Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Insomniac’s 2020 web-slinging extravaganza, has recently been ported to PC, bringing with it a festive holiday setting that’s perfectly timed for the Christmas season. The game bedecks the streets of New York in tinsel and lights, transforming the open-world metropolis first brought to life in 2018’s Spider-Man. Miles Morales is a great option for gamers looking to get into the holiday mood, but there are also some other great choices on the table.
Although it’s not entirely uncommon for games to reference Christmas or involve it in some aspect, a great Christmas game needs to be suffused with the spirit of the season. Like the Spider-Verse-influenced Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a Christmas game worthy of mention as a seasonal pick should remind the player that it takes place at the tail end of the year, not only mention it in passing. It’s also best when the visual landscape of the game reflects this aspect of the setting. Snow settling on the ground provides a welcome change from grass or city streets, and decorated Christmas trees give environments a comforting glow. Luckily for players looking to make the season merry and bright, more than one game completely delivers.
Why Spider-Man: Miles Morales Is A Great Christmas Game
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a wonderful choice for the Christmas season, but there’s still plenty to be said about why. Like 2018’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales doesn’t let the player use superpowers all the time, focusing on telling a personal story about its hero. The game unsurprisingly interacts with the holiday season in an intimate way, featuring a warm Christmas party scene that surrounds the hero with those closest to him. Of course, the busiest time of year isn’t that simple for the overburdened hero, and the narrative quickly swings in an interesting direction. Miles is forced to protect his home from new threats, but even as the situation that surrounds him grows more dangerous, the holiday spirit is never in short supply.
More than anything else, the setting of New York City in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales shines. New York City is a metropolis that gets into the swing of the holidays with a unique verve, and Insomniac brings that to life with an environment aglow for the season. For PS5 and PC gamers, there’s an added bonus— the high-fidelity ray-tracing options in Miles Morales can render all of this cheer with impressive realism, making the Christmas lights that adorn the city more lifelike than ever. As a graphical seasonal showcase, the technology behind Miles Morales makes the experience hard to beat.
Batman: Arkham Origins Brings The Holidays To Gotham
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales does a beautiful job blanketing the setting that it shares with its predecessor in a seasonal atmosphere, but it’s not the first superhero game to take this tack. Batman: Arkham Origins returned to the Gotham featured in Batman: Arkham City, revitalizing an environment that many players had already thoroughly explored with a thick coat of snow. Like Miles Morales swinging from building to building with the accompaniment of flurries, the Caped Crusader grapples and glides in the midst of a snowstorm. Arkham Origins pits Batman against iconic foes that are as demented as ever, but at least he gets to duke it out with them beneath oversize ornaments and glowing snowflakes.
The Arkham series has a tradition of placing Batman on an intense schedule, with the events of each title occurring on single nights throughout the Caped Crusader’s long career. In the case of Batman: Arkham Origins, this one night just so happens to be night before Christmas, placing the entirety of the game right within the peak of the season. In a way, this makes Arkham Origins the perfect game to launch up on Christmas Eve, although players might need a few more days or weeks if they want a chance to discover every villainous Easter egg scattered across Arkham and Gotham.
Yakuza 0 Can Make A Great Christmas Game
For players looking to escape to a different era, Yakuza 0 brings 1980s Japan to life in a dynamic fashion. The game takes place over the course of December 1988 and January 1989, taking a franchise usually set in the 21st century back in time to see the beginnings of some of its core characters. As the rare prequel that is truly integral to the story, Yakuza 0 makes a great series starting point for newcomers. Of course, this setting also means that the cities of Kamurocho and Sotenbori are appropriately set for Christmas, with pedestrians passing by decorated trees while bundled up against the cold.
Anyone new to Yakuza might be surprised that a game about organized crime could capture the Christmas spirit, but Yakuza takes on the challenge with gusto. Although the ridiculously strong Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and chaotic cabaret owner Goro Majima spend plenty of time beating thugs bloody, they help as many characters as they hurt. Yakuza 0 litters its cities with unique characters and side quests, many of which see the player giving someone a leg up or offering life advice that is surprisingly sage. Santa might be spreading cheer throughout these streets, but Kiryu and Majima give him a run for his money, even if they bruise some knuckles along the way. The two successive games Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 2, also take place around the season, as well as the later title Yakuza 5.
A Seasonal Showdown Of Angels and Demons In Bayonetta 2
Platinum Games’ recent release of Bayonetta 3 has put the gun-toting witch back in the limelight, but it’s Bayonetta 2 that fans should look to for holiday entertainment. It’s also the perfect choice for gamers who want to catch up on everything that happened before Bayonetta 3. The game opens with Bayonetta and company doing some extensive Christmas shopping until angels attack, disrupting the lighthearted holiday outing. The events that follow aren’t constantly decorated with Christmas cheer, but any lapse in spirit is easily made up for by the appearance of demon weapon smith Rodin in a thorough Santa costume. It also focuses more on family than its predecessor, a thematic element common to Christmas stories. Bayonetta 2 is an easy way to inject non-stop excitement into the holidays.
Whether Bayonetta’s acrobatics win out or Gotham’s dark allure proves irresistible, there are no bad choices for the holiday season among these contestants. Each of the mentioned games balances action and heart, keeping players entertained while injecting some much-needed Christmas spirit. The beautiful blizzards of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales might be the most exciting new option, especially for PC gamers who have spent the past couple of years patiently waiting, but that’s no reason to discount the tried and true fun that Batman: Arkham Origins, Yakuza 0, and Bayonetta 2 bring to the table. Whatever surprises this holiday season may bring, a festive gaming experience is already a given.
