Christmas is done and dusted. The shredded remnants of savaged wrapping paper litter the streets, the scent of fouled eggnog lingers in our nostrils, and the echoes of combatively problematic holiday dinner table discourse haunt the halls of nearly-estranged relatives. But we, dear reader, have endured the holiday helter-skelter and emerged from it clutching our hard-won bits and baubles — among said baubles could potentially be a few of the fabled “video games” folk enjoyed before the Christmasing befell us.
Skating right past any potential debate concerning whether a digital copy can be considered a “bit” or “bauble” in the conventional sense, let’s get to the point. Did the DualShockers editorial team get a bunch of new games in their holiday hauls? Will we be ringing in the New Year with the latest indie sensations? Perhaps some of us have come around to strolling through Ragnarok’s winter wonderland alongside Kratos? Or maybe, just maybe, one of us (Chris, probably) is relegated to banging two lumps of coal together due to bad behavior. Regardless, let’s see what the DualShockers crew’s final gaming experiences for 2022 will come to. What’s yours going to be?
Damien Lykins – Managing Editor
Having recently taken residence in a new apartment, most of my holiday gifts tended toward the necessarily practical, and I’m thankful for it. But not having a lot of shiny new games hitting my egregious backlog means I get to revisit some of those well-celebrated must-plays that I never quite got around to. This weekend, at my partner’s insistence, I’m continuing a journey through the Sevastopol’s sparsely lit halls in Alien: Isolation — her glee at my myriad and grisly deaths is likely to be immeasurable.
But hey, nothing like getting repeatedly murdered by the perfect organism to ring in 2023! And to make sure I’m really setting a mood, I’ll likely be headed back to finish a half-done playthrough of The Callisto Protocol somewhere in between. Really hope I’m not taking any vacations into space this year.
Jeff Brooks – Evergreen Editor
This weekend, I’ll be playing the final bits of this year’s Dawning event in Destiny 2, which ends next week. It’s a Winter/Christmas event they roll out every year with unique challenges to complete and rewards to earn. I keep meaning to play some new games, but the new Season of the Seraph and Dawning event have managed to draw me back into Destiny 2 pretty deeply.
I usually only dabble in events like these when they roll around, but I just have one challenge left to complete this time around, so I’m going to finish it this weekend. Otherwise, I expect to continue playing quite a bit of Marvel Snap in between other responsibilities.
Me? I got stomach flu for Christmas. I’m over the hump now (thanks for asking) and I’m ready to get back to physical peak over the weekend with Switch Sports on the Nintendo Switch. Santa delivered a whole bunch of Nintendo games to the kid on Christmas, and it’s my duty to sit through every single one of them on command until the school calendar resumes.
Between you and me, I’m looking forward to the 8am – 2:15pm quiet time, so I can reclaim the television as my own. Until then, it’s Switch Sports, Mario Kart 8, and whatever else my boy decides.
Elijah Beahm – Features Editor
My holiday break was an experience, but I did carve out enough time to start Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s campaign, which is… well, I’ll definitely have thoughts to share. Certainly makes me curious how things will go when I catch up to Modern Warfare II (2022).
When not fighting through Gritty Military Boom Boom, I keep bouncing back to Saints Row (at this point close to completing the post-campaign content), which I should finally have wrapped up this weekend. Otherwise, I’m leaving it fairly open to what feels most appealing to try out.
Kyle Knight – News Editor
Christmas is over, so you’re probably expecting many of the DualShockers editors to be playing all of the shiny new games they got from Santa, right? Well, count me out of that one, I’ve got a newfound love for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, a game I’d already given 8 hours of my time when it first came out and decided it wasn’t for me.
Over the holiday period, I found myself scrolling through my PlayStation 5 catalogue of games, before falling on Valhalla. I thought I’d give it another go since I hadn’t played in over a year, and I am HOOKED. Assuming I’m not too hungover from the New Year antics this weekend, you’ll catch me conquering England with Eivor and his buddies.
Shivam Gulati – Evergreen Editor
The next-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is here, so after exploring the massive open world of Elden Ring for several weeks, it’s time for me to once again witness the beauty of Skellige. Simply riding Roach across the forest and taking in the beauty of the game while listening to its captivating music is an outstanding experience.
I remember playing The Witcher 3 on my PC when it first came out; however, at the time, I only focused on the main story and skipped several side quests (a big mistake!). But now I’m going to take my time with Witcher 3 and see every corner of its exquisite map. That being said, I’ll still try to 100% this masterpiece before the release of Hogwarts Legacy — a game I am really looking forward to playing.
Jack Coleman – Lead News Editor
I’ll be winding down the year by continuing my playthrough of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. I’ve been enjoying it so far despite dealing with the pitfalls of ’90s video game design philosophy. Having my entire level one party wiped out by a tenacious high-rolling assassin who confronted me at an inn is an adjustment, but I’ve been steadily improving. This isn’t a game where you can be lax with your party set up in the early game, you have to be dialed in throughout to succeed.
Other than that, I began my first-ever playthrough of It Takes Two with my girlfriend, and we’ve been having a blast so far. We’re about sixty percent of the way through by my estimation and I can’t wait to continue.
