The best video games you should be playing this holiday season

"Fallout 4" casts you as a wanderer in the radioactive ruins of the Boston metro area, following the aftermath of a nuclear war that ended human civilization as we know it. It's got action, adventure, and best of all, the chance to be the hero of your own story.

Read Tech Insider's Fallout 4 review here>>

"Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" wraps up the 28-year-long "Metal Gear" saga — and it goes out with a bang. In this game, players take the role of Big Boss, the best stealth operative in the world, as he amasses his private army and takes on the bad guys — either really quietly, or making things loud by calling in the cavalry.

"Rise of the Tomb Raider," the follow-up to 2013's hit "Tomb Raider" reboot, takes Lara Croft to the Siberian wilderness as she works to solve a supernatural mystery. Players will solve light puzzles, fight lots of bad guys, and, of course, raid tombs.

The latest entry in the "Halo" franchise mixes things up by giving the series' hero Master Chief a new set of friends, a new rival in the form of the playable Spartan Locke, and a set of new moves to help him in his fight against the usual hordes of angry aliens. Plus, the new multiplayer modes like "Warzone" are pretty great.

Check out Tech Insider's review of Halo 5 here>>

"Splatoon," Nintendo's first new franchise in years, is also one of its best ever. It's a stylish, wildly inventive shooter that's safe for the whole family: Playing as a Squid Boy or Squid Girl, it's your job to cover as much of the arena in paint as possible before the other team can do the same.

Read our review of Splatoon here>>

"Life Is Strange" is one of the year's most offbeat games, but also one of the best. There's not a lot of action, but there's plenty of tension and suspense, as players use time-travel powers to solve the dark mysteries hanging over a sleepy town in the Pacific Northwest. And you'll have to make choices that can literally mean the difference between life and death.

The critically acclaimed "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" has some seriously dedicated fans — in fact, the prime minister of Poland loves it so much, he gave it to President Obama as a gift. In this gorgeous open-world role playing game, you fight monsters and complete heroic quests while making tough moral decisions that can affect the outcome of the game.

"Rocket League" is a frenetic, addictive combination of soccer and car combat. The gameplay is deceptively simple: You have a team of five, they have a team of three, and you have to drive the ball into the goal. But that humble concept means it's easy to learn, but hard to master.

"Super Mario Maker" lets players unleash their creativity with a pleasantly complete set of tools for building their own levels and sharing them on the Internet. People have come up with some delightfully devilish challenges, so it'll be a long time before you run out of levels to play.

"Destiny: The Taken King" is a huge update to 2014's "Destiny" that adds tons of new levels, gear, and story to play through. "Destiny" superfans hail "The Taken King" as the game that it should have been in the first place.

This game is one of the year's most pleasant surprises: "Yoshi's Wooly World" casts you as Mario's longtime dinosaur pal, but with a twist. In this game, everything is made of yarn, felt, and other craft store materials, giving it a unique look and feel. Even better, two players can tackle the levels together.

And now for something completely different.

Undertale may not look like much, but its pixel-y exterior hides a story that alternates between funny and emotionally touching. You have the option to fight monsters, but you can also try to turn them into your friends with a complex system of communicating with them. And at $9.99, it's cheaper than a lot of other options on this list.