Video Games and What We’re Thankful For in 2023
It’s once again that time of year, and what a year it has been. There have been a bevy of major new releases, including the likes of Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XVI, Spider-Man 2, and Baldur’s Gate 3. There have also been a lot of notable events throughout this year, including the approval of the Microsoft-Activision merger and a new voice for Mario. Our own Epilogue community has grown exponentially as well, with our stream team alone reaching over 50 members. We all have a lot to be thankful for, but these are just a few of the things that stood out to us the most.
That New Classic Feel – Andy Webb
For the first time in years I’ve gotten together with friends specifically to enjoy a single game, on repeat, every Sunday. Baldur’s Gate 3 couldn’t have come at a better time for us as we had, only weeks prior, finished our years-long adventure through a homebrew TTRPG setting. Now, instead of Fantasy Grounds, we’re back to something classic but fresh. It feels as though history is repeating itself as we all harken back to the heydays of squadding up in Gauntlet or Halo, but this time with all the fun jank that comes with a complex CRPG. Baldur’s Gate 3 has been like a new stroll down memory lane, and the time I spend there with my friends is beyond any thanks I could give.
Recovering the Lost – Barry Irick
This has been a year of a ton of amazing new releases… that I didn’t really care that much for. I’m not big into fighting games like Street Fighter 6, I don’t have a PS5 for Final Fantasy XVI, and I felt like Tears of the Kingdom was a bit of a disappointment. But this has also been a year of an indie resurgence, with a ton of fantastic titles filling in the gap left behind by the AAA companies. Pizza Tower takes over where Wario Land left off, Sea of Stars pushes forward classic JRPGs as we know them, and Gravity Circuit is like a brand new Mega Man Zero. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and I am very thankful there are indie developers to take over for dormant franchises that have been long dead.
A Perfect Plate – Ben Vollmer
Perhaps it’s the most appropriate time to say this: we are eatin’ good this year. Just an unstoppable, extraordinary wave of excellent video games one right after the other. A perfect mix of genre, style, and a nice little balance of standard (Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XVI) and weird (Alan Wake II, Pizza Tower). There’s just a little something for everyone, and I’m thankful I’ve had the time to fill and clear my metaphorical video game plate several times over.
Just a couple of shoutouts that I want to give: The return of retrograde art styles as seen in Pseudoregalia and Super Kiwi 64. Monumental, opera-esque scores as seen in Alan Wake II and Final Fantasy XVI. Weird little games like Lake getting expansions more than a year after their release. Happy holidays, everyone.
An Uncertain Voyage – Flora Merigold
More than any other year in my gaming memory, 2023 has been the year where every time I look up from my controller, I ask in disbelief, “Wait, that’s out already?!” This year, I was delighted to attend PAX East for the first time, where I got to speak on panels, interview developers, and most importantly, meet my podcasting friends – people I have spoken with for years – in person. While I couldn’t catch up on every game that I wanted to, playing Tears of the Kingdom was a particularly important moment for me in that it released at the perfect intersection of my two lives: my hometown, which I was leaving behind, and my new city, which I had yet to settle into. This massive life change has increased the difficulty settings on my ability to finish games, but that hasn’t stopped me from having a great year as a Yakuza fan with Like a Dragon: Ishin! and The Man Who Erased His Name. And indies have been off the charts this year; it’s like the past five years of Steam wishlisting has finally paid off.
I’m also reaching a point of peace with video games that I’ve been struggling with since 2022. I am okay sitting out the newest AAA release; I am okay letting a review code sit unopened in my inbox; I am okay moving on from games I’d been anticipating. While I will always wistfully think back on the 2020 era when I finished almost 100 games in a calendar year, the time I spent playing games in 2023 was time I cherished. I think of the goodbye games of Jackbox that I played with my now-former students, I think of the unexpected delight of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on my Steam Deck when I took a final vacation with my mother, I think of surprising my girlfriend with a Nintendo Switch and teaming up with her as she learned games like Fall Guys and Overcooked 2. Above all, I think of the astonishing charity marathon in August when the Epilogue Gaming community raised over $10,000 in 48 hours for Lambda Legal, an organization that fights for LGBTQIA+ civil rights. I am grateful that the community that has evolved out of a hobby and a friendship is one that has an incredibly strong moral backbone, and I am so proud of Epilogue members for making this community a supportive, engaging place. We did good this year and, thankfully, had fun while doing it.
Cornucopia – Miss VVitch
While my games-played catalog has been severely lacking this year, I know I can be thankful for Pokemon and all the people it has led me to meet during 2023. The Epilogue community has grown exponentially this year and that was in no small part to the Kaizo Ironmon community, a challenge run I don’t even participate in or enjoy that much. Despite that, I feel so grateful anyway, as so many people have given their hearts to EG in a way I could have never foreseen when we first started our small community, then known as ‘The Bean Pot.’ The new bonds that I’ve formed, the way EG has helped these people individually, and the way we collectively raised over $10,000 for charity is an achievement so high that I could never have expected we could reach it.
To top it all off, because of this fateful encounter with the Kaizo Ironmon community, EG got its very first fangame, EG: Fall of Nuketown by Emma Brennan featuring trainers from the entire community. Seeing all the people I’ve grown fond of shine in their own way, in the brief moment that is a single Pokemon battle, was something special that could never be replicated in a million years for me. Every year I am thankful for EG and the space it has been, not only for me, but for so many others: a home away from home, a safe haven for expression, and a place to celebrate games. It is difficult to express the deep and utter gratitude I have in words, but I am thankful to our Stream Team members, I am thankful to our discord mods for keeping the peace, and I am thankful for you, the reader, and the impact you’ve had on this community, no matter how small that impact is perceived to be. Every member and every lurker is the reason why EG is what it is today, and the collective presence of everyone quietly cheering us all on is the reason some of us are able to push through another day, another week, another year. Every day I spend with EG is a blessing I could never find the words to properly express. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you – every one of you – for being a part of this community.
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