The holiday season is here again and I’m sure that you’ve noticed that people have started talking about their favorite holiday films. This time of year, people can’t wait to start viewing flicks like "It’s A Wonderful Life" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." As an avid video game enthusiast though, I’m always a little disappointed that no one compiles a list of the best games for the holiday season.
To be fair, there’s nothing about the Call of Duty franchise that screams, “peace on Earth and goodwill towards others."
So, to remedy this, I’ve put together a short list of three video games that encapsulate the holiday spirit.
1. "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" (Nintendo 3DS)
Full discretion, "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" isn’t the most demanding video game out there. It literally consists of interacting with your anthropomorphic animal neighbors and doing menial tasks.
My garden shall be the garden to surpass all other gardens!
Despite that, there are two things that make "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" stand out as a superb Christmas game. The first is the actual inclusion of holiday elements. Every year in December, your in-town game breaks out the Christmas decorations.
Given that one of your neighbors is a reindeer, perhaps we shouldn’t talk about Santa’s sleigh.
The second factor is the game’s mechanics. "New Leaf" is all about interactions with your neighbors and fostering friendships. The friendly and gentle nature of the game meshes well with the Christmas mentality. In a game about becoming friends with your neighbors the holiday season just comes second nature.
2. "Kingdom Hearts II" (Originally on the Playstation 2)
Although the game as a whole is not terribly festive, there’s a portion of the game that’s based on Tim Burton’s "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The area is adorned with holiday imagery, ranging from candy canes to holly wreaths.
Because nothing says Christmas like a skeleton-man in a Santa suit.
I wouldn’t mention "Kingdom Hearts II" if its connections to Christmas were purely aesthetic, though. Like "Animal Crossing: New Leaf," there’s a certain paradigmatic connection to the holiday. Near the end of the second game a visit to Christmas Town reveals that a strange monstrosity has stolen a number of Christmas gifts. The monster in question stole the gifts in the pursuit of becoming "whole," mistaking the material presents as emotional fulfillment.
Dickens and Marx: The Video Game
In a surprisingly tragic moment the monster reveals to us both the telos of Christmas (the joyous and selfless celebration of the season) and the fallacy that befalls so many people (the materialist rush of modern Christmas celebrations). For a video game that involves "Final Fantasy" characters fighting iconic "Disney" characters, the game makes surprisingly incisive commentary on Christmas and how we celebrate it.
3. "Undertale" (PC/Mac)
There’s something decidedly Christmas-y about Toby Fox’s "Undertale," and it’s difficult to put one's finger on. There are certainly more festive portions of the game, but I personally believe that the Christmas-like atmosphere reaches deeper than the visual aesthetics.
Having said that, this is literally a Christmas Tree.
No, I think that it’s "Undertale’s" emphasis on loving and accepting others that really drives home the holiday spirit. The game constantly reminds you that fighting in-game enemies is not an appropriate answer and its firm belief in the goodness of others really matches the ideological vibe of the holidays.
It's the friendly RPG where no one has to die and you should probably invite them caroling too.
I suppose that there are other games that I could mention as well ("Batman: Arkham Origins" takes place at Christmas, "Lost Planet" is particularly snowy, etc.), but these three games go beyond merely being set during the holidays. They encapsulate what the holidays represent. So, if you’re tired of watching "White Christmas" over and over, why not give one of these games a shot?
