Category: Nintendo News

Assassin’s Creed Shadows didn’t get off to the best start on the Switch 2 when it arrived earlier this month, with players reporting crashing and stability issues.

Fortunately, Ubisoft acknowledged these problems and said these issues would be resolved in the next major game update. Title Update 1.1.7 is out this week on the Switch 2 and other platforms, and we’ve now got a look at the patch notes.

Most notably, it comes loaded with “bug fixes & improvements” for the Switch 2 edition of the game, resolving crases and more. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Ubisoft’s official website:

Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Title Update 1.1.7 (17th December 2025)

New Finisher Animations

We heard your feedback and are bringing new finishers to combat!

Bring more flair to your encounters with a fresh set of finisher animations. Both Naoe and Yasuke now have expanded ways to end fights in style with more cinematic flair and brutality.

Animus Rift: Lost and Found

A mysterious new Rift has appeared within the Animus…

Uncover secrets, solve puzzle, traverse across the digital plains and help The Guide.

New Project: Defiance

We are releasing a new Project available in the Animus HUB, called Defiance, in which you can unlock a new Bo staff, Trinket and more! Activate the new Project, complete Anomalies and progress through the rewards like previously released ones.

A quick access for the Vault has been added to the Animus menu while in gameplay for easier access to the feature.

New Resources Available in the Exchange

Gold, Mastery and Knowledge Points are now available as part of daily offers, which can be purchased repeatedly with Keys.

Bug fixes & Improvements

Nintendo Switch 2

• Improved various FPS issues.
• Fixed crashes for stability improvements.
• Fixed various visual issues.
• Improved the touchscreen experience.
• Fixed an issue where players were asked to connect to a controller whenever the Switch 2 was docked or undocked, even if controllers were already connected.
• Resolved an issue where the players would remain in an infinite black screen after creating a Ubisoft Connect account or log in with an already existing account upon selecting an audio pack from the initial boot menu.

Gameplay

• Removed an exploit that would permit double engravings on the Sword of Fathoms.
• Fixed an issue preventing Naginatas from being sold. Fine, I shall sell my best wares somewhere else!
• Resolved an issue where perks that checked Mastery points spent would not update if Mastery points changed after equipping the item.
• Fixed an issue where upgrading skills to Rank 3 would sometimes cause damage upgrades from Rank 2 to be missing.
• The Bo Staff will now increase its affliction buildup stat when upgrading it Mythic and Artifact quality.
• Perks with affliction effects now have dynamic wording that specify which affliction they apply, based on the item they are engraved on.
• Fixed an issue where Knowledge Scrolls were removed from the players inventory. Junjiro did you take my scrolls again??
• Shared skills between Naoe and Yasuke will now correctly be learned by both.
• Edited wording for the “Affliction After Deflect” perk to clarify it applies 35% buildup instead of a full Affliction.
• Ensured that “Restore 6% Health With Posture Attack” is present for all Critical Damage and Health Gain engravings for all weapons when equipped.

Claws of Awaji

• Fixed an issue where players with two copies of the game, one with the Claws of Awaji Expansion and one without, would permanently lose the ability to fast travel to the island of Awaji when switching between the two editions of the game.

World

• Players can now whistle while using the Follow Road mechanic. Enjoy the open road, whistle a tune and relax!
• Corrupted Castles will no longer reset when loading into a previous save after a season has already changed.
• Fixed an issue where enemies and loot would respawn upon loading a save before changing seasons.

Visuals & Graphics

• Adjusted some facial animation for Naoe or Yasuke that looked unnatural during all cinematics when a hood was equipped. Psst! Naoe, stop making silly faces, please!

UI

• Corrected inconsistencies between the smuggled rewards shown in the UI at the end of a season and what was truly received. All the goods are there, boss!
• Fixed inconsistencies with the smuggled rewards UI when the Stables are upgraded. Remember to give your trusty steed an apple as a treat.
• Corrected location name for “Kawarajiri Lumber Camp” in Japanese.

Online Store

• Fixed an issue with receiving Store, Deluxe and Premium items into the player’s inventory.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Quests

“Swords And Sake”

Fixed an issue where the mission couldn’t be completed due to Gennojo dying.

“Eliminate Outlaws”

Corrected issues preventing the completion of the mission.

