Topic: 2023 NWR Forum Awards - Best Switch Game

[M.K.Ultra]

The 2023 NWR Forum Awards

Best Nintendo Switch Game

This award is for games released as Switch console exclusives in the year 2023. The results of the poll will only be revealed once the voting is done (December 15). You should be able to change your vote until then. Make sure to sound off in the comments if the game is on your backlog as we have a separate award for that. Even though the official nominees list is closed, you can still reply with a write-in. Best of luck to all the nominees.

[M.K.Ultra]

This is a decent line up of switch exclusives for the year. I managed to play Cereza and the Lost Demon, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. They are all amazing games so it was a tough choice. I do have Fire Emblem on my backlog and Illusion Island on my wish list (it never really got a price cut on black Friday).
You might think that Zelda will easily win this award, but I have heard some folks saying Mario is their GOTY. Both of those games are up for something at The Game Awards on Thursday. I will probably report any winners here on Friday. Still plenty of time to vote and chime in on Switch exclusives for 2023.

[Khushrenada]

Like usual, I'm just not hip with current games and mostly playing stuff from last year or further back. Of all the games listed, I do own Tears of the Kingdom and keep putting it off because I'm afraid of being sucked into it like Breath of the Wild and having it dominate my time. I keep thinking I'll clear some room on my schedule to finally dive into and just never seem to do so.

Like Monster Kohga Ultra, I do want to purchase a bunch of these titles at some point as well. Particularly Mario Wonder but Pikmin 4, Illusion Island and Engage are still on my radar. I just never feel like I should be voting on these things because I have not played every entry (let alone one of them) to be able to say why one is better than the other. Now if we were judging the Nintendo games of 2001 or something then I'd likely have a better grasp of how to view the entries and what deserves the honor of "best".

This is why I'll often do an Oscar thread each year. Much easier timewise for me to see 8 - 10 movies than play through 8 - 10 games and the cost is much less as well. There's much more to discuss as well when actually having experienced the nominations. Perhaps in 2030 I'll finally be able to weigh back in on this thread. I suppose for now I'll throw my vote to Tears of the Kingdom on the fact that it got me to actually buy it when it released and based on the comments of other game developers who were so impressed at the physics of the game. If people more expertly aware of game mechanics like that thought it was impressive then it seems like it should get the glory.

[Evan_B]

I’m not going to claim I’m sort of expert on Nintendo (as I used to), particularly because I haven’t played all of these games. But of those that I have played, I would say that I am confident in picking Zelda over Pikmin 4, which I found to be a colossal disappointment… in its story campaign. I haven’t looked at the endgame content thoroughly enough to make a judgment call.

[broodwars]

I liked Pikmin 4 well enough. It's probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite game in the series...but those last 1 or 2 maps & their associated challenge caves just flat out suck IMO.

My vote went to Mario since I found it consistently enjoyable and occasionally surprising, which is impressive for something as well-worn as 2D Mario. Didn't play Tears of the Kingdom, as I didn't enjoy Breath of the Wild so the last thing I wanted was more of it.

[M.K.Ultra]

In case you did not catch The Game Awards yesterday, here are some of the awards for nominees in this category:

• Pikmin 4 won Best SIM/Strategy
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder won Best Family Game
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won Best Action/Adventure Game

[Lemonade]

Tears of the Kingdom is an easy win here

[M.K.Ultra]

The Award for Best Switch Game Goes To...

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The latest game in the Legend of Zelda series released May 12, 2023 and was developed by Nintendo (EPD). As of September 2023 it had sold 19.5 million copies. NWR gave the game a 9.5/10 and reviewer John Rairdin said "This is why you bought your Switch, even if you didn’t know it at the time.". Clearly the game is popular with forum users as 5 out of 8 votes went to this beloved open world adventure.
Thanks to everyone who voted or commented in the second annual forum awards!