so it was obviously a super long road to get to the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and you’re probably currently enjoying games like Mario Kart World Cyberpunk 2077 Street Fighter 6 amongst many other launch day games but what’s exciting from here is the best games to look forward to in the year of 2025 that we know about officially at the time of filming because at this point in time we do not know when Nintendo or if they will actually be holding a June Nintendo Direct presentation when we should be learning about a lot more details of existing games and brand new game announcements for this year altogether but until then it’s actually still a pretty stacked road map especially from a third-p partyy perspective but there’s a number of exciting firstparty games to look forward to as well and I want to break down everything we know about them and kind of do a high-level overview of the best games in my opinion that are headed to the Nintendo Switch 2 likely all of these being in 2025 outside of any potential unannounced delays and let’s get on the same page with where we should be setting our hype levels for some of these upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 pieces of software so we’ll get on the same page with all this right after a quick word from today’s video sponsor if you’re getting a Switch 2 or just recently got one the Kill Switch from Dbrand is probably one of the smartest accessories to pick up early on it’s a protective case but doesn’t get in the way you can still take the Joy-Cons off just like normal with no latches or weird clips it’s super slim but still built tough the material is designed to take hits whether it’s a drop on hardwood or just regular daily use the grips feel great too they’ve got all these tiny textured dots and extra grip strips along the handles so it just feels more secure in your hands there’s a travel cover included that’s actually really useful it’s crush resistant holds up to 10 game cards and has a see-through front so you can show off whatever games you’re bringing with you they also include a screen protector with a tray to help install it right and a second one just in case you mess up the first but let me tell you it’s really straightforward and easy and when it’s time to dock your console you don’t have to take the case off it comes with an adapter that works with your existing dock and keeps everything functional including 4K 60 passrough plus if you’re into customizing DBR has skins for the Joy-Con 2Os tons of designs easy to apply and they don’t leave behind any sticky mess altogether it’s a really well-th thoughtout setup if you want to keep your Switch to safe without compromising how you use it so please help support the brands that support me and check out the Dbrand Kill Switch for Nintendo Switch 2 using my link in the pinned comment and description down below big thank you to Dbrand for sponsoring today’s video so kicking off our list the big single player adventure game that we don’t actually have as a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2 currently is of course DK’s big return in Donkey Kong Bonanza we have not had a 3D platformer in the DK franchise since legitimately DK64 in the Nintendo 64 generation so yes this is exciting there’s a lot of eyeballs on it what is Nintendo going to do with DK’s big return to 3D platforming uh and is this a Mario Odyssey type experience because it gives those vibes i’m sure the Mario Odyssey team was involved on some level with this game in terms of the development but obviously the big mechanic with this one that we’ve seen advertised to us is that you can pretty much break everything like the entire world you can dig through you can smash you can grab different objects and throw them into the sides of mountains and things like that you can literally do damage and dig entirely new paths that you may not expect and find hidden rewards for doing so so that’s kind of what we know obviously there’s going to be a lot of verticality there’s going to be you know going underneath caves and things like that there’s definitely some stuff going on from a story perspective and it does seem like Nintendo’s hiding a lot with that there’s a lot of debate on whether or not King K Rule is going to come back as the main villain in this game and I certainly hope he is back there’s also a lot of references you can dive into that looks like this thing is taking from the Donkey Kong Country franchise over the years uh from from a lore perspective so I’m very excited to learn more about this game and it’s out July 17th so we don’t have to wait too much longer and this will kick us off for our first full-fledged singleplayer experience on the Nintendo Switch 2 since it launched which is obviously very exciting and from there just a couple quick mentions not really full games but rather expansions jamberee TV is going to be the DLC expansion for Super Mario Party Jamberee obviously and you have new mini games you can hook up your camera and do all types of silly things with the camera included in these mini games more fun for like a party