Steam has kicked off its big 2022 Winter Sale, offering discounts on all kinds of games.
See below for a list of some of the deals. Note that some of these are part of the main Winter Sale, which runs from December 22nd to January 5th, while others may have slightly different durations.
It’s time for the holidays, and with that GameStop has shown off its Boxing Week flyer. The sale starts on December 25th and is available until December 31st, with products up to 75 percent off.
The first part of the deal mentions a free gift for the first 50 people in-store on December 26th. It doesn’t mention what the gift is, so hopefully, it’s not a GME stock.
You can grab an Xbox Series S for only $300.79 plus Biogenik Thumb Grips for your controller. Xbox controllers are available for $15 off, while PlayStation DualSense controllers are up to $25 off.
Select Nintendo titles are $25 off, which include Zelda Breath of the Wild, Zelda Skyward Sword, Mario Party Superstars, and Pokémon Snap. And starting December 18th, you can grab Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope for $49.99
Starting December 21st, save $40 on Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7. From December 22nd to January 5th, save $50 on NBA 2K23, and starting December 24th, you can save $30 on Gotham Knights.
Here are some more of the deals below:
Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Save $35
The Las of Us: Part 1 — Save $30
Ghost of Tsushima – Save $50
Ratchet & Clank — Save $50
Ghostwire Tokyo — Save $45
Code Vein — Save $20
Soulstice — Save $20
Steelrising — Save $15
Save up to $30 on 2K Titles like Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, WWE 2K22, The Quarry
Save up to $55 on Ubisoft Far Cry 6, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
PlayStation’s Holiday Sale is offering hit titles up to 75 percent off. You can get Game of the Year winner Elden Ring, NBA 2K23, Horizon Forbidden West, Gotham Knights, Sonic Frontiers and more at a discounted rate.
Xbox has announced that High on Life, the latest title from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland’s Squanch Games, has set three Xbox Game Pass records.
In a blog post, the gaming giant confirmed that the comedic sci-fi shooter, which hit Xbox consoles and PC on December 12th, is the biggest Game Pass launch of any third-party title to date, the biggest Game Pass release of 2022 and the biggest single-player launch in Game Pass history. Xbox says these stats are based on the number of hours played in the first five days of release.
Having any new IP hit a milestone like this is significant in and of itself, but High on Life‘s success is especially notable since the game was originally set to release on Google Stadia, as reported in June by Axios‘ Stephen Totillo. We’ve since learned that Google’s struggling game streaming platform is officially set to shutter next month, so Squanch Games certainly dodged a bullet with this one.
In High on Life, players assume the role of a teenage bounty hunter who must use living weapons to save Earth from an alien invasion. As a Roiland-produced project, the game also has a ton of Rick and Morty-esque humour, although that’s proven to be a bit divisive so far.
Xbox Game Pass costs $11.99/month or $16.99 for Game Pass Ultimate, which includes Game Pass for console and PC, EA Play, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
It’s crazy to think that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came out over seven years ago. At the time, I’d recently been laid off (RIP Future Shop) and jumped at the chance to lose myself in an expansive open-world. And boy, did it deliver, becoming one of my favourite games of all time.
Now, developer CD Projekt Red has given the last-gen RPG a fresh coat of paint on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via a free update to Wild Hunt‘s Complete Edition. It couldn’t have come at a better time, too — as one of many people who felt burned by the studio’s mishandling of its most recent game, Cyberpunk 2077, there’s a lovely comfort in revisiting something so beloved, especially with a bevy of current-gen enhancements and bug fixes.
And after nearly 200 hours across the main game and its Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions (which are all included in the Complete Edition), the update has me finding even more enjoyment with the whole experience.
If you’re unfamiliar, Wild Hunt follows Geralt of Rivia, a magically enhanced monster hunter known as a witcher, who must find his adopted Ciri before the spectral warriors called The Wild Hunt. It’s a magnificently well-written tale that takes Geralt across the fantastical world of the Continent and embroils him in all kinds of fascinating political intrigue. The exceptional writing extends to the game’s many sidequests, which feel as high-quality as the main story missions and, as a result, flesh out the world even more. This all remains true in 2022, but it’s the technical improvements that have me falling in love once again with CDPR’s magnum opus, making it easily worth the time sink.
Like a lot of current-gen games, you now have a few graphical options, ranging from a 60fps performance mode with dynamic 4K resolution scaling and a 4K/30fps option with ray-tracing. The latter setting offers admittedly impressive lighting and shadow effects, but the trade-off for the reduced framerate ultimately wasn’t worth it for me.
