Nintendo Switch Year in a Review 2023

I didn’t play a lot of Switch games this year, but I did have a few episodes at certain times where I felt like picking them up and grinding a little, so hey, it’s something. Now it seems every company is jumping the bandwagon for summarizing what you play, read, listen to, etc. now it’s Nintendo’s turn so let’s do this.

I haven’t had the strongest desire to pick up ACNH lately but when I do, I complete a couple of things before I get bored again. The thing is, I don’t have any interest in excessively terraforming Mata Nui (yep I named my island after the island that defined my childhood!) so I just do some basic things like construct paths, plant flowers, and dig up the ones that have been spreading too much so I can make room for decorations.

I do not have a lot of games on my Switch since I only use it for exclusives. Some of these games were the first ones I ever bought for the Switch and I went back to them briefly this year like Pokemon Snap.

Role-playing comes up top, no surprise since the Pokemon games are basically RPG with turn-based combat. Action, I always play a lot of action, and racing well I don’t think I played any Mario Kart 8 this year so that’s probably from Disney Speedstorm which is fun and all but there is too much emphasis on microtransactions and sometimes upgrading characters takes too long. Kristoff is my strongest but I really wanted to get Jasmine, Elsa (the last I unlocked), Jafar, and Mulan up to the same level as him and I just don’t have the patience for that so I stopped again. If there weren’t so many events, then maybe I would have the patience and upgrade them.

I also started Kirby and the Forgotten Land and it is a fantastic game. I love how it takes a much different approach compared to previous Kirby adventure games with its gameplay and environment. The Waddle Dee town is super cute. It’s nice to have those guys on my side for a change, I like to return there after completing each stage to see how many of them are settling in!

At the end of the review, I get to pick which game was my favourite based on which I played the most and hands-down it’s my beloved Shining Pearl! I spent a lot of this year and last grinding in Ramanas Park to catch all those legendaries so I was always digging for shards in the Grand Underground. Sometimes I would get lucky and sometimes I wouldn’t but I was frequently broke because I didn’t make a lot of money in the game during that period due to not battling anyone and spent it all. Many of those legendaries were caught with Dusk or Timer Balls.

I caught all three Regis, the legendary bird trio, Latios and Latias, obtained Giratina’s Origin Forme (Giratina I used my Master Ball on), then catching Groudon and Rayquaza was challenging but I was so happy when I succeeded. I caught Kyogre too. Mewtwo was surprisingly easy while Lugia was quite difficult. Some of these legendaries I’ve never owned before so this grind too a while but it was totally worth it!

Damn it, I still need to finish Legends Arceus, I grind at it for a little and then I stop and sometimes forget where I am at in the story and who certain characters are!

That’s my Switch review. I can’t wait for 2024 because there are already a couple of Switch games that have caught my eye like Princess Peach finally gets another game of her own after 10+ years! They are also remastering the second Luigi’s Mansion game which I never beat on my 3Ds so I will be checking out that as well.

Please stayed tuned for my post about my Steam Replay. I will try to get it out before the year ends but no guarantees. What does your year with the Switch look like?

👽Emily