As the Nintendo Switch 2 gears up for its June 5, 2025 launch, third-party publishers are stepping up to make their mark on the highly anticipated console. Among them, Marvelous stands out as the publisher to look out for, delivering a trio of compelling titles—Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, and Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion—that showcase their knack for leveling up fan-favorite franchises. With a commitment to physical releases and optimized performance on Nintendo’s new hardware, Marvelous is poised to shine in the Switch 2’s launch window.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – A Cozy Reimagining
Launching on August 27, 2025, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar brings the beloved farming and life sim franchise—formerly known as Harvest Moon in the West before a licensing battle ensued—to the Switch and Switch 2. While it shares its subtitle with the classic Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, this isn’t a remake, but a fresh entry inspired by its predecessor. The Grand Bazaar feature returns, letting players set up vibrant market stalls to sell crops, goods, and crafted items, adding a lively economic twist to the series’ signature cozy gameplay.
As a staple of Marvelous’ portfolio, Story of Seasons thrives on its charming blend of farming, relationship-building, and community life. Launching first on Nintendo’s consoles, Grand Bazaar promises to leverage the Nintendo Switch 2’s enhanced hardware for smoother performance and crisper visuals compared to earlier entries that struggled on the original Switch. For fans of relaxing, heartfelt sims like Stardew Valley, this title is a perfect way to kick off Marvelous’ Switch 2 offerings.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma – An Ambitious Evolution
If Story of Seasons leans too cozy for your tastes, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma may be the action-packed title for you. Guardians of Azuma builds on the Rune Factory formula—blending Story of Seasons’ farming and life sim roots with action RPG combat and a dash of Pokémon-style monster-taming. Where Rune Factory 5 stumbled with lackluster graphics and performance issues that rival Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Guardians of Azuma is a massive step forward, delivering a visually stunning, Breath of the Wild-like aesthetic with livelier world details inspired by Feudal Japan and evolved gameplay.
Combat is a highlight, offering a flashy mix of melee attacks, magical spells, and monsters you can capture to fight alongside you. These tamed companions don’t just aid in battle—they can assist with farming tasks, streamlining the daily grind. Taking more inspirations from Zelda, traversal mechanics now include a glider to seamlessly explore the wide-open areas of Azuma from above. Quality-of-life updates to farming—such as smoother crop management and tool usage—make the sim aspects more intuitive, letting players focus on the expanded RPG elements.
The game introduces two distinct playable characters, Kaguya and Subaru, moving beyond the series’ traditional male-or-female variants of the same protagonist. Each hero has their own unique story perspective. A new party system also lets you recruit up to four allies (separate from your monsters) to join in combat, adding combat depth while allowing you to build relationships with multiple characters at once. For fans of action RPGs, farming sims, or both, Guardians of Azuma is looking to be an excellent companion to Mario Kart World when it launches day-and-date with the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion – A Surprisingly Sleek Mech Overhaul
When Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion was revealed at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, it stunned fans of the 2019 original, myself included. The first Daemon X Machina had its flaws—clunky controls and a forgettable story—but its bold art style, intricate mech customization, character and world design, and awesome soundtrack left a lasting impression.
Titanic Scion, launching on September 5, 2025, reinvents the wheel, transforming the bulky Arsenals of the original game into streamlined, agile armored suits worn by characters. This shift delivers faster, smoother traversal and combat, making the sequel feel like a different beast while retaining the original’s core DNA. A recent combat overview trailer from Marvelous showcased Titanic Scion seemingly running on the Switch 2 at a buttery 60fps, with beautifully detailed models and environments that pop on the new hardware.
The slimmed-down Arsenals still support deep customization, offering six equippable weapon slots. You can pick between medium-range rifles, melee-focused swords, bazookas for crowd control, and many more. Melee combat, which previously felt like an afterthought, now feels impactful, with weighty strikes that look as viable as ranged options. A new damage system adds strategic depth: soft-skinned enemies like alien beasts take more damage from physical weapons, while hard-shelled foes like drones or rival Arsenals are vulnerable to lasers.
Unlike the original’s focus on Arsenal-on-Arsenal battles, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion shifts toward combating an alien threat, hinting at a change in the narrative focus as well. The refined gameplay, coupled with the Switch 2’s performance boost, looks like it could elevate Titanic Scion beyond its predecessor. 3-player online co-op will allow you to tackle the story and boss battles with friends, so you don’t have to fly solo. Each trailer pushes it higher on my must-play list, blending refined high-octane action with the customization and style that made the original a cult hit. For mech fans or anyone looking for fast and fluid combat, Titanic Scion is looking to be a top-of-the-line release this Fall.
Why Marvelous Stands Out
Beyond their stellar lineup, Marvelous distinguishes itself in two key ways. First, unlike major publishers like Sega, Capcom, and Bandai Namco, who have opted for Game Key Cards with their releases, all three Marvelous titles will be full physical cartridge releases. This means no mandatory downloads (barring minor Day 1 patches), saving storage space and ensuring long-term preservation for collectors—a boon in an era that is trending towards digital-only.
Second, Marvelous’ shine on the Nintendo Switch 2 where previous entries in these franchises suffered from choppy framerates and subpar visuals on the original Switch. The Switch 2’s upgraded hardware unlocks their full potential, delivering smooth performance and enhanced graphics while retaining the portability that Nintendo fans crave. While PC ports may offer higher fidelity and performance, the Nintendo Switch 2’s balance of performance and accessibility makes it the ideal platform for these titles.
Heading Towards A Marvelous Launch
Marvelous is carving out a bold niche in the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch window with a well spread lineup of games. Each title showcases the publisher’s ability to take it to the next level within their established franchises. It’s also great to see them capitalizing on the Switch 2’s power to deliver polished, visually stunning experiences.
Their commitment to physical releases and optimized performance sets them apart from the third-party pack, making Marvelous a publisher to watch as the Nintendo Switch 2 era begins. Whether you’re tending crops, battling monsters, or piloting Arsenals, Marvelous has something extraordinary in store for Nintendo fans this summer.
