What will you be playing this Christmas?

just one more question… the team debate this month’s burning issue

IAN DEAN EDITOR JESS KINGHORN STAFF WRITER OSCAR TAYLOR-KENT GAMES EDITOR MIRIAM MCDONALD PRODUCTION EDITOR

I’LL BE SPENDING CHRISTMAS DOING MY OWN THING IN ANCIENT GREECE, LIKE A LEGEND.

A man in a red suit once told me I could “have whatever I wanted,” looking back, maybe he wasn’t Santa. He may have just been a KFC manager. The point is, and there is a point, this holiday season I’ll be gaming my way, which means charging around the ancient Greek islands of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey hunting down every Mercenary in the game. And with new DLC releasing there’ll be a whole lot more of those pesky Mercs to put to the sword and test my Tier 9 Kassandra. See red suit man, I can have whatever I want. And it doesn’t always have to involve a bucket and a chicken.

I’M GOING TO RELEARN THE VALUE OF FAMILY AS I RESOLUTELY IGNORE MINE.

While I am still playing Persona 5 a year after starting it (because, let’s be honest, you never really finish a JRPG), there are a few different titles on my festive playbill this time. Beyond lewd lines exchanged via a Jackbox Party Pack or getting my Mother re-acquainted with her virtual son in Final Fantasy IX, I’ll be trying to catch up on the Yakuza series’ family drama in the dim hope I’ll be up to date by the time the next remaster rolls around. When that plan inevitably falls through, I’ll play Until Dawn for the umpteenth time… the whole family can take it in turns trying not to die!

I WON’T REST UNTIL MY FAMILY APPRECIATES MY WELL CRAFTED RUDE JOKES.

As Santa descends my chimney (so to speak), he’s sure to find me sprawled vulnerably in bed catching up on my PS Vita backlog of shame – the spine-chilling Death Mark for one, but more importantly my otome queue: namely Collar X Malice, and finally getting all endings in Hakuoki. If he pops in a little later on the day itself, there’s one thing that will be ruling the roost in Casa Oscar between rounds of the fizziest soft drinks and baked snacks – Jackbox Party Packs 1-5. That’s a swathe of party games anyone can join in with… as long as they can all appreciate my rude jokes in Quiplash, that is.

I’M GOING TO BE THIS SPENDING CHRISTMAS WITH MY MAIN MAN.

That silver hair, that frosty beard… forget Santa, I’m going to be spending the festive season in the company of Geralt Of Rivia. I’ve buildt up quite a pile of shame under my PS4, but I’ve got hooked into The Witcher 3’s side-quests and I’ve simply got to play as many as possible. You can’t have turkey without pigs in blankets and sprouts, and you can’t play The Witcher 3 without also tackling bandits and all sorts of supernatural nasties. All of that’s taking me so long I’ll probably spend next Christmas with the White Wolf as well. It seems The Witcher 3 is the gift that just keeps on giving.