Well, it seems that the world is on lockdown with this COVID-19 or Corona Virus thing. So what do you do? I guess you could spend some time with your family and loved ones, talking about the days before everyone went crazy and started hoarding toilet paper… No? We need to distance ourselves and go into self-isolation in order to stop the spread of the virus? Well then gamers, this is OUR TIME! We have been preparing for this for decades!
We know how to go days, weeks or months without human interaction and keep ourselves entertained. So while other people are going to be flooding Netflix or Disney+ like crazy binge-watching everything on any streaming service, you are going to be in your gaming space wanting to play ALL THE THINGS!! But what should you do to first? Maybe these suggestions can help make the decisions much easier.
1. Yakuza Remastered Collection
One of the more recent releases on the list, The Yakuza Remastered Collection is a great trilogy of games that you can play for hours just doing side missions or activities that you otherwise cannot do outside in the real world at the moment; or you could just walk around the streets of Japan, interacting with the people like you were actually a social human being, only stopping every few feet to beat up some gangsters or trouble makers that cross your path. Not to mention the main stories for all 3 games are pretty cool too. Not to mention that the graphical improvements and the scripting re-translation might make this worth buying and playing for even die-hard fans of the series.
Related link: Yakuza Remastered Collection Review (The Outerhaven)
2. Resident Evil 3 Remake Demo
With the full game coming out in April (if it doesn’t get delayed), why not step into the world of Survival Horror and see what all the fuss is about with the remake of Resident Evil 3 with the demo that drops on March 19th. You’ll play as Jill Valentine as she tries to escape Raccoon City before Umbrella Corp drops the big bomb on the whole city, all while trying to make her way through a city infested with zombies and the constant searching and chasing monster known as Nemesis.
Related link: Announcement Article (The Outerhaven)
3. Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo
We were waiting for soooooo long for anything to do with this remake since it was first announced and now we actually get to have our hands on the demo which takes place through the first mission of the game. You’ll play as Cloud and others as you join the group Avalanche to destroy the first of many mako reactors that are killing the planet. This demo will take up about an hour or so of time depending on how slow you play through and check out everything, or you could speed run it and see how quickly you can smash through the game over and over and post your times on Twitter or something. The full game drops early April too… Delays pending…
Related link: Youtube Video Playthrough (The Outerhaven)
4. Marvel Spider-Man
One of the many 5 star games that will make this list, Marvel Spider-Man is just an amazing game from start to finish. As you swing through one of the most accurate depictions of New York ever made into a video game, you’ll get that rush of freedom that no other game can provide. Ok, sure, there is a biological agent that is released in the city so it might not be the type of game you want to play to escape your isolation experience reason, but at least you get to do more things like smash thugs in the face and collect things. Also the main story is amazing, along with the City of Evil DLC series which extends the life of the game with another great story that adds Black Cat to the whole thing… And I love me some Black Cat.
Related link: Marvel Spider-Man Review (The Outerhaven)
5. Resident Evil 2 Remake
I think there is enough praise out there for Resident Evil 2 remake that you could fill entire rooms with print outs of that praise and 5-star reviews. Resident Evil 2 remake is one of those games that is a love letter to not only the game series itself but to the fans who wanted this game so bad they made sure to put in the effort to make something that fans and newcomers would enjoy. With Resident Evil 3 coming very soon, it’s the perfect time to go back and get your zombie fight on in Raccoon City… Plus since we’re all acting like the world is ending, we might as well pretend to have something like zombies in it too.
Related link: Resident Evil 2 Remake Review (The Outerhaven)
6. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
This is the first game I could recommend to play just due to the number of side quests and other things you can do to grind out time while in lockdown. Sure we might have been through the Dragon Ball Z story a million times in games, but finding side characters who haven’t been seen since Dragon Ball and other things like grinding levels will be more than enough to kill time while having some fun.
Related link: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Review (The Outerhaven)
7. Pokemon Sword and Shield
Pokemon… Collect them all damn it! Now’s the perfect time to not only collect all the Pokemon that are available in both Sword and Shield and then train them to level 100. Complete that PokeDex people! Plus you’ll need to complete two games in order to unlock everything you can find in the games, so that’s even more time needed to do what needs to be done. Plus you could also pay a few dollars and get Pokemon Home and send Pokemon from previous games into the current ones, not to mention you could do to all this with Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee too, thus lengthening your time in the Pokemon world.
Related link: Pokemon Sword and Shield Review (The Outerhaven)
8. Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening
Personally I’m not a huge fan of Legend of Zelda games, but I can commend them for being long and involved adventures that take a lot of time and effort in order to finish. While many people will probably recommend Breath of the Wild since it is the newest one on the market (With a rumored sequel on the way), I think something more simple and entry-level would be more suited for people who are not used to Legend of Zelda games, thus Link’s Awakening. Link’s Awakening is a remake of the same game from the GameBoy era, meaning it has simple controls, easy to follow layout, and is not too complex with new mechanics that it would scare people off. So give this one a go and then move into something more modern.
