We still find it kind of mind-blowing that Skyrim really does work on Nintendo Switch. Yes yes it's an old game now, but this is still an extraordinarily vast and complex RPG, the sort of game that we never imagined we would be able to play on a bus or train without hauling out a massive laptop. Instead, we can now climb the Throat of the World while we're waiting to collect a prescription, or join the Dark Brotherhood while picking the kids up from school. Color us boggled.
And as we wander the northern reaches of Tamriel, it also gives us another thought: if Skyrim works on Nintendo Switch, what other treasures of the last generation of consoles would make a good transition? We've chosen to limit our choices to third-party games - the sorts of things we'd never expect to play on a Nintendo system, let alone a portable - and the funny thing is, it feels like any of them could be possible in this strange new world the Switch has created. Enjoy the ride and cross your fingers.
Dark Souls
Before we even made it to Riverwood for the first time in Skyrim, our thoughts immediately turned to From Software's own epic role-player. If Skyrim works on Switch, why not Dark Souls? The controls would map perfectly and the tech would hopefully be up to the task. Dark Souls is another game that we would happily spend a silly amount of money to play on the go. The idea of creeping tentatively through Sen's Fortress or dancing around Ornstein and Smough's coordinated attacks while traveling is a pretty captivating prospect. The online aspects of the game - notably invasions and human player summons - may struggle to make the transition, which would be a shame, but the game would still be incredible without them.
Fallout 3
Now Bethesda has a taste for the Switch, why not port that other great PS3 and Xbox 360 role-playing game, Fallout 3? Obviously this particular Wasteland adventure has been superseded by its luscious current-gen sequel, but Fallout 3 has the same sort of timeless quality as Skyrim, and the underlying tech clearly works on Nintendo's handheld. We would love another excuse to crack open Vault 101 and make questionable ethical decisions about nukes, mutants and the fate of humanity, and imagine we're not alone in that.
Far Cry 3
We're a few installments further on this Ubisoft open-world action game now, but Far Cry 3 remains one of the best realizations of the series' core concept. The story is complete guff, of course, and frankly pretty deeply problematic, but it's not too difficult to ignore that and simply play this as a great stealth action superhero toybox, sneaking up on enemy camps and using your growing range of powers - as well as the game's lovely combination of emergent gameplay systems - to overcome your prey. If not Far Cry 3, then Just Cause 2 is another game in this entertaining backwater of the open-world genre that might work just as well.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Now this one should be a doddle, because Firaxis has already ported it to iPads, proving that its turn-based strategy classic lives happily in portable formats. In fact, the touch-screen interface could be a good thing to bring across from there. Either way, XCOM is the ideal game for mobile gamers - a game where the action is compartmentalized into neat chunks that would fit comfortably into the small breaks in your day that the Nintendo Switch is purposebuilt to occupy. While we're on the subject of Firaxis, that Civilization Revolution console game might also be a good fit.
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - with MGS4!
You can already play most of the Metal Gear Solid series on the go in the PlayStation Vita version of the MGS HD Collection, but the Nintendo Switch offers that much more screen space and has better controllers. What's more, it should be capable of handling Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which ran on PS3. Whether or not Sony has some sort of binding exclusivity arrangement about that game, we have no idea - it hasn't appeared on any other formats to this day - but if not, then it would be a lovely cherry on top of an already remarkable package.
The Mass Effect Trilogy
EA got its fingers burned when it ported Mass Effect 3 to the Wii U, but if it wants to try and increase the meager return it got on that investment, it could do worse than to simply port the Wii U version to Switch in the way Nintendo did with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And while they're at it, why not throw in the other two Mass Effect games? Nintendo Switch owners would surely struggle to resist the lure of this fantastic series, by which of course we mean we would struggle to resist it. Come on EA, it'll take your mind off Battlefront...
Grand Theft Auto IV or V
This probably feels a bit unlikely, but why not? Rockstar has already demonstrated an interest in Switch by porting over LA Noire, and if that game ends up in enough Christmas stockings then we can imagine the temptation to bring GTA to Switch might start growing. Again, the online modes would probably need to disappear, but the single-player adventures of either GTA IV or V would be a great fit for this format. Rockstar has brought GTA to Nintendo before, notably with the excellent DS game Chinatown Wars, so there's all sorts of precedents for this. And in the absence of any new single-player content for GTA V, we certainly wouldn't mind an excuse to revisit these games in their original forms.
Red Dead Redemption
Finally, let's really go for broke. Apart from the enjoyable Undead Nightmare expansion, Rockstar never returned to Red Dead Redemption to deliver the usual PC port or any other series extensions, but it's not too late. The long-awaited Red Dead Redemption II may be only a few months away, probably destined to be a Game of the Year candidate for 2018, but Nintendo Switch owners will miss out on that, whereas a quick port of the PS3 and Xbox 360 originals to Nintendo's new format would be very welcome. It was, after all, a fine animal.