Image: Nintendo Life
Phew. What a month, hey? It’s time for eShop Selects, and it’s a doozy.
As we approach the holiday season, we’re practically drowning in games, with two of the biggest indies of the year hitting within weeks of each other. A Nintendo Direct ensured we’d be swimming in more titles for a while on both Switch 1 and 2. Who needs free time? Not us!
We have a lot to get through, so let’s run over the rules: Nintendo Life writers and contributors vote for their top three eShop exclusives for the month (note that some of these may get physical releases in the future) from a list of games that we’ve reviewed. We then score those games, with 1s getting the most and 3 the least, tally up the numbers, which then determines the final top three.
So, let’s get to September’s best eShop games then!
Honourable mentions
Now, there are two very big elephants in the room — and yes, you’re probably wondering which one made number one. Note that a few games here are getting physicals later down the line, whether it be a late or limited release, but they’re eligible for the vote here as they’re not out yet.
But, for this month, there are some other lovely little gems that launched this month, around the same times as those behemoths. So, here they are — and for this month, all games that scored 7/10 and above were eligible.
Publisher: Limited Run Games / Developer: Ancient
Release Date: 18th Sep 2025 (USA) / 18th Sep 2025 (UK/EU)
Shmups are having a hell of a year, and Earthion — from Ancient Corporation, Yuzo Koshiro, And Makoto Wada — might be at the top of the pile.
Keeping the gameplay simple by giving you just two weapon types to control, which can both be upgraded, Earthion lets everything shine. Form the level design to the chaotic waves of enemies to the boss encounters, this is a decently-challenging, extremely fun shmup.
It finally came to Switch in September 2025, and we gave it an excellent 8/10.
Publisher: Supergiant Games / Developer: Supergiant Games
Release Date: 25th Sep 2025 (USA) / 25th Sep 2025 (UK/EU)
Okay, so we all predicted this month’s 1st and 2nd, right? Well, there was a single point separating these two games. There has to be a runner up, and this time, it’s Hades II.
Supergiant Games are complete wizards, and the team has managed to conjure up a superb sequel that builds upon the mechanical brilliance of the first Hades. Melinoë’s fight against the Titan of Time is endlessly replayable, with new boons, new weapons, and a whole host of new characters and romance options. You’ll want to kill time all the… time with this one.
Hades II easily deserved its 9/10 score, just missing out because of its weaker story. In this humble writer’s mind, anyway.
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Publisher: Team Cherry / Developer: Team Cherry
Release Date: 4th Sep 2025 (USA) / 4th Sep 2025 (UK/EU)
Potentially a controversial number one, given the chatter about difficulty and size, but there’s no doubt that Hollow Knight: Silksong was well worth the wait in our eyes.
Going above and beyond expectations, Hornet’s adventure through Pharloom expands on Hollow Knight’s toolset exponentially. A bigger map, even more equipables, different playstyles, tough enemies with patterns to learn, and healthy challenges. It’s not going to be for everyone, but for those who can face up to the challenge, Silksong is marvellous. Play it at 120fps if you can on Switch 2; it’s silky smooth.
It got a 10/10 from us, and it’s our eShop Selects winner of September 2025.
Do you agree with our ranking? Tell us about your favourite eShop releases of last month by voting in our poll and sharing your thoughts in the comments.
What’s your favourite Switch / Switch 2 eShop game from our September 2025 picks? (394 votes)
- Adventure of Samsara (Switch eShop)1%
- Dead Reset (Switch eShop) 0.5%
- Earthion (Switch eShop)5%
- Gloomy Eyes (Switch eShop)2%
- Hades II – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2)37%
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2)52%
- Strange Antiquities (Switch eShop)3%
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
Up Next: August 2025
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Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate.