By Yael Campos
The Last of Us
The Last of Us (TLOU) is a post-apocalyptic storytelling game that follows Joel, a smuggler, who is tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across fungal infected America to find a potential cure for the outbreak. The gameplay is survival horror with brutal combat and scavenging. Some of the main themes of this story are love, loss, hope, and survival. I enjoyed the story, characters, and details that were put in this game. I was 14 when I first played so having a 14 year old girl be the main character of a video game was something that I could connect with. Because the games were cinematic and character driven it was perfect for TV adaptation. This allowed for more people to enjoy the story and go deeper into what the games couldn’t, like Ellie’s origin.
Little Nightmares
These horror puzzle games are about small children trying to escape a surreal, disoriented world called “The Nowhere” which is filled with feral beings known as “Residents” who prey on children. Some of the themes and concepts of this game are greed and consumption, metaphorical world, childhood fears, and loss of innocence. This is a fairly popular game with famous YouTubers, like Markiplier, and celebrities, like Doja Cat, being fans. There are currently 3 games with different story lines but maintain the same horror puzzle gameplay. I enjoy the puzzle part of the games, some of the puzzles keep you thinking. I also like the story line. No one speaks but you can figure it out by the characters actions and settings. I also think that the game’s style is cool.
FIFA
This soccer videogame is one of the most popular sports games around. There are many ways that you can enjoy playing. You can create your dream team and use it to compete in online tournaments against other players. Career mode where you make your own player, control their development, and go from youth clubs to professional teams. There is also “Kick-Off” where you can play quick local matches. Soccer is a loved sport in my family. We watch it together, play, and, thanks to this game, we challenge each other to matches. We discuss different strategies, players, and soccer news while we play. There are even times when we have small house tournaments to see whose team is better. The only thing that disappoints everyone a bit is the exclusion of Liga MX.
By playing video games I have bonded with friends and family, made new friends, and experienced some well written stories that would probably not have been the same if they were presented differently. There are many other games that I enjoy playing and want to play in the future. With winter recess coming up I hope you guys can enjoy some of these games. Have a nice break!
