It’s about time — welcome back to our monthly eShop Selects feature! This time we’re covering April — somehowwe are already in May.
As mentioned last month, we made another change to the article. You will now vote for your favorite hidden gem for the current month within this feature rather than separately. Phew. So many changes!
Otherwise, it’s business as usual — our staff and contributors vote on their top three eShop games from the list of games we’ve reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best that aren’t Enough make a top).
April’s surprise Indie World Showcase gave us a lot to look forward to — and a few shadows, too! It was a good month for the eShop. Let’s get to it then, shall we?
Honorable mentions
April gave us a real abundance of eShop delights — Level-5 is back! Game Boy aesthetics are in! And the cult classics are back! Please note that we are in the process of reviewing Another Crab’s Treasure, so it is not part of our internal staff vote.
Anyway, here’s what didn’t make our top three, then read on for the ultimate cream…
Nintendo Life Honorable Mentions
We’ve heard how much of an improvement Freedom Planet 2 is compared to its already very good predecessor. Waiting for the game to hit consoles (after a PC release in 2022) was painful, but by God, it was absolutely worth it.
It would be almost impossible for you to tell where Freedom Planet 2 is it is not improved. This is a top-notch sequel with outstanding level design, great characters, and fantastic visuals. We rated this one 9/10 in our review.
Here’s another game we’ve been waiting a while to see on the Switch. Planet of Lana is part cinematic platformer, part relaxing adventure. Beautifully presented and soothing to play, we quickly lost ourselves in the stunning world, running around with Lana and our alien friend.
It may lack the difficulty of the genre’s earlier predecessors, but the gentle puzzles and beautiful storytelling left a strong impression on us. Planet of Lana got an impressive 8/10 from us — if you love Studio Ghibli, then you’ll love this one.
Taking first place from the crew at NL Towers brings us back down to earth to the beautiful scenery of Botany Manor. We were surprised and delighted when we dived into this one because we didn’t expect to find ourselves scratching our heads so much as we worked our way through the inventive puzzles.
Although it looks like a pleasant time, Botany Manor will enchant you with its magical plants and puzzles. It’s really addictive, and despite being a short game, it was one of the best reviewed games of April, with a 9/10 rating.
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eShop chooses a reader’s choice vote (April 2024)
In a slight change from last month, we’re rolling Reader’s Choice voting into the eShop Selects feature itself — giving you a much better idea of what you can vote for. We’ll reveal the winner next month, but for now, vote for your favorite eShop release we missed in April 2024.
And, of course, you can also vote for your favorite from our selection.
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.
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