I thought this might be a fun question, because November is usually the time of year that big releases and new platforms come out. Because of this, I often feel "programmed" to want to play some of these games. I'd list some of them, but I don't want to skew the conversation one way or another.

So, it's pretty simple - It's November, and you find yourself really in the mood to play ____________. What is that game (or games) for you?

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I'm in a weird spot that I find myself in often, where there's a new game coming out in a few weeks that I really want to play, and it makes playing anything else in the interim difficult. Because I really just want to play that new game at this point.

In this case, it's the Demon's Souls remake. I'm really hyped because it's the one Souls game I haven't played, it's on new hardware and it's one of the few PS5/XSX games coming out this year that really does look next-gen. I've never gotten any non-Nintendo consoles at launch before because they've never had a "must-have" game for me in their launch lineup, so it's nice to have that happen for a change.

If we're talking about nostalgia, it's gotta be Ocarina of Time. The game is themed around nostalgia; returning to Kokiri Forest as Adult Link evokes the exact same in-game feeling as returning to Kokiri Forest as a real adult does. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have talked about how, when they first started making South Park, they related more to Stan and used him as their voice, but now that they're older, they focus way more on Randy. That's how Ocarina of Time makes me feel! As a kid, I loved the cheerful Young Link sections of the game way more, but now I appreciate the more serious depth of the Adult Link sections too.

Only 90s kids will understand...

I was going to say 3D Zelda in general, since this time of year evokes so many memories of stalking Electronics Boutique for my launch copy of Ocarina of Time, or playing Twilight Princess for the first time on Wii.

Metroid is another big contender for me. It's colder this time of year, and what better way than to get warm inside with some Metroid Prime sessions that go on for hours?

When it comes to nostalgia, for the games that have made the biggest impression on me over the years, I definitely think about them and feel the urge to play them around the time of the year that I first played them. Most of these are Zelda, Resident Evil and Metroid games, and usually ones driven by many months and sometimes years of personal hype.

Wii and Wii U are the only November consoles that I got on launch day, and I don't really have a ton of nostalgia for the latter. I do have fond memories of my Thanksgiving week Twilight Princess marathon back when it came out, and similarly for Skyward Sword several years later. I did buy Metroid Prime at launch, but I mostly played it over the holiday break.

Whenever we get a big snowstorm in January/February, that's when I get the most nostalgic for many of my favorite games. My first experience with Ocarina of Time was watching my brother playing through it for the first time for hours during a January snow day, and I've always associated frozen Zora's Domain with it also being frozen outside. With Majora's Mask, I essentially had two weeks off of school to do nothing but play that game as a result of winter weather delaying midterm exams, which I conveniently didn't need to take that year. I beat Metroid Prime on a snow day. Melee, the THQ wrestling games on N64, Goldeneye...my best memories of all these games are of being stuck inside during a blizzard. On a weekend where the weather is bad and I stay inside the whole time, I think about all of these games.

Anything Castlevania.

Yeah, even N64.

I'm always in some state of nostalgia. Pretty much anything from the NES or SNES are easy for me to just play.

@chrisbg99 Hopefully I was clear with my question. Is there anything you really get itching to play every November specifically?

I find this happens at other times of the year...but mostly for me, I get the urge to run through specific series at this time of year. I'm not sure if it's because of the anticipation of waiting for big consoles or releases, or the memories I associate with games over Thanksgiving. It feels very Pavlovian, that's for sure!

Like, I would love to play through Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time right now because I specifically remember playing it around the holidays. They're remaking/remastering it but....not sure it's really looking too hot by today's standards.

The only game I can think of that I have any nostalgia for playing at a certain time of year is Ye Olde Sonic the Hedgehog, since the Genesis was the only console I ever got for Christmas. The music on Star Light Zone seems like it was composed to trigger nostalgia.

I suppose I played a lot of N64 wrestling games at Thanksgiving over at my cousins, but I tried to go back and play those a few years ago and... woof.