4 Nintendo Switch RPGs You Should Pay Attention to This Summer

Barring an early handful of blockbusters like Elden Ring and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, 2022 has been pretty quiet for video game releases. Thankfully, things are beginning to pick up as we head into the second half of the year, particularly for the Nintendo Switch. The console is currently in the midst of a summertime blitz of role-playing games, with four noteworthy RPG titles all hitting the market within the span of a month.

The deluge began with a one-two punch of late June releases. First was Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a follow-up to one of the best RPGs on the system, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Melding the button-mashing "musou" gameplay of Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series and Three Houses' world and cast, Three Hopes weaves an intriguing alternate-history tale about the erupting war between Fodlan's three major nations and the shadowy forces secretly responsible.

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What sets Three Hopes apart from other Warriors titles is that it incorporates a variety of traditional Fire Emblem elements into its gameplay, elevating what would otherwise be another rote musou game into a compelling, lite action-RPG. Unit management is imperative to your success here, as you must command your troops around the map to most effectively capture strongholds and complete objectives. Fire Emblem's hallmark weapon triangle and combat arts are also present, adding nuance to the normally mindless musou combat. These layers make Three Hopes a satisfying companion to Three Houses.

Less than a week after Three Hopes arrived, Capcom launched Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, a meaty DLC expansion for the acclaimed Switch/PC RPG. As Iceborne did for Monster Hunter World, Sunbreak appends Monster Hunter Rise with nearly a full game's worth of additional content, introducing new environments to explore, new and returning monsters to hunt (along with their respective armor sets to forge), and new gameplay mechanics to master.

These two releases alone would normally be enough to keep most players occupied through the summer, but there are still two more eye-catching Switch RPGs on the way before July is up.

First is Live A Live, an obscure Super Famicom game that, up to now, has never been officially released outside Japan. Gorgeously remade in the HD-2D visual style pioneered by Octopath Traveler, Live A Live is one of the most experimental RPGs of the '90s, featuring seven self-contained stories spanning different time periods, from prehistory to the distant future.

Not only do these individual tales cover a range of themes and settings, each also has its own distinctive gameplay hook; Twilight of Edo is a stealth-based chapter that has you infiltrating a lord's castle as a shinobi, while Prehistory wordlessly follows a young caveman's journey. Even some 28 years after its original release, Live A Live's conceit is still unique and compelling, and having the chance to experience a long-lost RPG from what is arguably the genre's golden age is exciting.

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Finally, one week after Live A Live launches, Nintendo is releasing Xenoblade Chronicles 3, the biggest Switch game of the summer -- figuratively and literally. Bridging the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 tells a standalone story about two warring nations locked in an unending conflict: the militaristic Keves and the magical Agnus. The narrative follows a group of soldiers from these opposing sides as they band together to uncover the truth behind the endless war engulfing the land.

From early appearances, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks to build on the series' best qualities, namely its deep gameplay and sweeping, fantastical worlds. The new class and interlink systems add layers of depth to combat, while the environments that Nintendo has previewed thus far are tantalizingly vast and beautiful. With Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 now set to arrive next year, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 could be a great alternative for Switch owners looking to sink their teeth into a grand, open-world adventure, even if you haven't played the previous installments.

Between these four titles, it's a boom time for RPG fans on Nintendo Switch. It remains to be seen if Xenoblade will live up to its initial promise, but after a light start to the year, it's thrilling to have such a sudden wealth of RPGs to dive into. 

Good luck finding enough time to play all of them before the holiday rush begins.