setting if you have your friends over locally obviously game chat is a thing now so even if they’re not there locally you can still take advantage of a lot of the stuff and share it with friends and things that is out July 29th and will cost $20 to get the upgraded version of the game packed in with that DLC and we also have a similar package for Kirby and the Forgotten Land with Starcross World coming out on August 28th also $20 price point but expanded content for Kirby and the Forgotten Land which that’s actually very exciting for me because I really enjoyed my time with Kirby and the Forgotten Land and I’m excited to have a reason to go play it when it looks and runs better on Nintendo Switch 2 with like the full 4K 60 upgrade i guess they’re not advertising that exact resolution but so far every big Switch 2 edition has essentially been running 4K 60 of Switch One games when they have the official patch uh via upscaling and stuff but that’s what I’m expecting from a performance level and you have new content to go through also $20 price point and again out August 28th okay there’s a lot of debate on whether or not we’ll get a surprising big holiday title in November but what could be the big Nintendo first party title if we do not see one as a November game is none other than Pokemon Legends ZA and yes Game Freak this time is surprisingly taking their time with the Pokemon franchise we saw a lot of Rush projects over the years from them and they seem to as they transitioned into the Switch generation really have a hard time hitting minimum quality thresholds with pumping out games as frequently as they were in the DS and 3DS and handheld generations before it as they’ve become now a developer that has to develop on a hybrid console it’s been a little bit different from for them so I’m actually excited that they took the additional time for Legends ZA and not to mention the fact that Legends Archus is probably my favorite Pokemon game ever period in terms of a gameplay perspective it doesn’t have all the more in-depth mechanics that I like from a battle perspective and stuff like that but it does have like literally the I feel like the evolution of where Pokemon should be headed in terms of how you catch Pokemon the dodge roll ability of your character pokemon can actually damage your character in the overworld directly there’s crazy boss Pokemon that you have to take on in Legends Archus i’m expecting a lot of that stuff to remain and be brought over to Legends ZA and obviously ZA in the title you start out at rank Z as a trainer you are progressing to rank A and they’ve really done a lot to actually showcase the night mechanic of this game where you’re going to have a lot of trainer battles and while this is all taking place in Lumio City and some people are concerned about the scope of the map entirely I think there’s going to be a lot to do obviously you can go inside buildings as well as go up to the tops of them and in the rooftops they have all types of different terrain and styles so I I’m hoping there’s enough here i do see the size of the map and it does seem like a little bit of a concern but we also don’t know that we’re not going to get teleported to different areas uh within the city or underneath the city like they can get creative and kind of teleport us out to different spaces that look and feel very different than just the city environment but nonetheless they are kind of advertising that it’s all taking place in the city so I personally though gameplay-wise cannot wait for Legends EA it’s out October 18th and it has a lot of promise in my opinion in terms of first-party Nintendo games that should be out in 2025 but we don’t have official release dates for and one of the ones just to get it out of the way quickly it’s not really uh on my hype levels as a high like I can’t wait to play this game or anything like that but it is first party Nintendo uh it is showing off some of the features of the Switch 2 and this is Dragon Drive we it should be out summer 2025 this is one that I’m fully expecting to learn the date of soon i think over the summertime Nintendo will hold a direct presentation and will likely learn the date at that presentation but uh wheelchair basketball is essentially what this is and you’re basically using your mouse controls primarily this is like Nintendo’s kind of arms game in my opinion this generation where they’re showing off the new gimmick of the Joy-Con in depth with this gameplay experience so I’ll keep my eye on it see if I get more intrigued with more gameplay trailers but so far it hasn’t done a whole lot uh to get my interest peaked hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment while technically not entirely firstp partyy Nintendo it’s still in the Zelda universe so have to mention it and it should be out in 2025 gameplay style for Hyrule Warriors games not near as hype or excited as what a traditional Zelda game is for me obviously but that said I still enjoy the gameplay loop and more than anything I am excited for the story in this game considering that we are seeing a much more in-depth telling of