 Happy Merry Holidays, everybody! Whatever it is you celebrate this year, it's a gift-giving season. And if you're looking to gift a Nintendo Switch game to your kid or your mom or your husband or your wife or your grandma or whoever, I've got you covered. And this isn't a tier list of my favorite games, or these games are better than these games. It is quite literally a buying guide. Games I would recommend this holiday season. Games that came out this year, the hottest, most exciting titles, and then which games you should stay away from. A couple of small things to note before we get started. One, this is just physical games. Games that you will find on the shelf at GameStop or Target while you're shopping this holiday season. I even went to GameStop and Target and took a bunch of videos and photos to see what was out there. So I can make sure that my list is as concise as it can be with what is actually out there right now. I'm not diving into the digital shop on the Nintendo Switch to recommend any games there, but I can't recommend enough while you're out there at the GameStop if you see any eShop cards and you want to buy little Timmy or Jimmy some eShop credits so they can spend it on their own Switch. That's not a bad idea. A lot of games do only release digitally, or games they might already have and love get DLC, like for Pokemon. So here's how it's gonna work. I break the categories down into prices first. You have your $50 to $60 full price games. You're $30 to $40 mid-range games, and then you're $10 to $20 stocking stuff at games. And from there, I split it down into three more categories. Must buy games. You're maybe games. These are games that might have come out this year, but they're more niche, or there's some variables we'll have to talk about before I can recommend it for sure. And then the avoid, which speaks for itself, and I'll explain everything as we go. Okay, but first, let's talk about Game Assets. Well, you can use code beat-em-ups and get yourself 10% off. And hey, you can look as cool as me. I love Game Assets. And if you want to get someone the gift of energy this Christmas, how about you grab them some? It has zero calories. It's sugar-free. It has no lead, which I don't know. That's pretty great when I think of energy. Also, you can get the new H3 Sigma Brain Flavor, a personal favorite of mine, because what's the point in buying all of these video games? If you don't have the energy to play them. It directly supports the channel, and I'd really appreciate it. Oh, you can get sample packets. If you want to try a flavor, they come with most of the shaker cups. That's with the lunchbox there, buddy. Oh, this old thing? Well, I can't show you what's in it yet, but if you could see that, you'd be very excited. Grab some. Thank you. Okay, happy holidays. Starting with the $60 games, actually, no, we're not. Starting with the $70 gamer. Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch is $70. This is the most expensive game I've seen for this holiday season, and it is in the avoid category. Do not buy it. You might think you're the cool uncle getting the brutal Mortal Kombat game for little Timmy, but the Switch version of this game has game-breaking bugs, frame rate issues, resolution dips, input and timing controls, performance drops, missing content, long load times. I don't know what else to say about that. Now we can start the video. Starting with the $50 to $60 games, the must-buys. Hands down, the number one game this year for Switch to get anybody, if they don't already have it, is Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom. The only reason I can think to not get this game for someone is if they've specifically asked to not get it. It is rated as one of the best games of all time. It might win Game of the Year for this year. I don't know what else to tell you. Next up and honestly closely following it, Mario Wonder. Mario Wonder is the newest traditional 2D Mario game. If you grew up with Mario Brothers 1, 2 and 3 on the NES, this is that, but in 2023 and better than ever. It's so much fun. It has four player multiplayer for the family. If you're looking to play games with somebody, there is another Mario game that released this year. When I went to GameStop today, there was a mom at the counter asking the guy working at GameStop what was the difference between Mario RPG and Super Mario Wonder. And that's why I make these videos. Super Mario RPG, while it is a newer Switch game by about a month or two, it's actually a remake of an old Super Nintendo game from the 90s. It's been completely remade visually and looks fantastic. This is one of the best RPGs ever made. It's more strategic. It's more tactical. It's not your typical Mario jumping on Goomba head fun. So maybe not so much for little kids, but I played it when I was little and I liked it. So those three games are all the must buy games that came out this year for $50 to $60. Now Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the newest Pokemon games that came out last year, they do have new DLC that released on the eShop. So if you know someone that loves these games and they don't have the DLC