But the 60fps performance mode is an absolute delight, adding a wonderful new level of smoothness to traversal and combat. On top of these options, CDPR has cleaned up several other aspects of the presentation, including crisper and more detailed character models, reworked foliage, richer foliage, a new ‘Gray Sky’ weather type and higher crowd density. Some fan-made mods have also been brought over from the PC version for further enhancements. The end result is something that looks and feels like a modern game, especially when you factor in how dense and NPC-heavy the world can be.
But beyond that, it actually encouraged me to play a bit differently. Admittedly, I sometimes rush through areas to get to the next quest or cutscene, in part because the experience is grabbing me but also because I just want to get to the next game in my ever-growing backlog. With the new Wild Hunt update, though, I found myself going through the Continent more methodically, even after I’d taken the time to initially take note of what’s improved.
I wanted to live and breathe in this world and soak in all of its refreshingly distinct Slavic-inspired touchstones, from the musky, sweltering swamps and lush, colourful forestry to the lively, bustling medieval cities. It’s a testament to the quality of both the original world design and the presentational overhaul that I felt this added layer of immersion. (The new photo mode is the perfect way to capture all this beauty.)
Gameplay-wise, CDPR has also made some smart changes. On a base level, there are new control and camera options to tweak how Geralt feels while moving, a nice way to address some complaints of clunky handling in the original game. But the bigger, more profound change is the utility of magic, known here as ‘Signs.’ As a witcher, Geralt can cast five basic Signs: Aard (a telekinetic blast), Axii (a Jedi mind trick-esque confusion spell), Igni (projectile fire), Yrden (slows down the enemy) and Quen (a temporary protective shield). In the original version of Wild Hunt, you would have to pull open a radial wheel to toggle equipped Signs, which could definitely slow the pace of battles.
Fight for Ciri. Fight to protect the helpless. Fight for principles. Fight as you were taught in a manner worthy of a witcher from the School of the Wolf 🐺
With the update, you can enable ‘Quick Sign Casting,’ which allows you to assign a spell to your controller’s face buttons and bring them using L2. My muscle memory had gotten accustomed to the wheel, but once I got the hang of the streamlined control option, it was a genuine revelation. All told, it significantly adds to the rhythm of the core combat, which is admittedly not terribly deep from a mechanical standpoint.
The layers instead came from how you respond to the staggeringly high number of enemies you encounter, like reading up on a monster’s strengths and weaknesses and brewing the necessary potions to counter that. That’s all still there, of course, but now you’re also encouraged to more actively switch between your Signs, making the already balletic swordplay feel more dynamic and engaging. For example, Yrden’s circular area of effect makes it effective for crowd control, but sometimes you just want to switch to Igni which, when upgraded, can have Geralt shooting a stream of flame out of fingers and incinerate foes.
Another noteworthy addition is a new questline that, upon completion, unlocks a set of armour inspired by Henry Cavill’s Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher series. I could never get into the show, but it’s an undeniably cool way to add even more value to the update while paying homage to a popular part of The Witcher franchise. If nothing else, there’s a real novelty in hearing Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle reprise the role for some more charming and gravelly lines of dialogue.
In the end, I’ve really enjoyed my time with The Witcher 3‘s ‘next-gen’ update. From the litany of technical improvements to the small-but-meaningful gameplay additions, this really feels like a low-key remaster of an all-time great RPG. That CDPR is offering all of this for free is just brilliant, as it’s easy to see how other publishers would have sold this separately or even charged a small fee to upgrade. Whether you’re someone who’s never played The Witcher 3 or are an avid fan like I am, this update makes it absolutely worth your while to plan a trip to the Continent.
Microsoft has floated the idea of introducing a lower-cost, ad-supported membership for Xbox Game Pass.
In a new survey sent to some Spanish Xbox players, per Windows Central, the tech giant looked to gauge interest in a number of hypothetical less expensive Game Pass subscriptions.
One of the proposed memberships would be to pay a lower fee to get first-party Xbox games as much as six months later, a significant change from Game Pass’ current promise of day-one exclusives. An even cheaper tier could also introduce ads into the service, which would presumably play when a game is launched.
Interestingly, Windows Central notes that Microsoft recently patented a method to show personalized ads in games, which is curious timing considering the new survey.
Given how Game Pass already draws inspiration from the on-demand nature of these streaming services, it’s easy to see how Microsoft might also be looking at how they’ve been handling ads. Of course, it’s important to stress that surveys and patents are not the same as an actual confirmation, so it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will go down this route.
The full list of gaming accessories deals can be found here.
