Nintendo's most recent eShop sale in Europe, dubbed 'February Fest', features a metric boatload of brilliant games — so many, in fact, that it's easy to get a little lost in all the quality. Sure, it's pretty easy to short the shovelware from the silverware, but with such a bounty of riches, it can be difficult knowing where to start with the good stuff.
Fear not, for we are here with a helping hand to point you in the right direction. In this list, we've collected every game on sale that we've reviewed and awarded a 9/10 or higher. There are plenty of great 8/10s available too, but we've stuck to what our reviewers considered to be the real cream of the crop. We think you'll agree that over 80 games is probably enough to be starting with!
We'd always recommend not just relying on the score but reading a review thoroughly if you're unsure whether the game is for you or not — and perhaps reading a few of the individual writer's other reviews on the site to see how simpatico your opinions are — but you can rest assured that every one of these games is worth serious consideration.
Every game below is on sale in Europe until 26th February 2023. And if you're looking for an extra discount, purchasing Switch eShop credit from our store and using the code NLIFE5 at checkout will get you an extra 5% off your top-up total:
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
So, take a look, whip out all the ones already in your Switch library — of which there are likely plenty — and see what grabs you...
Persona 5 Royal (Switch)
Sale Price: £38.49 / €41,99 (30% off)
Persona 5 Royal is the very definition of ‘required reading' for JRPG fans. A deep and moving story, stylish presentation, amazing soundtrack, and decision-driven gameplay all combine to make for an unforgettable and exceptional experience that proves itself to be every bit deserving of the hype and praise it’s already received. While those who have played this elsewhere may want to consider whether Switch's portability is enough of a selling point to justify paying full price to double dip, but it suits it perfectly. Persona 5 Royal remains a game that we absolutely recommend you pick up as soon as you can. This easily stands as one of the very best RPGs of the last decade and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to miss out.
Signalis (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £14.39 / €17,99 (10% off)
Signalis came out of nowhere to provide survival horror fans a near-perfect love letter to the long-running genre. It is at its best when you're darting between enemies, using stealth and patience rather than brute force. While some of the combat encounters felt a little forced, the puzzles are just the right mix of challenging and approachable. The surreal imagery and unique storytelling structure add to the overall polish of a game that is the perfect length for what it is. There have been an awful lot of homages to classic survival horror, but Signalis stands as one of the best.
River City Girls (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £13.49 / €14,99 (50% off)
Not since Scott Pilgrim vs The World was released nine years ago have we played such an entertaining, satisfying beat ‘em up. Whether you’re playing alone or teaming up with a friend in co-op mode, River City Girls is a visually superb, aurally fantastic, out-and-out love letter to the genre. Fans of River City Ransom and other Kunio-kun games will adore how it respects the past but makes it relevant today, while those new to the series will simply find a hugely enjoyable and infectiously cheerful scrapper.
OlliOlli World (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £14.99 / €17,99 (40% off)
OlliOlli World takes Roll7's refined 2D skateboarding concept to cosmic heights. Tight and challenging gameplay, a high skill ceiling, dozens of hours of content, and a remarkably stylish sense of presentation combine to make this a release you absolutely don’t want to miss. It's an easy recommendation to pretty much any Switch owner, especially those who are easily roped in by score-chasing releases or super hard platforming, OlliOlli World is a shining example of the distinct kind of innovation and quality that can come from inspired indie game studios.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Switch)
Sale Price: £22.49 / €26,99 (55% off)
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a fantastic experience, a great big celebration of everything Star Wars. The upgrades to the series' core gameplay here — the combo-focused combat, flashy space battles, boss encounters, over-the-shoulder shooting action, and cover system — all combine to make this the best Lego Star Wars has ever felt to play. Throw in a humongous open-world setting that's bursting at the seams with secrets and collectibles and you've got an absolute smorgasbord of all things Star Wars to dig into. Yub nub.
NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition (Switch)
Sale Price: £26.24 / €29,99 (25% off)
NieR:Automata is a modern classic. Most importantly for Switch owners, this is a top-notch port that has clearly been produced with respect and focus, often surpassing our expectations in both visuals and performance. Finding a comfortable seat and a pair of headphones makes the Switch version a wonderful way to experience the game, and it is an unforgettable journey. Nothing is as it seems, either in the story or gameplay, and it's one of the finest gaming achievements of the last decade.
