10 Pairs of Games That are Best Played Together

Are you really a gamer if you don't have an extensive library of games somewhere? Well, the honest answer is "yes" because even if you only have one game, you've probably played it a lot. For many of us, though, shelves are filled to the brim with our favorites; even full digital libraries. Places like Steam only help these collections grow, showing us games that go well together to give us more about what we like. We can't be mad with two cakes, right?

Like two good songs that seamlessly transition from one to the other, there are a lot of games that go hand-in-hand in a way that almost feels unreal. Some are designed that way, like Half-Life and Portal, but some are a bit more circumstantial, like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Let's look at some other games that truly compliment each other.

10 ARC Raiders and Marathon

The Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl of Shooters

So, ARC Raiders and Marathon have had some controversial headlines behind them in the last few years. That's not the only thing these two have in common, though. They're great for immersing yourself in futuristic multiplayer shooters.

These two extraction shooters are perfect for offering similar content with vastly different vibes. If you're feeling like a bit more of a hopeful, yet grungy experience, ARC Raiders will have you covered. Marathon, on the other hand, is full of bright colors and abstract designs that fit the iconic cyberpunk aesthetic. Marathon is a bit more PvP-focused, and ARC Raiders encourages more exploration. If you're missing something that's more important in the other game, switching between the two will meet your needs in the moment just fine.

9 Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Harvestella

Combine the Mundane With the Fantastical

There are a lot of gamers out there who spend their time on cozy games more than any other titles out there. I'm inclined to agree. Who doesn't love a game that lets you make cute food and get to know the people around you in a comfortable environment?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a great example of how we all have a soft spot for games like these because of how it helped so many people cope through the pandemic. All of it does feel more or less the same after a long time of playing it, though, so I suggest paring it with Harvestella for a bit more fantasy alongside it.

Both games share a number of features between them, like basic fishing, farming, and relationship dynamics. The biggest differences are fairly obvious. New Horizons lets you customize an entire deserted island into your own personal paradise, and Harvestella has a JRPG storyline and combat to go with it. Harvestella isn't overly impressive, so I enjoy countering both of these games' flaws by switching between them when I've had enough of one. It keeps the cozy vibes coming while making sure both games don't get completely stale.

8 Silent Hill and Routine

A Perfect Horror Double Feature

When you find yourself attached to certain concepts in media, sometimes, you just can't get enough of them. Analog horror is a top favorite subgenre for horror fans because it has an addictive nostalgic quality to it. Out of all the options you could mix-and-match with analog horror games, I think Silent Hill and Routine are a great combination on many fronts.

These two games practically drag you into an ominous, mysterious world you're asked to navigate with radios and the C.A.T device respectively. Even though Routine leans far more science fiction akin to Alien than Silent Hill does, it's a great counterbalance if you get a bit tired of Silent Hill's urban landscape. Also, Silent Hill has plenty of games to pick and choose from out of its long legacy, which is a nice balance with Routine's more obscure status.

7 Donkey Kong Bananza and Super Mario Odyssey

They'll Be Your 1-Up Boys

Donkey Kong Bananza and Super Mario Odyssey are both big Nintendo Switch (2 in DK's case) launch titles that deserve to be called must-plays. The love for their respective franchises they put on display, as well as the sheer freedom they both offer players, make them complete delights to play. As the cherry on top, both of them tie into each other beautifully through Pauline.

There are plenty of titles you could follow Donkey Kong Bananza with, especially if you want to aim for chronological order or something to that effect. But where Bananza lets you destroy entire levels any way you want, Odyssey lets you explore massive kingdom maps any way you want as well. They go well together on so many levels in terms of their game design that I feel like no other Mario game can follow behind Donkey Kong Bananza. It's just the perfect combination.

6 Undertale and Deltarune

Literally Made For Each Other

So, for these two, take what I said about Super Mario Odyssey and Donkey Kong Bananza, except it's less because of the nature of the team that made those games, and more deliberately on purpose.

... What, you want more than that? It's like I already said: Undertale and Deltarune are literally made for each other. The creator of Undertale, Toby Fox, had the inspiration for Deltarune first through a dream he had in 2011. He wanted to make that game, but didn't know if he could, so he made Undertale first. Now that he has, Deltarune uses Undertale to fill in the blanks of his original idea.

The result is two incredible RPGs that are love letters to the entire RPG genre. Undertale deconstructs expectations of RPGs with an amazing meta-narrative, and Deltarune is aiming to do the same thing while also calling the nature of player choice into question. If you haven't one of these games, let alone both of them, you really should. You're missing out if you're not.

5 Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl

The Dream Combo for Alternate History Shooter Fans

If you like the rebellious nature of post-war shooter games, Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl are among the best. There's hardly any room for you to not like either one of these games because they're connected on multiple levels, from their historical and fictional inspirations down to embodying the split between GSC Game World and 4A Games.

