Winter Games 2023 Switch Review – Maybe Wait for the Real Games

Winter Games 2023 is not an official title for either the Olympics or other famous winter sporting events. Instead, this is a fun sports title that brings some lesser-than winter sports to the table for up to 4-players locally to enjoy on their Nintendo Switch.

But is Winter Games 2023 a solid substitute for an official title down the line? Or would it be wiser to wait and play something more professional later? Let’s find out!

Winter Games 2023 is a solid set of sports usually available during the Winter Olympics, and this one has the following: biathlon, curling, downhill, short track, skeleton, ski cross, ski jumping, snowboard cross, super-g, and 2-woman bobsleigh. That is 10 sports in total, and each of them provide their own unique experience and gameplay.

With that said, this review for Winter Games 2023 will be done a bit differently, as I will be taking into account all events and how they play. This could be a case where some sports may perform well and some poorly, but I will do my best to communicate clearly the pros and cons.

Before I get into that, though, Winter Games 2023 represents 53 nations from around the world, which is a decent number, especially considering many countries do not participate in winter games due to their own climate restrictions. It is awesome, though, to have this many options to choose from, but unfortunately, it does not get more customizable than that.

When it comes to the sports in Winter Games 2023, some are hits and some are misses, and honestly, those misses sours the entire experience. In addition to the fact that some sports do not play that well, the absence of certain winter sports, namely figure skating, ice hockey, and luge, hurts a bit more, especially when there are a significant amount of ski-related events in Winter Games 2023.

Speaking of the skiing events, as well as a few others, controls are quite limited to quick-time events, with the occasional movement required. It does feel a bit insulting in some ways to associate the lead ups, climbing, and certain hustle movements to rapidly pressing the A-button, but like I said, a lot of quick-time events. Thankfully, this isn’t the case for all the sports, but it is for the mass majority.

This is unfortunate for some sports, because they pale in comparison to others. Take for example the biathlon. This is a tough real-world event that requires lots of stamina, power, and focus. However, in Winter Games 2023, it is just an obnoxious combination of mashing A, quick-time and rhythmic button pressing, aiming and shooting, and then more mashing A and quick-time button pressing. The controls make this particular event feel like a drag when it should feel intense, which sucks. This sentiment can be said about a handful of events.

Thankfully, that’s not true across the board. Sports like Curling, Ski Jumping, and the Two-Women Bobsleigh, for example, are a lot less button mashing and a bit more active gameplay. Ski and Snowboard Cross, as well as Downhill, have similar vibes, which means about half the sports are quite entertaining and fun! It is even more exciting that Winter Games 2023 allows for up to four players to enjoy this locally, although an online option could have expanded the gameplay even more.

In one of the more baffling issues with Winter Games 2023, the graphics are not impressive at all. They honestly look like PS2 graphics, and the character models are just plain ugly. In the Switch version, there is a lot of screen tearing and visual hiccups that continually make the game look poor in presentation.

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The sound department is okay, though, as it does replicate the sounds and cheers of the sports represented. I especially enjoyed the sound of the snow being pressed and crunched in the events that it applies to, but I would have liked a little more variety in the commentary.

Winter Games 2023 comes in at a hefty price, which does make this a difficult sale. The dependency on quick-time events for controls is a bummer, as it truly does sour the experience for a lot of the sports, but thankfully some sports are still quite fun to play. The inclusion of local multiplayer also makes for a good time!

But at the end of the day, it is difficult for me to recommend this. For the requested price, I would expect significantly better graphics and performance, and I would expect some solid and fun controls to boot. Unfortunately, Winter Games 2023 is just mediocre in most of this, if not poor, so this may be one to keep an eye out for when it is one sale, which would make this an easier pill to swallow.

So no. Winter Games 2023 is not the best alternative to an official Winter Olympics title, so maybe wait and see what officially drops next year. Who knows? Mario and Sonic might continue their rivalry in the Winter Olympics, too, and that may ultimately be the best option.

Winter Games 2023 Switch Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Wild River Games
Developer: Independent Art Software
Release Date: October 13th, 2022
Price: $39.99, £35.99, €39,99
Game Size: 3 GB