Sonic Mania (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £7.99 / €9,99 (50% off)
Sonic Mania was a true return to form for the mascot, in his 2D 'Classic' guise at least. It celebrates the glory days of the original games while also enhancing their qualities and taking on new ideas. From new areas, imaginative second acts, and some delightful boss encounters, the development team poured a lot of passion and talent into the project. With new characters and modes added in the 'Plus' retail version (also available as DLC), some neat tweaks iron out some of the kinks present in the original release, but regardless of the version you pick up, it's one of the best 2D platformers in recent memory.
No Man's Sky (Switch)
Sale Price: £29.99 / €37,49 (25% off)
No Man's Sky on Switch is a fantastic port of a game we genuinely didn't believe could make the transition to Nintendo's console without some serious technical issues. Hello Games has made the necessary cutbacks and downgrades to get this intergalactic survival sandbox playing at a super solid frame rate and the colourful, chunky graphical style here ensures that it all still looks pretty fantastic to boot. With all of the game's previous updates and content included — barring multiplayer at this point — and a plethora of customisation options courtesy of the massive Waypoint update, this is an easy recommendation for survival fans and an impressive Switch port.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (Switch)
Sale Price: £26.24 / €29,99 (25% off)
TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection is indisputably the best thing Konami has released in a long while, meeting all expectations and then some. Bar absent difficulty settings for the arcade games, it’s an anthology that finally gets it totally right. Digital Eclipse and Konami have done the fans justice, offering a comprehensive library that doesn’t hide content behind a paywall, while going above and beyond in terms of features and bonuses. With online functionality and rollback netcode being the icing on the cake, this is the gold standard for retro collections.
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Switch)
Sale Price: £7.99 / €9,59 (84% off)
Dragon Ball FighterZ on the Switch is, simply put, one of the best fighting games we've seen on the system. Arc System Works went the extra mile in capturing the essence of the source material and distilled it into an incredible brawler that has lost nothing in the transition to Nintendo's hybrid console. The stunning visuals, intense action, and easy-to-master controls make FighterZ a game all fans of the genre should have in their library. If you only play this kind of game casually, it remains a must-own.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Switch)
Sale Price: £14.99 / €17,99 (70% off)
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is an excellent action-RPG that's arrived on Switch in a fantastic, feature-packed port. Evan and Roland's antics across this game's sprawling world are stuffed full of great characters, exciting combat and adventuring, and a kingdom-building mechanic that's a delight to get to grips with. It looks and sounds every bit as good as its predecessor and, although the story might be a little more hit-and-miss here, we were completely hooked into this one from beginning to end. This is a sumptuously crafted adventure you won't regret diving into.
Catherine: Full Body (Switch)
Sale Price: £13.49 / €14,99 (70% off)
Catherine: Full Body is a fantastic revamp of a bonafide cult classic. With an excellent new character and several new endings slickly inserted into an already highly entertaining narrative – not to mention a slew of fun new modes – this is the definitive version of an outstanding game. If you've never played Catherine before then you're in for an absolute treat, and if you have, we'd say there's enough new content here to make it worth diving in all over again.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition (Switch)
Sale Price: £24.99 / €29,99 (50% off)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains a masterpiece, and being able to take such a grand and engrossing adventure on-the-go is something well worth celebrating. The Switch's Complete Edition is a truly impressive achievement, and although performance isn't perfect, it's still an incredible and impactful role-playing experience. The Witcher 3 set the bar for modern RPGs back in 2015, and this port is a startling reminder that it has yet to be bettered.
Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (Switch)
Sale Price: £7.49 / €9,99 (75% off)
Despite its ‘Definitive Edition’ moniker, the vast majority of what you get in the Switch version of Rayman Legends has been seen in every other edition. The only truly new features here are a complete character roster for the first time and a tournament mode for its football mini-game. That’s not to say it's a bad game, though; that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rayman Legends is one of the best plumber-free platformers ever made, and its budget price means if you haven’t played it before, the Switch version is the perfect opportunity to jump in.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Switch)
Sale Price: £24.99 / €29,99 (50% off)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a wonderful achievement for dynamic storytelling, as it puts forth a compelling and multifaceted narrative that’ll keep you guessing right up until the very end. This excellent story, combined with enjoyable combat portions, a striking art style, and some top-notch voice acting make for an experience that you won’t want to miss out on. It’s the kind of game that’ll have you wishing that you could play it again for the first time, just so all its best elements could be new again.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Switch)
Sale Price: £17.99 / €29,99 (60% off)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 on Nintendo Switch is a rock-solid port of a pair of genuinely fantastic remakes. These really are two of the very best arcade sports titles of all time, revamped, reworked and re-imagined for modern audiences with all the graphical bells and whistles, collectibles and game modes we've come to expect in this day and age. With flawless performance in both docked and handheld modes and visuals that still look the part after a few necessary concessions here and there, this is one collection we highly recommend you kickflip right into.
