Winter is Coming

Xenoblade Chronicles is known for its wide-open spaces, and Valak Mountain is the largest area in the game by far. Its vastness elicits a feeling of isolation and wonder, and the music is downright haunting (especially at night). The area is adorned with wondrous ice crystals, and the entire mountain is illuminated with a golden glow after the sun goes down. Despite its immense nature, the mountain feels alive. You’ll encounter all kinds of monsters while exploring the snow-covered terrain, and many of the game’s toughest super bosses can be found in the area. Valak Mountain initially seems like a peaceful area, but it soon becomes an epicenter for drama and chaos. You can spend hours aimlessly wandering around the mountain, but you have to stay alert since your situation can change from relaxing to treacherous without a word of warning. This dichotomy ultimately makes Valak Mountain one of the most memorable locations in the game. Seriously though, you’re going to want to watch out for that spider!

The prologue of Final Fantasy VI begins with three Imperial soldiers on an ice-covered cliff overlooking a distant canyon. As we’re introduced to one of the game’s principal characters, the sounds of a howling wind punctuate the bitter cold. As the opening credits roll, snow falls from the sky as the three soldiers slowly make their way to the nearby town of Narshe. The music that accompanies the scene is among the best in the series, and the dramatic tension builds as we get closer to the destination. Narshe is a small mining town nestled in the mountains, but it turns out to be one of the most important areas in the game. Several playable characters are introduced there, and it’s the first place where you battle the game’s primary antagonist. The town is crawling with wolves and mammoths, and the chimney smoke reminds us of how cold it is. While exploring the mines, you’ll find an Esper encased in ice, encounter a legendary ice dragon, and stumble upon an elusive yeti. Narshe served as the jump-off point for the game, but there’s ample reason to return to the town throughout the adventure.

While exploring Secret of Mana‘s aptly-named Ice Country, you encounter a small house near the Ice Palace where you meet a familiar red-nosed reindeer named Rudolph. Under normal circumstances, this would be a festive rendezvous. Unfortunately, we soon learn that his master has been captured by a monster that lives in the palace. The picturesque landscape of Ice Country is noteworthy in its own right, and everything is covered in hoar frost and rime ice. Ultimately, it’s the inclusion of Santa Claus that places Ice Country within the upper echelon of snow areas. His presence felt kind of random at first, so I feel compelled to explain his role in the game. Incidentally, Santa started to feel despondent because children around the globe no longer believed in him. In an effort to reinvigorate the holiday spirit, the man in red used the Fire Seed to plant a Mana Christmas tree. Unfortunately, the seed was corrupted and transformed Santa into a bearded frost giant for some reason. This lead to a situation where you basically had to beat Santa up! Thankfully, Santa is restored to his jolly good self after his monster form is defeated. If he had carried on, he may have had to add himself to his naughty list.

The opening moments of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves place Nathan Drake in a damaged train car that’s hanging off of a cliffside. After climbing his way to safety, he finds himself stranded on a snowy mountaintop without any mittens to speak of. When we return to the scene some 15 chapters later, Nathan uses derailed train cars as cover as he wades through knee-deep snow and fends off enemy guards. The harsh environment would have been his undoing had he not been found by a Nepalese mountaineer. After taking some time to recover, Nate follows his new friend through ancient ice caves in an effort to find lost treasures. Along the way, the heroic archaeologist uses grappling ropes to clear chasms, narrowly avoids falling stalactites, and comes face to face with a yeti! At this point, the game basically goes full Tomb Raider. When Nathan finds himself in the heart of an ancient ruin, he solves a number of puzzles in order to find his way out. He isn’t given any time to breathe, however, and immediately has to use a crossbow to defend a besieged Nepalese village. The entire winter section spans five chapters or so, but its worthy of a mention on this list since the chapters flow into each other so seamlessly.

Ice dungeons are relatively common in the Zelda series, but Snowpeak Ruins from Twilight Princess was anything but ordinary. In order to reach the dungeon, you have to use a frozen leaf as a makeshift snowboard and race a yeti down a mountain summit. After reaching your destination, you’ll find a decrepit mansion where the aforementioned yeti lives with his wife, Yeta. Yeta is a bit under the weather, so Link finds himself running errands for her while trying to locate the Mirror of Twilight. Many areas in the mansion are sealed off by large ice blocks, and Link has to find creative ways to melt or shatter the ice. Along the way, Link battles a number of ice-based enemies before Yeta leads him to the boss room where he fights an unexpected opponent. The layout of the dungeon and the manner in which it’s explored feels completely different from any other dungeon in the Zelda franchise. Everything about Snowpeak Ruins – from the initial snowboard race to the dramatic boss battle – was as unique as a snowflake.

