Okay if I just draw a Queen then my Photograph Joker should trigger again with my Sock & Buskin Joker to get the quadruple mult… OH! Hello there. Have, uh, you tried playing Balatro, the best mobile game of the year (according to The Game Awards)? It’s great. I’m tempted to gift it to some of my friends this holiday season but I don’t want to be the reason they vanish for a few months.
Speaking of gifting, have you ever been gifted a game SO GOOD it was an actual canon event in your life? I know I have (bless Tony Hawk’s Underground 2). We’re catching up with Emi, Matt, and Cody, and welcoming our new friend Scott, to hear what they’ve been playing lately and what games they’ve received that may have altered their brain chemistry for the better!
You’re new here! Who are ya?!
Hey there! I’m Scott and I’m on the Discord Quests team.
What games have you been playing the last month?
Because my long running 14 year obsession needed a friend, I recently introduced my husband to the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV which needless to say has entirely consumed our lives as he experiences the wonders that are Eorzea and the incredible plot for the first time.
Otherwise, I’ve been spending my December playing through Metaphor: ReFantazio as I’m a huge JRPG fan and love everything Atlus puts out. I’ve also been actively hiding my credit card from myself so that I don’t spend an absurd amount of money on all the incredible cosmetics in Marvel Rivals. Shocked it took this long for Marvel to come out with a large-scale multiplayer game like this given how successful the MCU has been over the last decade.
What’s the best game you’ve ever been gifted?
Without a doubt the best games (going to talk about two here) that I’ve ever been gifted had to be NieR: Automata and Persona 5, which my best friend got me back in 2018 for my birthday.
Both games instantly hit my top 5 games list of all time and have managed to retain their position on that list. Persona 5 is what helped to reignite my love for JRPGs and reminded me how much I loved playing them growing up and what sent me down a path of playing essentially every Atlus JRPG that has come out (Soul Hackers and SMT V are on my to be played list). Nier, while the story and lore is fairly convoluted, has been a game that has stuck with me ever since I beat it. The gameplay is fantastic and the story is gut wrenching, tragic, and just emotionally resonant.
What games have you been playing the last month?
I’d say it’s the season to be cozy, but honestly I’m probably always down for cozy games.
Lately I’ve been back to playing Kallax but also have added WEBFISHING and Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams to the roster to play with friends. Outside of grinding away at Yakuza Kiwami, most of my games have been a bit more “background” to chatting and catching up with friends. We’ve just been catching fish and solving puzzles for the most part!
We played Jackbox Party Pack 3 with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday, and then more recently we had a marathon Jackbox Party Pack 6 night for a friend’s birthday. A lot of my friends live in different states nowadays, but we can always hop in voice for a party. Singing “Happy Birthday” doesn’t go so well though, in case you ever want to try that.
What’s the best game you’ve ever been gifted?
We have to go pretty far back into time for this one, but I have to say Pokémon Blue. When I was pretty young, my brothers and I were given one version of the game each to go along with our Game Boys.
That game means a lot to me, and if I start to sound really sentimental, that’s because I am! We would grab our games and link cords and sit outside all day in our tent battling and trading Pokémon. While I don’t miss the link cords, I am really grateful for that time. Not just because it was at the very beginning of my game-playing adventure, but also because it was the beginning of a lot of shared game time with family. We still play!
What games have you been playing the last month?
Would you believe it… Fortnite Festival… and Marvel SNA- actually, not that one anymore! I fell off the daily Marvel SNAP grind, and now I’m on the daily Pokémon TCG Pocket grind. It’s nice to be able to check in and open a pack quickly without having to sit down and win a match. But, when it’s time to actually try and win, Marowak EX carries me to victory.
I’ve also been playing the recently-released Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, along with the rest of the Ace Attorney series. The insanely wacky stories and characters in the first two Apollo Justice games have been giving me strong reactions all over the place, from absolute laughter, to shock at an unexpected plot twist, to screaming “WHAT IS THAT???” when a character gets introduced (please STOP smiling, Aristotle Means).
I’m planning to get through the rest of the series, including The Great Ace Attorney and Ace Attorney: Miles Edgeworth Investigations. Almost five games done… five more to go?
