Editor’s Choice: Best In-Game Halloween Events (2022)
One upside to the prevalence of live-service games in the modern gaming landscape is that you can usually find a special event in your favourite game to help celebrate a real world occasion. (You might counter that this practice breeds FOMO and encourages players to grind one game instead of playing something new; fair point, but let’s stay focused.)
When it comes to this trend, the best seasonal celebrations are usually Halloween events. So many aspects of Halloween are easily translated into video games: from having its basic iconography of pumpkins and monsters in the in-game world, to more thematic adaptations that truly lean into horror and traditions. With that in mind, here are our top picks for best Halloween events of 2022:
5) Final Fantasy XIV: All Saints’ WakeDid you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial, and it regularly hosts special limited-time events to celebrate real world holidays or crossover with other games? Well, it does, and the game’s creative team have a knack for bringing in outside elements holistically, without them being forced. Whether it’s a Halloween event or a crossover featuring a protagonist from another Final Fantasy game, these questlines fit into the in-game world with short, attainable stories and offer unique commemorative items.
This year, Eorzea’s Halloween equivalent All Saints’ Wake returns. Players can visit the Mih Khetto’s Amphitheatre in Old Gridania to take up the quest “A Mad Masquerade.” This light errand is full of transmog hijinx and imparts this year’s main rewards, the Wake Doctor armor set. You can go explore a haunted mansion with the second quest, “Be Our Guest,” or just grab the “Eat Pumpkin Cookie” emote from the Bespectacled Peddler and be on your way.
4) Animal Crossing New Horizons: Jack the Halloween CzarWhile many hoped that Animal Crossing New Horizons would continue to be supported with more new content for a longer time, its Halloween event is the main holiday that pulls me back to dust off my island. It’s a month-long affair if you want to stock up on candy for your neighbours, and the addition of pumpkins in fall 2020 and crops in November 2021 has only made the experience more rich.
The event hasn’t changed over time, but I do still delight in dressing up my town with decorations and pumpkin patches, and celebrating with my villagers when Jack the Halloween Czar comes on the big day. Your neighbours will ask you for candy, exchanging them for items or pranking you if you don’t fork any over. Of course, once you’ve traded up for lollipops and given them to Jack, you can cosplay as the ghoul himself and get even by scaring the ever-loving crap out of those who pranked you.
The item rewards aren’t the most rewarding, especially if you’ve completed the event in previous years, but Animal Crossing New Horizons is an excellent proxy for real-world celebrations, and its Halloween event is one of the best in this regard.
3) Overwatch 2: Halloween TerrorThere are a lot of skeletons in Overwatch 2‘s closet (and the doors of said closet were broken off long ago). However despite my mixed feelings about the whole product, I did dip my toe in to see what had become of a favourite seasonal event—and this year’s Halloween event is another fun installment in the long-running saga of Doctor Junkenstein.
2) Destiny 2: Festival of the LostDestiny 2 has a checkered track record with seasonal festivities, but this year’s Festival of the Lost Halloween event is one of the better. Bungie held a fan vote back in March for the theme of this year’s premium skins, with “mechs” winning out over “monsters,” so for starters you can cash in some Silver or Bright Dust to kit your Guardian like something out of Gundam or Evangelion.
Seasonal vendor Eva LaPlante is back in the Tower, and she’ll task you with completing the Haunted Sectors activity. These fast-paced romps have fireteams taking on Headless Ones, spooky Hive foes with pumpkin-esque heads. While you run this event, you can also fill in the pages of the Book of the Forgotten for further lore entries and the satisfaction of completionism.
1) Fortnite: Fortnitemares 2022Let’s face it: Fortnite is like a Halloween event all year round, minus the candy and spooky atmosphere. On any given day it’s populated with people dressing up as any number of celebrities, pop culture icons, or whatever you call half of the game’s outfits (looking at you, Peely), so the king of the battle royales already has a head start on the Halloween event competition.
The “Fortnitemares” quests are also a very natural extension of recent seasons’ themes, bringing not only a dash of Halloween hijinx but relating back to the chiller vibes of last season, and tying it all into the chrome elements of the current season. It’s obviously an attempt to sell V-bucks and cosmetics, sure, but there is a staggering list of fun tasks to cross off while you’re just playing the game as usual—ringing doorbells, eating candy, buying shotguns from Evil Dead‘s Ash, and taking down zombies. Y’know, all of those traditions we all do every Halloween.
Just like the variety of treats that you might reap on the big night, there’s something for everyone in this year’s offering of Halloween events. Also like the physical act of trick or treating, be sure to bring a buddy for safety, stay visible to oncoming traffic, and remember to have fun.
* This article was originally published here
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