For the month of December, I’m gonna do a daily count of the Top 31 Games I Played, Shows I Watched, Movies I Saw, etc In 2020.

Any kind of artistic media. It doesn’t have to be something that CAME OUT in 2020, just something that I experienced first/mostly this year. Let’s go!!

These are in no particular order, by the way. Just one per day.

Also I’m making this up as I go. Just started listing my ideas out, and it’s probably mostly gonna be games. I didn’t see a ton of new movies this year (COVID) and while I read some books, most of that was researching for videos and as such felt more like work, so y’know. Anyway:

Day 1: Valkyria Chronicles (video game)

Actually this was a winner of Steamcember 2018 that I started my LP for in 2019, but I not finished it this year. Anyway, I love tactics games, and while this game has some first-game syndrome with weird imbalance, it’s still a ton of fun.

Even if the combat is easily broken with certain strategies, I really enjoyed finding those exploits and exploiting them! (Scout Rushing is OP). And the story, while predictable, is heartfelt. Same team as Skies of Arcadia, and gave me those good SoA feels.

BTW, if you want to watch my full Let’s Play of this game, here’s a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRktDlhqdkWrJEtJBKj59VkF9pmdVGiUr

Day 2: Rakuen (video game)

One of the lowest performing games of this year’s Steamcember, I decided to finish it assuming it would be a quick task, and it was. My feelings are mixed, but I’m kind of fascinated with it at the same time? You know, once of those games.

It’s an RPG Maker game made by the woman who wrote the music for To The Moon, a game I love. Like To The Moon, the gameplay and controls are stiff and limited, and the story aims to be very very sad. I think the execution in Rakuen is a little off the mark though.

I still cried a few times, I’m not made of stone. I respect the game for tackling some tough themes and I want to assume it was made with sincerity, but little design elements often hamper the experience, and the beautiful music can get real self-indulgent sometimes.

Basically the game didn’t land for me, I think it needs some more polish. But reading the comments on some videos about it, I see people who were profoundly moved by the game, and y’know, I’m really happy for them. It didn’t work for me, but I appreciate how it works for others.

I’m OBSESSED with the song at the end. It’s SO CLOSE to being this amazing heart-wrenching moment, but something about the timing and the awkward character portraits and the sound balancing... I want to get my old theatre troupe back together to do a fixed version of this song XD

It’s definitely a game I’ve had more fun thinking about than playing. Because playing it was pretty boring most of the time XD but it’s possible you might be one of the people that it lands just right for. There’s a lot of good in there.

Day 3: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (video game)

This is another game that I started late last year but finished in 2020. I never played the first Yooka, but heard it was disappointing when viewed as a successor to Banjo-Kazooie. I liked this game though!

I was a little disappointed at first that it wouldn’t be a 3D Platformer, but shifting to 2D it made something that really works, drawing a lot of inspiration for the more recent Donkey Kong Country games. Some great frame feel and level design here, if not quite as iconic.

I really like the framing of this whole adventure. Almost everything in s optional, you can go straight to the final level if you want, but actually playing the game is what gives you the survivability you need to survive the Impossible Lair. It’s a neat motivator.

Apparently the game was patched to make the Lair easier? Well I’m proud to say I beat it before the patch! But it took everything I had man, even after 100%ing everything else. I wouldn’t mind more Yooka games in this style. Or they could change the genre each time lol.

Day 4: Among Us (video game, but like, also just the sensation of it?)

As much as I like Social Deduction games like Town of Salem or Secret Hitler, lately they’ve gotten kinda hard to play with most people, everyone gets very stressed and it’s hard not to take it personally...

Among Us solves this problem entirely just by its structure of short rounds, limited voting time, and general silliness. I haven’t played it that many times but when I do I find it to be very balanced and fun. But even more so, I’ve enjoyed all the Twitch streamers playing it.

There a lot of great memes, great moments, great strategies... it’s just as much fun to watch as it is to play for me. Maybe this is too mainstream for you all but I think it’s and excellent popcorn-and-party game that makes the most out of our Discord and Twitch era of gaming.

Day 5: The Collected Works of Dave Chapelle (mostly stand-up comedy)

Kind of a weird thing to say, but through the pandemic Ali and I traded a lot of nostalgic shows back and forth with our good friend Dylan, and he recommended a show he used to watch in 2006, Chapelle’s Show...

Having never watched it, I recognized a lot of jokes from people quoting them when Inwas in high school: “Plead the fif”, “F*** your couch” etc. So from that alone it was worth the time to see what that fuss had been about.

I don’t think everything about Chapelle’s Show has aged very well (comedy often doesn’t). And it’s been taken down from Netflix at Dave Chapelle’s request, I think because the show runners screwed him over on something? However his recent stand-up is pretty good.

I think Chapelle is best when he talks about his experience as a black man in American, which he depicts as a simultaneously miserable and hilarious existence. His stage persona also often villainizes himself, so his work never really sounds ‘preachy’ to me.