The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £4.04 / €4,49 (85% off)
Croteam, the creator of The Talos Principle, was previously known primarily for their silly (but fun) Serious Sam titles. The Talos Principle shows a remarkable maturity and depth of scope that's perhaps surprising, but in a very good way. It poses interesting questions, allows the player to progress at their own pace — mostly in a non-linear fashion — and is a hugely satisfying piece of game design. Utterly entrancing and highly recommended.
Kaze and the Wild Masks (Switch)
Sale Price: £6.99 / €7,99 (73% off)
An absolute pleasure from start to finish, what Kaze and the Wild Masks lacks in originality it makes up for in the strength of its level design, responsive controls, kinetic move set and attractive visuals. Excellent, action-packed platforming through and through, with great gameplay variety and gimmicks that don’t compromise on what the game is best at — challenging, fast-paced obstacle courses and deviously-hidden secret areas. Easiest sell? Kaze and the Wild Masks is to Donkey Kong Country what Freedom Planet was to Sonic the Hedgehog. Don’t miss this one.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £17.99 / €19,99 (50% off)
Disco Elysium's narrative and dialogue, which is already wonderfully compelling on its own, was given a massive boost thanks to the excellent voice acting introduced for the Final Cut. The gameplay features a host of branching paths for you to explore, and while the slow, methodical approach may turn a few people off, this is nevertheless one of the most well-told stories in any medium from the last few years. The performance issues at the time of our review slightly took the shine off things, but even with them present, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is a triumph and stands as one of the best RPGs available on Switch.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Switch)
Sale Price: £33.29 / €39,99 (33% off)
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a thoroughly entertaining mash-up of Musou mayhem, strategy, and relationship-building aspects that should more than satisfy fans of both the franchises involved here. It improves upon its 2017 predecessor in several ways, most notably in providing a far more engaging story featuring a narrative that's ripe for several replays. With impressively solid performance on Switch and an action-packed campaign that'll see you blasting your way through tens of thousands of foes for a good 30 hours in a single playthrough, this is right up there with the very best Warriors titles that developer Omega Force has ever served up.
BlazBlue CentralFiction Special Edition (Switch)
Sale Price: £17.49 / €19,99 (50% off)
BlazBlue CentralFiction Special Edition may have arrived a few years late on Switch, but that delay didn't dull the sharpness of its 2D fighting package. Not only does it give the Ragna saga a proper send-off with a story mode that's so rich in character development it could be a full anime season in its own right, but it offers a staggering number of modes to keep you playing long after the credits roll. It runs silky-smooth docked or in handheld modes and runs like a dream online. The lack of an English dub still rankles, and new adopters are going to have to do a lot of research to understand what's going on, but it's well worth the effort.
Comments 37
Great list! Thank you for all the recommendations. I'll go for Alien Isolation and Death's Door (and perhaps Monkey Island, I played on PC and it's fantastic, but I want it physical!)
A pity I don't have plenty of money to waste... Lots of good stuff here!
Just the 81 then...
Gris at that price is a CRIME!! That would be my #1 recommended game. It's a really compelling personal and emotional journey for anyone who plays it. Nothing else quite like it that I know of! There are definitely a LOT of great titles on this list though.
Amazing games.
Out of these I’d mainly recommend the Talos Principle, because it doesn’t get as much time in the light as most other games on this list.
Edit: also I think the pricing for the Messenger is a little off. I mean, it’s a great game but I wouldn’t recommend it for 79,99 . I’d probably only recommend Breath of the Wild for that price.
The Messenger at only 79,99 euro's? That's a steal! Or a typo.
Many great games though, some at incredible prices, but this month I went with the incredible sale of Qubic / Untold Tales games on my US account. Splatter Zombiecalypse Now, for just 0.23, and several other great ones for less than (often half) a dollar each. Insane value there.
