Forspoken, Sifu, And Game Of The Year 2021 | GI Show

by Alex Stadnik on Dec 20, 2021 at 12:42 PM

What's a Thursday without another exciting episode of The Game Informer Show ? We're back to our regular scheduled release and today we're diving into our impressions of Forspoken, Sifu, and our Game of the Year pick for 2021. That's not all though. Jill, John, Stadnik, and Van Aken are here to go over their personal top ten lists and discuss what games made a huge impact on them in a stacked year. Later in the show, Marcus, Dan, and Kim join the madness to recap who won The Game Awards predictions from a few weeks ago and wrap the proceedings with another fun section of Listener Questions!

Follow the crew on Twitter: Alex Stadnik (@Studnik76), Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), and John Carson (@John_Carson), Jill Grodt (@Finruin), Kimberley Wallace (@kstar1785), and Dan Tack (@dantack)

The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join hosts Alex Stadnik and Alex Van Aken every Thursday to chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from all around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or your favorite podcast app.

Check out the timestamps below to jump to a particular point in the discussion:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:30 - Game Informer's Top 10 Games of 2021

00:06:34 - Editor Top 10 Picks of 2021 (Part 1)

00:54:31 - The Playlist

00:55:00 - Forspoken Impressions

01:08:47 - Sifu Hands-On Preview

01:19:32 - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

01:34:09 - Housekeeping

01:38:46 - The Game Awards Predictions Winner

01:50:45 - Listener Emails

Topic Of The Show:

Game of the Year 2021 and Editor Top 10s Part 1

It's that glorious time of year again when we get to sit down and celebrate the best of the best in the industry. 2021 was anything but ordinary, but it still produced some amazing gaming experiences, and today we're recapping our official top ten list and letting you know what won our Game of the Year. We also want to take some time over the next few weeks to give each editor a chance to spotlight their own lists. Today's episode features the Alexes, Jill, and John talking about their love for Metroid Dread, Life is Strange, and so much more. If you enjoyed this chat, be sure to tune in over the next few weeks as we highlight more top tens from the rest of the editorial staff!

Check out our top ten list here .

The Playlist:

Game Informer Staff discuss the games they're playing.

After weeks of chaos, we're finally returning to The Playlist! The GI crew has been hard at work checking out some of 2022's most interesting titles. Jill sticks with us here to talk about her time previewing Forspoken, Square Enix's new action title that has a lot going for it, but also a lot to prove before it releases in May of next year. Stadnik later chimes in with his thoughts on his hands-on time with Sifu, developer Sloclap's exciting new action game. With masterful melee combat, slick style, and an interesting aging mechanic, it has instantly shot up his most anticipated list for 2021, and is excited to share his experience with you! Finally, John Carson wraps up the segment with his thoughts on his time with Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker and discusses why the month and a half long grind has been worth it to see all the new content!

Check out our New Gameplay Today on Sifu here .

Listener Questions:

The Game Informer crew answers your burning questions.

This week's Listener Questions kicks off with a different segment. We're bringing Marcus, Dan, and Kim back to recap the winner of our Game Awards predictions we did a few weeks ago. Who reigns supreme, and who is looking forward to next year? You'll just have to tune in to find out. After that, we answer your burning questions of what bosses made us throw a controller, whether or not we like the end-of-year recaps, and what we thought of the year in games!

Read their questions below, or submit your own via the Official Game Informer Community Discord or by emailing us at Podcast@GameInformer.com :

I’m curious what bosses in games have caused y’all to cry in frustration or scream with rage? Which have absolutely murdered you? - CaseyDavid (Discord)

Are you Stat people? I ask because I like to get those end of the year wrap ups like spotify does with your music and I just got my Nintendo stats for the year. Always enjoy looking back on that kind of info. Keep up the great work love the show! - Kody Gipson (Discord)

With Game Awards behind us, what’s your retrospective on this year in games as well as this year’s award show? - BigSliceGaming (Discord)

For more Game Informer podcasts, be sure to check out Video Gameography , our video game history podcast, and All Things Nintendo with host Brian Shea which deep dives into Nintendo's library of games every week.

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The GI Show podcast is a weekly recap of exciting releases, exclusive details on upcoming games, and in-depth interviews with developers. Watch or listen to a new episode every Thursday!