yet, you could maybe get them some eShop credit for that. I would also say that if they don't have these games at all, they're still great to pick up for anybody that loves Pokemon or might be wanting to get into Pokemon. The rest of these must buy games did not come out this year. These are all games that I highly recommend having in your Switch library and anybody will enjoy them. They're just not new-new. They're just worth buying if you're looking for something to buy. That's Zelda Breath of the Wild, which is the game before Tears of the Kingdom. So don't get them mixed up. And if somebody doesn't have either game, I would start by getting Breath of the Wild because it's the first one. Pokemon Legends Arceus. If you're looking for another Pokemon game to get somebody that already loves Scarlet and Violet, Arceus is a completely different kind of Pokemon game and a really grand adventure that I can't recommend enough. Kirby Forgotten Land is still awesome. It came out last year and is one of the best action platformers and I think the best Kirby. Splatoon 3 is always great. Just make sure you don't get Splatoon 2. If your kid likes shooting games, but you're worried about the mature nature of those, Splatoon 3 is a kid-friendly shooter. Plays a squid and you shoot ink. Xenoblade 3 also got a bunch of digital DLC this year and I can't recommend Xenoblade 3 enough in general. It's so good. Monster Hunter Rise. If you're gonna buy this, buy the Sunbreak Physical Edition, which has the DLC included in it. Metroid Dread can be a little spooky, but it's also very worth buying. Mario Party Superstars. Do not get it confused with Super Mario Party. There are two Mario Parties on the Switch. I always recommend Superstars because it's so much fun to play with friends or family. I literally had friends over last night and they all wanted to play Mario Superstars. And then just the staple games that you can buy anybody and they will most likely love it. So check their Switch Library and if they don't have Super Mario 3D World and Bowser's Fury, Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing and I can't stress Animal Crossing enough for any kind of gamer. Luigi's Mansion 3 and then Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best-selling game on Switch for a reason. It's Mario Kart. That is all, in my opinion, the must-buy games if you're gonna be reaching in your pocket and spending $60. But here are the maybe games. So many of these are not only really worth buying, but there's a better than good chance that whoever you're buying for doesn't have one of these. They also can be very niche and I'll do my best to explain that as we go. So this is the $50 to $60 maybe games. Starting with Sonic Superstars. This game is supposed to be $60, but I've already seen it on sale for about $30. And I think that's an incredible price. This game is a ton of fun. You can play with up to four players in this Sonic title and in the same way that Mario Wonder is like old-school Mario, this is like old-school Sonic. Pikmin had a new game release this year. Pikmin 4 and also Pikmin 1 and 2, the old GameCube games came to Switch as well. There's a good chance if you're looking at buying this, it's because somebody asked for it. But if you just don't know what to get, the person you're buying for and they already have all the other games I've mentioned, I think it's worth taking a gamble on Pikmin 4. I had so much fun with it. It's a little micro-managing game where you play as small little critters in a garden, very cutesy and cozy and at times it's terrifying. Probably the one and only time you'll hear me talk about Hogwarts Legacy on the channel is just a topic I want to steer clear from. But in the nature of what I'm doing here, it's on the shelf this holiday season. Let's talk about it. It's $60 and it is the full Hogwarts Legacy game that released everywhere else but crammed under the Switch. I've been playing it because I wanted to see if it was a terrible port I could make fun of. Turns out it's actually really solid and I do feel like I'm getting the full experience on the go. One of the games I actually saw in Target today when I went and I forgot was getting a physical this year, Red Dead Redemption. It is the entire first Red Dead Redemption game with the Undead Nightmare DLC packed into it and it looks and plays incredible on the Switch. This is one of the best games of all time. You're just going to have to figure out if the person you're buying for has already played this game back in the day because it is kind of old now. But honestly, they might want to play it again. It's really good. May have slipped you by but Borderlands 3, the ultimate edition released on Switch this year and has a physical. I was very skeptical about how this was going to run on Switch and while just like Harry Potter, it's a little uglier than everywhere else. It runs surprisingly great. Oh, and don't mix that game up with new tales from the Borderlands which is a kind of like a playable movie style version of a Borderlands game. I actually kind of like it and it is only 20 bucks but it's not Borderlands 3. To be honest, I'm kind of mixed