A very happy National Siblings Day to all of our readers and listeners! A major factor in starting Talk This was finding a way for the two of us sisters to talk more regularly during the school year, so we’re all about celebrating siblinghood!.
In honor of the holiday (or at least the hashtag that gives us all an excuse to post embarrassing baby photos, am I right?), we’re celebrating some of the most iconic siblings from video games we’ve featured on our podcast. But first, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you about our Very Special Sister Episode from this past summer. In this episode, we welcomed our first and only co-hosts to the show: our younger sisters Aurora and Milena! They probably play more games than we do, honestly. Give it a listen for twice the sibling gamer girl fun!
But now, on to our video game siblings!
Alex and Jonas Oxenfree In our second episode, we talked about Alex and Jonas from Oxenfree. These two new step-siblings might be a little wary of each other, but there’s nothing like paranormal activity to cement a bond!
Crash and Coco Bandicoot are the finest racing siblings that the Naughty Dog world has ever seen. Although we did have to double check to be sure that they’re brother and sister and not a couple. Awkward crisis narrowly averted. Hopefully they’ll bring some fresh wumpa fruit to the video game sibling potluck we’re hosting.
Animal Crossing, our old game from episode nineteen, features multiple pairs of siblings! We’ve got Tom Nook and his much less maligned brother Tommy, your neighborhood fashionistas Labelle, Sable, and Mable Able, and of course your neighbors Isabelle and Digby. Be sure you give everyone gifts on their birthday so you don’t inspire any sibling rivalry!
If you’ve been with Talk This since the early days, you might remember Madelyn’s obsession with Telltale Games, particularly Tales from the Borderlands. She’s a little embarrassed about it in hindsight, but to be fair, it was the only video game she had played from start to finish in years. In our sidequest debate about choice-based games (remember sidequest version 2.0?), we discussed Tales and it’s ilk, so this list wouldn’t be complete without bad-ass sisters Fiona and Sasha. Do you have a favorite? Choose wisely.
Stardew Valley has families of all shapes and sizes, but we’re spotlighting half-siblings Sebastian and Maru. Even though one is a science dork and the other is an emo rocker, they still look out for each other. Maybe in a few seasons, we can get enough hearts to all be best friends. Listen to episode sixteen for a throwback to before Madelyn was completely obsessed with this game, forgot about it, and became obsessed a second time. She’s probably due to pick it up again in a few weeks, if you’re keeping track.
One of Emma’s favorite games, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (featured in one of our very early episodes) has lots of siblings with slightly odd backstories, including the turnabout sisters Mia and Maya Fey, troubled siblings Lana and Ema Skye, and of course,Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright! Did I just hear you bad-mouthing one of the siblings? Objection!
In our next full episode (coming a week from Sunday), we’ll be talking about Devil May Cry. Brothers Dante and Vergil feature in the third game. What is it with video games and twins?
And the award for glitchiest facial expression goes to our Mass Effect: Andromeda twins! Sara and Scott Ryder might have their movement under control now, but as we discussed in episode twenty-one, it’s been…a process.
It wouldn’t be a list of video game siblings without the most recognizable brothers in gaming history! Super Mario Bros. was featured in episode fourteen, but we’ve talked about Mario and Luigi many times on Talk This; it’s a genre requirement! Recently, they’ve been the subject of some salacious speculation in the news, but we know Nintendo’s favorite plumbers are as wholesome as they come.
We talked about Overwatch in our second most recent full episode, and if you’ve been following our blog series Buzz This, you’ll know that Madelyn’s Overwatch character is supposed to be Genji. She’ll be taking another quiz this week, so maybe this time she can land cool brother Hanzo* and complete the sibling set.
*Can you tell we’ve never played this game?
Look, we could pick about a dozen different sibling pairs from Fire Emblem. Let’s just sum it up this way: LITERALLY THEY’RE ALL SIBLINGS. Madelyn has been playing Fire Emblem: Warriors recently, but we talked about the OG Fire Emblem in our seventh episode. 
And finally, a Bonus Family Love Edition: The Prince of all Cosmos and his many cousins! For many people, cousins can be just as close as siblings, and the Prince is no exception. They like to hang out on their home planet, and roll up junk for the King on Earth! Family comes in all shapes and sizes, but we all love Katamari! We talked about the prince and his brethren in our episode about Katamari Damacy. If you’ve already listened to a few from this post, don’t stop now: you’re on a roll!
Did we miss your favorite video game siblings? Let us know in the comments!