Zelda’s perspective in the events of Tears of the Kingdom and we’re going back to a really cool time period in Hyrule so I cannot wait for this game personally and it’s another one that over the summertime I think we will likely learn the release date of kirby Air Riders 2 is a big return from the Gamecube era zacharai’s project we haven’t seen much about this game so we don’t really know exactly what to expect other than I do believe if you played Kirby Air Riders it’s going to be in that same wheelhouse of a gameplay loop but we literally have only seen a cinematic so far so until we get more promotion for this game we just don’t know what to expect with it but Sakurai is involved it’s his baby and he’s literally presumably taken time away from developing the next Smash as soon to focus on this so this is a pretty exciting project and it will be out in 2025 as well also no release date at the time of filming okay Metroid Prime 4 by far and away my most anticipated 2025 title at the time of filming nothing can come close to this i’ve been waiting for Metroid Prime 4 since it was teased back in 2017 then we got that unfortunate news it got restarted in development in 2019 we thought this was going to be a Switch One game and it still is a Switch One game but of course Nintendo’s doing the dual release where it is coming out with the Switch 2 edition which is definitely what I will be picking up obviously 4K 60 or 120 frames per second at 1080p mouse controls fully intact i will be excited to check those out i think this is the only game so far that I’m more intrigued to use mouse controls on or at least test them out fully from a gameplay perspective but even if I don’t end up doing that cuz I’m honestly in love with the Pro 2 controller uh I do think that if you’re not a fan of the Metroid franchise or you haven’t given it a chance I I would pick up Prime 1 Remastered for 40 bucks at some point run that on your Switch 2 go through it see what you think of the gameplay loop the puzzle exploration constant feel of progression as Samos where you’re getting different types of arm cannons different types of visors you always feel like you’re kind of leveling up as Samos and getting new exciting abilities and there’s something about I would say the Legend of Zelda fan base needs to go check out Metroid games because there’s a very interesting solve a puzzle mechanic that hearkens back to classical 3D Zelda feeling at least for me when you solve a dungeon puzzle in a 3D Zelda I get those similar vibes when I solve a puzzle in a Metroid Prime game and I think the world is obviously absolutely beautiful in all three Prime games so far this one looks very exciting for with what we’ve seen so far visually stunning compared to anything we’ve seen from Retro before and Retro is known to kind of be wizards with Nintendo Switch hardware getting the most out of the console and uh with the enhanced resolution and frame rate on the Switch 2 version uh this is very exciting samus has psychic abilities this time around that we have to learn about you know what kind of things are going to be unlocked but so far we’ve seen her be able to essentially shift the momentum of a blast that you have like a charge blast you can make it go a specific path and hit specific enemies and no doubt you’ll have a lot of exciting puzzle mechanics that come along with that so this one for me it just by far and away my biggest 2025 most anticipated game unless of something else gets announced that puts this on a secondary pedestal i just can’t wait for Prime 4 on the Switch 2 personally if I had to put a prediction or bet on when it will come out I would throw my money on September at some point i do think that you know August September maybe October but I think Pokemon is October and we maybe don’t get anything else first party in October from Nintendo so I really like September for a Prime 4 release and I don’t think it’s that November game even though it could technically be i just think Nintendo will put it out a little bit sooner into the year in 2025 okay from a third party perspective there is also a lot to be very excited about for the Switch 2 and we’re not going to go into as much detail and everything uh on all of these games but just some highlevel overviews of what we have to look forward to on a third-party release schedule tony Hawks 3+4 no-brainer day one pickup on the Switch 2 for me visually this will be similar to the other platforms it should run at 4K 60 that’s kind of what I’m expecting um and I think that it’s going to be an ideal platform to pick it up for because you have the portable play factor this is the type of game that I would like to play sometimes portably and sometimes in docked mode and listen I’ve been a lifelong Tony Hawk fan picked up every game played them through and through from the original all the way to Underground 2 and a little bit of American Wasteland i did uh play to completion as well but kind of fell off the Tony Hawk train after that and it seemed like I probably departed at a pretty good time from the franchise because uh they they weren’t as inventive