Related link: Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening Review (The Outerhaven)
9. Borderlands 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av5Eyx3bGtM
A fun script, a lot of fun mechanics, memes a-plenty, and guns… Lots of guns. Borderlands 3, or even the Borderlands series in general, are a great game to play when you want to just mess around for a few hours at a time and get plenty of loot in the process. 2K Games has just released a lot of DLC for the game too, and rebalanced the end game content to be friendlier to freshly max level characters makes this the perfect time to jump on board and go Vault Hunting… or just chill with CLAPTRAP.
Related link: Borderlands 3 Review (The Outerhaven)
10. Red Dead Redemption 2
If you want something that drags you into the world it’s created with a decent story to go with it, then Red Dead Redemption 2 is perfect for you. With a very expansive world filled with people to talk to, things to do from fishing, hunting, collecting, cooking, saving randoms and much more; you can spend hours doing a million and one things in this game without spending much time on the main game itself. Not to mention there is Red Dead Online, which has bounties to collect and much more if you really want to do things online and interact virtually with other people.
Related link: Red Dead Redemption 2 Review (The Outerhaven)
11. DOOM Eternal
Well since the outside world has gone to hell, why not suit up and kick some demon ass? Since the story of DOOM Eternal takes place on hell taking over Earth, at least you can get some frustration out on all sorts of demons both classic and new through ripping and tearing using all sorts of weapons. The reviews for this game have been coming out strong so far, so why not jump on board and shoot your way through a classic done right.
Related Article: DOOM Eternal launch trailer released article (The Outerhaven)
12. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Get away from your isolation by joining a community of people on an island and making a self-sustaining life for yourself. Hell, you might need those skills soon enough, so get practicing with a virtual version of a life where you are in control of your own survival. Build a society and economy that is much better than the one that the Government is giving us right now and show them how it’s done. Yet another game that is getting rave reviews online at the moment and looks to be worth the investment.
Related Article: Animal Crossing: New Horizons details article (The Outerhaven)
13. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
It’s an RPG with a lot of DLC that takes years to play through and yet still find something new and interesting to do with it… That’s if our Nintendo Team is to be quoted correctly since almost 2 years or so after release it seems to be the main game they all talk about in our Discord at all times, to the loss of many other games out there that they could be playing. But if it’s good to go, then I guess it’s good to play.
Related Article: Fire Emblem: Cindered Shadows DLC Review (The Outerhaven)
14. NES, SNES, Genesis & Playstation Classic Mini Consoles (& More)
When it comes to retro gaming there are more options than ever before. Most of the classic or more well-known video game consoles are represented out there. The big four would be NES, SNES, Genesis and Playstation, but there are also other options out there for Atari, Commodore, and less legal things like RetroPie which are a more all in one solution but again ARE NOT LEGAL. While most of these mini consoles have a great selection right out of the box, most of them have been modified to allow you to add more games to them for gaming purposes.
Another great thing about these consoles is that they work 100% offline, unlike many modern consoles that require an internet connection in order to work or play games. A secondary bonus for offline consoles is that you are not taking bandwidth away from people who are working from home and overloading the local connections by creating bottlenecks with their sudden workloads, which means you can keep gaming when your home internet connection goes down thanks to Governments or companies who don’t think about these events when they could happen.
Related link: 10 Games The SNES Classic Still Needs (The Outerhaven), 40 Games I’d Like To See On The Sega Genesis Mini / Mega Drive Mini (The Outerhaven), Ode to the Playstation (The Outerhaven)
15. Anything in your “pile of shame”
Yep, you know what this is about… It’s THAT pile… The one that you have built up through years of impulse buying. Yep, it’s the dreaded PILE… OF… SHAME…!!!
For many years we as gamers have been bombarded with games that are “must-have” titles that you either buy and play for a week before heading to the next new game that comes out or maybe you got to a part in the game where you got stuck and rage quit. Well now is the time to go back to those games and check them off that list. Those of you with huge Steam libraries might want to pre-load about 5 games and work through those because with everyone working at home at the moment, download times are going to SUCK. So consider downloading during night time hours when people are sleeping just to make sure you have games to go during the working hours that don’t require updates or whatever while people are working.
At the end of it all, the idea here is to keep the world going while it is in the middle of the worst worldwide pandemic in history. While we as gamers are used to isolation in order to enjoy our favorite hobby, others might use this time to join in for the first time. So if you have something to add as a suggestion, comment below and add to the pile of games people could be playing. Otherwise now is a good time to do something new: learn a new language (Japanese so we have more translators for Japanese only games… hint hint), take up a new hobby, read a book, have a movie marathon; do something to keep yourself sane and off the streets as we flatten the curve of infection. Plus go out and buy some games, it’ll help your economy to bounce back from the recession that is going to happen. But most of all, check in on your neighbors, your elderly relatives, your family, and friends; and help them if needed. Together we can get through this and survive.
