5 Best Adventure Games on Nintendo Switch (2024)

The Legend of Zelda aside, many other adventure games on the Nintendo Switch are waiting for you to discover them. While some adventures will be high-stakes, placing on your shoulders the responsibility of saving the world, others are more emotional, tugging at your heartstrings and leaving even the most hardcore gamer teary-eyed. Whatever you fancy, here are the best adventure games on Nintendo Switch in 2024 you won’t want to miss.

5. Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is a platform-adventure game chock full of ideas that almost never repeat. It’s impressive how the Mario franchise is continuously innovating on the original gameplay, with Super Mario Odyssey donning its own unique flair. You enjoy a similar joyfulness throughout the gameplay, with nothing too serious to scratch your brain. Yet, even with its playful nature, you still run into an approachable level of challenge that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

Part of its relaxing charm is no lives. The only punishment you get for dying is losing a few coins. It helps to keep the momentum going, even as you encounter tricky bosses and some quite challenging side quests. Depending on the level of difficulty you want, you can choose between an easygoing run-through and a cranked-up one. Either way, plenty of intriguing gameplay lies in wait, from perilous areas packed with hidden items to tucked-away nooks and crannies to discover. In all its shapes and forms, Super Mario Odyssey strives to embody the true meaning of a tantalizing ‘odyssey.’

4. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Alternatively, consider the platform adventure, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The game features an epic journey through exotic locations, formidable enemies, and challenging puzzles. It tells the charming story of an owl's journey from grass to grace. As always, danger lies ahead of a gruesome journey. Fortunately, you have an impressive assortment of weapons, spells, and attacks to combat the peril ahead. 

The best part about Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the way each gameplay element syncs perfectly with one another. From the music, art, story, and level design, every facet of the game works as it should, perhaps even better. The first chapter set the stage in all its incredible platforming complexities. Ori and the Will of the Wisps, on the other hand, picks up where it left off, illustrating an extraordinary open-world setting with new areas to discover. Ori, himself, is a likeable bird with smooth and precise dashing, double-jumping, and acrobatic traversal and combat moves.

3. Astral Chain

You can switch over to hack-and-slash action adventures, starting with Astral Chain. It lets you control two characters at once, the protagonist and a Legion, making for some wild synergy moments to remember. In a neat twist, it makes up for combat, platforming, and even puzzle-solving scenarios that can seem complicated at first but quickly become second nature. It helps that the attack combos create stylish patterns with varying abilities in a futuristic megacity. Fighting off the alien invaders never gets old. Meanwhile, you progress through a mostly linear story, solving cases and drawing you one step closer to the end goal. 

Funny enough, despite the action combat forming the basic gameplay hook, you’ll spend most of your time combing through cities, hunting for treasure chests, and solving cases, so much so that the toned-down parts of the game become more exhilarating to explore. Among most action-adventures, Astral Chain stands out from the crowd for its innovative gameplay. It juggles many things at once, which, combined, culminates in a sprawling and downright incredible experience.

2. Hades

No matter how many times you try, never give up. Hades is determined to drill that concept down your throat in a fantastic way, though. It’s a dungeon crawler that tasks you with escaping Hades itself. Through sheer will and fast-paced hack-and-slash combat, you’ll mow down the dead in a futile attempt to escape the Underworld. While failed attempts will send you back to the start, each mission is varied enough to keep you intrigued. The combat is smooth and precise, so all you have to think about is your skill and strategy.

What’s more? It’s layered enough to challenge you to do better in your next round. Who knew going back to hell over and over again could be hella fun? Each run is deeply satisfying, rewarding you for your efforts with new weapons and abilities. Meanwhile, its story is wildly persistent, nudging you to untie every bit of its twisted knots through to the end, particularly with dishing out helpful and downright rude but exciting NPCs all the same down the road.

1. L.A. Noire

Travel back in time to 1947 Los Angeles and help Detective Cole Phelps solve several cases across various bureaus. L.A. Noire is immersive in the way it accurately depicts history. You explore the city, interrogating suspects, collecting witness statements, and examining the evidence you find. While its combat can be lacking, the methodical part of the gameplay more than makes up for it. You can put your feet up and push your keen eye for detail to the limit. Its investigation techniques are, in fact, so intriguing that it’s easy to lose yourself in the haunting tale that looms over L.A. Noire’s world.

A deep sense of dread unwinds as the game’s haunting tale unfolds. Yet, with each step, you can’t help digging deeper for more. GTA fans will also be pleased to know you have similar free-form gameplay. You can cruise around the city, though it’s still restrictive compared to GTA. Still, it’s an enjoyable crime thriller to immerse yourself in, with a strong focus on the story and an unapologetic, authentic replica of 1940s LA.

So, what’s your take? Do you agree with our list of the best adventure games on Nintendo Switch in 2024? Are there more adventure games on Nintendo Switch we should know about? Do let us know over on our socials here.