A Video Game Thanksgiving: What We’re Thankful For in 2021
Our thanks to the Epilogue community for another year of support. As we look forward to the winter holidays, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on what has made this year special for many of our staff members.
Written by Flora Eloise
I commonly encounter the view that 2021 has been a slow year for gaming, “the year of the delay,” as it were. But I personally feel as invigorated as I’ve ever felt towards this passionate hobby of mine. In 2021, at the moment of this writing, I’ve hit the credits of 52 games — one for every week in the year, my personal goal — and dabbled with many others from multiplayer tournaments like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout to mobile games like Pikmin Bloom. Of those 52 games, around half were 2021 releases, while the other half dipped into my ever-growing backlog of games. I’ve certainly not completed as many games as I did in 2020, but all the same, I’m thankful for the time that I’ve been able to dedicate to this wide variety of games.
2021 featured numerous new game releases that blew me away, from remasters and rereleases like NieR Replicant and Disco Elysium: The Final Cut to brand new IPs like It Takes Two and Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. Along the way, this year has also featured prominent indie hits like Before Your Eyes, which made me cry right when the credits hit, and Chicory: A Colorful Tale, which surpassed the hype that caused me to back the game on Kickstarter years ago. It also featured some fascinating follow-up sequels like Life is Strange: True Colors and Lost Judgment, which I adored. I’ve even taken a liking to some mobile games like Pikmin Bloom and NieR Reincarnation, both of which have made it into my daily routine when I hop on the treadmill at the gym.
Simultaneously, this year has been a boon for my dipping backwards into games that I’ve had a yearning to play for months or years. Some 2020 games that barely slipped me by like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and Hades come to mind as those more memorable experiences, as well as my painstaking but successful attempt to earn 100% of the achievements in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I also reached far backwards to titles from previous generations like Bayonetta, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Persona 4 Golden, which have all haunted my backlog for upwards of a decade.
One of the major things I’m thankful for this year is the Playstation 3 console that was gifted to me by a former student. It was an unexpected and extravagant gift, because they knew of my passion for gaming and the then-overheating state of my “unfixable” PS3 that I’ve had hopelessly examined by various repair professionals. All of a sudden, I once again had a working PS3 in my household, spawning my reinstallation of the Metal Gear Collection, Yakuza: Dead Souls, and most recently, Drakengard 3 with its myriad DLC expansions. I even imported my first game from Japan, Yakuza Kenzan, which I plan to start before the new year. The Playstation 3 has certainly betrayed its age through snail-paced UI, loading, and installation times, but I am incredibly grateful for the chance to finally dive back into my bulky collection from the seventh console generation.
Another major thing I am thankful for this year is my Playstation 5, which took me over eight months to obtain given the absurd nature of supply and demand around these consoles. I admittedly haven’t played as much on my Playstation 5 as I was anticipating, but the Dualsense has become my default controller any time I sit down to play games on my PC or console. I feel lucky that I was able to get my hands on a PS5 at all, given the dozens of times I fruitlessly queued up for “pain,” as Wario64 would have it on Twitter. Even though the Playstation library sorely needs some home runs to drive forward the current generation, what I’ve played, from Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERgrade to Returnal, has been towards the peak of the games I’ve spent time with in 2021.
Finally, I would like to thank the Epilogue community directly for their support of our work in 2021. From the articles that we produce each month to the daily interactions in our Discord, Epilogue is the first place I turn to when I want a high quality discussion about the games that I’m thinking about currently. As before, our annual charity events continue to surpass expectations, with our marathon this summer raising over $5,000 for the Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to LGBTQIA+ suicide prevention and crisis intervention. Our readership and Patreon supporters are as avid as ever, and I hope we are able to continue giving back to this generous, thoughtful, caring community for a long time. I cannot thank everyone enough for the ongoing engagement with this niche that we’ve created on the internet.
Written by Ben Vollmer
First of all, I’ll echo Flora’s thoughts on the support we’ve received through the year. Our community and audience has been impressively consistent through one of the least consistent years in human history. From the work we do on the website, our community on Discord and streaming sites such as Twitch and YouTube, to our twice-a-year charity marathons, we are endlessly lucky to have such stable support.
On a more personal level, I’m as thankful as ever that I’ve had games to play with other people. Particularly during moments of quarantine and isolation, I never felt quite alone. My time spent in games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or more recently in Halo: Infinite has been some of the most fun I’ve had with games since I was a kid – and I think that speaks to how important the social aspect of games really is to me. I’m thankful to the people who always reach out with invites to play – I’m lucky that no matter how busy my schedule gets, people never stop asking.
More so than ever, I’m thankful for the triumphant return of Xbox. I grew up with “The Duke” in hand and the flashy green and black box as my go-to (and first ever) home console. While I’m trepid to get attached to any one brand, I’m thankful for the work they’ve done in terms of accessibility and have personally benefited from their continued support for backwards compatibility – something I find tremendously important for the survival of the game industry – with titles like Doom, Fallout 3, and Peter Jackson’s King Kong (surprisingly good!). The return of Halo and the additions of Psychonauts 2 and Forza Horizon 5 have made this one of the first years of success the publisher has had in a long time. I won’t take that for granted.