One of the most beautiful and serene areas of Metroid Prime was Phendrana Drifts, and I’ll never forget the feeling I had after stepping onto the frozen shorelines for the first time. Before reaching the area, you had to venture through lava-filled caverns, and the drastic change showcased just how diverse the game’s world truly was. It’s hard to believe, but this was the first time a Metroid game featured snow in any capacity. Isolation had always played a key role in the Metroid series, and the barren, snow-covered landscape was the perfect way to accentuate this theme. While exploring Phendrana Drifts, you’ll venture through ancient ruins, research facilities, and interwoven caves. You’ll also encounter a number of angry creatures who have adapted to the cold weather. That being said, you might be tempted to take a break for a while and simply appreciate the view. Your time in Phendrana Drifts is tied together by an ambient soundtrack that reflects the area’s tranquility.

Shadow Moses is an island off the coast of Alaska that served as the setting for the first Metal Gear Solid. Since the entire game was set on the island, it wouldn’t be appropriate to include it on this list. Solid Snake unexpectedly returns to the island for the fourth act in Metal Gear Solid 4, so it’s fair to mention it in that capacity. The island is exactly as you remember it, and the mission even begins with a dream sequence that makes the graphics look like they did in the past. The first and fourth Metal Gear Solid games were separated by a nine-year span, but the complex is virtually unchanged. You’ll visit familiar locations (including the dock, the heliport, and the snowfield among others) and even the blood stains from the first game remain. The facility is all-but abandoned, however, and the technology it once housed is now obsolete. Soldiers have been replaced with surveillance bots, and the old security system is no longer needed. In one poignant scene, a familiar security camera plunges off the wall in an unceremonious fashion. The antiquated camera no longer poses a threat, and the facility is old and falling apart. This is allegory to Snake’s role in the game, and it speaks to the changing world that surrounds him. We learn that Shadow Moses will soon be swallowed by the sea, and its entire existence will be swept away. The aging Snake is moving toward a similar fate, and he too will cease to exist. Shadow Moses is not as festive or jolly as some of the locations on this list, but winter is a time of reflection and it was nice to have been given a window to the past. If spring is a time of new beginnings, winter certainly represents the end.

The “Cliffhanger” stage from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is multifaceted and diverse. Assuming the role of Sgt. Gary “Roach” Sanderson, players are tasked with infiltrating a Russian airbase in the cold mountains of Kazakhstan. The opening parts of the stage feel like something out of Game of Thrones, and you’re required to scale frozen walls using nothing but a pair of ice axes. Once you reach the top, the level becomes an immersive stealth mission as you try to locate a satellite module while sniping off enemy soldiers from afar. After your cover is inevitably blown, the level quickly transitions into a thrilling action scene involving high-speed snowmobiles. It starts off as one of the best stealth missions in the entire series, and it somehow ends with a frenetic chase scene that takes you down a mountain, through trees, and across frozen ponds. You’ll also need to jump a 100-foot gorge before reaching the extraction point. Winter can switch from serene to treacherous without a moment’s notice, and “Cliffhanger” reflects this unpredictable nature.

Choosing my favorite Mario ice level is like choosing my favorite flavor of ice cream. I loved skiing down the hill in Yoshi’s Island and figure skating around donut-shaped ice planetoids in Super Mario Galaxy, but in the end the choice was as clear as ice. Super Mario 64 is one of the most memorable games of all-time, and “Cool, Cool Mountain” is one of its most iconic levels. As you venture through the snow-capped stage, you’ll ride ski lifts, cross narrow ice bridges, reunite a baby penguin with its mother, and make a body for a helpless snowman by rolling a snowball down a mountain and carefully guiding it to its intended destination. Perhaps the most memorable part of the level involves Mario racing a penguin down a giant ice slide. The stage is filled with small details, too. For instance, Mario starts to shiver when he stands in one spot for too long, piles of snow fall from the trees when he jumps off of them, and Mario will land waist-deep in snow if he falls from too great a height. “Snowman’s Land” was memorable in its own right, but “Cool, Cool Mountain” is arguably the most varied stage in the game.

Freezeezy Peak was a relatively eezy choice for the top spot on this list. The fifth world in Banjo-Kazooie is filled with familiar winter tropes. You’ll meet a family of polar bears, light a Christmas tree, explore the inside of an igloo, locate wrapped presents, and contend with snowball-throwing enemies. The level is adorned with frozen ponds and snow-covered cottages, and at the center of it all stands a massive snowman that towers over everything. If you climb to the top of this snowman, you’ll have the opportunity to slide down its oversized scarf on a sled! Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the game upon its release for supposedly sounding like “a retard circus,” but Freezeezy Peak just sounds like winter to me. The music is upbeat, whimsical, and downright happy. The game came out in the summer of 1998, but Freezeezy Peak always reminds me of Christmas. Super Mario 64 was given the edge over Banjo-Kazooie on our list of best Nintendo 64 games, but the bird and bear came out on top this time around.