Pinch yourselves, it’s August, summer’s end is approaching, and we’re here to talk about video games gone by. Yep, it’s time to look back at last month and talk about July’s eShop Selects.
Nintendo has had another fairly quiet month on the Switch — Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was the big one, with the likes of Ace Combat 7‘s long-awaited Switch port proving to be a top-tier rerelease. But the eShop has been booming, as per usual. That’s what we focus on for eShop Selects, and as usual, our staff and contributors vote for their top three eShop games from the list of games we’ve reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best of the rest).
Before we jump into July, let’s celebrate Moonstone Island‘s victory for June! The game won the NL readers’ choice poll for games we didn’t review. And, well, we have a pretty good reason for not reviewing this one; erstwhile Nintendo Life staffer and current contributor Kate Gray is a writer on the game! A sparkling choice, we think.
Now, onto this month… or last month… you know what we mean!
Honourable mentions
Eight games were eligible for this edition of eShop Selects, and fourth place missed out on the top three by one vote. It was a close one — we’re really spoilt for choice on Switch, aren’t we? Here’s what didn’t quite make the top…
Nintendo Life’s honourable mentions
- Darkest Dungeon II | Review: 8/10
- Princess Maker 2 Regeneration | Review: 7/10
- The Star Named EOS | Review: 8/10
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | Review: 7/10
- Toree’s Panic Pack | Review: 8/10
3. Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus (Switch eShop)
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus dazzles with its visuals and style, but some unique pogo mechanics and movement options make this yet another stellar Metroidvania in the year of 2024. Developed by Squid Shock Studios with some of the names behind AM2R, there’s a clear understanding of what makes this subgenre so great.
We gave Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus an 8/10 here at NL, and with good reason, it finishes in third place.
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2. SCHiM (Switch eShop)
Great premises don’t always make great video games, but fortunately, SCHiM isn’t one of those cases. Shadow-hopping seems like a platforming mechanic that should’ve been used before but SCHiM makes it the whole point of the game. it might not go much beyond that, but the novelty and the beautiful visuals make up for any shortcomings, and is a firm favourite among many here at NL.
We scored SCHiM a shadowy 7/10.
1. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (Switch eShop)
Taking the top spot by a single vote this month is Furniture & Mattress’ debut title, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. And this author in particular is very pleased with the results. It’s a delightful puzzler with a heartwarming story, beautiful visuals, and a central gameplay mechanic that just keeps evolving as you progress. It’s short, sweet, and absolutely worth your time.
We gave Arranger an 8/10, and we particularly love those Zelda and RPG nods throughout.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - June 2024
eShop Selects Reader’s Choice Vote (July 2024)
You know how this one goes by now — we can’t review every single game every single month. So this is your chance to tell us about your favourite Switch eShop game we didn’t get a chance to review, this time for July.
And you can also vote for your personal picks from the above, too.
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 three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