“Temple Stories”

Ensured that Joken Hokkyo will not disappear so that the quest objective can be completed. Wait! Don’t go! I need to complete this mission!

“Dismantling One by One”

Wandering enemies will now be indicated with a marker.

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According to the same page on Ubisoft’s website, this patch will be 3.66 GB update. This title update will go live on other platforms on 16th December 2025, with the Switch 2 version of the update to follow on 17th December 2025.

Will you be revisiting this game on the Switch 2 once this update goes live? Let us know in the comments.

Metacritic’s annual round-up of the worst reviewed games of the year is upon us. And, by and large, there have been a lot of good video games in 2025. But there will always be a few that hit the bottom. And, well, if you’ve been keeping up with gaming news this year, number one shouldn’t surprise you.

As a reminder, the aggregate site determines the list based on games released between 1st January and 31st December 2025 and with at least four critic reviews. Obviously some games will have more than others on this list, so make of that what you will. And in multiplatform releases, only the lowest-scoring platform will appear here.

So, while number one should be fairly obvious to guess, number two was a bit of a sobering reminder. Remember earlier this year when Nintendo shadow-dropped a Fire Emblem game on mobile? And that it’s a social deduction game? Uh, yeah, Fire Emblem Shadows happened, and, yeah it seems like we weren’t the only ones who didn’t like the game. The iOS version sits on a Metascore of 37, and user reviews aren’t any better.

Tamagotchi Plaza – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Spy Drops (the PS5 version), Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition (PS5), and QUByte Classics: Glover (PS5) have also all made the list and are all available on Switch 1 and 2.

But nothing could really top MindsEye this year, could it? Just read our sister site Push Square’s review and… ouch. Anyway, here’s the list in full:

Metacritic – The 10 Worst Video Games of 2025:

1. MindsEye – PS5 (28/100)
2. Fire Emblem Shadows – Mobile (37/100)
3. Blood of Mehran – PS5 (38/100)
4. Spy Drops – PC (39/100)
5. Gore Doctor – PS5 (40/100)
6. Tamagotchi Plaza – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition – Switch 2 (43/100)
7. Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator – PS5 (44/100)
8. QUByte Classics: Glover – PS5 (44/100)
9. Scar-Lead Salvation – PS5 (44/100)
10. Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition – PS5 (45/100)

Last year saw Utopia City, a totally-sudden rerelease of a niche 20-year-old shooter which arrived on Steam in November 2024, at the top spot. Look, we’re in Game of the Year season, so let’s focus on the good stuff.

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What do you think of this year’s top 10? Do you think 2025 has been a good year for games? Let us know in the comments.

2026 is almost upon us, so naturally, everyone is thinking about end-of-year awards. Geoff Keighley hosted his ceremony last week, and today, it’s time for the tech experts from Digital Foundry to get involved, as they run down their best graphics of 2025.

It will come as no surprise that the shortlist this year is mainly comprised of titles found on PS5 and Xbox Series, with the likes of Ghost of Yōtei, Mafia: The Old Country, and Silent Hill f getting their flowers, but a handful of Switch newbies got a nod too.

Digital Foundry dedicated the entirety of its honourable mentions section to the Switch 2 this year, giving a shoutout to Mario Kart World, Kirby Air Riders and Fast Fusion for “maximising the Tegra T239 in different ways”, and Star Wars Outlaws, which DF calls “currently Switch 2’s best ‘impossible port’.” The outlet also highlights Panic Button’s work on the Switch 1-to-2 upgrades.

That’s not to say that Switch 2 is entirely absent from the official top 10, mind you. Metroid Prime 4 lands a spot all of its own, with DF calling Samus’ latest “a lighting masterwork – a prime (pun intended) example of how pre-baked lighting inside carefully crafted environments, whether fully indoors or exposed to outdoor elements, can implement attractive lighting phenomena like emissive lighting while also organically leading players.”

The Switch 1 version of MP4 even gets a shoutout in the Digital Foundry listing, with the outlet praising how it delivers “so much ecosystem diversity within large exploration zones at a steady 60fps, building upon the already impressive likes of Metroid Prime 1 Remastered to push the 2017 console to its limits.”

