ETAO PODCAST, EPISODE 125.
It’s the Year in Review ‘cast! Drew, Lucio, and Franny (along with her alter-ego Michelle) have gathered ’round to reflect on the games we played this year, the games we didn’t quite get to, and the games we’re definitely going to play once they’re available to be played.
2021 has truly been the sequel no one asked for, from the protracted coronavirus crisis, to the Cambrian explosion of crypto-scams, to all the usual stuff (like neoliberalism being both unwilling and unable to do much about climate catastrophe, rising authoritarianism, or even the stuff it’s supposed to be great at and indeed organized around, like supply chains and shit).
But there’ve been games! Great ones, and in abundance. As we take stock of the stupidest year since last year, let’s also take stock of the vibrant art form that this here podcast was built to celebrate, explore, and explain. Will the team be as slap-happy as they were last year? (Yes).
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• The header image is from Solar Ash, and the body image is from Sable.
• There are in fact 900 Korok seeds in Breath of the Wild.
• The Luigi’s Mansion 3 DLC did come out in 2020.
• NieR Replicant does also contain a not-insubstantial quality of literal egg delivery.
• There are in fact 1,400 unique foley sound effects in Unpacking.
• Here’s that People Make Games episode on the intersection of outsourcing and crunch.
• You can indeed still play the demo to A Musical Story, as well as UNBEATABLE [white label] and the Linda & Joan prologue, “Four Months Earlier.”
• Do consider playing moon.
• We didn’t get into the TTRPGs that Drew played this year, but those were Reign, Nobilis, Psionics, Flying Circus, and Tricks, Treats, and Spooky Streets. If you want to heat him playing those, and get a lovely story or two besides, then you can check out Dice Punks.
• I did in fact miss Skin Deep, so thanks to Franny for catching that. I should also mention Sephonine, the next game from the creators of Anodyne, Anodyne 2, and Even the Ocean.
• And since we did long ago abandon any pretense of being comprehensive here, we’ll note here that Drew’s to-read pile does also include Unsighted, Eastward, The Forgotten City, The Artful Escape, Moonglow Bay, Wild at Heart, Serious Sam 4, and (once it has co-op) Halo Infinite.
• Jorge and Scott at Experience Points were sourer on the back two thirds of Inscryption than we were, and they did a thorough, thoughtful breakdown of why. (We should also note that we recorded our roundup before the publishing of this year’s Gameys).
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“All The People Say (Season 4)” by Carpe Demon.
“Apple Blossoms” by Vernon Geyer.
“Muskrat Ramble” by Kid Ory, performed by The Lion’s Jazz Band.
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Logo by Aaron Perry-Zucker, using Icons by by Llisole, Dávid Gladiš, Atif Arshad, Daniel Nochta, Mike Rowe, Jakub Čaja, Raji Purcell and IconsGhost from the Noun Project.
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