The Best Nintendo eShop Deals to Grab This Week

Like most other digital storefronts, the Nintendo eShop has plenty of great deals active right now thanks to the ongoing Gamescom showcase in Cologne, Germany. Aside from some of the publisher-specific sales that are either just starting or still running for the next few days, there are a slew of new titles available for Nintendo Switch (and Switch 2, thanks to its backward compatibility) that are either back down to a historic low or at new discounts that see them down to their lowest-ever prices. Out of the hundreds of games on sale over on the Nintendo eShop right now, these are the deals that we would most recommend grabbing while they’re still live.

• Release Date — January 21, 2020
• Developer — Psikyo
• Publisher — NIS America
• Genre — Scrolling Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 69% (Mixed or Average)
• Price — $13.99 (Normally $39.99, 65% off)

Legendary shmup developer Psikyo has several of the genre’s most-loved games in its library, and pretty much all of them are split between the two Psikyo Shooting Stars collections: Alpha and Bravo. Both collections are on sale over at the Nintendo eShop for their lowest-ever price of just $14 (down from the normal $40 MSRP), and we would recommend grabbing Alpha if you could only get one. Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha contains both Strikers 1945 and Strikers 1945 II (two of the best military-themed shooters ever), as well as the excellent Dragon Blaze, and these ports are far superior to the ones that City Connection had released previously.

• Release Date — June 30, 2020
• Developer — Nihon Falcom
• Publisher — NIS America
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $20.00 (Normally $59.99, 67% off)

The NIS America publisher sale that’s active over on the Nintendo eShop is delivering plenty of great deals on Nihon Falcom games, including several titles in The Legend of Heroes/Trails series. With the release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter fast-approaching, there’s never been a better time to dive into the series, and the games in the Cold Steel arc of the saga are down to their lowest-ever prices right now. We’d recommend picking up The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III to experience one of the best entries in the franchise and brush up on the goings-on in Zemuria.

• Release Date — May 29, 2020
• Developer — Firaxis Games, Virtuous
• Publisher — 2K
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics
• Review Aggregate Score — 77% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $7.49 (Normally $49.99, 85% off)

When it was initially released, the XCOM 2 Collection was a great novelty to have on the Nintendo Switch, even if it looked and ran terribly in comparison to its PC and other console counterparts. But thanks to the performance enhancements made possible by the Switch 2 hardware, XCOM 2 is now an essential for any tactics fan. On the Switch 2, XCOM 2 looks better and is able to maintain more consistent framerates, even in handheld mode, and that’s to say nothing of the fact that it already delivers some of the best turn-based tactics gameplay in the genre.

• Release Date — April 25, 2019
• Developer — LookAtMyGame
• Publisher — PQube
• Genre — Action RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $3.74 (Normally $14.99, 75% off)

Heavily inspired by the likes of games like Wonder Boy and NES classic Faxanadu, Aggelos is a delightful indie action-adventure/action RPG game with some slight Metroidvania tendencies and gorgeous visuals. It’s not overly long and remains incredibly fun throughout the whole experience, and it’s an absolute bargain at its current sale price of just under $4. For anyone who has a soft spot for retro fantasy games or a good, old-fashioned action RPG, pick up Aggelos and be pleasantly surprised.

• Release Date — April 4, 2023
• Developer — Vanillaware
• Publisher — NIS America
• Genre — Strategy, Tower Defense
• Review Aggregate Score — 78% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $19.99 (Normally $49.99, 60% off)

Another great title to grab during the NIS America publisher sale is Vanillaware’s GrimGrimoire OnceMore, a remaster of the beloved PS2 classic that helped put the developer on the map alongside its debut title, Odin Sphere. GrimGrimoire is an addictive blend of strategy and tower defense that also features some great dialogue and characters to prop up its excellent story, and its remaster on Nintendo Switch rarely ever goes on sale for this deep of a discount.

• Release Date — January 25, 2018
• Developer — Maddy Makes Games, Extremely OK Games
• Publisher — Maddy Makes Games
• Genre — Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Price — $4.99 (Normally $19.99, 75% off)

As far as influential indie games go, Maddy Makes Games’ Celeste is right up there with Super Meat Boy, Hollow Knight, and Hades as one of the most important, and it’s currently back down to its historical low of just $5 over on the Nintendo eShop. Celeste‘s platforming is positively sublime, and that it’s able to pack in some gorgeous visuals and a compelling, heartwarming story about identity and believing in yourself on top of its excellent gameplay is just the icing on the cake.

• Release Date — January 16, 2025
• Developer — Team Ladybug
• Publisher — Playism
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $13.99 (Normally $19.99, 30% off)

2025 has been host to several incredible new games in the Metroidvania genre, but two of the best were released back in January and are now on sale on the Nintendo eShop. The first is Team Ladybug’s Blade Chimera, which is a sort of spiritual successor to its previous Metroidvania, the excellent Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. While both titles take place in different settings and feature different stories, they share a lot in common when it comes to their very Igavania-inspired gameplay, making Blade Chimera an essential pick-up for anyone who counts Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and its ilk among their favorite Metroidvanias.

• Release Date — June 28, 2018
• Developer — Playdead
• Publisher — Playdead
• Genre — Puzzle-Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Price — $1.99 (Normally $19.99, 90% off)

Playdead’s INSIDE is the kind of game that you just have to play to really understand all that it brings to the table. You could say that INSIDE is a mysterious and horror-adjacent puzzle-platformer akin to Playdead’s previous game, Limbo, but that would only be scratching the surface of what the experience contains, with INSIDE having some of the most nailbitingly tense and atmospheric segments of any game. At just $2, there’s almost no reason not to pick up INSIDE. Unless, of course, you happen to already have it installed.

• Release Date — November 14, 2023
• Developer — Avalanche Software
• Publisher — WB Games
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $11.99 (Normally $59.99, 80% off)

Similar to XCOM 2 Collection on Switch, the Switch edition of Hogwarts Legacy arrived later than other versions and was arguably the worst-performing of the bunch. But thanks to the performance enhancements afforded by the Switch 2 version and the $10 premium upgrade, Hogwarts Legacy has quickly become an essential open-world adventure game, making its recent deal on the Nintendo eShop fortuitous. It’s currently down to an all-time low of just $11.99, meaning you can grab Hogwarts Legacy and the $10 Switch 2 upgrade for about as much as the game normally goes on sale for.

• Release Date — January 22, 2025
• Developer — Adglobe
• Publisher — Binary Haze Interactive
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Price — $16.24 (Normally $24.99, 35% off)

The other great Metroidvania to release in January that’s also on sale on the eShop is Ender Magnolia, sequel to the incredible Ender Lilies. While Ender Lilies may have Magnolia beat when it comes to pacing, atmosphere, and story, there’s no denying that Ender Magnolia is the better game and a must-play for fans of the Metroidvania genre. With the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong just around the corner, it’s a great time to pick up Ender Magnolia on sale and complete it before diving into Team Cherry’s long-awaited sequel.