As ever, Digital Foundry’s top 10 is unordered until hitting the top three, with the seven preceding entries sorted alphabetically instead. Here’s the full list, as laid out on the Digital Foundry website:

– Dying Light: The Beast

– Earthion

– Ghost of Yōtei

– Mafia: The Old Country

– Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

– Routine

– Silent Hill f

3. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

2. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

1. Doom: The Dark Ages

A pretty good year for good-looking games, then! You’ll find the team’s explanation for each entry either in the video at the top of this article or by heading over to the DF site.

Are there any other titles that you’d add to this list? Let us know in the comments.

Surprise, folks! Larian Studios has dropped a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for Divinity: Original Sin 2. Oh, and it’s out right now, and if you already own the game on Switch 1, you can upgrade for free.

It’s $49.99 / £44.99 (or your regional equivalent) on Switch 2. However, if you buy the Switch 1 version and then grab the free upgrade pack, it’ll only cost you $24.99 / £22.49 until 7th January 2026. So save some pennies and grab the Switch 1 version!

Larian, clearly riding on a high after its showcase for a new Divinity game at The Game Awards last week, are treating fans to a sparkly version of the critically-acclaimed CRPG. We don’t know what the Switch 2 Edition adds to the experience besides higher resolutions and a better frame rate; can we hope for Mouse Mode?

Here’s a little flavour text about the game, just in case you missed out on this pre-Baldur’s Gate 3 classic:

From the creators of Baldur’s Gate 3, experience the world of Divinity in this epic adventure where your choices shape fate itself.

The Divine is dead. The Void approaches. And the powers lying dormant within you are soon to awaken. Choose your role in a BAFTA-winning story, and explore a world that reacts to who you are, and the choices you make. With five races to choose from, and an adventure playable solo or as a party of up to four, lay waste to an oppressive order in a world afraid of magic. Become the God the world so desperately needs.

Divinity: Original Sin 2: Definitive Edition is the most complete version of the best-selling, Metacritic Must-Play RPG.

The game was already brilliant on Switch, so we’re excited to dive in and lose another hundred hours to this behemoth.

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Will you be grabbing Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition? Let us know in the comments.

Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has garnered some pretty positive reception since its release in 2023, with numerous updates providing more content and quality-of-life improvements, and graphics that stand as some of the best in the business.

If you were perhaps hoping to see Avatar on the Switch 2, however, then you might want to just temper your expectations somewhat. According to a brief interview at FRVR, Ubisoft currently has no plans to bring the game to Nintendo’s new console.

When asked about a potential port, Game Design Lead Amandine Lauer simply said “Honestly, I don’t really want to wonder there, because I don’t know”. Director Aoife O’Friel then followed up with “That’s something we don’t know about” when asked whether Avatar would even be possible on the Switch 2.

So yes, if the director and game design lead don’t know, then chances are it’s probably not in the works at the moment. That’s not to say it’s completely off the table, mind you, with Ubisoft providing solid support for the Switch 2 since launch with the likes of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws.

On 16th December 2025, Ubisoft will also be launching The Rogue Prince of Persia from developer Evil Empire, famed for its work on Dead Cells.

Would you like to see Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on Switch 2? Let us know your thoughts with a comment.

If you’re after something cute and cosy to curl up with this Christmas, you may need to look no further than Stars In The Trash, a new cat platformer (catformer?) that looks like it’s walked straight out of Disney’s classic back catalogue.

Animated by a team of artists who have previously worked for the House of Mouse, this hand-drawn adventure sees you placed in the paws of Moka, a spoiled cat who decided to escape the creature comforts of home and see what life’s like out on the streets.

Expect platforming puzzles, cat interactions, and claws-out combat, but the real selling point is that art style, which combines classic hand-drawn animations with lush watercolour backgrounds for a particularly cosy vibe.

You’ll find a rundown of the game’s key features and a handful of screenshots below:

· Explore a beautiful hand drawn watercolor world
· Feel the magic of the animated movie classics
· Discover the power of friendship
· Live an emotional journey
· Be a cat

Stars in the Trash is now available on the Switch eShop for £13.49 / 14,99€ / $14.99, and there’s even a 30% launch discount now running until early January.

Does this look up your street? Pounce down to the comments and let us know.

We’ve got our latest look at the UK physical gaming charts and, rather expectedly, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has taken quite the tumble from its bronze-medal debut last week.