on this one and that's Dreamlight Valley Cozy Edition got a physical release. It's $50 full price. My issue is it's a digital only code in the box which means you're spending $50 and you're not actually getting the game and if you just go to the eShop and buy this digitally, you can get the base version for only $30. So this is $20 more. It does come with some extra DLC and things that cost about $20 in the game if you buy it digitally. The reason why I'm putting it here is because it's just a really great gift for somebody. I can see a lot of people and kids and Disney fans being very happy to get this for Christmas and it's not as exciting buying somebody an eShop gift code card to buy it for themselves. Situational, it's why it's in maybe but I do really enjoy the game. Octopath Traveler 2, if you didn't like Octopath Traveler 1 or you thought it was just okay, the second one fixed a lot of the issues with that game and it got really great reviews. Persona 5 Tactica, a tactics version of Persona 5. I definitely can't say to avoid it but I wouldn't buy it for someone unless they're a huge Persona fan. Fire Emblem Engage, I didn't like this game at all and I'm trying to be non-bias and say, hey, if you have a Fire Emblem fan in the house, it's Fire Emblem. I'm sure they want it. Kirby Return to Dream Land Deluxe, another Kirby game. I think Forgotten Land is way better. This is a remake of a Wii game and it's okay. Bayonetta Origins, Sireza and the Lost Demon. It's a prequel to the Bayonetta games but it plays completely differently. Kind of sound like a broken record here but I didn't like this one very much either. This is very situational. It's if they already love Bayonetta or they've asked for this game. Advance Wars 1 & 2 Reboot, a strategy game about war. It's bright and colorful though so you decide but it is good. We've talked about Dreamlight Valley and Cozy Games Faith Farm release this year. It's like a farming sim where you play as little fairies and you can play with up to three or four friends. The perfect kids game. I gotta talk about Minecraft Legends because your kid might love Minecraft that's highly possible. So you might see this game and think it's a good idea and it might be but this is not like the Minecraft they already love. This is a real time strategy game. So it's a lot more technical and it has micro transactions. It's only for cosmetic stuff but you might buy this for your kid and then have them asking to borrow your credit card a bunch to buy new skins for their Minecraft Legends characters. I always hate when a game costs full price and then also has micro transactions in the game and don't get Legends confused with Minecraft Dungeons which released a couple years ago. They might already have that but if they don't I think it's a better game and doesn't have micro transactions. Alteria Riser 3. This is like a JRPG meets Breath of the Wild. Star Ocean Second Story R. This is a straight JRPG. So if you have a JRPG fan in the house this one's getting reviewed really well. If they love to see of stars this year they might love this. Master Detective Archives Rain Code. This slipped a lot of people by just kind of released and wasn't talked about. It's a fantasy mystery adventure game and it's kind of like the Ace Attorney games. And then two new games that released December 1st so they're not out yet while I'm making this. Dragon Quest Monster The Dark Prince. I'm just saying maybe because I don't know what else to say and the game is out but it doesn't look that great. I wouldn't rush to this one. And Batman Arkham Trilogy. These are three Batman games that released several years ago being ported to the Switch in one big collection. Great for any Batman fan but these are older games. Okay that was all the new games released this year. So really safe bets to buy anybody a new game that they won't already have it or they're looking for it. But if for some reason none of those really stood out to you. Here are a bunch of other games around this price that could be good to buy that have released over the last few years. Bayonetta 3 or any of the Bayonettas Live Alive is one of the best JRPGs of all time and this remake looks fantastic. Persona 5 Royal. I can't recommend this one enough especially because I keep seeing it on sale for $30. Just don't mix it up with Persona 5 Strikers. Although that's also a good game and worth its price but it's another spin-off game like Persona 5 Tactics. You have to be a fan of Persona 5 Royal to like either of those other spin-off games. And then hey, Pokemon Sword and Shield they're not the newest Pokemon games but I'm not gonna say they're not worth their price. I'll say that the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are looking less and less tempting. It's hard to say avoid because they are Pokemon games but I would rather get Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee for somebody if they don't have those yet which are much better remakes than Diamond and Pearl. New Pokemon Snap it's a game with Pokemon where you take pictures of them. Very calming and relaxing. