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The 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games to play right now
The 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games to play right now

Daily Mirror

time14-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Mirror

The 10 best Nintendo Switch 2 games to play right now

If you're unsure about which Nintendo Switch 2 launch games to play first on your shiny new hybrid console, these are the top titles judging by what we've played so far. A comprehensive rundown of all the Nintendo Switch 2 launch games we would recommend you check out first. It's been just over a week since the Nintendo Switch 2 launched to the masses, and despite the improvements in hardware capability and increased ease of use, it'd be fair to say that the new console's launch lineup isn't exactly expansive. That said, this doesn't mean there aren't plenty of new(ish) titles or native revamps of existing titles currently available to play on Nintendo Switch 2 – in fact, some of the titles available act as the definitive version. We've not been able to stop putting the console through its paces and so have put together a top 10 list of best Nintendo Switch 2 games you can play right now. ‌ From super stylised futuristic racers that do well to make your high-speed fantasies come true to an underrated tower defence/real-time action hybrid set to reward your strategic chops, the following is a list of Nintendo Switch 2 games that prove there's a bright future for Nintendo 's sequel console. Here's the 10 best native Nintendo Switch 2 we'd recommend you check out! ‌ Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition A game infamous for not being able to run on PS4 and Xbox One at launch, CD Projekt RED previously did great work with its 'impossible' port of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the original Nintendo Switch. That's why it's not surprising to see a fairly decent – and totally playable – rendition of Cyberpunk 2077 come to Nintendo Switch 2 on day one. Though not the most graphically impressive version, Night City as a location still appears beautiful when played in either docked mode or in handheld on the Switch 2's impressive LCD screen. Better yet, this version also includes the fantastic Phantom Liberty DLC, making Cyberpunk 2077 the full package on Nintendo Switch 2. You can check out our Cyberpunk 2077 performance test on Nintendo Switch 2 over on our YouTube channel for a more in-depth look. Yakuza 0: Director's Cut Yes, this is an enhanced version of a 10-year-old game, but Yakuza 0 also just so happens to be one of the best entries in the long-running series, and coincidentally the best way to jump on board. Being a prequel that documents the early escapades of Kiryu and Majima within an 80s version of Kamurocho, this new Director's Cut is exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 (for the time being) and introduces a tonne of improvements such as additional story content and the new Red Light Raid multiplayer mode. Even without these enhancements, though, seeing Yakuza 0's melodramatic events and arcade-centric antics run at 60fps on Switch 2 in handheld mode feels like a dream. This is easily now the definitive version. Survival Kids More than just the obligatory children's game to go in tandem with a new console's launch, Survival Kids is a cheery and wholesome co-op adventure that also serves as a great entry point to the survival/crafting genre. Shifting giant logs, chopping wood, and using neat makeshift gadgets with friends is a recipe for calm and chaos in equal measure, it turns out, though it's also a routine that whips along breezily thanks to each of the game's bite-sized island levels. It won't change your life but if you're a player wanting to enjoy wholesome crafting with the family, Survival Kids delivers. Street Fighter 6 It used to be the case that if you were a fighting game on Nintendo Switch not called Super Smash Bros Ultimate, you were forever maligned by genre fans as the worst ways to play – compared to other consoles. Capcom, however, has clearly relished the challenged to bring the latest entry in its beloved Street Fighter series to Nintendo's hybrid successor, and the result is a surprisingly complete and smooth-feeling way to throw down with the likes of Ryu, M. Bison, and others. It helps that Street Fighter 6 's awesome campaign mode returns in full force, supplementing arguably the best 3D fighting game currently available to compete in. Mario Kart World ‌ The first original Mario Kart entry in over 10 years doesn't quite manage to cross the finish line with flying colours, yet it's still a great way to break in your Nintendo Switch 2 at launch. New driving mechanics such as the Charge Jump and grindable surfaces bring additional layers of