When I watched the ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Fallout TV show back in April, I never could have predicted what it would kickstart. In the series' wake, I had an overwhelming desire to return to the Wasteland, which was a side effect that so many others experienced – Fallout 4 briefly rivalled the player count of ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Helldivers 2 as a result. Feeling inspired to jump back in, I decided to hold out for ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Fallout 4's next-gen update that came some weeks later, but before I knew it, I was once again leaving Vault 111 on yetš 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 sātrange, unsettled time in my life. But it's also a year that I look back onšŖ fondly because of what I played.
Turning back the clock
Following my foray into Fallout, ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Dragon Age: The Veilguard was front and center in my mind a few months later thanks to ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Summer Game Fest. At last showing off gameplay, it was really sinking in that BioWare'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. The Veilguard's arrival in October signalled the end of a decade-long wait, and when I finaš·lly started playing it, I couldn't help but feel a similarā kind of 2015-fueled nostalgia.
I can vividly remember how excitedš° 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.
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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 in ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Life is Strange: Double Exposure, that familiar nostalgia came back once again.
As if I needed any more reminders of that year or period in my life, the latest time machine came in the ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:shape of a next-gen update for Assassin's Creed Syndicate. With a lifelong love for history, I've always been fascinated by tą“he Victorian era, and I can still remember how excited I was at the prospect of venturing into Syndicate's Victorian England setting. That, coupled with the fact that it featured dual protagonists - including a playable leading lady - meant that it really spoke to me, and Syndicate soon became one of my favorite Assassin's Creed games of all-time. The update gave me the perfect excuse to reunite with the Frye twins, and when I did, that same 2015 nostalgia washed over me.
It's funny how things line up sometimes. Whether you want to call it coincidence or some weird workings of fate, I caą²n't recall another year where its releases rewound the clock in such a personal wayą¼ŗ. 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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I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I šearned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.
