So, let’s take a look at our most anticipated Switch games for the coming year…
Publisher: Atlus / Developer: Atlus Persona Team
Following on from Persona 5 Royal‘s 2022 release, Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden will arrive on Nintendo’s hybrid system on 19th January 2023. We won’t lie — we’re most excited for P4G, a long-awaited Switch release that combines teenhood, serial killers, ramen, and multi-dimensional dungeon crawling, accompanied by gigantic demonic Pokémon-like monsters. It’s nothing like anything else.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Intelligent Systems
Revealed with a 23rd January 2023 release date attached, Fire Emblem Engage is starting off Nintendo’s New Year with a turn-based bang.
Featuring a mix of new and (some) returning characters from the storied strategy series, it’s been a while since 2019’s excellent Fire Emblem: Three Houses — and Engage has a lot to live up to. We’ll be cracking out our very best Jean-Luc Picard impressions in January — just you try and stop us.
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Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: indies zero
The beloved rhythm game returns at last on the 16th February 2023, when Theatrhythm Final Bar Line brings a whopping 385 Final Fantasy songs to the Switch. Final Bar Line will also include four-player online play, so you can prove to all your friends that your internal metronome is always on beat.
Publisher: Bandai Namco / Developer: Bandai Namco
Pencil in February 17th 2023 if you like action RPGs, remakes of GameCube games, and/or beautiful anime cutscenes, because the remaster of Tales of Symphonia has all of those, and that’s when it’s coming out. Think old-school Dragons Quest and Finals Fantasy, polished up with sharper visuals but without losing the charm of the original.
Publisher: Bandai Namco
This digital pet RPG, originally released on Vita and PS4, is winging its way over to the Switch on February 22nd, 2023, ready to rival the multitude of Pokémon games from 2022. The stakes are high with Digimon World: Next Order, as your Digimon will only evolve if you meet certain requirements, and if not, they’ll die and be reborn. Expect to have a much closer bond with your loyal partner ‘mons than in Pokémon, where you can discard an old friend with naught but a moment’s notice. Who’s the real monster, eh?
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
The latest instalment in the Ryza series is Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, an adventure RPG that will tackle the titular Ryza’s final adventure to discover the roots of alchemy. With a seamless open world to explore — one of the largest in the series — and 11 party members to befriend, it sounds like it’s going to be a game that takes up most, if not all, of our time when it comes out on February 24th, 2023.
Publisher: Nintendo
Another announcement from the September 2022 Nintendo Direct, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a remaster of the 2011 Wii game which made good on its title by taking Kirby back to the land of dreams.
We awarded the original a 9/10, so we’ve got high hopes for this Deluxe version and the extras it will bring on 24th February 2023.
Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: Square Enix
The sequel to Square Enix’s hit 2018 RPG which introduced the world to the gorgeous ‘HD-2D’ style, Octopath Traveler II will bring another eight characters to the fold with eight paths to follow through the game. While some might disagree, we’ll take as much HD-2D as we can get if they look as good as the first game and the excellent Live A Live.
OT2, as nobody is calling it, will be out on 24th February 2023, jostling Kirby for dominance on Switch. Kirby’s got form when it comes to a fight — then again, he’s up against eight people!
Who wins? We do, silly.
Publisher: Marvelous (XSEED)
Another remake of a beloved farming game from days of yore, Rune Factory 3 Special follows warm on the heels of the excellent Rune Factory 4 remake for Switch. Sure, it’s no Elden Ring, but on March 2nd 2023, we’ll be diving back into the world of Rune Factory once more.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: PlatinumGames
Announced at The Game Awards 2022, we’ll admit that we were surprised to see another Bayo game so soon after Bayonetta 3, and even more surprised that it would be a highly stylised storybook prequel of a game letting us know about baby Bayonetta’s origins. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon will be out on March 17th, 2023.
Publisher: Imagineer
Yes, this exists! Announced during the September 2022 Nintendo Direct, this is the crossover that precisely nobody expected. Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star brings characters from the popular manga and anime series into the world of Switch-based boxercising with the makers of Fitness Boxing at the helm.
Come on, you’re not intrigued to see what this is all about!?! We don’t believe you. Experience Ken’s rage (not that one) sometime in March 2023.
