Shack Chat: What game are you playing over Thanksgiving weekend 2022?

Shacknews readers, we are out for this Thanksgiving weekend! You'll see some scheduled posts go up over the next few days, but your favorite writers and personalities (at least we hope we're your favorite writers and personalities) will be recharging over the weekend and coming back for the end-of-year home stretch. In the meantime, let's talk about what we're playing this weekend. There are a lot of games to check out, whether we're jumping into the best from this year or catching up with a hit from the past. Here are our picks for what we're playing this Thanksgiving weekend.

Question: What game are you playing over Thanksgiving weekend 2022?

God of War Ragnarok - Ozzie Mejia, BOY!

I thought I'd be able to take a straight romp through the nine realms, but as it turns out, there's a lot more to do in the latest God of War than I thought. I wasn't expecting to get caught up in actual side quests that have consequences for the world around me. Alright then, so I'll hang out with Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir for the weekend. I'll ideally get through the story, but I'm not holding my breath on this one. After all, it's an amazing experience and not one I'm hoping to really see end anytime soon.

Bouncing between Sonic & Pokemon - TJ Denzer, Gotta catch ‘em FAST!

I have started up two games recently and I’m going to be playing the heck out of both of them over Thanksgiving break. Sonic and Pokemon are both childhood favorites I really enjoy, and this year seems like a great one for both franchises. Despite these games having some conflicting opinions going around about them in terms of performance, Sonic Frontiers and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet also both have fans enjoying the heck out of them. With that in mind, I shed my fears about the naysaying and criticisms and jumped into both and I have been having a fantastic time.

Sure, both games are not perfect. There are glaring issues in both Sonic Frontiers and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet that need to be addressed in hopefully forthcoming patches. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re still really fun. Sonic maybe has one of my favorite soundtracks this year in addition to the interesting open-zone exploration. Meanwhile, Pokemon’s new open-world design makes that franchise feel fresh to me again. I love going off path and exploring to my heart’s content to see what new critters I can find. I plan to dump a ton of time between both games throughout the weekend and have myself a super sonic time catching ‘em all.

Sonic Frontiers - Morgan Shaver, Still enjoying Sonic Frontiers

Even though I’ve already beaten the campaign for Sonic Frontiers and put a considerable amount of time into the game, I’ve still yet to 100% complete all of the islands. With that in mind, I intend to put more time into Sonic Frontiers over the Thanksgiving holidays. Outside of Sonic Frontiers, I plan to dump more time into Horizon Forbidden West as well as that’s another game I’ve been working to 100% complete. I’ll also likely end up playing some of my go-to multiplayer faves like Halo Infinite, Splatoon 3, and of course, Tetris 99.

Bayonetta 3 - Blake Morse, Fly me to the moon

I have waited so long for Bayonetta 3 to come out and I’m actually very excited to finally have a chance to sit down and get some quality time in with my favorite witchy woman. I have been a fan of the series since day 1 and have been waiting until I had a hefty chunk of time to properly dedicate to blasting away angels and otherworldly creatures. It’s cold, dark and rainy here in Portland right now, so it’s the perfect weekend to stay in with a loved one, get all warm and cozy on the couch and shoot up some baddies with her high heel guns!

Grounded - Sam Chandler, Spider Tamer

Now, I don’t know if this will come to fruition, but my hope is to be building a new gaming PC over Thanksgiving weekend. It’s not actually a game, but it is certainly going to allow me to play them! Failing this, I will be loading back into Grounded with my wife as we continue our journey to try and de-shrink ourselves.

The Long Dark - Bill Lavoy, Mayor of Blackrock

There are lots of games I need to play and experience as we head into the final stretch of 2022, but during my (American) Thanksgiving break I’ll be spending at least a little time in The Long Dark. That’s the game I can hop into and relax for a bit, so one morning will be dedicated to hot coffee and a few hours exploring Great Bear Island. I want to take a walk and get my mind ready for Tales from the Far Territory.

God of War Ragnarok FINALLY! - Dennis White Jr., Social Media Guru

After my physical copy got lost in transit for a week and a half and I was about ready to toss Thor’s hammer at someone, I finally got the game in my hands. I’m looking forward to loading this one up on my Sony Bravia TV that I didn’t have at the time of my first playthrough of the original 2018 title. Ultra 4K HDR clarity, here I come!

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Donovan Erskine, Elite Four

Now that my review is live and I’ve beaten the game, I can casually enjoy Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as a fan of the series. Most of my friends have the game now, so we’ll be exploring Paldea together and taking down Tera Raids throughout the long weekend. I also plan on leaning heavily into the competitive scene this generation, so I want to work on building my first team.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Steve Tyminski, Pokemon Master!

What games will I be playing over the Thanksgiving holiday? There are a few games that will have my attention. I got sucked into Harvestella before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet came out. I need to get back a level up my farm in that half-RPG, half-farming sim. I don’t know how Square Enix got me to care about farming, but darn it, they did. I also want to get back into Sonic Frontiers, as that’s another game that I started before I got my hands on Pokémon.

Oh, who am I kidding, I’m playing Pokémon the whole time. If I wasn’t playing other games on the Stevetendo show, that's all I would be playing. My brother is coming over after Thanksgiving so we can play together and maybe do some raid battles. This is the first Pokémon game in a long time that we both might raise decent teams to fight each other. I still have a ton to do in Pokémon and I need to find my first Shiny in Paldea so plenty to keep me busy during the long weekend.

That's what we're spending our Thanksgiving weekend playing. What will you be jumping into? Join the conversation and tell us what you're playing over the long holiday.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.