Lastly, I’m thankful for Geoff Keighley. It’s a bit of a weird one, but hear me out: the game space has long dealt with issues of national recognition, often lagging behind other forms of media in terms of the amount and kinds of attention it would get. Geoff isn’t single-handedly responsible for this, obviously — a lot of hardworking women and men have made this a space with endless possibilities — but his collective efforts to align the game industry are really impressive. The Game Awards has become an end-of-the-year titan, and the excitement I once had for E3 can still be found for his show.
Thank you to everyone who has given me (and us) a platform over the years. Nothing is more important than having your voice respected and heard. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Written by Justin Dollimore
As a Canadian, I’ve already celebrated my Thanksgiving, but the year is yet to be finished and there are many things that I’m grateful for. I’m grateful that on August 15th, my Fiancé said yes to marrying me. I transitioned from making content over on Twitch to streaming on YouTube, and I’m grateful the move went so smoothly. As years pass here in Epilogue Gaming, I’m especially grateful for the fact that there are so many wonderful people in the community who have been so supportive of one another. I wish everyone positive vibes and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Written by Zach Rogers
The pandemic brought the world to a halt and we have been slowly trying to get back to any sense of normalcy in our lives. Personally, I have had many ups and downs during this time and I wouldn’t have made it like I have without the help of video games and my amazing friends in this community.
Of the many games that I have tried out and enjoyed this year, the dangerous high seas of Rare’s Sea of Thieves has been unlike any other. I have always loved pirates and their real world history. Initially, I did not enjoy the game when I ventured out on my own for the first time. I felt like there was too much to learn and I was scared of other players who might be trying to ruin my fun. Fortunately, Nina Salenius convinced me to try again, but this time with her; the game felt completely different with a friend. We set off to dig up treasures, fight off ravenous hordes of skeletons, and defend ourselves successfully from other pirates. Sea of Thieves honestly might be the best open world pirate game that exists in gaming right now, and probably for the foreseeable future.
This year also saw a shake up in the game industry with allegations of sexual harassment and terrible workplace conditions at Activision Blizzard. As a result, I have deleted all of their games and canceled my subscriptions until we see meaningful change from within that company. This decision has given me the chance to explore new worlds, specifically Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV. Final Fantasy XIV might be one of the best MMORPGs on the market right now. The community is incredibly welcoming to new players and you’ll never struggle with finding answers to any questions you have about the game. The story is incredibly rich and I find myself excited to get even deeper into its world.
Lastly, I am thankful for my friends and peers within the Epilogue Gaming community. There are a lot of incredibly talented people within this community and it is always a pleasure to see the wonderful things that they create. However, I have struggled a lot during this pandemic with my confidence in my skills as a writer, video editor, and content creator. If it wasn’t for this community and many of my amazing friends, I likely would have abandoned some of these hobbies that I greatly enjoy. Due to their encouragement and support, I have been restructuring how I write, edit videos, and create content. I am setting myself up with the correct mindset so that 2022 will be my year. Stay tuned for what Epilogue Gaming and I have in store!
Written by Barry Irick
2021 has been a strange year. Coming off of the heels of the pandemic, I would say that it’s been a fairly slow year on the gaming front – I’ve only played around 12 new releases, with a few of them being demos like Deltarune Chapter 2 or free like Pokemon Unite. Despite the quantity of games released, there seems to be a resurgence of the early-to-mid 2000s, with franchises such as Psychonauts, Metroid, and WarioWare getting another chance at the spotlight. I am thankful that this era is once again represented, and am looking forward to a future where we may see more revivals such as the upcoming Advance Wars reboot.
More than anything else, however, I am thankful for the Epilogue Community. I have made so many friends here, and having this community has helped keep me sane during an otherwise difficult time. Between my late night streams, marathon events such as the Epilogue Grand Prix, and the thriving Discord, there is always something going on. I love each and every one of you, and I hope our community continues to be as supportive going forward.
Written by Marcos Carmona
Looking back at 2021 is a hazy mixture of an awkward and monotonous experience. A shining constant, however, were the opportunities that games brought to enjoy those quiet nights at home, whether it’s running sets with friends through some netplay or playing some Kingdom Hearts with some of the biggest idiots I know. At all times through the year, it felt as if time was speeding and slowing in the most inopportune intervals, but those moments of reprieve play back clearly and steadily. There are few things I’m more thankful for than the people I’ve met in this community and those games we play together. Happy Holidays.
Written by Nina Salenius
I am thankful for the Epilogue Gaming community, the staff, and the overall uplifting vibe of everyone involved. Your continued support during our EG48 Charity Events keeps us going and inspires us to do better. Your insightful and thoughtful comments on every article help the writing team stay motivated and even gave me courage to try it out as well. But perhaps most of all, you’re a really cool bunch of people to hang out with and share our love of video games.
Thank you for reading. Your Patreon support keeps our community entirely Ad free.
