For many months, the rumour mill surrounding a new Nintendo console has been swirling. At time of writing, recent rumours have been giving the concept of a next-gen Nintendo machine renewed vigour, but Nintendo has yet to announce anything, and the company’s silence makes a lot of sense.
With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom doing rip-roaring sales numbers and even games like Pikmin 4 putting in a fairly impressive performance, there’s really no reason for Nintendo to release a Switch successor at the moment, even if the console’s performance is noticeably starting to flag.
While it likely won’t be long until a hypothetical “Switch 2” rears its head, for now, Nintendo is seemingly content to release first-party and third-party games on Switch, and that’s a totally understandable decision, especially given how high-quality that library is. Here are the best Nintendo Switch games for September 2023.
Rune Factory 3 Special (September 5th)
Rune Factory 3 Special marks the first of a number of casual farming sim-style games that are heading to Nintendo Switch in September. This one has a decidedly monstrous slant, though; it casts you as a young man who’s able to transform into a monster, and so you must hide your abilities from those who would seek to vilify you for them while also trying to make a life for yourself amongst your new community.
Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster (September 14th)
The Baten Kaitos games were somewhat obscure JRPGs released for the GameCube, and you’ll soon get the chance to play these card-carrying classics on Switch anew. With deep, strategic card-based battling augmented by improved visuals and gameplay tweaks, the Switch HD remasters of these two games promise to be the best way to experience them today, and you should do so if you have any interest in quirky JRPGs with unique combat systems.
Gloomhaven (September 18th)
Talk to any tabletop aficionado and they’ll tell you that Gloomhaven is one of the most iconic board games out there. It’s finally coming to the Switch in mid-September, too, so you can check the game out without having to invest in the tabletop experience if you’d rather keep things portable. This Switch version of Gloomhaven promises to transpose the original’s sharp tactical gameplay into a video game setting, so it’ll be a pretty authentic way to experience the game.
Mortal Kombat 1 (September 19th)
It’s almost a miracle that Mortal Kombat 1 is making its way to the Switch at all given that it’s also gracing PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but Netherrealm has indeed confirmed that Nintendo’s scrappy little hybrid handheld is getting a version of the upcoming flagship fighter. Featuring all the bloody and brutal combos, fatalities, and characters you’ve come to know and love, Mortal Kombat 1 will likely prove an essential kombatant on the Switch.
My Time at Sandrock (September 26th)
Here’s another of the aforementioned cosy farming sims making their way to Switch in September. My Time at Sandrock has a pretty solid pedigree behind it; this is the sequel to the cult classic My Time at Portia, and it’s been cooking in the PC Early Access oven since May 2022, so it’s likely to be a polished and complete experience when it launches on Switch. Expect plenty of lovely bachelors and bachelorettes to woo, as well as a huge area across which to build and customise your farmstead.
Paleo Pines (September 26th)
As if you weren’t already spoiled for choice when it comes to cosy farming sims, here’s yet another to whet your appetite. Paleo Pines, as you might have guessed from the title, brings a distinctly dino-centric slant to farming sim gameplay, allowing you to explore a lost island in order to discover the origins of your dino friend Lucky and what happened to the rest of their species. This is a cosy adventure, though, so don’t expect any heartbreaking extinction-level events.
Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (September 28th)
On the slightly less cosy front, we have Firefighting Simulator: The Squad, which, as the name suggests, will cast you as a firefighter battling blazes across the city. You can either play this one solo or squad up with your friends to form the ultimate firefighting team, and with official firefighting equipment licences and over 40 deployment locations on offer in the game, you should find plenty of ways to express your heroic desire to end fires once and for all.
Cocoon (September 29th)
If you’ve played Limbo and Inside, then you may well recognise the vibe of Cocoon, which is the latest game to come from the lead gameplay designer of the aforementioned two experiences. Cocoon sees Jeppe Carlsen stepping away from Playdead Studios to work with a new outfit called Geometric Interactive, but it looks to offer a similar mixture of oblique narrative and puzzling gameplay, so if you’re a fan of Playdead’s work, check this one out.
EA Sports FC 24 (September 29th)
Historically speaking, EA has come under some criticism for what some perceive to be its lacklustre FIFA Switch ports, so let’s hope the studio does a little more legwork when it comes to the upcoming EA Sports FC 24. This is EA’s new name for the long-running FIFA franchise, and it’ll boast most of the same licences as FIFA did, as well as new gameplay improvements and tweaks to make the experience a little smoother.