What’s the best game you’ve ever been gifted?
Alright, I’ve actually got two answers for this one, as they’ve both had a huge impact on my life.
In the early 2000s, my Grandpa knew that I was into video games and wanted to get me something as a surprise but didn’t know what to get without asking me. He eventually decided on a game that had a giant “Game of the Year” sticker on it, and that was Halo: Combat Evolved.
Since then, Halo has made such a huge impact on my life, from just enjoying the series itself, to meeting internet friends IRL, to that same group of friends all getting jobs in the gaming industry… that I don’t think I’d be here writing this if it weren’t for that one surprise gift. Thanks, Grandpa! 💖
My Mom also did something similar: looking for a gift for me for the holiday season but didn’t want to directly ask. Somehow, she came home with a copy of Rock Band. And to this day, I’m still playing my 1200+ song library I’ve built up since 2007, tinkering and modding with guitar controllers, and now playing Fortnite Festival (also made by the Rock Band team) on a daily basis. It’s the way I discover new music and an outlet to either relax to some tunes or go score-chasing to get competitive.
Both of these franchises are important to me to this day and were both given as gifts. I would’ve never tried them otherwise, so go on and give that one game you’ve been peeking at a try, even if it’s something you aren’t sure you’d click with or just have a passing interest in — you never know how much you’ll love it.
What games have you been playing the last month?
Coming back from some lengthy time off, I had the opportunity to revisit my backlog and add a couple new games to the pile. Rather than list everything, I’ll keep it to the top five games I’ve been enjoying the most:
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PC has been such a pleasant surprise that was not on my 2024 bingo card. Every time I play, I am in awe of Troy Baker’s Harrison Ford voice and how Machine Games nailed this character overall, let alone in a first person environment. I’m barely halfway and I already hope we get a sequel and maybe Troy can take his Harrison Ford to other franchises?
Sulfur launched in Early Access in late October and was another awesome surprise that came out of nowhere for me. Developed by a four person team, the best way I can describe it is the color palette of What the Golf meets the gameplay of extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov, with singleplayer roguelite progression throughout awesome dungeon settings. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to see how their early access evolves (they also have a fantastic Discord server).
The Rogue Prince of Persia found its way back on my Steam deck thanks to their recent Act 2 update. I’ll be honest, when it launched following the Triple-i Initiative, it fell a little flat for me. Twin Motion definitely took a lot of feedback to heart because the art style, new enemies, and updates to movement feel great.
Animal Well I’m sure needs no introduction. This Metroidvania style game is fantastic on both PC and Steam Deck. I could not believe this was a solo development job. There’s so many little details that add to the mystery and wonder of this game. I don’t think it should take you more than 12-15 hours to finish. Highly recommended if you enjoy games of this genre.
Inscryption on PC. Yes, I’m very late to the party and this has stalled me from even touching Balatro. I feel like playing this weird game without knowing exactly what you’re getting into is part of the experience. All I’ll say is it’s a card battling rogue like that is challenging, fun, and… to repeat myself.. weird as well. I find myself wishing there was a board game version.
What’s the best game you’ve ever been gifted?
Oooph, I am the worst person to shop for because I’ll likely buy it before you can get it for me. So, I’m going to slightly alter the question and pick the best worst game I’ve ever been gifted and that game is called AwesomePossum... Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt for the Sega Genesis. I was relatively in the know on games at an early age and this was clearly an off brand attempt at a Sonic the Hedgehog that my friend likely found this game at the bottom of a $1 bin at a Walmart for my birthday. But I dismissed that instinct when my friend hyped it up saying it was the next big game (he had no idea what it was) and I had played for hours waiting for the part where that became true. Shout out to Craig for this wonderful memory.
The wholesomeness in the chat, wow. Sometimes we really don’t know how a blue little cartridge or guitar-shaped game controller can truly change our lives for the better. I guess all I’ll say now is if you’re on the brink of gifting someone that really great game you love… do it.
*hands Balatro over to my best friend and waves goodbye*
Have you ever been gifted a game so good you still think about it? Let us know over on our X account and we can share our stories around the virtual cozy fireplace!
