2023 is almost over, and it's time to start talking about "that" season. Although lots of us have already been doing that...
More importantly, it's eShop Selects time here at Nintendo Life, and before the Holidays approach, we want to give you some ideas on some of the hidden gems that arrived on the eShop this November. What better gift than the joy of a hidden gem, right?
Let's not waste any time, here — we've got lots to get through.
Honourable Mentions
Roguelikes and RPGs are the names of the game this month, and we have plenty of them here, along with the latest Football Manager installment and your very own bath house sim. All of the games included this month earned at least a 7/10 from us.
- 9 Years of Shadows | Review: 8/10
- ASTLIBRA Revision | Review: 7/10
- Football Manager 2024 Touch | Review: 8/10
- In Stars and Time | Review: 8/10
- Spirittea | Review: 7/10
3. Thirsty Suitors (Switch eShop)
Annapurna never fails to publish games that catch the eye and Thirsty Suitors is yet another feather in the publisher's eclectically decorated hat. Outerloop's hugely ambitious turn-based adventure RPG can sometimes feel a bit muddled — there's skateboarding, QTEs, cooking minigames, and more — but everything just comes together thanks to the game's audacious style, heartfelt narrative, and relatable characters.
We stand by our statement that Thirsty Suitors has "one of the best stories we’ve seen all year". It's about heartbreak, identity, family, and relationships. Steeped in South Asian-American culture, there's nothing else quite as beautiful and messy as Thirsty Suitors, and we scored it a 7/10 here at Nintendo Life.
2. Worldless (Switch eShop)
A Metroidvania with turn-based combat? Sign us up. Worldless comes with dreamy visuals and a unique twist on the beloved indie genre. While the platforming and movement is smooth and familiar, the game's RPG-style combat adds a new wrinkle that forces you to pay attention to your enemies and change up your own attacks and skills.
Even with some difficulty spikes and some echoes of Hollow Knight in its gameplay, the combat does more than enough to make Worldless stand out from the crowd. We gave this one an 8/10 in our Nintendo Life review.
1. Astral Ascent (Switch eShop)
Well, this one took us by surprise. Astral Ascent has always looked gorgeous, but it's also absolutely brilliant to play. The gameplay is refined perfectly: combat is snappy, boss encounters are fun, and even though it blends together many reoccurring elements from the genre, it executes everything so well.
All four characters have extremely different playstyles, and you can experiment with different spell load-outs to change up combat. This really is the most fun we've had with a combat roguelike since Hades, and we gave it a 9/10 in our review. Truly a standout of the genre.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - October 2023
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
Comments 15
I've been playing Cobalt Core non-stop since its release this month. It's had no attention from this site but lots of YouTubers have picked it up. It's a unique roguelike deckbuilder with real character.
I’m waiting for physical releases for Astral Ascent and Worldless - they look delightful.
I had to put down thirsty suitors. The game is well made and the game play fun but the characters including the protagonist have terrible personalities. It’s trying to go for young adult angst but they are just terrible people and imo too old (mid 20’s) to be so petty/crappy. It’s hard to play a narrative driven game when you dislike almost everyone in said narrative. It’s basically ESH:the game. Except Auntie C, I liked her. Thank goodness for gamepass, I would have been ticked if I had bought it. I would like to see another game by this dev, but please better writing/narrative.
So for me game(s) of the month is coral island and steamworld build. Coral Island needs a little more time in the oven but I think I found my new favorite faming game. And I am a bokumono diehard.
I might pick up Astral Ascent at some point but that's probably the only one from this bunch that interests me.
I'd like to shout out Prison City. If you're a fan of 80s/90s action movies, and nes style action games like me, I highly recommend it. Upon beating the game you're treated to a hilarious 90s style rap song as the credits roll, which was all the rage at the time. The developers definitely know their target audience.
The King of Fighters XIII. I can't believe there was not even a test on this site! A thoroughly overlooked release for one of the very best 2D fighters.
I went and got Astral Ascent based on the great reviews it received and after an hour of gameplay it's already in the "will-finish-someday" group of games in my backlog. While it is a very solid and fun roguelike, I couldn't get past the overall tone and art style of the game. Maybe I'm a bit old-fashioned, but the character designs, dialogues and voice acting made me feel like I was in the middle of a teenage party (not that there is anything wrong with that, but not for me). Just bear that in mind if you are an older player like me.
9 Years of Shadow for me, imo, though nothing felt essential in November from the eshop
Will wait on a physical version for Wordless, and who knows maybe a demo just to be sure.
@Yalloo If you have access to Steam, there's a demo there
I picked up and been playing Astral Ascent, it's so good that I can't put it down.
Remember when "selects" where actual discounts. Nintendo are some of the tightest cheapskates in the biz
@WhiteKing this.
Haven't played any of these yet, but based on the reviews here on Nintendo Life and what I've seen/heard Astral Ascent is the one I'm looking forward to the most, followed by in no particular order 9 Years of Shadows, ASTLIBRA Revision and Worldless although I'm considering In Stars and Time, too.
For the first time in a long time I have not purchased or played any of the NL life selects games of the month! I have Astral Ascent on my wishlist awaiting games budget allowance, that's all I want to DL on there. I'd love to get engrossed in a Footy Manager game again (like I did way back once or twice), but I doubt I would nowadays.
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