each release let’s say but I do think that the return to form of the classic gameplay loop of the Tony Hawk games coming back with more modern visuals that look honestly awesome hidden characters that are included in there Ninja Turtles not to mention Bam Margera making a a lastminute addition into this series because Tony Hawk stood up for him and you know that’s cool there’s controversy around him for sure but I would just say that if you grew up and were a fan of skateboarding in the 90s and early 2000s you knew how big of a deal Bam being in those games are and not to mention if we ever want to hope for an Underground 2 remaster like hopefully it’s Underground 1 and two next Bam has to be there cuz he’s literally a central character in the Underground 2 story plot but anyway the one downside to this game that we do know is that the four career mode kind of got reworked it’s more of a timebased challenges thing as opposed to Tony Hawk’s Pros Skater 4 was the first one that got rid of the time clock and you actually just talk to people to complete the different challenges per stage that also allowed them to make the stages quite a bit bigger and more immersive so I’ll be interested to see how they really go about handling that i have heard some things about there being like a longer clock available than just the 2minute run so it gives you more time to go play through everything and do different runs in the larger levels in Tony Hawks Pros Skater 4 and it sounds like there’s some additional hidden content i’m trying not to really even spoil myself at this point i just can’t wait to get the game it’s right around the corner so that’s a big one on my radar personally shadow Labyrinth from there is out July 18th and this is like Pac-Man’s reinvention moment pretty cool i think this is tied to that secret level show where Pac-Man is like included as part of this well I don’t know what’s really going on with that uh character with the sword but somehow Pac-Man’s paired up with him or her whoever it is and basically you’re going to have a mix of Pac-Man abilities and also just like a 2D action platform setting where you’re going to have sword attacks and different things i don’t know the entire gameplay loop of this thing but from the trailer my interest is peaked this seems like a pretty cool reinvention moment for Pac-Man uh and I will be picking it up on July 18th when it’s out star Wars Outlaws is out September 4th and this is one that yeah I I looked at the reviews it doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of stuff to do in the world and maybe not the best gameplay loop but I may still give it a chance on Switch 2 see how it runs see how it looks and kind of review it from that perspective and just go into it with an open mind and see what I think so I am leaning towards picking up this game when it comes out but definitely on the lower expectations in terms of quality uh and I would think that you know hold off till you maybe get some more in-depth reviews of the Switch 2 version before you decide to like pre-order this game or something like that damon X Machina Titanic Scion looks very interesting it is out September 5th mech style game interesting story from the looks of things i’m not super familiar with the franchise so not a ton to say but it is on my radar because uh it’s one of these big marquee third-p partyy Nintendo games that they have went out of their way to promote and advertise so I will be checking it out as well borderlands 4 is out September 12th but I do not know that that’s confirmed for the Switch 2 version because I think so far we’ve seen them confirm that it’s coming to Switch 2 but I don’t know that we’ve gotten the for sure answer that it’s releasing on the same day as the other consoles which is currently September 12th i still think it’s going to be a 2025 title and obviously it’s going to be nice to have the modern installment the new flagship installment in the Borderland Lands franchise available on Switch 2 sonic Racing Crossworlds honestly looks like a pretty cool competitor to a Mario Kart style gameplay it’s out September 25th uh and listen I think Sega’s going to do a lot of really cool stuff in this cart racer from a character roster perspective probably a lot of free updates and things from the sounds of it and the worlds look really cool and unique and it looks like they’ve dialed in the mechanics of a cart racer now it’s probably not going to exceed the openw world feel of what Mario Kart World did but if you want something that’s more like a traditional Mario Kart experience like 8 Deluxe uh but in the world of Sega I think it’s going to be a really good pickup and it’s definitely one I’ll be checking out when it does launch on September 25th jrpg fans can rejoice because Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D comes out October 30th and it’s pretty cool cuz we already have Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D released and apparently the way you play these games from a story perspective is actually uh as far as how the events take place would be Dragon Quest 3 first then