Photo courtesy of Igor Karimov, Unsplash.
The holiday season is a perfect time for anybody who enjoys video games. Not only are all the new and old video games typically on sale, but we also finally have time to start clearing out our video game backlog during vacation.That is, until that same backlog keeps increasing as all our friends and family members just bombard us with the latest and most popular video game franchises, both physically and digitally.
If you are one of those family members trying to find the perfect video game suggestions for the gamer in your family, you have come to the right place.
Aside from the industry’s most popular franchises, like “Fortnite,” the newest installments of the “Call of Duty,” “Battlefield” and “Halo” franchises or the sports and racing games — all of which have new releases this year and would be a great gift for anyone who is a fan of these types of video games and franchises — this year has also offered a lot of variety for all kinds of different gamers that one might find within their family.
For fans of superheroes, the obvious choice would be the newest “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” video game. This is not the first time that this specific superhero team received a video game installment after the recent successes of the films containing the same characters, and while the gameplay is noticeably weaker than the games’ narrative and graphics, this is a must have for any fans of the property.
This is also a very recent release, as well as being available on all current consoles and PC, and it is a perfect choice for anybody who wants to make any comic book nerd and/or younger member of their family very happy.
“Deathloop,” another recent release, has become a critic’s darling and should make quite a wide array of gamers satisfied. If you know that your gamer is a fan of shooters, original and experimental video game mechanics, and/or is one of the five people in the United States that actually owns a PlayStation 5, this video game should be on top of your list.
If you know that the person you are buying the gifts for appreciates quality storytelling and narrative-driven single-player experiences, you should definitely look into purchasing “Psychonauts 2” (available for consoles of the previous generation), and “Kena: Bridge of Spirits” (available for the two latest “PlayStations” and PC), two graphically and mechanically original and mesmerizing video games.
For fans of platforming, this year has been incredible, with games like “It Takes Two” (available for every platform and exclusively a co-op experience), “Metroid Dread” (exclusively on Nintendo Switch) and “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart” (exclusively on PlayStation 5) releasing to critical acclaim and fantastic fan reception.
If your friend or family member is a fan of roguelikes and/or challenging shooters and, once again highly important, has a PlayStation 5, “Returnal” is a no-brainer.
And finally, for fans of horror, “Resident Evil Village” (available on all platforms) is another successful installment to the franchise, equally enjoyable for both long-time fans and newcomers to the long-running survival horror series.
All of the games just mentioned are currently on sale (except “Metroid Dread”, thank you, Nintendo) thanks to the upcoming holidays, and each one of them would be a perfect gift for someone who still does not feel safe travelling, but would like to visit some new and exciting (mostly fictional) places during the cold and dark winter days.
lmarjano@ramapo.edu