strategy to the act of karting, while Knockout Tour mode makes trying to survive a 24-person race genuinely thrilling. Sadly, the actual 'world' of the package doesn't deliver as much as you'd hope, but there are other ways Mario Kart World's sheer interconnectedness bears fruit. Mario Kart World is the same colourful racing action you know, now brought to life using a fresh coast of creative paint. Split Fiction When it comes to high-budget action-adventures based around co-op, it's hard to imagine a better launch companion for the Nintendo Switch 2 than Split Fiction. Already a great two-player title that released earlier this year on PS5, Xbox Series X |S, and PC, the story of these two writers who get pulled into each other's sci-fi and fantasy worlds is instantly enjoyable when breaking of a Joy-Con and jumping in with a friend locally. It's a pretty good showcase of the graphical intensity the new device can handle, too, as its hard to imagine Split Fiction's frankly absurd and flashy delights running on original Switch. Split Fiction is a game every Nintendo fan deserves to play, and now they can! Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Though it would have been easy to pay respect to the equally as brilliant Switch 2 version of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on this list, it's 2023's sequel, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, that fully comes to life on the new console thanks to a smooth 60fps framerate and far higher resolution. Honestly, being able to use abilities such as Fuse and Ultrahand without any stuttering or slowdown at all gives this more open iteration of Hyrule new lease of life, making it much easier to enjoy one of the greatest Nintendo games ever made. Picking it up as a standalone on Switch 2 is a tough ask due to price, but it's a no-brainer for players subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online or existing owners looking to upgrade. ‌ Fast Fusion Developer Shin'en Multimedia makes its trademark early debut on a Nintendo console with yet another stylish and sleek anti-gravity racer – this time with the ability to fuse racing vehicles together. Fast Fusion feels like the best iteration yet, however, since the Nintendo Switch 2's 60fps capability in both split-screen and handheld mode does true justice to the franchise's high-speed racing antics. Combine this with another healthy selection of inventive tracks that spans deserts, cityscapes, and more (alongside a pulsing soundtrack) and Fast Fusion is a great futuristic alternative to Mario Kart. Hitman: World of Assassination - Signature Edition Having already tried to bring its beloved Hitman series to Nintendo audiences previously via ill-judged cloud versions, Agent 47's violent escapades are finally done justice in Hitman: World of Assassination – Signature Edition on Nintendo Switch 2. This complete version bundles together almost all the missions and contracts from the entire World of Assassination trilogy, plus the new 007: First Light crossover event that sees Casino Royale's Le Chiffre available to take down for a limited time. It's not the most handsome way to play on the big screen, but being able to choke, snipe, and hide enemies in a series of inventive sandbox levels in handheld is a sheer delight. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess One of 2024's most overlooked and underrated games gets a fresh start on Nintendo Switch 2 in Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a different kind of fantasy RPG from Capcom that mixes real-time action with tower defence elements. You play as an ancient warrior tasked with protecting a princess, taking on waves and waves of grotesque monsters trying to reach her by performing exciting melee combos and also controlling the battlefield by managing and assigning roles to troops. All this gels wonderfully in both the main campaign and the totally new survival-based Otherworldly Venture mode. Don't sleep on Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess on the Nintendo Switch 2. Special mention: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet When Pokemon Scarlet and Violet first launched on the original Nintendo Switch it was hard to ignore its technical flaws. A poor framerate, unfathomable environmental pop-in, and a poor draw distance all combined to make this latest generation of mainline Pokemon hard to enjoy. Fast forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, however, and this souped-up version almost feels like playing an all-new game. Now running at 60fps with a clearer resolution, the colourful, widely open region of Paldea is a lot easier to get lost in. It's not exactly a Nintendo Switch 2 game proper, but Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's dedicated patch makes jumping back in an easy recommend.

