Christmas (and other holidays) Gaming Gifts 2023

[spanky]

Didn't see one of these threads this year so I thought I'd make one. This is actually the first year in well...a long time I didn't get any sort of gaming gifts. My kids on the other hand...

Super Mario RPG (Switch) - My near-six year old was torn between this and Super Mario Wonder. You'd think Wonder would be more his speed but I explained the difference between the two games and he watched a couple trailers, he started to gravitate towards RPG. The original SMRPG is one of my favorites so I was fine with this. I figured it could help encourage his reading and maybe teach him mild problem solving skills (Parent brain).

He's playing through the game and I've taken over We haven't gotten very far and it's so faithful to the original that I don't have a ton to say.
-The camera is a bit zoomed in compared to the original game - it can sometimes be difficult for a newbie to see certain paths or details on the map
-The performance is surprisingly chuggy at times. Honestly inexcusable for something like this. We really need that Super Switch.
-The new script changes seem limited to mostly fixing enemy and attack names. This is fine as I actually like the original English script quite a bit and I feel like a complete rewrite would have been far less charming.
-It's very easy (though my kid is playing on Casual mode as well) and made even easier by the splash damage timed hits and the super special moves. It was already an easy game - I know there's some super bosses later on but a Hard mode for veterans would have been nice.
-Graphics look nice and I like how they committed to the short and squat style from the original game. I have a personal preference for the pre-rendered stuff from the original though. They also got rid of the playing card motifs for each character's magic attacks.

Super Mario Adventures (graphic novel) - My kid is honestly Mario crazy right now so I figured he'd like this as I remember reading and loving these comics in Nintendo Power. It's really punny and has lots of great gags, perfect for a kid his age. For comparison, he grabbed a random Sonic trade paperback off a display case from the library a few weeks ago and it was just goofy furry drama crap. 

[excelsior]

I'm going to have to ask you all not to judge, because I feel bad in advance of posting this. Basically, we had a tough year. My accident was kind of the icing on the cake, but especially considering I could have been dead, or worse paralysed, we decided to hell with it and to splurge this year. Anyway, this is my stuff, some of these were gifts to myself.

Tunic
Sonic Mania
Ys IX
Super Mario Wonder
Atelier Sophie 2
Neon White
We Love Katamari Reroll
Silent Hope
Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe
Cuphead
Eledees DS
Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destuction
Sakura Wars So Long My Love

Also some wireless Pikachu earphones. Plus Steam Vouchers, which I'm not sure what to do with. I only have 1 Steam game so don't follow the platform.

My other half got Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition, Stardew Valley and Final Fantasies 10/10-2 & 12.

[Snake]

excelsior - no shame in the gaming!  You're alive, and getting more weller! Splurging is a good way to celebrate that!  Money can always be made, but you don't get time back.  Unless you got a Delorean with a Mr. Fusion in the garage. Looks like a very Merry Christmas with that haul.

As for me, I splurged on the stupid $350 USD FF VII Rebirth Collector's Edition pre-order.  
Other physical games, I just got Radiant Silvergun for Switch and Full Throttle PS4 in the mail.  And Trinity Trigger Day 1 Edition, for Switch. Contra for the original Famicom from Japan. Haven't opened any of them.  Instead, I had my NES serviced for new connector pins. Runs like a dream, and played a bit of Castlevania 3:Dracula's Curse.

Beyond games, I've had different patients give me gift cards (I'm saving it for a PS5 Slim), home made tamales, nopales (marinated grilled cactus), fresh-baked peppermint chocolate chip cookies. An Indian gentleman got me a slew of beers and Indian whiskey. I have to say, I do love a good Carlsberg, Kronenbourg 1664, Taj Mahal, Himalayn Blue, and some other cool stuff to rot my brain on while gaming.

Lookin' to kick back and relax this new year's eve!  Happy New Year everyone!

[chronotigger65]

I think the topic of this thread isn't as popular as it was once as others had moved to the Discord or Reddit version of this forum so I'm not expecting a lot of comments but enough talk about that.

My game Christmas swag...
For Switch..

Super Mario RPG remake. Was playing this but stopped in the middle of it (currectly at Star Hill I think it's called,) to do some other Mario games. Playing SMB Wonder and it's quite a wonder to play so to speak. Will get back to SMRPG later.
Unsighted
Oddworld Collection
Moon

For Evercade got the two Duke Nukem collections.

[dsparil]

I bought myself the D&D collection on Switch since it was on sale. It's been in the back of my head to replay the Baldur's Gate games using TuTu for 1 (plays it in 2's engine). I also never played Icewind Dale otherwise I would have skipped over the whole bundle. I guess I'll see if I get too D&D-ed out to finish the whole thing.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Cadence of Hyrule, Blazing Chrome and Unsighted for myself
Just Dance (forget which year) and Mario Maker 2 for my nephew

I'm the only one close to me with any money so that's alright

[personman]

Friends got me some Steam games as usual:

Outer Wilds- been hearing a bunch about this one and its sounds pretty neat. Pretty outside my wheel house but willing to give it a shot.

Signalis- Pretty much every horror game reviewer I listen to on Youtube has had golden praise for this so I'll be glad to check it out myself. Scifi Lovecraft-esque stuff is always fun.

Ratchet & Clank A Rift Apart- Been away from this series for a long time and it's been nice to catch up with them, though boy is the series VERY different now than it was in the PS2 era. I also managed to get it running pretty well on my Steam Deck which has been real cool to play something like this at work.

Then I worked a lot of overtime this year on top of Christmas bonuses so I went on a buying binge and grabbed a bunch of cheaper stuff for myself.

Steam we had:

The Last Case of Benedict Fox
MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline
Beard Blade

And on Switch:

Radiant Silvergun
UnMetal
Layer Section™ & Galactic Attack™ S-Tribute


And then Psychonaughts 2 on PS4. My Ps4's memory is full so I can't download it but at least I got it lol.