Woof! What was that? April, dude. Which means it’s time to look back at the gems that shined on the Switch eShop during the craziest of months.
As if your wishlists weren’t already overflowing with a huge number of great games waiting to be picked up, we’re here with our monthly reminder of the ones you may have missed in the last month. Below you’ll find the Switch eShop games we reviewed in April that scored 8/10 or higher, plus Team NL’s cumulative top three picks.
The release of all the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters individually on the eShop muddied things up a bit this month, especially given the extremely limited availability of the physical version. We awarded the entire package a very respectable 8/10 in our review, and while individual games may fall below that score, we’ve decided to include them all in our voting round. The more the merrier, right!?
First, though, the great games that didn’t quite make the podium…
Honorable mentions
Several winners appeared on the eShop in April, all of which are worth exploring:
Publisher: ININ games / Programmer: United Independent GmbH
Cannon Dancer – Osman sneaks into the slot for the bronze medal. This spiritual sequel to Strider arrived on Switch (and elsewhere) this month, a whopping 27 years after its arcade debut, and it managed to impress a bunch of us here.
Tom called it “an undeniably polished product”. [with director Kouichi] Yotsui’s aspirations to action cinema are stamped all over it,” in our review, awarding it a very respectable 8/10. “The speed, dynamism, and full-on fighting visuals will always keep you coming back for more.” Sounds good, right?
Publisher: XSEED games / Programmer: The Froach Club
We checked this one out at PAX East and were pleased to see that the finished product lived up to those excellent first impressions. Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is an old-school adventure RPG with a Game Boy-style presentation and a short and sweet experience that’s sure to resonate Mother fans.
Austin described it as “cute on the outside but dark on the inside” in our 8/10 review, “a great little story-driven, exploration-based mystery RPG, plain and simple.” If you’re looking for a slice of GB nostalgia filled with wit, charm and a bit of darkness, look no further.
Publisher: Square Enix / Programmer: Square Enix
See, this is what happens when you give them an inch! When it comes to Final Fantasies, there’s always a big debate about which one is the best, but of all the Pixel Remasters finally (finally!) appeared on the eShop in March, Final Fantasy VI was the clear favorite among the NL team. Lowell called it “the jewel in the collection’s crown” in his review of the six-game bundle, praising its “spanning narrative”, “terrifying steampunk aesthetic” and “one of the best villains in gaming history”.
You’ve probably played it before. It’s probably time to play it again.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - March 2023
How we decide that our eShop chooses the top three: As we come to the end of each month, the Nintendo Life staff votes on their favorite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released only as a digital Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select qualifying games based on their ratings.
Staff are then asked to vote for the three games they think deserve to be at the very top of that list; the first choice gets 3 points, the second choice gets 2 points, and the third choice gets 1 point. Those votes are then tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner claiming that month’s top prize.
