Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

The main reason Scarlet and Violet aren’t higher on this list is that, as of this writing, these games are still pretty busted. As the first fully open-world entry in the series, they are some of the most ambitious Pokémon games in terms of design (though, I’d argue the ambition felt a bit reckless in some of its open-world feeling more arbitrary and lacking clarity), and their endgame is easily a highlight of the entire franchise.

But man, they’re still buggy as hell, and central to conversations about the technical capabilities of the Switch, though other developers have made better-looking games sing on the hardware. The Switch 2 upgrade is a marked improvement that runs very well, though it doesn’t stop the games from looking like a GameCube tech demo. Scarlet and Violet have so much incredible stuff going for them, like their series-best storytelling, seamless co-op, and, the thrill of freely exploring an entire Pokémon region (even if it’s rough around the edges). Hopefully the reaction to these technical problems can be a wake-up call for whatever comes next.