With work and life normalizing the past six months, I haven’t had a lot of time to play video games. However, I am looking forward to getting back into gaming and escape to virtual worlds again this holiday season.
I recently bought Horizon Forbidden West (months late after its Feb. 2022 release) and am planning to get God of War: Ragnarök (released in Nov. 2022), which has been nominated for the Game of the Year Awards 2022 next.
The lockdown era (March 2020 to early 2022) really gave me more time to play video games, since I was mostly stuck at home. In case you’re lucky enough to finally get your hands on a PlayStation 5 this Christmas, or are looking for games to keep you occupied, here are some of the games that kept me busy the past three years.
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Stray
Stray is undoubtedly one of the best games released this 2022. This adventure game developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive, follows a stray cat who falls into a walled city populated by robots, machines, and mutant bacteria, and sets out to return to the surface with the help of a drone companion, B-12. How often do you get to play a cat in a dystopian world?
Stray is a pretty short game, with the main quest just lasting about 5 hours. However, you’ll likely spend closer to 10 hours to obtain 100% completion. The best part of the game is being able to wander the world as a cat, taking naps in special snooze spots, and knocking down items and scratching furniture. Check out my full review here.
Hades
Hades, which was released for the PS4 in August 2021, was a game that took me by surprise. In this rogue lite (originally released for MS, macOS and Nintendo Switch), players control Zagreus, the son of Hades, as he attempts to escape from the Underworld to reach Mount Olympus, at times aided by gifts bestowed on him from the other Olympians.
Each run challenges the player through a random series of boons you get in rooms populated with enemies and rewards. The game has a hack and slash combat system, and the player uses a combination of their main weapon attack, a special attack, a dash ability, and a magic ability to defeat enemies while avoiding damage to progress as far as possible. While Zagreus will often die, the player can use treasure gained from rooms to improve attributes and unlock new weapons and abilities to improve chances of escaping on subsequent runs.
Hades takes just about 22 hours to beat the first time (if you’re sticking to the main story). However, the credits don’t actually roll and you won’t see the “true ending” until you’ve beaten the game ten times. You can also unlock an epilogue that sees Persephone returning to the Underworld. Then, there are all the conversations with Olympians to unlock, weapons to max out and skills to upgrade, and various side quests which keeps this game’s replay value high. Expect to spend close to 100 hours to max the game, and it never truly ends so you can just go on playing this one whenever you want
Ghost of Tsushima-Director’s Cut
Ghost of Tsushima is an open world action-adventure game released in 2020 where the player controls Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. Playing as Jin, you can explore the amazingly detailed world on foot or horseback and fight enemies with Jin’s katana, use a bow for ranged attacks, and use stealth assassination tactics to become the legendary warrior known as “the Ghost.”
While the main goal of the game involves liberating the land, it also features a wide range of side quests and missions, including hunting down hidden temples, finding fox dens to unlock charms, resting in hot springs, composing haikus, sharpening your blade skills with bamboo strikes, and saving random peasants.
The Director’s Cut Edition, released in August 2021, features all additional content in the expanded Iki Island. While you could easily finish the base game of Ghost of Tsushima in about 25 Hours if you stick to just the main quests, you can stretch it out to 60+ hours if you’re aiming for 100% completion. The Iki Island expansion adds another 5 to 10 hours (and the ability to pet cats and save them in cat sanctuaries), which makes this game well worth your time.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
As someone who enjoyed playing the original pixelated Final Fantasy VII back in 1997, playing Final Fantasy VII Remake was like reconnecting with old friends. This action role-playing game published by Square Enix and released in April 2020 is set in the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar, where players control the mercenary Cloud Strife. As Cloud, you go on missions with eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to stop the mega-corporation Shira from sucking the planet’s magic life essence as an energy source.
Final Fantasy VII Remake takes roughly 35 to 40 hours to complete all the chapters. However, if you want to do all side quests like finding all of Don Corneo’s secret stashes and unlocking all the outfits for Cloud, Tifa and Aerith, you’ll probably spend closer to 60 to 80 hours.
The enhanced version, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, was released exclusively for the PlayStation 5 and Windows in 2021. A second game, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, is scheduled for late 2023 or early 2024 for PlayStation 5. Still hoping they’ll release the extra content for the PS4.
God of War
While God of War was released back in April 2018, I only got around to playing it during the prolonged lockdown. God of War is loosely inspired by Norse mythology, with the majority of the game set in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard.
The game centers on Kratos, the former Greek God of War and his young son, Atreus, who embark on a journey to fulfill the request of Atreus’ dead mother to spread her ashes at the highest peak of the nine realms. Along their journey, they come into conflict with monsters and gods of the Norse world.
It takes about 20-25 hours to finish just the main story in God of War. However, you could double the gameplay time if you choose to do the side quests and stop a lot to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of Kratos’ adventure. While I’ve finished the game, I have yet to go back and defeat all the Valkyries and explore some more, which I plan to do while waiting for the sequel Ragnarök to go on sale.
Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XV is another game released back in 2018 that I only managed to finish in 2021. The main storyline wasn’t really the best, but I got a lot of satisfaction from the road trip mechanics, the bro bonding, exploration, side quests, camping, fishing and photo quests. It felt more satisfying camping out and cooking meals and hunting down the 13 Royal Arms, rather than completing the main story objectives and tackling the final boss.
Just sticking to the main story, Final Fantasy XV takes about 28 to 30 hours to beat in the first playthrough. But I highly suggest you try and experience all aspects of the game, where you are likely to spend around 90 hours to obtain 100% completion before seeing how the game ends.
The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II is a 2020 action-adventure game set five years after the hit Naughty Dog game The Last of Us (2013). This time around, instead of playing mainly as Joel, the game focuses on two playable characters in a post-apocalyptic United States whose lives intertwine.
There’s Ellie, the teen from the first game and Abby, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict between her militia and a religious cult. In the game, the player must fight human enemies and cannibalistic zombie-like creatures using firearms, improvised weapons and stealth.
I did not enjoy playing this sequel as much as the original game, and I absolutely hated the second half. While it won Game of the Year for 2020, it was one of the most depressing games I ever played and pretty much encapsulated the early horrors of the pandemic. When focusing on the main objectives, The Last of Us Part II is about 24 hours long but can take about 42-50 hours if you’re aiming for the Platinum Trophy.
Free online games
In case you don’t have gaming consoles, you can still enjoy free web-based games you can play online on your desktop, laptops or smartphones. Remember how Wordle and its variants were all the rage throughout the pandemic?
In case you just need to take a quick break from work, you can also check out websites like Solitaire.org where you can play classic casual games without having to download any apps or deal with annoying in-game ads. The site offers a fun and simple gaming environment for adults where they can play hundreds of games directly in their web browsers.
I especially like the classic and nostalgic logic games and puzzles like Minesweeper, Sudoku, and Tetra Blocks.
Aside from Solitaire, the site also has other card games like BlackJack, Crazy Eights, Gin Rummy; word games like daily crosswords and letter scrambles; Match 3 games similar to Candy Crush; and time management and simulation video games where you run an airport, flower shop or farm. The site also has Hidden Object games where you test your skills looking for items for quick brainteasers.
While video games often get a bad rap, recent studies have shown that they can actually help people see better, learn more quickly, develop greater mental focus, become more spatially aware, estimate more accurately, and multitask more effectively. Some video games have even proven to make young people more empathetic, helpful and sharing.
Video games can also be a great stress reliever for those suffering from burnout. What are you planning to play this holiday season?