The spookiest day of spooky season is finally upon us, so we thought it was only right to remind you all that Nintendo’s ‘Halloween Sale’ is still ticking over on the Switch eShop in Europe. If there’s a gap in your schedule between trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving, you might just find something here to plug it…
Forget your pumpkins and sweets, Nintendo knows that the best way to celebrate the spooky season is with a big old eShop sale.
Hot off the back of the North American ‘Screaming Deals’ discounts, the ‘Halloween Sale’ is now live on European eShops, bringing some pretty delightful price cuts to a range of Switch titles — with a few Switch 2 newbies thrown in for good measure. This one will only be sticking around until 2nd November, so make the most while it lasts.
Below, we’ve lined up every game in the Halloween Sale that we awarded a 9/10 or higher, so you can see the cream of the crop at a glance. You’ll also find a personal pick from this writer (hello!) at the bottom, chosen from the hoards of titles that fall into the NL 8/10 or below bracket.
As ever, if you want to pick up some eShop credit before diving in, you can head over to our store or check out the links below:
£12.49 (-75%)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a wonderful achievement for dynamic storytelling, as it puts forth a compelling and multifaceted narrative that’ll keep you guessing right up until the very end.
This excellent story, combined with enjoyable combat portions, a striking art style, and some top-notch voice acting make for an experience that you shouldn’t miss. It’s the kind of game that’ll have you wishing that you could play it again for the first time, just so all its best elements could be new again.
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£9.99 (-23%)
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror masterpiece and straight-up one of the very best horror video games ever released.
It’s a nerve-wracking affair — a slow, methodical game of cat and mouse against a brilliantly clever recreation of one of cinema’s most infamous killers — but if you’re up to the task you’ll find one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences in the genre; a brilliant and beautiful homage to one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
Feral Interactive has done a stellar job with this Switch port and the excellent motion controls and inclusion of all previously-released DLC only go to sweeten the deal. This is essential stuff for survival horror fans.
£15.74 (-25%)
Developer Shared Memory’s stated goal was “to craft complete experiences that will be playable long after the world loses its internet connection,” and screen after screen, Animal Well excels in delighting your eyes and giving your brain something to stew on.
It’s a riposte against a culture of post-launch updates in favour of a meticulously crafted, singular vision with potentially years’ worth of discoveries baked in. By all indications, Animal Well delivers on that long-term promise and does so with a one-of-a-kind elegance.
£4.49 (-50%)
Inti Creates knocked it out of the park with Blaster Master Zero 2, improving on the original ‘reboot’ in nearly every conceivable way while also setting a clear path forward for what could hopefully become a flagship series for the company.
Tight platforming action, memorable boss battles, plenty of extra side content, and some gorgeous pixel art make this one of the easiest recommendations on the eShop; we’d strongly encourage you to pick this one up.
Whether you’re a long-time fan of the series or are just getting into it for the first time, Blaster Master Zero 2 is a stellar experience from stem to stern, and further cements Inti Creates’ legacy as one of the best developers in the retro gaming business.
£6.74 (-50%)
As the conclusion to the modern take on the Blaster Master saga, Blaster Master Zero 3 hits all the notes to deliver a high-octane and satisfying retro platforming experience. The dark world mechanic adds a nice extra layer to the overall design, while the familiar aspects of gameplay are as polished as they’ve ever been.
Inti Creates certainly could’ve stopped with the original Blaster Master Zero and that would’ve been enough, but what it’s delivered here with its third take on the franchise is nothing short of excellent. Whenever you next get a chance, be sure to add this one to your library, although we’d say so with the caveat that you should first play the preceding two entries. Really, these games are just that good.
£8.74 (-75%)
BlazBlue CentralFiction Special Edition may have arrived a few years late on Switch, but that delay didn’t dull the sharpness of its 2D fighting package.
Not only does it give the Ragna saga a proper send-off with a story mode that’s so rich in character development it could be a full anime season in its own right, but it offers a staggering number of modes to keep you playing long after the credits roll. It runs silky-smooth docked or in handheld modes and runs like a dream online.
The lack of an English dub still rankles, and new adopters are going to have to do a lot of research to understand what’s going on, but it’s well worth the effort.
