There are very few years that aren’t “winners” for Nintendo. You can set your watch to the publisher putting out at least one Game of the Year nominee annually. Now, it’s time to decide the best of 2023.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Obviously, all eyes are going to be on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As a follow-up to Breath of the Wild, it was expected to deliver: But I don’t think anyone could have anticipated just how much it would iterate upon the fantastic framework we already got with the launch of the Switch in 2017. People may have been worried that Tears would operate like an “expansion pack” to the 2017 modern classic, but those fears were completely unfounded.
We also got a new Fire Emblem game, another Pikmin entry (which might be the best one to date), a slick remaster of a great Kirby title, a killer Xenoblade Chronicles DLC, and Paranormasight. 2023 was packed and succeeded in hitting us across the head with a steady stream of prior-delayed games at once.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been called “the best Mario game since Super Mario World” by many and is the perfect prescription for folks who have been burned by the constant deluge of the “New” subseries series. Although most Mario games are shoo-ins for nominations, this one feels different.
Fire Emblem Engage
Any given Fire Emblem game is going to appeal to certain types of people, but this one grabbed me really early on. It helped that the DLC leaned into the whole “all-stars” angle, and brought multiple generations of the series together in one bright and accessible entry.
Pikmin 4
I can’t say enough nice things about Pikmin 4. When I was playing it, I couldn’t stop. There’s so much to do and explore, and just when you think it’s over, the game completely opens up. Oh, and it’s still incredibly cute.
Paranormasight
You can always count on Square Enix to surprise us, sometimes in the most unlikely way possible. One month I looked up and realized “wow, there are multiple Square-backed RPGs coming out this month, and I haven’t heard about any of them for weeks.” Paranormasight crept up on a lot of us but managed to leave an impact on most of the staff. Once this game gets running, it doesn’t let up.
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland is low-key one of my favorite Kirby games, and I was happy to see it return, with some bells and whistles, in 2023. There’s not much to say about Kirby that hasn’t already been said: it’s comfort food at worst, and in the case of Dreamland Deluxe, it’s a high bar that hearkens back to the era of Kirby Super Star.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
I have an entire room of my house that’s littered with just Xenoblade pictures, and I really need to up my game and get some Xenoblade Chronicles 3 scenes in there. Future Redeemed was a fantastic bit of DLC that both continues the story of the third core entry and ties the entire universe together.
Check out the nominees below, and come back next week for our full reveal!
Here are the nominees for Destructoid’s Best Switch Game of 2023:
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Pikmin 4
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Paranormasight
- Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
Our final results will go live next week, starting on December 18 with the winner of Best Indie. Stay tuned throughout this week for the rest of our nominees, as we build up to the Overall Game of the Year award on December 22!