The way that both games are made by Ukranian studios helps them both serve as authentic representations of Russian and Ukranian culture respectively. The way that Metro 2033 takes place generally in the world of the abandoned metro system under Russia serves as a claustrophobic counterpart to Shadow of Chernobyl's story in the outside world. I also find Metro to be a bit more grounded than S.T.A.L.K.E.R's more sci-fi weirdness. Both games naturally feel very similar, and naturally feel great to go through at the same time.

4 Sonic Frontiers and Shadow Generations

Perfect Reflections 'Till the End

Shadow Generations is built and written to be played alongside the game that literally takes place at the same time as it, which is why it's only found in the Sonic X Shadow Generations collection. A lot of fans, myself included, have noticed that Sonic Frontiers and Shadow Generations work just as well together. Naturally, both games feature open-zone exploration with playable levels you can discover as you progress. Narratively speaking, though, the games are mirrors of one another.

In Sonic Frontiers, the natural-born Sonic becomes infested with the artifical Cyber Corruption. In Shadow Generations, the artificial hedgehog mutates in a way that's natural to his genetics. Both grow in strength and agony along the way. Fun! Sonic Frontiers and Shadow Generations serve as character studies for the driving factors between Sonic and Shadow. And, to piece it all together, Sonic's story practically invades Shadow's as Frontiers' own Chaos Island appears as a stage in the Ultimate Lifeform's story.

In fact, it's only after Shadow's Chaos Island stage where Sonic and Shadow collide. It's interesting to think about, isn't it?

3 Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria

Living History

I'm pretty sure we're all used to the concept of prequels here. If you recognize the Tales of games, you're also probably used to the JRPG trope of games being sequels, but taking place hundreds of years into the future. Tales of Berseria takes place a thousand years before Tales of Zestiria, and because the games were developed so closely together, the connections between the two are near seamless. You know. Apart from typical JRPG writing mistakes between the two.

Still, the way that these two games manage to tie in with each other is incredibly fun to experience. The first game, Tales of Zestiria, deals a fair bit with learning from history and making amends to the past by learning from it. It doesn't help that the protagonist loves archeology. So, when you have Tales of Berseria, which purposely shows locations that were weathered in Zestiria in their full glory, expanding the history on so many things seen in Zestiria... you have two games that threaten to immerse you in its history in a way hardly any games have done before or since.

You can play both of the games in any order, but in my personal opinion and bias, playing Tales of Zestiria first makes Tales of Berseria hit even harder. That's how they were developed anyway.

2 Hollow Knight and Yoku's Island Express

The Perfect Metroidvania Mix

There are two video game genres that I've found to be the most humbling in my lifetime. Those would naturally be the soulslike and the Metroidvania. Many soulslikes and Metroidvanias are designed to be challenging, and it doesn't help that those genres have been getting along like best friends for the last while now, raising the stakes of every other new release.

Hollow Knight is a great example of this, in my opinion. I know there's a big debate about whether it's a soulslike, but I can see the similarities. Mostly because when I first jumped in, I got skill checked at the door by Hornet. If you're also one of the people divided by the Silksong protagonist's first appearance, might I suggest playing Hollow Knight alongside a more welcoming Metroidvania like Yoku's Island Express?

Yoku's Island Express focuses less on challenging boss fights and combat and more on movement, platforming, and puzzles. It's colorful environments compliment Island Express' pinball mechanics really well, and it's great to retreat to when Hollow Knight gets a little on the frustrating side. It allows me a nice, relaxed reset so I can take on Hollow Knight's challenges with a fresh state of mind.

On top of all of that, both games allow you to play as a cute little bug. What's not to love?

1 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Beat Saber

You Are Now Hearing Those Sound Effects in Your Head

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the best Star Wars games out there. I've become a bit jaded over Star Wars after Disney bought it, but the Jedi games really remind me of what I loved about the series when I didn't think I liked it anymore. The Lightsaber combat feels excellent, the story immerses me into this iconic world with ease, and being able to jump between its five planets just fills me with the same wonder I felt when I first watched Star Wars with my family.

That said, we can't play as Cal forever. We can't be immersed in the world of Star Wars all the time. Or can we? If you really want to live the life of a Jedi, why not follow up your Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sessions with Beat Saber?

Beat Saber might be its own thing, but it's still a perfect game for any Star Wars fan that dreams of wielding a Lightsaber. It's a rhythm game where you use two different colored laser-sticks to break colored boxes to the beat in VR. With high-paced and high-difficulty songs, it feels like an incredible rush. It's one of my favorite games of all time, and it definitely ticks the box for any Star Wars power fantasies. Pairing it with Jedi: Fallen Order just makes this even better.