morgana can be uncomfortable at times, filled with stunning tragedy and an even more stunning soundtrack that punctuates the game's themes perfectly. It's a little on the long side, but it's well worth investing your time into it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Score: 96/100
Link overlooks the land of Hyrule from atop a sky island in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Link overlooks the land of Hyrule from atop a sky island in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a bold new direction for a series that's been around for a long time. It lets you go anywhere and do anything in whatever order you please, offering freedom that's rarely seen in big budget games of any generation. Its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, takes that design ethos and turns it up to 11.
In Tears of the Kingdom you can pick up any object in the world with Ultrahand, fuse any object to your weapon, and build structures with just about anything you can get your hands on. There's a whole map of sky islands to explore, and an even bigger underground map too, making it effectively three times bigger than its predecessor. It's helped along by a fantastic, heartfelt story, wonderful characters, and dungeons that will both challenge you and make you feel incredibly clever. If you only play one Zelda game in your life, it should be Tears of the Kingdom.
Portal: Companion Collection
Score: 95/100
Valve's Portal games are mostly known for their PC releases — just about everyone with a Steam account has one of the two games and has probably booted it up at some point. Back in the Xbox 360 days, the first Portal game was ported to consoles as part of the Orange Box and the second got a standalone retail release, but that's about it when it came to console releases.
Then, in 2022, Portal: Companion Collection was released on Switch, and it's pretty fantastic. The Portal games are excellent first-person puzzle games that are filled with mind-bending physics puzzles, and the Switch collection is just about the best way to play these all-timers on the go. If you somehow haven't played a Portal game before, you absolutely have to pick up this collection.
Tetris Effect Connected
Score: 94/100
Tetris has long been one of the greatest puzzle games, and Tetris Effect is the greatest the series has to offer. As much a religious experience as it is a puzzle game, Tetris Effect is an audiovisual treat that marries classic Tetris gameplay with psychedelic visuals, a bespoke soundtrack to match, and a few fresh new mechanics.
The Zone mechanic in particular, which lets you pause time briefly so you can combo more than four lines at once, is a fantastic addition to the gameplay you know and love, and the Connected version of the game even adds multiplayer so you can experience it with others. If you're willing to lose a few days of your life falling back into the Tetris rabbithole, there's no better place to start.
Metroid Prime Remastered
Score: 94/100
Metroid is one of those series that reviews very well, but typically isn't a massive seller. The Prime series in particular – which takes the series into the 3D realm instead of 2D sidescrolling – is widely loved by just about anyone who plays it, and the Switch remaster of the game is absolutely phenomenal.
It's a first-person shooter, a puzzle game, an action adventure exploration game, and so much more all in one. There's a quiet beauty to it all, and a tense feeling when exploring an unknown planet, scanning anything that catches your eye or running into a room full of enemies. With stellar performance and some of the best visuals on the console, Metroid Prime Remastered is a must-play, especially ahead of the upcoming Metroid Prime 4.
Persona 5 Royal
Score: 94/100
Persona 5 is a fantastic turn-based RPG, and the enhanced Royal edition adds a ridiculous amount of new content, characters, and dungeons to explore. There's a reason Persona fans won't shut up about this game, and that's because it's almost the perfect turn-based RPG. You've got an incredible combat system, intriguing dungeons to explore, a calendar system that will keep you on your toes, and some great writing that'll keep you hooked from start to finish.
Persona 5 Royal isn't a Switch exclusive – in fact it took a while to get to Switch at all – but Switch is probably the best way to play it. When you've got a game that pushes 200 hours in runtime, you'll want to be able to play it whenever, wherever, and that's exactly what the Switch is for.
Hades
Score: 93/100
What happens when you cross Greek mythology, some of the best action gameplay in the industry, and roguelike elements from a top-notch developer like Supergiant Games? You get Hades, one of the biggest indie success stories in recent years.
Hades is a fast-paced roguelike action game that has you playing the role of Zagreus, son of Hades, as he attempts to escape the underworld and make it to Mount Olympus to take his place in the pantheon of the gods. It's got a lovely story and incredible gameplay, and while you probably won't get through the game on your first run, that's kind of the charm of roguelikes.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Score: 93/100
Before Larian Studios took the world by storm with Baldur's Gate 3, the studio was quietly working away to pump out bangers that were pretty similar ultimately. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one such banger, and like BG3, it's a tactical turn-based RPG that offers a massive amount of freedom and lots of roleplaying opportunities.
It's a very ambitious game that punches well above its weight, and it does a great job of showing off basically all the systems that would eventually make it into BG3. Larian really is the best in the business when it comes to translating tabletop RPGs into video games, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a fantastic foray into the genre to play on the go.