Top 5 Long Games From 2019 To Wrap Up With This Christmas

If you are anything like me, the best thing about Christmas isn’t the tinsel or the music, the family fun or even a big roast dinner. No, my perfect Christmas day has always been spent wrapped up in a warm duvet with a plate of pigs in blankets and a very long game for me to spend the holidays absorbed in. 2019 has not been short of fantastic lengthy new releases but here are my picks for the five titles you should hope to find under your tree for a nice, isolated Christmas day.

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

You would be forgiven for not knowing this cult classic of a game, finally delivered to us complete after ten long years. Tales of Vesperia is the tenth entry in the long-running Tales series and is possibly the best RPG on the Xbox 360 system. Launched in 2009 to immense praise, Tales of Vesperia is a highlight of the franchise but due to some trouble with exclusive rights we never received the more definitive version of the game, with additional playable characters and plot points.

The game stars Yuri Lowell played by Troy Baker, a former imperial knight turned vigilante on the hunt for a jewel used to cleanse the water supply for his hometown, stolen by a mysterious mage. Yuri sets off on his journey, joined by his pipe-smoking, dagger-wielding dog Repede and manages to recruit a number of interesting and wonderful characters all with their own character arcs and reason to journey.

With an incredible story, fun action-based combat and one of the greatest casts of characters in gaming, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is a must-play for JRPG fans and currently available on every modern platform. If you’re looking for a jumping off point there is also a prequel movie, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike which can provide even more content if you are unsure.

Steins;Gate Elite

If you are an anime fan you should instantly recognise the name of this entry as one of the best new sci-fi titles in recent memory, though the now legendary TV series started life as a visual novel. Steins;Gate Elite takes the story of the original visual novel and remakes it using all the production of the anime series, making Elite more of an interactive movie.

In Steins;Gate you follow mad scientist Rintaro Okabe as he accidentally develops a machine that can send text messages back in time. Joined by his best friend and hacker Daru and his hostage Shiina Mayuri you will follow a growing cast of lovable characters dealing with the consequences of time travel as they fend off the threat from the evil organisation trailing them.

Steins;Gate Elite launched on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch earlier this year but if you need more, the spin off romantic comedy, Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace and sequel/side story Steins;Gate 0 are also available on both platforms now.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Nintendo’s iconic puzzle series Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney finally appeared on all three home consoles earlier this year and if you’ve not yet indulged, you are missing one of the most charming experiences to have ever existed.

The Ace Attorney trilogy, originally starting on Game Boy Advance in 2001 features our titular hero Phoenix Wright as he deals with his daily life as a defence lawyer. This unique hybrid game sees you working your way through murder trials and investigations as you try your best to prove your client innocent.

What is special about Ace Attorney is just how goofy the whole thing is. Phoenix is a really ineffective lawyer who doesn’t really know what’s going on most of the time which causes a lot of issues. There is also an incredibly large array of side characters involved in each individual case, each character is effortlessly silly but have enough depth of character to make their punny names more bearable than you would at first believe. This combination means that cases get progressively more zany as the series continues, often to ludicrous yet wonderful extremes, like that one time where Phoenix had to defend a killer whale accused of murder.

Phoenix Wright is a legacy series at this point with 11 titles including a spin off with Nintendo’s other beloved puzzle icon, Professor Layton, so even if you manage to get through each of these three games there are still plenty of cases left to keep you busy. The series will keep you laughing throughout and with some emotional moments sprinkled in for good measure, you won’t be putting this one down anytime soon.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

One of the biggest standout games from this year is Nintendo’s strategy RPG Fire Emblem: Three Houses. If you’ve never played a Fire Emblem game before you can expect a deep and interesting war-based strategy game presented with a gloriously silly anime aesthetic. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the best modern entry in this franchise spanning almost three decades and is well worth your time.

You play as Byleth, the child of a legendary mercenary, who somehow gets themselves a job as a professor in Garreg Mach monastery, a war academy run by the church. You will soon be forced into one of three houses: the Black Eagles, the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer. Which house you join is your choice, but this decision does drastically affect the way the story plays out.

As a professor, you have a specific role to play in regards to ensuring each of your characters is developed properly to become effective in combat but it is also your chance to get to know everybody on a personal level. From meals and tea parties to fishing and teaching, you will spend as much time with the base combat as you will be doing the social activities given to you.

With four different routes available to you and each story lasting up to an impressive 80 hours there is plenty of content to keep you busy throughout the Christmas period and even after. If you pick up Fire Emblem: Three Houses, winner of the Player’s Voice award at this years Game Awards, on Nintendo Switch you will identify very strongly with a house of your choice and grow to love each character there. I am a staunch Golden Deer but your choice is up to you. Fear the deer!

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age was released worldwide last year on PlayStation 4 and PC, however, it is on this list because the definitive version launched this year on Nintendo Switch. Winning Famitsu magazine’s Game of the Year award last year, Dragon Quest XI is essential for RPG fans and the latest version to hit Nintendo Switch is the version you’ll want to get.

You play as the luminary, a special “chosen one” who has been adopted by a young woman in the town of Cobblestone. Along with your best friend Gemma, you undertake the town’s coming-of-age tradition and this awakens a new power within you. This spurs you to go on a journey across the world to find the tree of Yggdrasil and meet your destiny.

My favourite thing about Dragon Quest XI is the localisation. The game has a fantastic humour about itself with enemy designs being as much of a joke as their names, and a fantastic attempt at creating regional voice acting from British west country accents to text written in exaggerated accents you can hear as you read. The series has a reputation for fantastic English localisation and Dragon Quest XI is a notch ahead of its contemporaries in that regard.

Dragon Quest XI is as traditional an RPG as they get but it is one of the best written and most enjoyable games I’ve played in years. If you really dislike turn-based combat then Dragon Quest XI may not be for you but if you have a fondness for old JRPGs this game will be the delightful cozy old blanket you need for the winter months.