one then two uh so this is going to be a nice little bundle pack that comes out it’ll be out October 30th and these HD 2D games are just truly beautiful if you were somebody who grew up in the SNES Sega Genesis era and you have some nostalgia for releases then the way that they’re able to rework these visuals and give us a modern installment on a classic franchise is honestly awesome so we’ll be looking into this when it launches towards the end of October okay from here we get into the 2025 game release schedule one of these actually 2026 that I want to mention but we don’t have exact dates most of these except for one will be out in 2025 so first up Hades 2 is a awesome action adventure rogike that’s just a really fast-paced engaging combat and gameplay loop and obviously Rogue Lights you’re you’re going to be restarting but there are some things that carry forward with the beginning of each run it does hold not hold back in the difficulty department so I would definitely expect a challenge with this game and we know it’s going to be out this year we just don’t have a release date yet uh Silkong is actually confirmed for a 2025 release providing no additional delays but they showed up Keem Cherry part of Microsoft’s big announcement and promoted it alongside of the Xbox Rag handheld console that’s coming out in their partnership with Asus and basically it’s a Asus handheld but Xbox branded it’s just a partnership type console like Microsoft does this with PCs all the time they’re doing it with handheld PCs now but they basically committed to Silkong being out at by the launch of that console and it’s not that it’s tied to the launch of the console but by the time that that console’s out which will be holiday season 2025 Silkong will be out and Team Cherry has clarified that yes they’re targeting 2025 and we’re going to get this game eventually so I do think that it’s finally the year and providing no further delays we will finally be able to enjoy Silkong on the Switch 2 that’s definitely the platform I’m picking it up for and will be getting it day one final Fantasy 7 remake integrate is an absolutely fantastic addition to the Switch 2 lineup of games for 2025 and we do know it’s coming out this year but we just don’t know when i do think it’ll be one of those holiday season games like late October to you know even early December i think that’s probably the window we’re going to see it launch in integrate is actually the PS5 edition of this game so more modern lighting techniques visuals look better additional content things like that all baked into this and it’s actually been teased that we should be able to safely expect the entire Final Fantasy remake trilogy to Nintendo Switch 2 because Square Enix literally just said “We’re excited we can bring over the Final Fantasy 7 remake series to the console.” Just a direct tease uh Rebirth obviously being the next one that would be up for release past this and then uh we don’t know anything really about the third installment just yet but as that gets developed and pushed out there I do believe Nintendo’s going to be in that conversation with the Switch 2 and because of how these games link together and they are a trilogy that go together it’s kind of a no-brainer that Nintendo Switch 2 is going to get all three and not just the first uh in a three-part trilogy so that’s pretty exciting and we should know more about the release date soon in 2025 for Final Fantasy 7 remake integrated the one 2026 game that I just had to mention on this list is indeed James Bond 007 First Light this is an origin story for a new James Bond fresh from the groundup installment that will be headed to Nintendo Switch 2 um I’m excited for this one let me tell you as somebody who grew up as a diehard Golden Eye fan back in the day really enjoyed World is Not Enough on N64 as well then Nightfire on Gamecube Everything or Nothing like great installments in the James Bond franchise really enjoyed my time playing through those and a brand new fresh James Bond getting a origin story he’s younger he’s not 007 yet this is his rise to becoming 007 this is a fantastic story to tackle the visuals from what we’ve seen presented in just these few first look trailers that we now have of the game honestly look incredible uh I’m expecting it to obviously look and run up to an acceptable standard on the Switch 2 i don’t think we’re going to get 4K 60 with how visually demanding this game will probably be but 4K 30 likely in docked via upres and things and then we’re going to be able to get 1080p or 900p something in that range with 30 fps in handheld play as well and this is going to still be my preferred platform to pick this game up for i cannot wait for the next installment in a major 007 game that’s getting a ton of love and promotion uh so welcome back to brand new exciting James Bond games it’s been a long time and I can’t wait okay closing out this list biggest third party release for me it’s one I’ve already played to completion and platinum on the PS5 you probably have a decent guess if you’ve been around on the channel for a while but Elden Ring