5 Nintendo Games That the Switch 2 Needs to Be Truly Great

The Nintendo Switch 2 is absolutely still in its infancy, and, as a result, is lacking a lot of the great games that made its predecessor such an enormous success. Fortunately, this gives us plenty of room in which to speculate wildly about not just the games we want to see come to the Switch 2, but also which titles it desperately needs to maintain the same value proposition of Nintendo’s first console-handheld-hybrid. Of course, everyone has their dream third-party miracle ports they’d like to see (I’m still waiting on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to make its way over), but I’m more interested in what first-party offerings the Switch 2 is in dire need of.

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Crucially, there is a lot that the Switch 2 is lacking right now. This isn’t just in franchise representation, although I’m sure Animal Crossing fans are hurting dearly at the lack of a new entry. Rather, there are entire genres that are missing from Nintendo’s first-party lineup that it has become somewhat synonymous with. We desperately need to see these first-party Nintendo games come to the Switch 2 in order for it to become the truly great console we all know it can be.

5. Ring Fit Adventure 2

The player running across an open plain in Ring Fit Adventure. — Image Courtesy of Nintendo

I’d hazard a guess that Ring Fit Adventure would not be at the top of most people’s list of first-party Nintendo games they’d like to see on the Switch 2. That could be because the first game is so outrageously good, and surprisingly effective, that it doesn’t really need a sequel, or, more likely, that so few people still think or perhaps even play it. I, on the other hand, have rather religiously dedicated my life to this quirky exercise game, devoting hours a week to running across its picturesque plains and through its ancient ruins in the hopes of burning off all the chocolate I consume immediately after putting down its novel controller.

Ring Fit Adventure is easily the best example of effective gamified exercise I have ever seen and feels like a natural evolution of the Wii Fit era. I would love to see the Switch 2 get its own version of it, something that expands on the RPG side of Ring Fit Adventure while introducing more exercises and enjoyable ways of engaging with them. It is altogether possible that the original Ring Fit was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment, and Nintendo won’t be able to top it. However, especially with the absence of a good Nintendo Sports game, I’d really love to see it iterate on this wonderful, life-changing game in some meaningful way, perhaps even with a multiplayer mode of some description.

4. Animal Crossing

Tom Nook and Animal Crossing New Horizons villagers celebrating on a bridge. — Image Courtesy of Nintendo

I feel like it is almost a joke how shortchanged the Animal Crossing community seems to be at this point. New Horizons was released six years ago, and the previous mainline game was a 3DS title released in 2012. We are very much overdue for a new entry, or, at the very least, an announcement of one. Animal Crossing is an incredibly important series, one that brings a lot of players not just entertainment, but a safe space they can retreat to when things get tough. New Horizons provided that for a lot of people back in 2020, but it also has a plethora of problems a sequel needs to address.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles 4

Currently, the Nintendo Switch 2 has a handful of genuinely enjoyable games that one would undeniably associate with Nintendo. We’ve got colorful platformers, weird experimental games that utilize the console’s new controllers in interesting ways, and endless re-releases of games that came out only a few years ago. However, what we are lacking are brand-new RPGs, especially those the size of Xenoblade Chronicles. Nintendo’s foothold in the JRPG scene is growing exponentially, in large part thanks to the efforts of developer Monolith Soft, and it needs to continue to cement its well-earned place as a premium purveyor of JRPG greatness.

Monolith Soft has, on numerous occasions, implied that its next game may not be a Xenoblade Chronicles entry, and, frankly, that’s fine. XBC3 ended the trilogy rather succinctly, serving as a rather apt metaphor for the studio moving on from the worlds and conventions that have defined it for so long. So, it would be a shame to ruin all of that with a new game using the moniker. Regardless, it would be great to see what Monolith Soft has brewing and how it will push Nintendo’s new hardware to its absolute limits. If we’re ever going to see a truly next-gen Nintendo game, it will be from Monolith Soft.

2. Super Mario Odyssey 2

Of course, a list of first-party games the Switch 2 needs would not be complete without at least a mention of a Super Mario Odyssey sequel. This is legitimately the only 3D Mario game I’ve ever enjoyed; its intricate level design, colorful visuals, and creative platforming mechanics engaged me on a level I never thought possible, and since beating it, I’ve craved something similar. We did get the wonderfully experimental Donkey Kong Bananza from the same folks who brought us Mario Odyssey, so the chances of a true sequel being in active development, or at least close to release, are understandably small.

1. The Legend Of Zelda

It is hard to dispute that the Nintendo Switch 2 would benefit from some form of Legend of Zelda game. Personally, I’d prefer to see a new entry in the same vein as the previous two titles, albeit perhaps set in a new open-world, or at least one that feels significantly more transformed than Tears of the Kingdom did. However, I appreciate that a lot of people would rather see the series return to its roots and put a greater emphasis on the puzzles and dungeons that made the series so iconic.

Regardless of how the new Zelda game looks (so long as it isn’t another remake of a classic title), it will be interesting to see how Nintendo attempts to push the series forward, especially considering just how much more powerful the hardware it is developing it for is. If Nintendo managed to concoct Breath of the Wild with the Wii U and Nintendo Switch in mind, imagine how impressive a Switch 2 title could be. Perhaps I am putting too high an expectation on it, but considering it is one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, one would hope the studio would put a lot of effort and money into making the next entry something truly special.

What first-party Nintendo games would you like to see on the Switch 2? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!