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Kingdom Hearts 2 is a great example as Sora and the gang travel to Christmas Town. It’s a great place to play to get into the holiday spirit but the whole world should only take a couple of hours at max. Other games with fun Christmas levels include Hitman: Blood Money, Bully, and Persona 5. Are there any actual games or DLCs out there with full Christmas settings? Let’s find out.
Updated on December 24, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: Christmas is one of the most beloved holidays celebrated all over the world. Sitting down with the family and sharing gifts makes for a great experience that people look forward to every winter. Given the festive nature of this holiday, most people would assume that games based during this holiday would also be quite jolly in their own right. While this isn’t the case for all the titles on this list, the fact that they are still centered around Christmas is still worth a mention.
12 Yakuza Kiwami
Pretty much all the Yakuza games take place around Christmas barring a few omissions, with the first Yakuza title kickstarting this tradition. However, there’s no denying that Yakuza Kiwami is the best way to experience the first game.
The impact of playing through Yakuza Kiwami is heightened considerably once players get through Yakuza 0, with the rift between Kiryu and Nishiki being pretty hard to swallow. It’s a great introduction to the mainline Yakuza series, with subsequent titles improving in quality exponentially!
11 Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa’s Rampage
Viscera Cleanup Detail is a fun title where players need to clean up the bloody aftermath of battles against aliens and other such lifeforms. The game was a surprise hit and received two DLCs that allowed players to clean up even more gore-filled areas!
One such DLC was called Santa’s Rampage and gives players the task of cleaning up a particularly festive murder carried out by a not-so-jolly man. It’s a ridiculous concept that ends up being a ton of fun to execute, and players who want to get into the spirit of Christmas in a rather eccentric manner should give this game a shot!
10 Shenmue
Shenmue is one of the most unique titles around, with its release on the Sega Dreamcast being a high-profile and expensive affair. This impressive attempt at an open-world game where players can genuinely live out their lives as Ryo is a ton of fun once players get into the unique nature of this title.
For what it’s worth, Shenmue isn’t totally set around Christmas, but the festival itself is captured with such brilliance that it’s well worth experiencing in itself. Just try not to waste too much time reaching this holiday, since the game will forcefully give players a bad ending if they end up faffing about till the middle of April.
9 Saints Row 4: How The Saints Save Christmas
Saints Row 4 is one of the best open-world games around in terms of sheer fun factor. Messing around with superpowers is a blast as is, and this gameplay loop receives a festive touch with the How the Saints Save Christmas DLC.
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The idea of saving Santa from a simulation while mustering the Christmas cheer required to make this holiday fun again is a ridiculous concept that only Saints Row 4 could pull off. The DLC is a short and sweet experience with its fair share of memorable moments.
8 Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins takes place on Christmas Eve. Thankfully everyone has left the streets in order to be inside with their families otherwise they would have to deal with the villains running around.
That’s the excuse given as to why there are no NPCs in the game which is fine if not a little too convenient. This serves as a prequel to the other games. Even though it isn’t technically canon, it still fits in with the lore and it’s better than what most people think.
7 Bayonetta 2
Bayonetta 2 takes place sometime around Christmas although no exact dates are given. The game opens up with Bayonetta buying a bunch of presents and making her servant/sidekick Enzo carry them all. It’s a funny way to introduce Bayonetta 2 but that’s where the Christmas essence of the game stops.
Players could consider the very idea of fighting angels on or around Christmas to be a theme. Most Christmas stories tend to make angels good though. Bayonetta 2, in this way, can be praised for subverting expectations. It’s a good time to play it while waiting for the next game.
6 Daze Before Christmas
Daze Before Christmas is one of the only games out there that makes Santa a star. Just before he is about to go around the world to deliver Christmas presents, an evil devil version of himself steals them all. The game is a basic platformer from the 90s.
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It’s almost impossible to buy a legitimate copy nowadays but that’s where emulation comes into play. Even though the game isn’t one of the classics, it’s still worth looking into for the novel idea. It would be interesting to see it appear on the retro service for the Switch.
5 Dead Rising 4
Dead Rising 4 technically takes place after Christmas. However, since the city was abandoned around the holiday, all of the decorations are still up. That’s why it still feels like a Christmas game.
The juxtaposition between the cheery holiday spirit and Frank West tearing through bloody corpses is great. It may be the last game in the series for quite some time. Cherish it in all of its cheesy Christmas glory especially if it is the last one.
4 Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve takes place around Christmas Eve. It’s one of the best RPGs from the 90s that combines the best parts of Final Fantasy and Resident Evil together. Players assume the role of detective Aya Brea.
She attends the opera one night only to find everyone, except her, erupting in flames. Now she has to find the source, kill the mutations, and save Christmas. It takes place in New York City which is an all-time classic place for a Christmas setting even as a horror RPG.
3 Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is one of the forgotten entries in the series. That’s because it never launched in the West until a collection came over in the mid-2000s. This was almost two decades after it was initially released in Japan.
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It sees the titular Solid Snake travel to Zanzibarland on Christmas Eve to stop a nuclear mech attack once again. Zanzibarland might sound familiar as it is referenced quite often in Metal Gear Solid. It was weird playing that game at the time since it felt like there was a missing puzzle piece regarding Gray Fox.
2 Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is another superhero game that takes place around Christmas. It’s also set in New York City just like Parasite Eve. The story centers on Miles making his way home from school to spend time with friends and family over the holidays. Unfortunately evil has another plan for the new spider hero.
Miles has to protect his home turf alone as Peter is away dealing with other issues. This was a good introduction to how Miles differs in powers compared to Peter. It’s a shorter campaign next to Marvel’s Spider-Man and it reuses a lot of assets, but it is still an outstanding spidey experience.
1 Tom Clancy’s The Division
Tom Clancy’s The Division has a similar setting to Dead Rising 4. Everyone was gearing up for the holidays after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday, when a virus broke out in New York City. The government tried to contain it as best as possible but the city eventually became a lawless zone.
Players are sent in as an elite special ops force, The Division, around the holidays to take back order. It may not technically be Christmas but the decorations are still there and the snowy city is as inviting as ever even if it is infested with a deadly disease.
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