The Perfect Pirate Video Game Does Exist
The Perfect Pirate Video Game Does Exist

Yahoo

time22-02-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

The Perfect Pirate Video Game Does Exist

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Nowadays, video games developers love to show off the transparent size of their work. You can't watch any presentation from a gaming giant like Sony or Microsoft without hearing about billions of procedurally generated planets, zero loading screens, and over sixty-hour-long story campaigns. You would think that the technology could feed and bathe players now too. (Gamers could use some of that, actually). But many video game developers forget that just because I can pick a point on a map and go to it doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything to do there once I arrive. You still need to make a game! No one understands this more than the team behind Yakuza. The video game franchise, now operated by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, produces maximalist experiences akin only to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's room made entirely of candy. Every time I step into one of Yakuza's campy and stylish new games, it feels as if I could lick the wallpaper and taste the snozzberries. The river is flowing with real chocolate—and the maps are bustling with activity. I say all this because I don't want Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's latest title to deter you from experiencing its greatness. Yes, I'm talking about a video game titled Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. And yes, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a masterpiece. The story follows Goro Majima, a former Yakuza big shot who washes ashore on a Hawaiian island with no memory of his past. Long time fans of the Yakuza series are very familiar with Majima. The gangster with an eyepatch has been a protagonist and fan-favorite character over the franchise's twenty-year history. For new players, just know that Majima has amnesia now. So, I wouldn't feel too daunted if you're dipping your toes in the Pirate Yakuza waters for the first time. On Majima's search for an identity, he gathers his new friends and takes to the seas as a pirate. If it sounds ridiculous, don't worry. This is a ridiculous game. (Some of the best games are.) Clearly, the strategy was to become the first studio in a long time to produce an enjoyable pirate game and then just figure out the plot later. That Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio would succeed at either goal—let alone both—is a miracle.$59.99 at The actual game itself consists of navigating your ship from island to island as you stomp out enemy pirate crew and bag their treasures. Doubloons that you earn from these madcap brawls can be spent on learning new fighting moves, leveling up your crew, and even decking out your ship. Plus, each port of call contains new crew members to acquire and side quests to lose yourself in. Like any Yakuza title, towns are filled with karaoke bars, go-karts, darts, gaming parlors, arcades with old SEGA titles built in, and dozens of mini-games. There's even an easy-to-miss subplot involving the dread pirate Zeus and his Devil Flags fleet that unlock some of the wackiest enhancements in the entire game. After one of four encounters for magical treasure, I acquired a pirate violin that summons ghost sharks. And it doesn't stop there. Aside from the brawls on land, Pirate Yakuza also contains naval battles. Players control the ship when they sail the ocean between rest stops, complete with port and starboard cannons. Different crew members you pick up excel at various skills such as ship repair and cannon power, and each of them come with their own unique skills. Majima can also walk around the ship and revive fallen crewmen or put out fires from enemy cannons. Though it's not something I had to do often—since Pirate Yakuza isn't that challenging of a game—it was highly impressive that the naval battle would continue around me even as I switched from controlling the ship with an eagle-eye view of the battlefield to zooming in and controlling Majima running around onboard. If you're looking for a challenge outside of the regular twenty-five-hour story campaign, Pirate Yakuza also contains a pirate coliseum called Madlantis that is chock full of more advanced levels. Though I've barely begun to scratch the surface of these challenges in my play-through so far, it seems like the steeper difficulty curve will require me to abandon my bone-headed and reckless offense that carried me through the main game. When the credits rolled on Pirate Yakuza, I felt like Violet Beauregarde after Willy Wonka turned her into a giant blueberry. There's simply so much to uncover, collect, and customize in this wacky 'sidequel' from the mainline Yakuza games that I might need to step away before I start calling my coworkers 'matey.' At the same time, I applaud the spin-off for making a pirate game so good that it's a wonder they've never done one before. Knowing the Yakuza franchise, they probably never will again. What eccentric adventure could possible follow Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii? Medieval jousting in Olde England, perhaps? Gladiator fights in Rome? Curling in Canada? Laugh now, but Pirate Yakuza proves that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio only improves with each new level of lunacy. The video game is now available for purchase on PlayStation 5, Xbox and Steam. Call me a sick scurvy sea dog, but I can't wait for whatever comes next. It's a pirate's life for me. You Might Also Like Kid Cudi Is All Right 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review: A Yo Ho Home Run for Swarthy Adventurers
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review: A Yo Ho Home Run for Swarthy Adventurers

Yahoo

time19-02-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review: A Yo Ho Home Run for Swarthy Adventurers

