The 25 Best Switch 2 Games

A year and a half in, the Switch 2's software lineup could scarcely be looking healthier. About the only games the console is lacking are a new 3D Mario platformer and an all-new Zelda. Meanwhile, Nintendo has kept up a consistent stream of interesting second-tier titles like Splatoon Raiders, Switch 2 Editions of past classics like the Xenoblade series, as well as a spectacular pair of Nintendo 64 remakes in Star Fox and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That's in addition to stellar third-party support, with almost unanimous buy-in from indies and several big publishers going all-in on porting their biggest titles to Switch 2 — notably Square Enix, with the Final Fantasy 7 series, and Capcom, with Resident Evil, Onimusha, Pragmata, and more coming. Switch 2 players shouldn't forget they also have access to the entire Switch library, playable under backward compatibility on Switch 2. You can check out our list of the best Switch games for inspiration — but at the foot of this article, we’ve also included a quick list of our recommendations of Switch games that, while not considered full-blown Switch 2 Editions, have received worthwhile free updates on the new console. Our latest update to this list, on Nov. 12, added The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy Resonance. How we pick the best games on Switch 2 The Polygon staff plays a lot of video games, and everything in this list comes personally recommended by at least one of us. We determined what should be on our list of the best Switch 2 games by looking at the quality of each title, but also with an eye for breadth and variety — so you should find something on the list you’ll enjoy, no matter what genres of game you like, how much time you have, or what vibe you are after. 25 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Image: Nintendo Is it reasonable to claim that Nintendo's new version of its deathless 1998 classic, often hailed as the best game ever, is more than just a remake? On the one hand, no: Ocarina of Time (2026) is, overall, extremely faithful to a game design that nobody in their right mind would want to change much, and the radical visual overhaul might be beautiful, but it's skin-deep. But on the other hand, the result is so vital and exciting that it serves both as a poignant reflection of the game's own themes about the passage of time, and almost a rebuke to the bloat of modern gaming epics, including Nintendo's own Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. This is not just nostalgic schedule filler — this is Zelda at its best, which is to say challenging the series' own assumptions, and your assumptions about it. Plus, you know, the whole "best game ever" thing. —Oli Welsh Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. 24 Final Fantasy Resonance Image: Square Enix The first Final Fantasy game in Square Enix's neo-retro HD-2D style — and the first turn-based Final Fantasy RPG in a really, really long time — has a strange backstory. It's actually an extensive remake of shuttered mobile title Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, with the free-to-play gacha mechanics removed. What Resonance inherits from Brave Exvius is lavish fan-service, in the form of a cavalcade of classic Final Fantasy characters who can be summoned to fight alongside you. But what it is in its new form is, simply, the old-school Final Fantasy RPG we've all been asking for. —OW Read Willa Rowe's full review of Final Fantasy Resonance. 23 Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Image: Intelligent Systems / Nintendo Recent entries in Intelligent Systems' long-running, much-loved tactical RPG series have struggled to find the balance between strong storytelling and exciting strategy-game design. Fortune's Weave finally unites the houses in an epic of astonishing length and breadth, stuffed with a cast of adorable anime weirdos pursuing their own agendas. There's well over 100 hours of game here, even if you don't follow every branch. But it's the depth and reward of both the storytelling and systems that really shine. —OW Read Josh Broadwell's full review of Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. 22 Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Image: Nintendo Nintendo's motion-control sports series, which began with the era-defining Wii Sports, returns with a new compilation of 12 minigames. But that description doesn't really cover this triumphant expansion of everything Nintendo sports can be, with expansive free-roam leisure sports, such as the brilliant skateboarding, that let you take in the whole island in a kind of open-world platform-game format. There's also a great new single-player progression track for every sport, in the form of Island Crown, and a ton of customization options and achievements to work toward. It's the perfect casual game. —OW Read Oli Welsh's full review of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. 21 Splatoon Raiders Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo Splatoon Raiders first seemed to be a minor co-op spinoff of Nintendo's winning competitive paintball series, like an extended take on Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion campaign. And Raiders is that, but it's also so much more: Improbably, it's Nintendo's first full-blown looter shooter, an ebullient action-RPG of surprising depth that can hold its own alongside Borderlands and Diablo. What begins as a simple level-based action game turns into a wildly escalating war of attrition, especially once you clock the campaign and get stuck into the massive and murderously hard endgame. —OW Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Splatoon Raiders. 20 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Image: Square Enix Square Enix has been positively sprinting to bring its Final Fantasy remake series to Switch 2; Remake came out in January, Rebirth in June, and final chapter Revelation will come to Nintendo's console on day one in April next year. The version of Remake was impressive, but Rebirth is even more amazing considering it's based on a PS5 game of absolutely vast scale. Honestly, it's almost too much — stuffed with sidequests and activities, Rebirth can be overwhelming at times — but it's a wonderfully lavish and charismatic adventure. —OW Read Todd Harper's full review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. 19 Big Walk Image: House House/Panic Big Walk is a completely unique co-op puzzle adventure by Australian studio House House, which made Untitled Goose Game. Broadly, you could call it an elevated example of the friendslop genre: the anarchic, physics-based hangout games which do so well on Steam. It's like that, but made with more artistry and mystery as well as plentiful opportunities for mischief; it's an exploration game, a puzzle game, and a beautiful journey through the wilderness you can take with your family and friends. —OW Read Giovanni Colantonio, Julia Lee, and Johnny Yu's full review of Big Walk. 18 Orbitals Image: Shapefarm/Kepler Interactive Orbitals is a pretty uncomplicated co-op adventure for two players in the style of Hazelight's It Takes Two and Split Fiction (its Tokyo-based developer, Shapefarm, was set up by a Hazelight veteran). But uncomplicated doesn't mean unsophisticated. The co-op platforming design is constantly inventive and invigorating, and the 1980s anime-style presentation is a work of gorgeous witchcraft. Extremely solid fun if you have a regular playing partner. —OW Read Oli Welsh's full review of Orbitals. 17 Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup at Bellabel Park Image: Nintendo The latest of Nintendo's Switch 2 Editions expands the magnificent 2D platform game Super Mario Bros. Wonder with a riotous suite of multiplayer minigames and a whole bunch of other stuff: new playable characters, new bosses, new badge modifiers, a new power-up, tons of decorative flowers and emojis to collect, and best of all, a new set of remixed challenge levels, some of them devilishly difficult. Honestly, it's mostly inessential fluff, although families and local multiplayer fans will find the hilarious Vs games make for a welcome gear-change from Mario Kart. What's not inessential is Super Mario Bros. Wonder itself, probably the best 2D Mario game since 1991's Super Mario World and an astonishing, surreal cavalcade of invention from start to finish. It's Nintendo at its asbolute best and looks stunning in native 4K on the Switch 2. —OW Read Oli Welsh's full review of Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup at Bellabel Park. 16 Resident Evil Requiem Image: Capcom OK, maybe the hair isn't great, but otherwise, Capcom's Switch 2 version of its smash hit is pretty much uncompromised, and its day-and-date release alongside PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X is very welcome. Here's hoping it augurs a new trend. Requiem itself is everything you want a Resident Evil game to be, thanks to its dual protagonists: Grace delivers truly terrifying, hardscrabble survival horror, while almost-silver fox Leon Kennedy serves up extravagantly bloody, chainsaw-wielding zombie murder in the manner of the classic Resident Evil 4. Switching between them can give you a kind of horror-game whiplash, but each of Requiem's two halves totally hits its mark. This is what blockbuster gaming is supposed to be like. —OW Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Resident Evil Requiem.