My Nintendo Switch Year 2024

Nintendo is offering your year-in-review statistics once again, but it's actually not as interesting as last year, because unlike in 2023 there is no way of seeing the play times of all the games that you've played during the year, only the top 3. And my top 3 doesn't really contain anything new from this year.

I've been still very busy with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the first half of 2024. But this already feels like forever ago, because we got a new Zelda game with Echoes of Wisdom in the meantime... It feels like I'm looking back at the wrong year. Though, I've spent only half as much time on the Nintendo Switch than in 2023, because it has been quite the busy year for me otherwise.

Luckily, you can also see how much you've played your games overall via your profile, even though it's rounded down to the nearest multiple of five, which you can use for new games in the statistic. So, I can compile a list that's a bit more comprehensive, with some links to the corresponding topics on this blog:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (192 hours)
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (98 hours)
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (57 hours)
   
4. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (55+ hours)
5. Game Boy Advance (40+ hours)
6. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (25+ hours)

Sadly, Echoes of Wisdom came in a close fourth – it would have been well deserved for the game to make it into my year's top 3. I don't even recall playing that much Smash Bros., though the new Spirits in the beginning of 2024 were an incentive to boot the game from time to time. And this ranking might change, because I was thinking about replaying Echoes of Wisdom in Hero Mode over the holidays. But Decembers don't exist in these yearly statistic by Nintendo.

My most active months, at least concerning the Nintendo Switch, were January and February. This is where I was finishing all side quests in Tears of the Kingdom, as well as searching for all those Hinox and Taluses for the medals and all of Addison's spots. And this took quite a while... I was left with completing the compendium, finding all Koroks, and discovering all recipes, which I did in April and May after a much-needed break in March.

Right after I had finally finished Tears of the Kingdom came two new Zelda highlights: the announcement of Echoes of Wisdom, already to be released in September, and the addition of Four Swords on the Game Boy Advance service. The latter let me finally experience the game in a four-player-set-up around June and July, but it also motivated me to replay both A Link to the Past and The Minish Cap on the same service.

The Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition then came after, in late July, which is a title I keep playing from time to time. I usually participate in the weekly championships, trying to score an S-rank in all of them, but I don't overdo it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is another title that I keep playing, but this has died down from a daily to a weekly basis. During the year I finished collecting all insect and fish models, where now there is little left to achieve for me, other than filling out the Nook Shopping catalog, which is an insane task anyway and not worth the effort. But this will certainly stay on top as the most played game on my system, where it has been this virtual happy place for quite some time.

Anyway, there was a break in both August and November, where I had some other personal things going on. And between these two months my focus was on the new Zelda game, Echoes of Wisdom, of course. It came out just at the right time.

This is all just for the Nintendo Switch, where otherwise I'm also gaming on the PC quite a bit. In March I was going back to Unreal Tournament 3  and currently I'm enjoying the original Unreal Tournament once more, where I have returned to a personal project from five years ago, the console map pack.

Also in March I've got into Lonely Mountains: Downhill, which is another title that I keep playing from time to time, with 64 hours by now, according to Steam. So, if I had played this on the Nintendo Switch instead, it would have been in the top 3 before Smash Bros. Ultimate and Echoes of Wisdom. It's very enjoyable if you're looking for something simple to play in-between. And I will continue playing this in 2025, for sure.

Last but not least, after my GBA nostalgia trip during the summer I checked out TUNIC for the first time, with 37 hours on Steam. If you like classic Zelda games, then this is also something that I can highly recommend.