£4.49 (-75%)
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an utterly accomplished 2D fighting game. It’s bursting with content and featuring the visual spectacle of combat that uses up every single trick in the book. A few strange decisions aside, this title is a must for fighting game fans.
Even if you’re not a fan of any of the franchises represented in this game, you most certainly will be by the time you’re done with this stacked fighting package.
£8.99 (-80%)
Catherine: Full Body is a fantastic revamp of a bona fide cult classic. With an excellent new character and several new endings slickly inserted into an already highly entertaining narrative – not to mention a slew of fun new modes – this is the definitive version of an outstanding game.
If you’ve never played Catherine before, then you’re in for an absolute treat, and if you have, we’d say there’s enough new content here to make it worth diving in all over again.
£2.59 (-80%)
We really like Crawl, and we’d bet our collected stash of gold and wrath you will, too. A dungeon-crawling hack-and-slash affair with roguelike elements, one player is the hero trying to get through a dungeon and the others play as monster-controlling ghosts attempting to kill said hero and take their place.
It’s an everyone-for-themselves free-for-all, yet there are opportunities for frantic 3v1 co-operative play — a necessity when all the non-hero ghost characters must take joint control of bosses the hero faces. It’s great fun in single-player thanks to some aggressive AI, but that consistent danger takes on a new dimension when you and three of your friends are jostling for XP and that all-important killing blow.
Competitive couchplay doesn’t get much better than this on Switch.
£34.49 (-43%)
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is a remarkable launch-day port for Nintendo’s console. Its deep, diverse, and tangible world is fully realised with impressive performance for such a low-powered device.
If you’ve not taken your first steps into Night City already, or you’re a long-time player with a portable-play itch that needs scratching, you’re in for a serious treat, choom.
£4.49 (-75%)
Death’s Door is a modern classic, utilising old gameplay ideas in a new setting to make for a short and sweet experience you won’t want to miss. The snappy combat, rewarding exploration, and relaxing music will stick with you once you’ve finished, and while it may not have anything ‘new’ to offer, Death’s Door is so high quality that you’ll hardly have time to think about its lack of innovation.
Any fans of Zelda or Soulslike games will adore this — Acid Nerve has crafted an experience that’s absolutely worth your time and money.
£2.84 (-70%)
Detention is another horror classic that deserves a place on your Switch. Its story has an important message as it introduces themes through the eyes of a child that only escalate the horror.
Through a terrifying atmosphere, chilling ghouls, and a soundtrack that will sink its teeth into you, Detention is a suitably horrifying title that needs to be experienced firsthand.
£6.74 (-50%)
An attractive art style, strong combat system, and meaningful player choices make Dicefolk a brilliant addition to the library, as it manages to feel fresh without getting too far away from the core ideas that make these sorts of games so addictive and popular.
Dicefolk is a good entry point to the genre, in fact; approachable without being patronising and it’s tons of fun once you get a grasp of its various quirks.
£3.72 (-75%)
Dusk is one hell of an impressive piece of software and possibly the single best Unity port to Switch we’ve ever seen, sidestepping typical performance problems and delivering a brilliant experience of a brilliant game. It’s not as good a game as Quake, but almost nothing is.
There’s a relatively limited arsenal of weapons — they’re all great, but there’s no iconic gun here, just your usual pistol, shotty, assault rifle, explosives, et al. We’re being churlish with our criticisms here, though — ultimately, Dusk is another absolute cracker in Switch’s FPS roster.
£8.99 (-50%)
Fear the Spotlight is an excellent narrative horror experience loaded with atmosphere and dread throughout, with immersive, tactile puzzles and an overarching storyline that is engaging and tragic in equal measure.
Encounters with the main enemy won’t prove particularly challenging, but they’re always nerve-wracking thanks to its creepy design and accompanying spooky audio. Rare, minor performance hiccups aside, this is a must-play for horror fans and an approachable entry point for newcomers.
£8.99 (-50%)
Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition puts Heart Machine’s obtuse yet engaging throwback where it belongs — in portable Nintendo form — and it makes for the definitive version.
With a handful of exclusive features, the game suddenly feels new and fresh – and with a silky smooth frame rate and every boss, secret and upgrade from the original here for you to experience, this is a wonderful addition to the Nintendo Switch’s bulging indie library.