Games with uniquely bombastic titles don't often live up to their names. Thankfully, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii delivers on the promise of its wild title, merging stylish action with an outlandish story and a hefty slew of mini-games, side stories and activities. While I've only played around 20 hours of the game, due to a busy February, the (skull and) bones of the adventure are laid out in that span. Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku studio has built an operatic saga in its eight mainline Yakuza games and handful of spinoffs, telling stories of crime and found family, betrayal and brotherhood. From my two previews with the game ahead of its release on Feb. 21, I knew it was going to be different. Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii might be the most radical departure from the main plot of prior games, which makes it a perfect starting point for new players while rewarding series veterans with cameos -- and, of course, the pleasure of playing fan-favorite Goro Majima in his swashbuckling era. The Mad Dog of Shimano is the most fitting of the series' cast to take a turn flying the Jolly Roger. The eyepatch-wearing goateed yakuza starts the game waking up on a beach with no memory. He's quickly brought up to speed about the small island he's on and the pirates who sail the waters on wooden warships between it and nearby Honolulu, Hawaii. And he decides, correctly, that he must have a ship and crew of his own to hunt down legendary treasure. A perfect premise. Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is a fun, light jaunt that benefits from the idiosyncrasies of its specific setup. Rather than telling a story about modern piracy, the game brings cannon-firing pirate ships, crew-on-crew deck melees and buried treasure hunts into modernity without any pesky logical explanation. The game's bizarre mashup energy is its strength, amplified by RGG's signature blend of sincere character moments and wacky hijinks. Majima himself is the core of much of this energy. Though he's co-headlined several Yakuza games, he comes into his own in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Metaphorically and literally unshackled from the game series' weighty past, the amnesiac Captain Majima sails the seas with a gleeful thirst for treasure, which proves infectious to everyone he meets -- and to the player. This makes the game ideally suited for newcomers to the Yakuza series: even if they'll miss a few of the deeper references and cameos later in the game, the plot is essentially a standalone adventure. New story aside, in typical fashion for the Yakuza games, RGG has carried over a lot of the gameplay from the main series: Running around fighting street goons in real-time combat, shopping at stores and helping locals in amusing side quests. While the new game abandons the turn-based combat of its immediate predecessor, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, it inherits the city of Honolulu -- the biggest area in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii -- and most of its colorful denizens. It also retains Yakuza's signature range of minigames, both new and returning. Yes, that includes karaoke. Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii layers over that familiarity with everything needed for a pirate adventure: a new dual-cutlass fighting style for Majima, a ragtag pirate crew to gather, ships to fight in naval combat, several island archipelagos to explore and the bombastic Madlantis area to walk around. The game effectively bounces between these two worlds of thrilling pirate adventure and zany city life; often just as I was wearying from playing too long in one half of the game's setting, its story shrewdly flung me back into the other. How long that sustains you depends largely on your appetite for side adventures. While the main story is fun enough -- a sprawling yarn filled with conspiracies, religious zealots, pirate kings and queens and yakuza sniffing a big score -- the game's soul is in all its side content. You've gotta want to be a citizen of Honolulu nosing into everyone's business to love this game, but RGG's tried-and-true formula of slice-of-life stories makes it easy. The side stories are where the Yakuza universe shines, and Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii proudly upholds the tradition. In a few hours' time, the memory-less madman Goro Majima went on a pop idol bus tour, attended corporate compliance for pirates, went to a beach zoo, nearly fell for a pet mind reading scam and helped a foul-mouthed American lady pirate dress in a kimono to woo a weeb. I won't spoil what seems to be the game's most involved side story where Majima tries to do his first mate a favor, and it breaks into extended live-action footage like a mock reality TV show. In sticking to its strengths of bite-sized storytelling, RGG shows off how unique its games are, with novel narratives toeing the line between absurdity and ridiculousness. The more you play, however, the clearer it is that the story elements are stronger than the pirate ones. Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii gleefully indulges in plenty of pirate imagery and action, with a charm that extends for most of the game. While it never overstays its welcome, it doesn't feel particularly deep, either. Consider Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii as more of the arcade experience for piracy and all it entails. There's none of the sailing and navigating complexity of Sea of Thieves, nor the precise aiming of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag nor the intense resource and exploration of Skull and Bones. There are half a dozen areas to sail, each with a handful of beaches you can land on to dig up treasure, and you get around the seas by moving through boost rings (perhaps simulating water currents, if I'm being generous). You can also speed up with the jet engines at the bottom of your ship, because why not. Nautical combat is similarly fun but uncomplicated, with just enough variety in cannons to keep fights interesting, especially as enemy ships get beefier as the game goes on. When taking on notable flagships, defeating them at sea leads to boarding them with your crew of ruffians -- it's always a hoot to be in the middle of a fight Even without grinding for resources, I still only had trouble with a couple fights, and I ran out of useful upgrades by 20 hours in. Customizing my handsome vessel with outlandish decorations (including adorning your ship's prow with many wooden figureheads like, uh, a Hitachi massage wand) was the only way I switched up my vessel later in the game. This cavalier approach runs through the melee combat, too: it's easy to wade into low-level enemies, cutting them down with your cutlasses like wheat in a gleeful Dynasty Warriors-esque power fantasy of a pirate captain among his prey. But hand-to-hand fighting can feel too loose, with the lack of lock-on leaving you swinging through an extensive sword combo in the wrong direction or shooting your pistol at nobody. You can get buried under masses of enemies and blinded by flashy effects. Your special moves, powered by a Heat Gauge that slowly fills below your health bar, have situational triggers that can be difficult to pull off as the prompt appears on the screen for a fraction of a second. The game's action favors novel experiences over difficulty -- I mean, the game made me swordfight bears and tigers on multiple occasions, which were enjoyably chaotic rather than technical challenges. Likewise with another of the game's hallmark experiences, the Pirates Coliseum. Nestled in the neon-splattered ship graveyard turned city of Madlantis, the Coliseum offers escalating combat scenarios of differing formats, from ship-to-ship combat to 100-enemy melees. It feels like if Walt Disney built a Las Vegas casino for one of the scarier Roman emperors. While the game may not have depth in many of its aspects and features, it dares you to be bored. From a minigame roster bigger than anything outside of last year's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, activities like photo scavenger hunts and lawbreaker bounties to hunt and a substantial string of side stories to experience, Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii will keep you entertained -- and frequently surprised by the sincerity of its myriad vignettes. While the broader narrative covers the freedom of the high seas when your past isn't a problem, the game's side stories touch on many, many aspects of the human spectrum. Odds are you'll find some storyline or another that resonates with you, though Majima remains a manic clown who ends up in ridiculous situations as often as he's drawing emotional truths from strangers. So long as you're up for his adventure on the streets and the seas, Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii will keep surprising you -- and, unlike many games, living up to its bombastic title. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is coming out for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC on Feb. 21.

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