is coming out on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025 and let me tell you if you have not given the From Software family of games let’s say a fair shake and fresh try give this franchise a try especially once again kind of to hearken back to what I said about Metroid having a similar tie-in to classical Zelda games i also feel like Elden Ring has this thing that’s going to appeal to lifelong Zelda fans like e whether you’re a fan of Tears of the Kingdom Breath of the Wild era Zeldas or the more old school traditional Zeldas uh this feels like a really robust in-depth version of the combat system that we loved and fell in love with in the Zelda franchise and it’s taken kind of to another level in the Elden Ring world i mean there is a learning curve it is a difficult game to get into because initially you will die a lot but the nice thing about Elden Ring as opposed to the Dark Souls games before it uh is that you are not just on a linear path in this game yes there are some mandatory story bosses that will open up different sections of the map that you ultimately have to beat but if you get stuck in one direction you can literally go off on an entire different adventure in a different direction and then come back when you are far more leveled up better weapon you upgrade your weapons you upgrade your armor or find better armor in general uh basically it is just your character starts to gain steam at a certain point in the game and if that hook sets in with the gameplay loop you are going to be absolutely enthralled with the world that Elden Ring has to offer and the incredibly unique boss battles because that’s really where this game shines not only the beautiful open world and your mount that you have that you literally torrent you can just hop on at any time fly across the map uh not literally fly but you know go a lot faster on your horse and enjoy the world and the landscape but really where this game shines is some of these unique boss battles and the type of movement patterns that they have that part of the fun of this game is just getting good enough to beat these bosses and learning their movement patterns and you’re just going to have to rise to the occasion now you don’t have to play just like sword and shield combat you can do magic and range and different types of strategies uh you can even summon things primarily like there’s a lot of different ways to play this game but uh for me you know I just enjoy having the giant two-handed sword i literally only two-hand it throw a shield on the back for some kind of buff and then to just dodge roll around and learn the enemy patterns and just have a blast progressing through and beating all the bosses by the end of it and fortunately the Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 will have the Shadow of the Archery DLC baked into the game this is literally it elevated the entire experience of Elder Ring to another level for me when I talk about boss fights the boss fights that are in Shadow of the Earth Tree some of the most unique and incredible I’ve ever experienced in gaming and by the end of my Elden Ring one run on my original character uh plus doing Shadow of the Earth Tree and never going into new game plus on this character but just like my original run I clocked in like 150 hours or something like that so you can go way further than that don’t get me wrong if you want to do new game plus and just go through and keep playing this thing you absolutely can because there’s so many different styles to play and reasons to replay it and stuff but just for me my original character the time that I clocked in on that is 150 hours so you will absolutely get your money’s worth assuming this comes out at something like a $70 price point which is kind of what I’m expecting it to launch at so yes don’t sleep on this one it’s definitely my most anticipated third-p partyy release even though I’ve beaten it I cannot wait for the Nintendo audience to be able to experience a modern-day openw world from Software game that is uh super successful for a reason 25 million something sold i think we’re going to bump well over 30 million sold when the Switch 2 version comes out but let me know in the comments down below which games in 2025 that are headed to Nintendo Switch 2 are you most excited to either pick up or potentially pick up based on the reviews and things like that that you’re seeing what out of the games that I mentioned are you also excited for which ones did I not mention that you that you really feel like should be included in a list and something that I should be more aware of and bonus are there any unannounced games that you think are likely to hit this year that you would definitely do a day one pickup if we do get them announced at something like a summertime Nintendo Direct so make sure you share all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below before you leave regardless if we agree or disagree also make sure you like subscribe turn your notification bell and with that I’ve been Sunbro you’ve been Nation thanks so much for watching and I’ll see you guys in the next