GamesRPGThrough the Fallout TV Show, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Life is Strange Double Exposure, 2024 is the new 2015When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGThrough the Fallout TV Show, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Life is Strange Double Exposure, 2024 is the new 2015When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Bethesda)
When I watched theFallout TV showback in April, I never could have predicted what it would kickstart. In the series' wake, I had anoverwhelming desire to return to the Wasteland, which was a side effect that so many others experienced –Fallout 4 briefly rivalled the player countofHelldivers 2as a result. Feeling inspired to jump back in, I decided to hold out forFallout 4’s next-gen updatethat came some weeks later, but before I knew it, I was once again leaving Vault 111 on yet another rad-filled adventure. Having first experienced Bethesda’s RPG at launch almost 10 years ago, stepping back into it always makes me think back to where I was and what I was doing when it initially released. And oddly, it’s that particular kind of nostalgia that’s been following me around throughout the year.
As the months went on, surprise updates to older releases and new game launches alike had one big thing in common: each and every one took me back to 2015. Through some weird coincidental magic, 2024 saw the return of characters and series that defined a rather strange, unsettled time in my life. But it’s also a year that I look back on fondly because of what I played.
Turning back the clock
(Image credit: BioWare)
Following my foray into Fallout,Dragon Age: The Veilguardwas front and center in my mind a few months later thanks toSummer Game Fest. At last showing off gameplay, it was really sinking in thatBioWare’s beloved series was returning this year. I’d been waiting since I rolled the credits on Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC in 2015 (there’s that year again) for it to make a comeback, and it felt surreal to see it in action. TheVeilguard’s arrival in October signalled the end of a decade-long wait, and when I finally started playing it, I couldn’t help but feel a similar kind of 2015-fueled nostalgia.
I can vividly remember how excited I was for Trespasser, and how the ending left me wondering what would come next. I still think about how the me of back then would have taken the news that she’d have to wait for almost 10 years to find that out, but playing Veilguard also got me reflecting back on that period time just as Fallout 4 did. In 2015, I’d spent a year following university applying for jobs and unsuccessfully landing any of them. Wholly reliant on my family, I ended up working temp and retail jobs, and feared my dreams of becoming a writer would never happen. Games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Fallout 4 became not only a comfort, but a big source of inspiration – with their storytelling and world building serving as a reminder of why I wanted to write and be involved in the world of video games in some way.
(Image credit: Square Enix)
The best of 2024(Image credit: Future)See our pick of thebest games of 2024.
The best of 2024
(Image credit: Future)See our pick of thebest games of 2024.
(Image credit: Future)
See our pick of thebest games of 2024.
But when I think of 2015, I think of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price first and foremost. I played each Life is Strange episode as it came out back then, and the soundtrack became the permanent playlist of that year. Much like the aforementioned RPGs, Don’t Nod’s narrative adventure and its characters helped inspire me to keep writing in my spare time, even when it felt like it was leading me nowhere. So naturally when Max made a surprise comeback inLife is Strange: Double Exposure, that familiar nostalgia came back once again.
It’s funny how things line up sometimes. Whether you want to call it coincidence or some weird workings of fate, I can’t recall another year where its releases rewound the clock in such a personal way. I certainly didn’t have “2024 will be filled with 2015 nostalgia” on my bingo card, but you never can predict how things will turn out.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
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Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”