Samus’ latest now finds itself in 15th position, with the top 10 awash with Switch and Switch 2 titles as we approach the holidays. Mario Kart World reclaimed pole position (shock, horror), followed by EA SPORTS FC 26 and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has somehow popped back up to fifth, and both Donkey Kong Bananza and Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 have snuck back into the top 10 too.

The new releases fall much lower down in the proceedings this week. Terminator 2D: NO FATE arrived in 20th, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 landed in 22nd, and the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection punched its way into 23rd.

Here’s the full top 40, with platform breakdowns for games available on Switch, Switch 2, and other consoles:

Last Week	This Week	Game	Platform Split
2	1	Mario Kart World
1	2	EA Sports FC 26	PS5 45%, Switch 23%, Xbox Series 14%, PS4 9%, Switch 2 9%
4	3	Pokémon Legends: Z-A	Switch 66%, Switch 2 34%
5	4	Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
12	5	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9	6	Minecraft
10	7	Ghost of Yotei
11	8	Donkey Kong Bananza
34	9	LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga	PS5 64%, PS4 27%, Xbox Series 9%, Switch 0%
13	10	Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2
–	11	Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Stunt Mayhem	Switch 99%, PS5 1%, Xbox Series 0%
21	12	Nintendo Switch Sports
18	13	Super Mario Party Jamboree	Switch 64%, Switch 2 36%
6	14	Just Dance 2026 Edition
3	15	Metroid Prime 4: Beyond	Switch 2 76%, Switch 24%
16	16	Animal Crossing: New Horizons
15	17	Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate	PS4 53%, PS5 46%, Switch 1%, Xbox Series 0%
7	18	Battlefield 6
17	19	Grand Theft Auto V
NEW	20	Terminator 2D: NO FATE	PS5 51%, Switch 33%, Xbox Series 9%, PS4 6%
20	21	Hogwarts Legacy	Switch 36%, PS5 36%, Switch 2 16%, PS4 8%
NEW	22	Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
NEW	23	Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection	PS5 61%, Switch 2 24%, Switch 15%
26	24	Star Wars Outlaws	PS5 53%, Switch 2 39%, Xbox Series 8%
19	25	Assassin’s Creed Shadows	PS5 61%, Switch 2 26%, Xbox Series 13%
24	26	Astro Bot
32	27	Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds	Switch 40%, PS5 40%, Xbox Series 14%, PS4 7%
8	28	Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition	Switch 2 36%, PS5 29%, PC 26%, Xbox Series 9%
–	29	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom	Switch 61%, Switch 2 39%
33	30	The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition
–	31	Jurassic World: Evolution 3
–	32	Carnival Games
35	33	Bluey: The Videogame	Switch 94%, PS5 4%, PS4 1%
–	34	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Switch 64%, Switch 2 36%
–	35	Super Mario Bros. Wonder
23	36	Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
–	37	Kirby Air Riders
28	38	Mafia: The Old Country
–	39	Minecraft: PlayStation Edition
31	40	Dog Man: Mission Impawsible	Switch 86%, PS5 14%

[Compiled by GfK]

< Last week’s charts

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That’s it for this week’s physical UK charts! Any surprises? Did you pick any of these games up? Let us known in the comments.

You know the festive season is well and truly here when No Gravity Games announces its annual ‘Switchmas Giveaway’, where the studio dishes out a selection of its back catalogue for free.

Well, the time is almost upon us once more, as No Gravity Games has announced that this year’s giveaway will kick off on 12th December, with one free game available each and every day until 18th December, before the event wraps up with a whopping three freebies on 19th.

As ever, there are a few hoops you’ll need to jump through if you want to add every game in the giveaway to your library. Firstly, the giveaway is only for those with a North American eShop account. Secondly, you need to own any game from the No Gravity Games portfolio to get the offer up and running — and that includes the one you can get for free by signing up to the company’s newsletter.

We’ll be updating this post with the full list of this year’s free games, though you can check out last year’s line-up to get an idea of what’s in store.

The giveaway works on a chain basis, where you have to redeem each day’s freebie if you want to be entitled to the next drop. No Gravity Games will list the free game of the day on the eShop with a ‘100% off’ discount for 24 hours, and will keep it “heavily discounted” the next day, so you have a chance to buy back into the chain if you forget to download one day.

