Happy new year! Well, he’s already over a week into 2023. You may be trying to move on from last year and look ahead to the best years ahead. But we have to look back at 2022 one last time for the best eShop games of December.
Now, December is usually a quiet month for game releases, but Nintendo had Just before Christmas, we’re dropping five short little indie showcase videos in our festive House of Indies series. Some of them have shadow drops in them, and the wallets this time of year felt lighter than usual. We are truly spoiled!
Before we dive into the best of December 2022, let’s talk about one of the Shadow Drops, Sports Story, the game many have been anticipating for a long time. Disappointment after years of waiting”. Hopefully that new patch fixes some issues!
So let’s take a look at the eShop Selects for December.
honorable mention
As a special New Year’s Eve treat, we’ve widened the field to include some of the 7/10s we gave out later this year. This included some shadow drops. Going forward, our plan is to mostly stick with 8/10, but this time we wanted to highlight more games than usual. Let’s see what you missed in the top 3.
the publisher: Devolver Digital / Developer: The game of Daniel Mullins
Don’t be surprised to see this on the list. Important Beloved of 2021, Inscryption is a deck builder in disguise and a game that plays games with you. You have to play cards in-game (in-game within games), but the meta, horror and weirdness make his Inscryption special. Whenever I play a Daniel Mullins game, I know I’m on a wild ride, and this is no exception. It’s very clever and makes me feel at home on the Switch. It was worth the one year wait.
It got an 8/10 from us. This is a pretty good move for Switchport, who just came out a year later.
the publisher: DECK13 Spotlight / Developer: Matthias Linda
One of the few modern Indie J-esque RPGs I can confidently say feel Like the SNES games, Chained Echoes blends all the best elements of some 16-bit classics while forging its own identity with modern conveniences, passion and heart. The combat system is snappy and unique. The map is big and fun to explore. And you can ride a mech! There’s a lot to love—and this was largely developed by his one person. Insanity!
Chained Echoes got a 9/10 from us. This is a given. If you like his classic JRPGs like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and even his PS1 favorites Xenogearstry this:
the publisher: play tonic friends / Developer: mega wobble
However, the NL team as a whole was looking for something nice and cozy during the holidays. Something that can warp us back to childhood when our imaginations ran wild and we could create our own adventures, run around and dress up.The Lil Gator Game is just that.
Short, sweet, and truly creative, the Lil Gator Game evokes the best parts of our childhood. It captures the warm, carefree nature we felt when we were running around and having fun as little kids. Also, the beautiful cel-shaded visuals and autumn scenery perfectly match the tone of the game.
With an 8/10 from us and a hearty fanbase here at Nintendo Life Towers, Lil Gator Game has been named eShop Select for December 2022.
< Nintendo eShop Select - November 2022
How the eShop Selects Top 3 are determined: At the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff votes for their favorite title from among the games selected by the editorial department. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop titles in that particular month and reviewed on Nintendo Life. Select eligible games based on review score.
Staff members are then asked to vote for the three games they believe deserve a spot at the top of the list. 1st choice is 3 points, 2nd choice is 2 points, 3rd choice is 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top 3 list, with the overall winner taking home the top prize for the month.
