Every year I have a Christmas game. It’s not a tradition or a festive treat, it’s just that I usually have two weeks off and more free time than I know what to do with. So, I play a game that I’ve been meaning to get around to.
Invariably, by the time January rolls around and I’ve finished the aforementioned game, I regret not playing it sooner and putting it onmy Game of the Year list. In 2021 that game wasChicory, which probably would have cracked my top five. In 2022 it wasGuardians of the Galaxy, a year and a bit late, which would have made the ten in either year. In 2023 I just played moreBaldur’s Gate 3, but who didn’t?
My list this year is pretty stacked and I had plenty of nearlys that could have made the cut, but there’s a ton of games I didn’t get a chance to check out that I might try over the break. I’ve just got to pick which one.
Firstly, a reminder of the criteria:
Okay that last one is a lie, but I need good games from this year. Hit me.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The main problem here is size. Not only do I believe that two weeks is not enough time to do this enormous game justice, I need to finish Yakuza: Like A Dragon before I even start. I enjoyed what I played on my first foray into the series - a good 30 hours or so - but I got bogged down in a tedious grinding section and never picked it back up.Infinite Wealthlooks great, but I doubt I’ll get there.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
See above.Metaphorhas everything I want from a JRPG: great characters, a compelling premise, turn-based combat, and even Scouse voice actors. But I haven’t got 70 hours to pour into a game these days, so Metaphor will likely remain a miss. However, I reckon its stylised graphics will run better on my Steam Deck and it requires no preparatory gaming, so it’s marginally more likely to happen than Infinite Wealth.
Astro Bot
Astro Botlooks like a banger. I loved Astro’s Playroom and maintain that it was still the best game PlayStation had to offer on its current-gen consoleat the time I sold it(circa July 2022), so a fully-fledged follow-up would be so far up my street it’d be parked on my drive and ringing the doorbell.
Unfortunately, unless Father Christmas wraps up aPS5 Proand places it carefully under my TV cabinet on the 25th, I doubt I’ll be playing Astro Bot.
My wife and I ‘aren’t doing presents’ this year, so believing in mythical bearded reindeer-wranglers it is.
Lorelei And The Laser Eyes
This is a game I own, I desperately want to play, and keep putting off. There’s something incredibly daunting aboutLorelei and the Laser Eyes. Maybe it’s the laser eyes. Maybe it’s the fiendishly difficult puzzles. Maybe it’s Lorelei. Whatever it is, my Christmas game needs to be more comforting and relaxing than this. Something to switch off with after a couple of mulled wines, not something I’ll need to break out the calculator to solve.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
This was obvious really, wasn’t it?Indiana Jonesis the last big release of 2024. I expected it to be a cheesy, Uncharted-style romp through an artifact-grabbing, Nazi-ounching adventure, but the game is closer to Dishonored than Naughty Dog’s adventure fare, with great stealth options or the opportunity to utilise nearly any item in the world to batter your Nazis if they spot you.
Indy did make it ontomy Game of the Year listso it’s bucking the trend a little, but I think if I’d spent more time with it, it could have shot further up the rankings. With brilliant locations, epic quests, and this surprisingly deep gameplay to back it up, The Great Circle seems like the perfect game to keep me company in the cold Christmas evenings.