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team would be great for younger kids. No more Heroes 3. It's okay. I would say it's worth it if you find it on sale. Monster Hunter Stories 2 allories recommend it's very Pokemon-adjacent. Mario Golf Super Rush and Mario Tennis Aces. These two Mario sports games are good filler titles for a library. They're a lot of fun but they do get old pretty quickly. For any Zelda fan that hasn't played Zelda Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity. It's a prequel to Breath of the Wild and ties a lot of the story together even though it's not considered canon anymore. I don't think it's still a blast for any fan of these new Zelda games. Don't get that confused with the other Hyrule Warriors game. It's a completely separate thing and not as good. I feel like I had to add Dragon Quest Treasures to the list because I saw it in the store when I went out and I see it a lot when I'm in GameStop. It didn't review terribly well but it might be fun for younger audiences. Just it's not a first choice. Paper Mario Origami King Link's Awakening is always a classic so is Super Mario Maker 2. You can't go wrong with giving someone the ability to make their own Mario levels and this is often on sale for $40. I will always recommend Astral Chain. If you know that someone loves Bayonetta and they haven't tried Astral Chain I highly recommend it. Even though Ring Fit is technically $80 because it comes with the big Ring Fit device. I always put it into these lists because I think it's so unique. I always see it in the store when I go. I saw it today in Target and it's legitimately a great way of getting into shape and losing some weight. If your kid loves Minecraft and you don't know what to get them next but you want to get something similar Dragon Quest Builders 2 is one of my favorite Switch games and it's very similar. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is fun for any Marvel fan. Yoshi's Crafted World is cute for younger audiences. Donkey Kong Country is a really great co-op platformer so if you just played Mario Wonder with somebody and you're looking for your next hit of something and you never played Donkey Kong Country maybe try that next. And then Diablo 3 Skyrim Witcher 3 Doom and Doom Eternal these are all big blockbuster video games that any Switch library could use. Okay. That's the biggest section in the video. I feel like I need a second but let's talk about the games that are $50 to $60 that you should not buy. And I am actually shocked with how many new games for this price this year. I'm saying don't buy. Detective Pikachu Return Detective Pikachu Returns is a cheap lazy cash-in game by Pokemon. Sorry to get a little preachy. I guess for children this wouldn't be too bad but at about eight hours long I feel like I'd be pretty bummed out if I spent $60 on this and my kid was done with it in an evening and didn't even like it that much. The new Warrior Wear Move It game I'm not saying it's bad I'm saying it's two hours long. Can you imagine being a hard working parent and spending $60 on a game for your kid and they go in their room Christmas morning after opening their present and they come out two hours later before lunch and they say oh I beat it. I'd be pretty upset. Metal Gear Solid Master Collection it's just a lazy package port of three games and it's way too expensive at $60. Fashion Dreamer I saw this one at Target and had to look it up too expensive and the reviews for it weren't very good. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 I actually like this game but the physical it's a download code digital only I hate that. Super Bomberman R2 Nobody likes these games. I don't know why they made a sequel. FC24 yet rule of thumb don't buy anyone a sports game. If somebody wanted a sports game they will specifically ask for it or you know they want a sports game. Don't take a gamble on a sports game. Nobody wants it. Believe me the last thing you want is to really want the news outer and end up with FIFA Christmas Ruin there's other games that are still not worth buying even after all this time Super Mario Brothers U Deluxe we can put that one to bed at this point. Nintendo Switch Sports I put this in maybe last year but I'm slipping it down to avoid because it's really not that good and it's still $50. Mario Strikers Battle League is the worst Nintendo sports game I've ever played METOPIA Warrior Weak Get It Together is also here it was here last year but it's here even more so now because Move It is a much better game. It's just not worth $50. GTA Trilogy is still somehow $60. This is purely because of the price. I always tell people to not buy Kirby Star Allies it's like a four hour game. Arms 1-2 Switch and then WWE 2K18 is somehow still $50 and it's by far the worst running Switch game there is. Made a video on that like five years ago six years ago I can't believe it's still that expensive. Okay now the $30 to $40 category. This is a tough one to place new games in because at this price a new game is usually a remake or a remaster or a re-release of an older game or a kind of expensive indie game that got a physical release but there's still a ton of games to talk about here. Starting