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When I was 10, my best friend got a new game for the GBA: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He hadn’t actually played the original Kingdom Hearts on the PS2; instead, he picked up this handheld sequel because his brother’s friend had erroneously told them it featured Inuyasha, the main character of his favourite anime.
I wonder if that kid thought that Riku, Kingdom Hearts’ silver-haired hero, was Inuyasha.
No, I’m not kidding — I guess kids really do say the darndest things.
Thankfully, we ended up falling in love with Chain of Memories, and one character quickly caught our eye: Cloud. His perfectly coiffed hair, badass bandaged sword, enigmatic black wing and face-covering scarf… he was the epitome of cool (everything I most certainly wasn’t). Imagine our surprise, then, when we found out he actually had his own game, Final Fantasy VII! My friend’s mum quickly bought it for him, and he devoured it. I didn’t get to see him too often since he lived far away, so I was anxious to hang out again and hear what he thought in person.
Eventually, he loaned the game to me, gushing praise, and my mind was blown as soon as booted up my PS1 and I began the thrilling opening bombing mission. I’d never experienced anything like it, and it would eventually, quite literally, change my life. But another reason that I love FFVII is that it introduced me to the broader Final Fantasy series, which has since become my all-time favourite in gaming. So today, December 18th — exactly 35 years after the original Final Fantasy debuted on the Famicom (NES) in Japan — I want to celebrate that. Here’s to the legendary RPG series from the little Square team, led by the big-dreaming Hironobu Sakaguchi, that dared to shake up the game.
A new adventure, every time
After VII, I wanted to play as many of the other Final Fantasy games as I could. That wasn’t exactly easy, given the gaming industry’s spotty-at-best track record when it comes to preservation. To its credit, though, Square Enix did release ports of FFI, II, IV, V and VI on the GBA, and that’s where I was able to first play all of those titles. And my god, did I fall in love. (I’ve since finished every numbered single-player entry in the series.)
As someone who was painfully introverted growing up and often cities or even countries removed from many of the friends and family I did hold dear, I regularly found myself drawn to games. After all, they are, in many ways, the perfect form of escapism. They whisk you away to worlds you could never have imagined and let you inhabit them in ways that no other art form can. Final Fantasy, for me, has been my biggest provider of such experiences.
Unlike most series, Final Fantasy takes an anthology approach, so every numbered entry is its own standalone experience. As such, it feels consistently fresh. The original five games are different spins on traditional medieval fantasy featuring mix-ups like interdimensional travel (V‘s Rift) and even moon landings (IV). From there, it gets even more interesting: VI is all about steampunk, VII has a refreshing cyberpunk flavour, VIII sports a distinct “anime schoolboy” vibe and X is more Southeast Asia-inspired. Discovering where each new FF takes place, and all of the ways in which each world feels unique, has proven to be delightful highlight of the series.
Of course, it’s the individual stories that help further distinguish these settings, and Final Fantasy has always done that magnificently. VI used the familiar backdrop of an evil empire to tell a heartwrenching tale about people struggling to find meaning in a dark, often depressing, world. Feeling more timely than ever in 2022, VII explored themes of life and identity and how a ruthlessly greedy megacorporation’s planet-killing business threatens to upend it all. While paying homage to the medieval FFs of old, IX also focused on the importance of love and friendship, especially in the face of mortality. X‘s world of Spira, meanwhile, warned about the potential dangers of organized religion. Taking cues from Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII was rife with political intrigue. Then there’s XIV, which has become a massive and beloved series in its own right thanks to an engrossing, sprawling and ever-evolving MMO story. Hell, XV, at its core, was literally a charming road trip between four bros. Pretty much every Final Fantasy game, even the weaker ones, has brought something new to the table, and I love them all for that.
Literal game-changers
The Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy IV.
That ethos has also extended to the gameplay. Indeed, what I most admire about Final Fantasy is its unwillingness to follow the same playbook. Over the past 35 years, the franchise has experimented with so many different kinds of gameplay, and many of them have been resounding successes.
The most impactful of these has been the Active Time Battle system, originally designed by legendary developer Hiroyuki Ito for IV in 1991. In a feat of utter brilliance, Ito took classic turn-based RPG combat and injected speed and energy into it. Essentially, party members and enemies alike would have to wait for a bar to fill up before they could attack, adding a level of urgency and real-time action to the fray. Later games would add further layers to combat in their own compelling ways, like V‘s remarkably deep Job system allowing for rich party configurations, the intricate and highly customizable Materia of VII, X‘s open-ended and addictive Sphere Grid character progression method or XII‘s more MMO-inspired Gambit system to oh-so precisely fine-tune companions’ AI behaviour.