Would love a sequel to mark of the ninja!
Very disappointed not to see the criminally underrated Murder by Numbers on the list, especially considering some of the dross/mediocrity that made it.
@Miyamotosan They didn't even mention it's sequel "Saved by Alphabets"
Sonic Mania made the list and not Frontiers? That's funny in many ways considering the comments I read on the last article here with Frontiers as the topic.
All the Capcom Arcade Stadium 2nd games are 46% off (a little over an € a piece).
I got the 3 Darkstalkers games and especially Vampire Saviour: The Lord of Vampire is a complete steal (all the games are in reality a steal at that price imo).
I'm looking into maybe getting SonSon and the 2 Megaman fighting games as well (there are a number Street Fighter games on there too - but I've already got those in the 30th Anniversary Collection)
There's leaderboards available for free as well (NSO is not needed) with Score, Timed and Special challenges to take up.
Edit: Ok, SonSon is actually free it seems.
It's quite an amazing package overall if you ask me.
I cannot recommend The Talos Principle enough. Easily one of the best games I've ever played in my life!
Diablo II and Diablo III together for £16.49 is a great deal. It's not very obvious that it's on sale though, because you have to hit the Prime Evil Collection tab on the Diablo II listing.to see it.
Sadly it hasn't been reviewed here, but be sure to pick up the platformer hidden gem Juiced!
@Shambo Ha, zapped! Thanks
@PineappleLake Juiced! Featuring Dywane "The Rock" Johnson.
Seriously, 81?!
Articles like this lose a lot of their utility with such a high number.
Just the 81 must have games….. a well curated concise list then…..
Great to see Eschatos on this list! Outstanding shmup with a killer soundtrack which I think is worth the price on its own.
How'd you score Skywalker Saga 9/10? After all the delays it was just so bland.
The fact so many of these games are a 9/10 says a lot about the quality of reviews on this site.
Some terrific games on here that I already got, and some great suggestions. :v
You must not have 81 of anything lol I own over 100 games on Switch, probably 12-15 are "must have". That's an insane amount of cash to get 81 games in one sale! Sorry for getting caught up on the #. Some good games in there anyway
Rogue Legacy I and Gris are practically free and those are both amazing games; I encourage
anyone who doesn't own them to snag them. Sales on Ni No Kuni 2 keep tempting me. Overall a lot of great games, although some of them are on sale quite often so they are not really urgent buys.
One I would recommend thats not here is Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi for £20.
Its a super underrated and to my knowledge wasn't even reviewed by NL.
I hope this sale comes to the NA eshop!! I have many on my wish list and been waiting for a sale!
Picked up Lego city undercover when its on sale now
Tony Hawk's is £15.99, not £17.99.
A bargain either way
@Mr_Humpf thanks for the tip! Thanks to tou i've grabed them both
FWIW, I didn’t rate Gris at all - it’s quite pretty, but playing it was frankly quite boring. I’m only saying this because so many comments and reviews praise it - just a warning that you could be disappointed. I get why others love it, though. Glad you did.
I felt similarly about Horace too, for that matter - I liked everything about that game apart from actually playing it. Such a shame.
But this is a very strong list. I’m not quibbling with anyone’s score! Go for it - just read some reviews first.
If you haven't picked up Rayman legends, do it! It's truly amazing from start to finish... And then they have the complete previous game as unlockable bonus levels!
It plays like a dream, makes underwater levels cool and fun, has 5 amazing flowing music stages and is always thinking of something cool and strange to surprise you! (And it's ten bucks now!! )
@bluemage1989
NL has been reviewing Switch eShop games for almost six years, and there has been roughly 20 games coming out each week. They can't review them all, so it makes sense they review the ones that look interesting to begin with. And it makes sense that when there is a sale, they recommend the games on sale that they themselves gave a good score.
They have reviewed A LOT og eShop games here, and many of them are NOT on this list.
I got botvice in the sale, great pixel art gallery shooter, 50% of to 5 euros or something...
Thanks Nintendo Life for the list, I added some games I was missing to my wishlist (and also my collection) on Deku Deals so that later I can check which games if any I'll pick during this sale!
Persona 5 Royal and Mario + rabbids sparks of hope are obvious pick ups worth your time and money
@Krull OMG you're like my gaming twin or something - I feel the same about both Gris and Horace.
Er no thanks to any of them...
@gcunit @Krull Make that gaming triplets.
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