with Must Buy we have Metroid Prime remastered. I debated this because it kind of goes against my own role. This is a much older game. This was a GameCube game that released 20 odd years ago and it's been remastered for the Switch. It is so good though. Maybe I'm being a little biased with this one but if I didn't put this in Must Buy we'd only have one other new game in here and that's Disney Illusion Island. Disney Illusion Island is a great four player game to play with your family or your friends. I played it with Kim and we had a lot of fun. So those are the new games but I will say that Mario and Rabbit sparks of hope. It's a turn-based strategy game made by Ubisoft but with the Mario characters and the rabbit characters. There's a lot of cool cinematics and story but also just fun gameplay. And then I usually always recommend the Overcooked Double Pack. It's just a great party game and kind of a Switch classic. Just be careful when buying Overcooked because there are two standalone releases of the first and second game and they're digital only. Okay, moving on to the maybe. Blasphemous 2 got a physical. This is a very gritty and brutally difficult game for much older audiences. I'm surprised it even got a physical but if you know someone that loves Dark Souls or those more challenging games this could keep them busy for a while. Tunic got a physical release. I think it's a little too expensive but this game is a lot like old-school 2D top-down Zelda's. We love Katamari Rero and Royal Reverie. A weird name for a Katamari game but these games are always mindless, fun and weirdly soothing. And then Dead Cells one of my favorite games on the Switch has a new release with Return to Castlevania. It's the new Castlevania DLC but also all of the DLC for this game ever smushed into one new release. There is so much content here. That's all the new stuff and then as always we have Stardew Valley which I always recommend here and I've now realized for $35 for the physical you might be better off just buying the digital for $15. That's just because $15 is a steal for this game. It's still worth it even at $35. Sonic Frontiers it is in this price point but I keep seeing it on sale for $20. Sonic Frontiers is if Sonic met Breath of the Wild in a way and I actually liked this game more than I thought I would. No Man's Sky has dipped down from $60 to $30 which is an incredible price. Whether you've played this game or not No Man's Sky runs incredibly well on the Switch. Near Order Martyr is a fantastic port on the Switch. TMNT Shredder's Revenge Risk of Rain 2 is a hidden gem roguelike with hours of fun to play with friends. Crisis Core Cuphead It Takes 2 a perfect game to play with a loved one I played it through with Kim one of the best co-op games of all time Zelda's Skyward Sword HD Dying Light A Fool Ultimate Edition of a Zombie Survival Game that shouldn't work this well on Switch but really does and also has co-op with four friends Dragon Ball Z Kakarot Ninokuni 2 Spirit Pharah is a classic any of the Darksiders games Clubhouse Games 51 not only is it Scott the Was' favorite Nintendo Switch game but it has 51 classic games and then you got your classics your Hollow Knight your Moonlighter your Undertale Shovel Knight all these indie gems that really help buff out a library I actually have a shocking amount of avoids in this category too I think I was way harsher this year Oh! Everybody Want to Switch I can't believe they made a sequel to arguably the worst Nintendo made Nintendo Switch game but everybody want to switch is somehow worse than the original Bluey the Video Game this one came out of nowhere a lot of people are picking up this game for their kids because it's Bluey and the game looks cool from the outside and it's about as long as an episode of Bluey the game can be finished by pretty much anyone in about an hour so for $40 yeah I'd be pissed LEGO 2K Drive this one actually looks promising and some reviews I saw online said it wasn't that bad the reason why it's here is because it's no Mario Kart and also it's a full-price game with a lot of microtransaction I don't know I think that's just kind of toxic when I was at GameStop I saw Harvest Moon the Winds of Anthos and I always feel bad for anybody that get tricked by the newest Harvest Moon every year these are essentially glorified mobile games at this point shoddily made and thrown out for cheap cash the developer of the good Harvest Moon games of yesteryear has moved on to story of seasons games which are much better if you find those but I would recommend Fei Farm like I talked about earlier or even Cozy Groove has a physical release now and then a couple of wacky games that look like they're targeted at kids so I wanted to mention them the Grinch Christmas adventure came out recently even Kim looked at it like oh that might be cute it's not it looks awful and even worse than that is Inspector Gadget Mad Time Party just look at this gameplay who's making these? is Inspector Gadget still even a thing? who's buying that for their kid in 2023? some other games I've seen on the shelf that I would recommend staying away from definitely the physical