At the same time, we’d still occasionally get returns to traditional turn-based mechanics, like X, which cleverly used this format to encourage strategy by making you decide when to swap in teammates and attack based on a bar that displayed who’s up next. And that doesn’t even take all of the spin-offs and other offshoots into consideration. Final Fantasy VII Remake, for example, is a masterful blend of ATB and real-time combat, delivering utterly thrilling battles that feel fast, fluid and strategic. Or take Strangers of Paradise, a smart, brutal Nioh-esque spin on Final Fantasy that also doubles as a fascinating villainous origin-prequel story to the original Final Fantasy. The fact that Square Enix is finding ways to breathe new life into decades-old tropes and systems never ceases to impress me.
People to root for
The famous opera scene in the Pixel Remaster version of Final Fantasy VI.
Would any of this matter, though, if you didn’t care about the characters themselves? Thankfully, Final Fantasy has truly succeeded in crafting well-realized, nuanced and memorable figures for many years now. In fact, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that so many of this series’ casts rank among my favourites in any medium. That all boils down to the unique interactive elements of games that you make you truly engrossed in your characters’ plights since you actually get to live through them yourself. Over the course of dozens of hours of well-written narratives, you come to truly relate to them.
Maybe that was in VI, where Celes’ struggles with allegiance led to a profoundly moving opera performance ordevastating struggles with depression. Perhaps you’re like me and most closely identified with VII — specifically, Cloud’s deep-rooted issues of self-worth and longing for acceptance, and also found inspiration from Zack’s story in Crisis Core. Many have also gravitated towards Vivi’s arc in IX, a surprisingly existential quest that serves as that game’s emotional centre. Others, meanwhile, might resonate with X‘s Yuna, a strong-willed young woman burdened with an unfair responsibility that she nonetheless compassionately shoulders.
In many of my loneliest and darkest moments, I found so much solace in these characters; I connected with them in ways that most other games couldn’t speak to me. In a sense, the series grew over time in terms of maturity and complexity, much in the way that Harry Potter‘s coming-of-age story becoming darker over time made it click so much with my generation. For Final Fantasy, that growth was no accident, either. Sakaguchi has been open about how his earlier creative failures led him to keep the stories of the earlier Final Fantasy titles relatively light, but the untimely death of his mother inspired him to draw from his emotions to pen deeper, more impactful narratives in future projects. One of the biggest examples of this was the Lifestream in VII, a beautifully spiritual exploration of the afterlife and what binds us all together. Both Sakaguchi and Final Fantasy as a whole have gone on their own personal journeys, and through them, so have I.
World-class scores
But the beating heart of Final Fantasy, for me — what unifies everything I’ve mentioned and makes it all work — is the music. I’ve long said that Final Fantasy has some of the best scores in any medium, and the key reason for that is Nobuo Uematsu. It’s not hyperbole to say that he is to Final Fantasy what John Williams is to Star Wars, especially since both have been so inextricably involved with their respective series since their inception. Indeed, so much of Final Fantasy‘s emotional resonance stems from Uematsu’s music. Honestly, this whole piece could have been solely about Uematsu, whose music is genuinely unparalleled. Even from the very beginning, we had the rousing victory fanfare that truly makes you feel like you triumphed over evil, or the stirring, majestic main theme.
And since that original 1987 title, Uematsu has gone on to compose some of the greatest soundtracks in all of gaming. “The Rebel Army” in II was an inspirational ode to the bravery and spirit of those who push on. Cecil’s redemptive arc in IV rings true thanks to the enchanting “Theme of Love” that punctuates his romance with Rosa. The fights in V against the endearingly goofy Gilgamesh have become classic in no small part due to Uematsu’s banger “Battle on the Big Bridge” theme. Despite SNES technical limitations, Uematsu managed to compose VI‘s “Dancing Mad,” a nearly 20-minute long, multipart piece that perfectly captures the stunning grandiosity and haunting lunacy of the now-deified Kefka. (To say nothing of how impressive VII‘s final boss theme, “One-Winged Angel,” would also prove to be.) And speaking of VII, would Aerith’s death, one of gaming’s most iconic scenes, have been so powerful without her heartbreakingly solemn and innocent melody? What about “To Zanarkand,” which uses understated-yet-sorrowful piano keys to define the star-crossed romance of Tidus and Yuna? I could go on. When you consider that the bulk of his Final Fantasy compositions were for I to IX — released between the NES and PS1, retro consoles that lacks the sound toolsets afforded by modern hardware — then Uematsu’s work feels even more magical.