To be clear, these giveaways are rarely packed with blockbuster hits, but if you’re keen to beef up your Switch library and don’t want to spend a penny while doing it, you might want to follow along.

Will you be taking part in this year’s No Gravity Games giveaway? Let us know in the comments.

If you ended up getting the physical version of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection for the Switch or Switch 2 last week, we’ve got some news you might not be too happy about.

Since its arrival in stores, Mortal Kombat fans have discovered Mortal Kombat 4 is not included on the Legacy Kollection’s game card. Digital Eclipse has confirmed this in multiple replies on social media – explaining how this build had to be submitted “far in advance” and MK4 was “just not ready”, so it’s been made available as “downloadable content”.

Digital Eclipse: “MK4 did not make it to the Switch cart in time for physical release. The Switch build had to be submitted for production far in advance of the release date, and MK4 was just not ready. All other platforms have MK4 included.”

On the official Atari website, where you can purchase a physical copy of the Legacy Kollection, the page for this title has now been updated with a notice about a download adding Mortal Kombat 4 to the Switch versions:

Atari: Nintendo Switch Users – In order to fully enjoy Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection we encourage you to connect your Switch console to the Nintendo store and download our post release patches, which add additional content, including MK4, and performance improvements.”

Nintendo Life has access to a physical Switch 2 cartridge of the Kollection, which runs on Version 1.0.1 out of the box and it requires users to perform a day one update to access Mortal Kombat 4 and the rest of the game.

This again follows Digital Eclipse informing Switch and Switch 2 fans the experience would be on the game cartridge:

Digital Eclipse has also confirmed this only impacts the Nintendo versions of the game. The PlayStation 5 physical release contains every game in the Kollection on the disc. It also says if a future cartridge reprint happens for Switch platforms, it will supposedly include Mortal Kombat 4.

If there are any significant developments regarding the Legacy Kollection’s physical release, we’ll provide an update.

We’ve updated the following with the addition of Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Enjoy, true believers!

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Theatrical releases under the banner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe might not come with quite the same level of bravado that they did in a pre-Endgame world, but that isn’t to say that all things Marvel are out for the count.

Below, we have collected together every Marvel game available on Switch (and by that, we mean games in which Marvel heroes are the unrivalled focus — sorry, no Fortnite to be found here) and ordered them according to their Nintendo Life user ratings. This means, even after publication, the ranking is subject to real-time changes based on each game’s current user rating.

If there are any games on the list that you have not yet scored, select the star icon next to the respective entry to give your opinion and potentially change where it sits on the list. Hey, that’s what heroes do.

Ready for the list? It’s coming through on your left…

Best Marvel Games On Switch

Marvel Switch Games FAQs

Here is a handful of frequently asked questions you might have about the Switch’s line-up of Marvel games:

Is Marvel Midnight Suns on Switch?

No, Marvel’s Midnight Suns isn’t on Switch, but we can see why you might think it is.

The game was initially announced for a Switch release way back in 2021, though as the game went through push-backs and delays, it became increasingly apparent that the Nintendo hybrid would miss out on the final launch. Eventually, in 2023, 2K announced that a Switch version was “no longer planned”.

Is Marvel Rivals on Switch?

Again, this one is a no… for now. In early 2025, Marvel Rivals developer NetEase claimed that it was “already in contact with Nintendo” and was trying to source a Switch 2 dev-kit to bring the free-to-play hero shooter to the console.

A few months later, the studio confirmed that it was still waiting on a dev-kit, and it would “conduct a thorough evaluation” about the possibility of a port once it had one.

What Marvel games are on Switch 2?

Thanks to the wonders of backwards compatibility, all of the above games are available on Switch 2, though you will still be playing the Switch 1 version.

The only exception is Marvel Cosmic Invasion, for which a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is available with GameShare support.

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Well, there you have it. Not many faces popping out of magical portals, but it’s a nice little collection of Marvel madness to keep us busy on Switch. Don’t forget, you can potentially change up the order by selecting the star icons above or leaving your thoughts via the relevant game pages.

What do you make of the above list? Would you change the order? Surprised there are only a handful of Marvel games on Nintendo’s console? Thwip down to the comments and let us know your personal favourite Marvel game on Switch.