Another year ends while I reflect on the few things that brought me joy.
This is a year-end "best of" list, but since it's things I like it's guaranteed to make people on the internet irrationally angry. I don't know why, but whenever I write something like "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows on Nintendo DS is a really good game," what people online read is "fuck your mom and drink my black tar coffee shits." It happens less often when I'm talking about movies or TV shows, so it's likely because the Venn diagram of Gamers and Nazi sympathisers is a perfect circle.
I'm going to try this again anyway, so here are my Favourite Things of the Year: 2024 Edition.
Favourite Game
Let's get games out of the way first so that maybe the Gamers will forget about it by the end and find a black or non-sexualized female character to freak out about instead.
I played a lot of games that came out this year, which isn't typical for me, so I actually had to think about this for a minute. There was the Silent Hill 2 remake, which I really enjoyed at first but it dragged on too long with very little variety so I never finished it. I never finished the original either, but that's because I was too scared to climb through the hole in the wall behind the clock, so that probably means the remake isn't as good.
Then there is Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero!, which is a lot of fun but I wouldn't say I'm "in fun" with it.
The game I spent the most time with (according to the PlayStation year-end recap) and probably enjoyed the most, in spite of itself, was Dragon's Dogma 2. The best way I can describe it is, it's what I imagine the original Final Fantasy would be like if it were made today. It feels very old fashioned and directionless to the point where the main quest feels like a side job, but the moment that made me love it was when I randomly stumbled on the hidden ancestral home of the elves while I was supposed to be escorting some old guy to town. That probably blew his tiny little peasant mind.
Also, the game's character creator has an ass slider that goes ALL the way up, so I got to adventure as Carl with the Dumptruck Ass.
Favourite Movie
I don't go to the theatre anymore because I hate people, so I only have what made it to Netflix and Disney+ to choose from. And yet I still can't remember everything I've watched since January, so I'm just going to pick Alien: Romulus. I know that exudes recency bias, but it's probably my favourite anyway because it's the first really good solo Alien film since Resurrection. Since I actually like Resurrection, that may be why I didn't get as upset as most people about them digitally resurrecting Ian Holm. I was more annoyed by the bad quality of the A.I. deepfake. Even on my old TV I could see the blurring around his mouth when he spoke. I've seen more convincing videos of Ivanka Trump sucking on her fat, ugly dad's weird dick.
(... Oh? Seriously?... I just received word that those videos are real.)
I do agree with others that they shouldn't have had Andy quote Ripley's line from the end of Aliens, or they could have at least iterated on it a bit to make it his own. But what was most jarring for me was how young all the main actors looked. They're all adults but they look like they're twelve. Is this just part of getting old? When I was 25 did I look like a toddler to anyone over 30? Or maybe it just means I'm not a pedophile. Phew, I was kind of worried about that.
Favourite TV Series
I was going to bundle this together with "Favourite Streaming Series" because traditional TV is pretty much dead, but then I wouldn't get to talk about Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
I really liked the Harley Quinn animated series but hated Kite Man in it, so I was very surprised that I loved the new show. No, Kite Man isn't the best part of his own series, but I do appreciate his wholesome optimism and positive relationship with Golden Glider.
The actual best part is Bane, who is also the best part of Harley Quinn. I'm not sure if I want him to get his own series next, or just continue to tag along with whoever does and keep on truckin' in spite of everyone constantly shitting on him. They're doing it out of jealousy, my poor, sweet Bane.
Favourite Streaming Series
On the Disney+ side, I kind of liked Ahsoka and Agatha All Along, while on the Netflix side I actively disliked Terminator Zero and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. But what I absolutely loved this year is Dragon Ball DAIMA, which is on Netflix in Canada so it counts as a streaming series for me. Can't stream it in your country without signing up for an anime-centric service like Crunchyroll? I guess you should get a better country.
I've alluded to why I like DAIMA before, i.e. that it goes back to the adventure-oriented roots of the original Dragon Ball and the first season of Dragon Ball GT, and that Dragon Ball Super fans don't like it because it isn't non-stop action. But the main reason I enjoy it so much is because Goku is definitely fucking with Glorio by mispronouncing his name all the time.
Favourite Web Series
The only reason I'm including "Web Series" as a category is so I can recommend Oxventure: Wyrdwood to you. I love this group and hope they keep making tabletop RPG content because IGN is definitely going to kill their regular gaming channels now that they own Eurogamer.
And that's it for 2024. This was a shitty fucking year for humanity, and we have at least four more on the way. Likely more for Canada, since we're getting ready to elect our own right-wing populist overlord who likes to take selfies with members of neo-Nazi groups.
Will Ukraine still exist in 2028? Will trans people get holocaust'd? I can't say for sure, but I can tell you that Gamers sure seem happy right now.
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