Metacritic is often used by many gamers as the most official aggregation site when it comes to video game review scores, even if user scores can sometimes be used for nefarious purposes. Last week, Metacritic brought out its list of the worst-rated games of 2021 by platform and overall, and now has revealed its best-rated games, specifically the year's best Nintendo games for Switch. Surprisingly, many of the games listed were from third-parties instead of from Nintendo's own internal teams.
After naming some of 2021's worst-reviewed Switch games such as Balan Wonderworld and GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, scoring 36 and 47 respectively, Metacritic has now given out the best-reviewed Switch games of the year. Nintendo first-parties failed to feature prominently on the list as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury was the highest-scoring, acheiving an 89 at number 3 on the list. Farther down the list at number 9 is Metroid Dread with an 88, rounding out the first-party Nintendo exclusives.
Coming in at number 1 however is The House in Fata Morgana - Dreams of the Revenants Edition with a whopping 96. The full-length visual novel was initially released in 2012 in Japan before being ported to various consoles over time, including Nintendo Switch this year. Other high-profile releases include the port of previous PSVR title, Tetris Effect, entitled Tetris Effect: Connected claiming a 95 score and Monster Hunter Rise with an 88. Monster Hunter Rise proved to be a rousing success in 2021, with many claiming it as the best Monster Hunter release, even over the critically and commercially successful Monster Hunter World.
Indie darling Death's Door managed to garner a 4th place win with a score of 89 while Unpacking came in at number 11 with a score of 87. Both have proven to be fan and critic favorites within the past year and will no doubt find themselves on all platforms sometime in the near-future. Everything not listed on Metacritic's top 13 Switch games of year didn't manage to crack an aggregrate score of 86 or higher. Similar to last year's top 50 Switch games on Metacritic, it is likely a more extensive list will be revealed sometime soon.
It was a good year for third-parties on Nintendo Switch but not so much with regards to Nintendo's first-party titles. With high-profile first-party releases primed for 2022 such as the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Bayonetta 3, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there is a good chance Nintendo itself will be nabbing many more spots on next year's list.
Source: Metacritic