Orbitals: Initial Review Scores for the New Switch 2 Co-op Hit Are In

New day, new Switch 2 exclusive: As of today, September 3, 2026, Orbitals from Japanese studio Shapefarm and publisher Kepler Interactive is available – and the initial review scores couldn't be better. If you're looking for a fresh co-op experience for your Switch 2 evening, you should definitely pay attention now.

What is Orbitals About?

Orbitals sends you on a mission as two space explorers, Maki and Omura, to save their crippled space station from a dangerous cosmic storm. The game plays as an asymmetrical two-player co-op puzzle adventure from a third-person perspective: sometimes you'll grapple across platforms with the “Scraphook” tool, sometimes you'll spray water with the Liquid Launcher, and other times you'll burn a path with the Beam Cannon. In between, there are daring hoverboard sections, rhythm sequences, and even space battles. Visually, the game clearly draws from classic 80s anime: hand-drawn-style cutscenes from Studio Massket, full Japanese and English voice acting, and an era-appropriate soundtrack create the atmosphere, while Unreal Engine 5 technology in the background pushes the Switch 2 hardware to its limits.

How Well is Orbitals Being Received by Critics?

The review embargo lifted today, and the critiques are looking very good: On Metacritic, Orbitals stands at 81 points, and on OpenCritic, it's even 83 – after 28 reviewed titles, this places the game among the top eleven percent of all games listed there. Nintendo Life's verdict is particularly strong, giving it a top score of 9 out of 10 points. Reviewer Nathan Ellingsworth particularly praises how cleverly the studio repeatedly reuses the manageable set of tools without the puzzles becoming stale – and how much fun working together with a second person truly is. Other publications like ScreenRant and Noisy Pixel also draw comparisons to major 80s anime classics and commend the consistent atmosphere.

Who is it Worth Buying For?

Important for anyone who doesn't yet have a co-op partner with their own Switch 2: Orbitals utilizes the console's GameShare feature. This means owners of the game can lend it to a friend for free to play together – either locally in split-screen or online. The Standard Edition in the Nintendo eShop costs $14.99 USD, with a Deluxe Edition also available offering additional content. From our perspective, this is a fair entry price for a genuine co-op-exclusive experience, successfully demonstrated recently by titles like It Takes Two or Split Fiction – just with a significantly more compact scope and an unmistakable Japanese touch. Especially for the still relatively young Switch 2 library, this is a strong argument to mark the title for your next couch co-op evening.

Source: Nintendo Life, OpenCritic

Have you already played Orbitals or is it on your wishlist? Let us know in the comments!