The old and new guard of Final Fantasy. From left to right: Masayoshi Soken, Naoki Yoshida, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu (Image credit: Hironobu Sakaguchi)
And the best part? Uematsu has only inspired other wonderful musical talents to join Final Fantasy. Hitoshi Sakimoto (XII), Masashi Hamauzu (XIII), Masayoshi Soken (XIV) and Yoko Shimomura (XV)… all brilliant in their own right, and all carrying on Uematsu’s legacy. Whether it was feeling isolated during school, taking the bus home or slaving away at homework assignments, to more recently writing for work, going to the gym or just sitting alone with my thoughts, the music of Final Fantasy from all of these composers has always been a significant part of my life, like a warm, beautiful blanket.
A living legacy
While looking back for the anniversary, I also have to acknowledge that the future of Final Fantasy is also looking so bright. On one side of Square Enix, we have Creative Business Unit III, led Naoki Yoshida, who continues to push forward on incredible expansions to Final Fantasy XIV. This division is also working on XVI, which looks to create a wonderful marriage between the medieval settings of old with a darker fantasy narrative from Kazutoyo Maehiro, writer of XIV‘s stellar Heavensward expansion, and frenetic action-RPG combat from Devil May Cry veteran Ryota Suzuki. And on the other side, we have Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase and several other Final Fantasy mainstays — who most famously spearheaded VII with Sakaguchi — overseeing an outstanding and bold reimagining of the PS1 classic, starting with 2020’s Remake and continuing with Rebirth and an untitled trilogy capper. All of these projects look to remain true to the spirit of Final Fantasy — unforgettable stories and characters, gripping gameplay systems and god-tier music — while continuing to push the series forward in exciting ways.
Final Fantasy has had its ups and downs, like just about everything, but it’s that consistent drive to deliver fresh, engaging and emotional experiences that makes it win out for me. It’s been a constant in my life even when so many unexpected events — like becoming estranged from my father — have happened. The prospect of a new game, with new adventures and characters and music to discover, always proves to be a source of joy for me. After all, the amount of memories I’ve formed and the friends I’ve made from this series is staggering. The adoration and gratitude I have for Final Fantasy is pretty much unmatched.
So, here’s to 35 years of something truly extraordinary, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One until April 4th, while the Nintendo Switch version is coming on July 25th.
Hogwarts Legacy will launch on April 4, 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and on July 25, 2023 for Nintendo Switch. The team is looking forward to bringing you the game and we want to deliver the best possible game experience across all platforms.
The last-gen versions were expected to launch alongside their PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC counterparts on February 10th.
Thank you for joining another #HogwartsLegacy showcase! If you missed the stream or would like to rewatch it, the full second gameplay showcase is now available in 4K on YouTube: https://t.co/bnANrk2oAX
The Harry Potter title was initially slated for 2021, but it was later pushed back to 2022 and then 2023. If you’re on a current-gen console, you can actually purchase the Deluxe Edition and get the game 72 hours ahead of release.
Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world action role-playing game set in the 1800s. The game allows you to make your own Hogwarts student in their fifth year, and learn spells, make friends, ride brooms, bond with magical animals and more.
Hogwarts Legacy will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 10, 2023, with the 72 hour early access beginning on February 7, 2023.
The game is obviously attached to J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, and while she isn’t creating this game, she does get royalties from it. If you want to learn more about Rowling and her inappropriate stances in the transgendered community, check out this resource.
PlayStation has revealed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 in fall 2023.
The publisher confirmed the release window in a PlayStation Blog post looking ahead to next year’s major game releases. A writer on the game had seemingly leaked a fall 2023 launch on their since-updated website, and PlayStation is now confirming this timing. Insomniac had previously only provided a vague “2023” window.
Little is known about the game currently, other than the fact that both Peter Parker and Miles Morales will be playable and Venom will be one of the main villains. It’s also been confirmed that Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter will reprise their roles of Peter and Miles, respectively, while Candyman‘s Tony Todd will voice Venom.
It should be noted that Insomniac is also working on Marvel’s Wolverine, although a release window for the X-Men game has yet to be confirmed.
But beyond that, it actually encouraged me to play a bit differently. Admittedly, I sometimes rush through areas to get to the next quest or cutscene, in part because the experience is grabbing me but also because I just want to get to the next game in my ever-growing backlog. With the new Wild Hunt update, though, I found myself going through the Continent more methodically, even after I’d taken the time to initially take note of what’s improved.