£4.55 (-60%)
Into The Breach is a brutal, uncompromising game of making hard decisions and living with your mistakes, but the short length of battles and endless variety of playthroughs make for an extremely addictive experience.
Though the graphics are nothing special, the gameplay is some of the very best you’ll find in the strategy genre on Switch, and we can easily recommend this to anybody looking for an in-depth game that’ll make you think. Into The Breach feels right at home on this system.
£9.09 (-30%)
Into the Restless Ruins took us totally by surprise. This is a belting addition to the Switch’s lineup of roguelikes that manages to make itself fresh and unique in a category full of bland copycats.
The melding of deckbuilding, combat, memory challenges, and construction of dungeons makes for a game that draws you right in every time, robbing you of hours as you work your way through its delightful catacombs.
A little more narrative oomph may have taken it even further, but you’re still looking at a bit of a must-play here.
£9.99 (-80%)
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a stellar experience, a great big celebration of everything Star Wars.
The upgrades to the series’ core gameplay here — the combo-focused combat, flashy space battles, boss encounters, over-the-shoulder shooting action, and cover system — all combine to make this the best Lego Star Wars has ever felt to play.
Throw in a humongous open-world setting that’s bursting at the seams with secrets and collectibles and you’ve got an absolute smorgasbord of all things Star Wars to dig into. Yub nub.
£11.09 (-63%)
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a must-have for Switch-owning fans of turn-based tactical games. More importantly, such is the style and depth on offer that it’s also ideal for those who haven’t played much of the genre – for whom ‘XCOM’ sounds like a silly acronym from a war movie. Kingdom Battle and its excellent DK DLC introduce the concept in the best possible way, and then add their own ideas for what becomes a smart, surprising, and, at times, deliciously challenging experience.
Even if you don’t actually like the Rabbids, this game — and its familiar Mario cast and setting — is so good that Ubisoft’s mascots become likeable. Well, almost.
£2.39 (-85%)
Metro 2033 Redux is a top-class first-person shooter/survival horror game, a breathless experience that’s been almost flawlessly ported to Switch by 4A Games.
Artyom’s desperate, haunting voyage through the irradiated remains of Moscow is every bit as engaging today as it was back in 2010, and this Redux version benefits massively from overhauled AI, gameplay mechanics and visuals. In terms of first-person shooters or survival horror games on Nintendo’s console, this is one of the very best.
£3.59 (-85%)
Metro Redux is a top-notch first-person survival horror package that delivers countless hours of thrilling stealth combat all wrapped up in a superb story.
These are two of the most atmospheric games you’ll likely play, set in a beautifully detailed depiction of post-apocalyptic Russia. 4A Games has delivered a port that stands shoulder to shoulder with Alien: Isolation as one of the best on Switch – an almost flawless experience which should absolutely be right at the top of any FPS or survival horror fan’s must-buy list. This is essential stuff.
£11.43 (-20%)
If we were to describe Momodora: Moonlit Farewell in one word, it would be “exquisite”. This isn’t a game that necessarily attempts to do anything new in what is undoubtedly a crowded genre, but everything it does, it does very well.
It’s a slick experience with gorgeous visuals, engaging combat, and challenging, yet fair boss encounters. The soundtrack has also been noticeably improved over the previous game, making this a must-play for fans of the series and, indeed, Metroidvanias in general.
£5.03 (-60%)
The fourth in this series of 2D platformers, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is an absolute gem and comes highly recommended. Its stylised backdrops, super-smooth action and wonderfully rendered SNES-era graphics make it a standout Metroidvania – a superb game and a credit to the indie scene.
The only minor criticism comes from the soundtrack, which, while not bad, isn’t memorable and doesn’t always match the fantastic art. Overall, however, Reverie Under the Moonlight is a stunningly well-presented platformer with some of the most intuitive controls in the genre.
£7.87 (-65%)
Nobody Saves the World is a thrillingly well-paced and enjoyable action adventure that Switch owners won’t want to miss. An addictive quest system, surprisingly deep class system, attractive art style, and punchy combat all come together to make for a varied and engaging experience that oozes quality at every turn
If you’re a fan of RPGs with a lot of customization, old-school Zelda games, or classic arcade beat ‘em ups, Nobody Saves the World is absolutely a title you need to add to your library.
