Welcome, welcome. Yes, it really is June alreadywhich means it’s time for another eShop Selects!
But wait, what was that? Other games released this month? Yes, we know. Yes, we know most of you have been playing a certain open-world wonder on Switch for most of May. But that’s why this month’s eShop Selects is more vital than ever in our eyes.
While it’s been a quieter month in the digital storefront, there are still some fantastic titles tucked away that we’ve enjoyed — after all, we all need a game after Zelda. Since it was a quieter month, we’ve included all eShop exclusives that scored 7/10 or higher.
With that out of the way, let’s dive in.
Honorable mentions
This month was popular for late ports, boomer shooters and puzzles. We’ve got all these basics and more – even in the honorable mentions:
Publisher: Mode of operation 7 / Programmer: Breaking the ground
Fights in Tight Spaces is one of the coolest roguelites on Switch. Its monochromatic with splashes of red is a holiday, and the deck building combat is unique and surprisingly deep. it’s like watching an infiltration or a cinematic fight in slow motion, and you make all the decisions. It takes a lot to make a roguelite feel truly fresh, but Ground Shatter proved that there are still plenty of special ideas in the tank for this hugely popular genre. This popular Steam title from 2021 made the jump to the Switch quite well, earning a well-deserved 8/10 from us.
Publisher: Focus on the fun / Programmer: Auroch Digital
“Boom” boomer shooter just keeps on giving and on and on Space Marine — Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — is another wonderful example of how to make a stylish, bloody and addictive shooter. Even with some control and level design issues, we kept coming back to the fight. The titular boltgun is the star of the show, but every single weapon is great to use. We also can’t get enough of those crisp 3D pixels. We’ve awarded this incredible sequel a solid 7/10.
Publisher: Raw rage / Programmer: Exchange Studio
Brighton-based developer Bytten Studio knocked it out of the park with their monstrous collection of 80s music tributes, Cassette Beasts. Mixing Pokémon-like creatures with massive Zelda-inspired overworld, Cassette Beasts feels like the mature Pokémon game longtime fans have been dreaming of. The mix of ghost work, 2D visuals, funky music and unusual creatures is just the beginning of what makes this RPG wonderful, and we still have thousands of beasts to mix and match before we reach the end of our adventure. The developer has been working on performance patches, but even with these issues, we rate Cassette Beasts 8/10.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - April 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.