version of Friday the 13th which is still $30 on GameStop and that game doesn't work anymore the servers got shut down Digimon Survive it did dip down to $30 from 60 last year it's a big old graphic novel disguised as a JRPG and then the list of free games that for some reason you can pay for if you go in store Overwatch, Among Us, Fortnite and Apex all of those you can find at your local GameStop or Target and all of those you can go onto your switch and download them for free without spending a single dollar they even get kind of toxic with it too like Fortnite I've noticed since I've been doing these releases a new physical bundle every single year to capitalize on the holiday season and this year it's the Transformers Pack it's like $30 for Fortnite and Rocket League that's another one that's free now I would also stay away from Bravely Default 2 just because it's not good Balan Wonderworld however cheap it gets $10 is not cheap enough they should pay you to play it and then I always like to throw shade at Little Town Hero because it looks cute I always see it on the shelf and it's not good now the Cheapy Cheap if you're looking for a stocking stuffer or you just want to spend 10 bucks on something here's the $10 to $20 category and I gotta be honest this is kind of a hard category to figure out because this time of year so many games are $20 on sale so really if I was going by sale prices this would be a completely different list also it's hard to find a new must buy game that's $10 games don't come out for new at that price the only two games I have in must buy are games that came out last year Eastwood and Hades Eastwood I'm just biased about such a beautiful and fun game and then Hades oh Hades is awesome I will always recommend that game it's one of my favorite games of forever I wouldn't randomly buy either of these for a kid but either would make a good present for anybody else then we have a maybe category but for $10 to $20 you can take a gamble you know what I mean Immortals Phoenix Rising is always on sale for $20 which is criminally good I love this game it is so much like Breath of the Wild it's a hidden gem and a perfect game to just toss someone's way for 20 bucks Neon White has a physical now Cadence of Hyrule Cult of the Lamb Game Builder Garage is constantly on sale for around $15-$20 this game is a game where you make your own game so if you have like a smart kid that loves tinkering with things building things or they want to make their own games one day this could be a step in the direction of that Crash Bandicoot 4 Crash Insane Trilogy Crash Team Racing all of these were on the top shelf of my GameStop and I see them every time I go in and they're always like 20 bucks it's Crash it's good same goes for Spyro Trilogy Tony Hawk 1 and 2 Super Monkey Ball Goose Game I'm pretty sure you can play two players now but it's fun just to watch somebody play it the first Mario and Rabbids is always $15 don't get it mixed up with the new one Bioshock Collection is $10 right now you know it's bad when we're in this category and I'm still saying don't buy it but Nick All-Stars Brawl is down to $20 and I'm saying don't buy it because the sequel is way better also don't buy that because it's digital only you're kind of screwed and then the Staples I always say don't buy WWE Battlegrounds Troll and I Carnival Games Travis Strikes Again Wonderful 101 I threw down here this time The Outer Worlds the game is so good everywhere but Switch and you would think that would be it but I have a bonus $5 category this year right now at GameStop Starlink just the game is $5 that's insane you don't need any of the toys to play this game you get access to all the starting kit stuff digitally if you buy just the game and then if you want to not buy the toys at all from there you can buy whatever you want digitally in the game but you don't have to you can literally finish this game on the $5 I'm pretty sure either way you can play this game for $5 I hope that this buying guide just like many of my others help you this holiday season figuring out what to buy whoever you're buying for or if you watch these just to see where I put stuff to see if you agree thanks for watching anyway and let me know down below how I did I always feel really bad when I miss a game so I try really hard to make sure that I don't it's really tough at this point because the switch has thousands of games in its library even physically I know because I I have a lot of those and I have to just ignore certain games even ones that I think you might see out when you're shopping but I mean am I going to sit here and go through every game so yeah I'm not going to cover everything and I think it's safe to say if I left a game off the list it's because I don't even think it's really worth talking about but if you're interested in the game I haven't mentioned then definitely do your own research hi everyone I love you all thank you so much for watching this video like and subscribe and leave a comment down below and I look forward to seeing you a lot more before Christmas or the holidays or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate hey okay bye