During this time where we have been cooped up at home, I have decided to try and explore different hobbies to get into. I was looking on Amazon one day in April of 2020 and saw that the PS4 was on sale. On a whim, I purchased it and a couple of games and decided to see if I would enjoy gaming. I was excited to see that I did in fact fall in love with it and now, I am always looking for new games to play. The top three games I played this year were “Star Wars” Jedi: Fallen Order, Red Dead Redemption 2 and A Way Out. 

No. 3: A Way Out 

This is a multiplayer game that can only be played with you and another person. It’s a split-screen journey that consists of police chase, heated arguments and intense robberies. The premise of the game is that you must work together to successfully escape prison. 

Like Netflix’s Bandersnatch, the players are the ones making all of the decisions for the characters–meaning whatever decisions they make controls the ending the players get. 

While quarantining at home, my brother-in-law and I played this together and instantly became hooked on the story. We went into the game thinking that all we had to do was get these two characters, Leo and Vincent, out of prison, but there is much more to the story than just that. The game harbors an amazing chronicle between two people who in the end just want the same thing: to be with their family. 

The journey is heartwarming, angsty and interesting, so you end up feeling for the characters and their emotions. If you’re a gamer who is more into story rather than lots of action and doesn’t care for sidequests, try this one out. This game is available for PS4, PC, and Xbox. 

No. 2: “Star Wars” Jedi: Fallen Order

While I desperately wanted to give this game the number one spot, I am solidifying its spot at number two. 

The player follows the story of a young Jedi named Cal Kestis, who was a padawan at the time of the Great Jedi Purge. The game takes place five years after Order 66 and Kestis has solidified his safety on a planet named Bracca, where he becomes a rigger for the Scrapper’s Guild. 

In an accident that deems it necessary for Kestis to use the force, he is discovered by Imperial Inquisitors (Jedi hunters) and joins a small crew of ‘outlaws’ to begin a journey to assist in rebuilding the fallen Jedi Order.

Kestis is one of the best protagonists I have experienced in a fictional story. A young man with an unrelenting past who is willing to put his whole life aside to find force-sensitive children and train them to be the next generation of Jedi. You root for every character in the game, including the villains. 

Trilla Suduri, known as Second Sister, made her way to my favorite Star Wars character spot after I played this game. Although she is played out to be the antagonist, she is anything but. She is more of a troubled soul who lost not only her master, but herself after the ending of the Clone Wars. 

The relationship between Kestis and Suduri is interesting to watch unwind as they both essentially fight for the same thing: freedom from their pasts. 

Kestis also meets Merrin, a gentle Nightsister who lost all of her people during the war as well. She has a hatred for the Jedi and has a difficult time warming up to Kestis, and they navigate the loss of their people in the game. 

Cere, an ex-Jedi who disconnected herself from the force, acts as Cal’s guide and crew member in the game. 

I can’t forget his sweet droid friend, BD-1, an exquisite map navigator and hacker. The relationships throughout the game will have you desperate to watch them develop and grow. 

This game does not have any side missions, but there are plenty of mini-games like combat training. Even if you are not a big Star Wars fan, this is a great story to experience. 

No. 1: Red Dead Redemption 2 

I played this game about three times all the way through and I wish I could experience what it was like to play it for the first time again. 

The story follows a group of outlaws who escaped a town called Blackwater after a mission. They are now permanently on the run, their main mission to escape to a faraway place like Tahiti to begin mango farming. That includes bank and train robberies, shootouts and escaping the law. 

Arthur Morgan is the protagonist of the game, but as the game goes on, you root for the whole gang to succeed in their mission. Even though they’re criminals and considered “bad people”, redemption is always obtainable for even the most broken people. 

The details in this game are amazing to maneuver around. You can hunt and cook animals, choose your own horse and build a bond with it, grow your hair out, gain and lose weight; the experiences are endless. 

The map of the game is huge and the player is free to explore and experience whatever they pleased. There are stranger missions and decisions that Arthur has to make that eventually chooses the ending of the game. 

You have to make morally-guided decisions throughout the game as well, which sometimes are extremely difficult to make knowing it’ll have an effect on your game. This game is huge, so the player should take their time with it. There is a lot to explore that is not worth missing.