And while I don’t love everything he says, if there’s any place where that’s still okay, it’s in stand-up. At its worse it at least makes me confront my own opinions on certain things. Not calling him the best comedian ever or anything, but I’m glad I listened to him.

Also I don’t tend to follow celebrity gossip closely; I’m kinda afraid someone’s gonna reply now with “How can you like Chapelle after he did THIS”

I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, I’m not paying that close attention. Anyway I like his stand-up.

Day 6: Anodyne (video game)

I talked about this game when I finished it about a week ago, but again, this was a surprisingly good time. Like I knew it would be interesting, but I was kind of expecting to put up with more archaic design to enjoy it. Nah, it was just fun.

The old school LoZ gameplay is good enough to hold my attention, and the game is beautiful. Not visually always, but like, conceptually? I don’t think the game means just one thing; it’s not an allegory, as if the whole thing is just a dream. Rather it’s an existential painting.

The game is also pretty each to break apart with glitches and exploits. And that’s clearly intentional: 100%ing the game actually requires it. It was kind of a rush skipping a maze I didn’t want to do with a glitch that I discovered on my own. What a rush!

Day 7: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (video game)

Borrowed this from my pal Joe YEARS ago, would play one or two levels then drop it. Finally while locked inside for the pandemic, I decided to play through this oddball game. If I could deceive it in two words: amazingly okay.

No joke, I kinda love this game, and it’s kinda just alright. Takes me back to a time when big publishers like SEGA would make weird oddities like this, not really knowing what it would be until it was done. Nowadays you gotta go indie for this kind of creativity.

Maybe it doesn’t all hang together that well, but it’s a fun idea executed with some great implementations and some horrible ones thrown in intermittently; a real roller coaster of quality. And that main theme is such an ear worm.

Day 8: Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Seasons 1 and 2 (video games)

Got into a big interactive story craze during quarantine. Telltale had a hubristic rise and fall, but they’ve made their hits. I’d say Seasons 1 of WD is their greatest, tied maybe with The Wolf Among Us.

This is despite S1 still having the unnecessary puzzle sequences that later Telltale games would remove. The story resonates and your choices feel important, even when they’re not, thanks to the heartfelt relationship between Lee and Clementine.

Season 2’s scenarios are more biting and ethically complicated. It means there’s not as strong of a thesis at the end, but I’m not sure that necessarily makes it worse given the inherent nihilism of a post-apocalyptic world. I really enjoy both, but Season 1 more.

I don’t have much interest in playing the rest of the series though. I hear it just goes downhill from this point onward, not unlike Telltale themselves.

Day 9: The Midnight Gospel (tv show)

This caught my attention on Netflix right away thanks to the weird and wonderful artwork of Pendleton Ward(I’m a big Adventure Time fan) but in terms of story it blasted apart my expectations.

This show has an interesting production history. Basically there was a series of podcasts about spirtuality, but they were repurposed and used as the voiceover for this show about a guy MAKING a spiritualist podcast, with the guests recording a few more lines to make it work.

As a result, 90% of the show is these philosophical conversations while the characters do something somewhat unrelated, walking around surreal environments and bizarre monster designs.

If the final episode doesn’t make you want to cry, understanding the show’s contents, I don’t know what to tell you.

Day 10: Parks (tabletop game)

Yes, I put a board game on my list of media, I like board games! Parks is a both a very fun and balanced resource management game and a rather beautiful project. Essentially all the players are on a trip through the US, visiting real National Parks.

If you ever played Tokaido, it’s a similar premise: your goal is to “have the most fulfilling trip” by visiting parks and taking pictures, which get you endgame points. This is alternatively really chill and really tactical as you try to maximize your output each turn.

My friends and I got really competitive with this, we’ve played dozens of games already. Got our money’s worth, which is great because this game is a little more expensive than it should be. But for a good cause. Proceeds go to the National Parks Foundation.

And the card art for the parks is REALLY good. It was a big collaboration between a ton of artists to hand painting these real-world locations. Especially this year, it was kinda nice to look at my country and think, wow, that’s beautiful.

Day 11: River City Girls (video game)

Not that I’ve played a ton of beat-em-ups, but this is my favorite beat-em-up I’ve ever played, tied maybe with Castle Crashers. Got one thing, it’s got combos that are easy to understand and hard to master, making it easier to pick up.

This immediately made it click for me in a way that older games in the genre like Final Fight never quite did. The visuals are vibrant and gorgeous, and there’s so much love for older games like River City Ransom and Double Dragon thrown in there.

The progression system is also very rewarding, with cool new moves, accessories, and assists to collect. But what really sells this one is the charm and personality put into every character. I’ve seen using YouTubers as VAs go horribly wrong, but the voice direction is solid.

Oscar was nice enough to join me for a full let’s play over on my channel, so if you want to give that a look, it might be up your alley. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRktDlhqdkWr-BUCNoU75Qa_tA_sHZ79A

Day 12: Part-Time UFO (video game)

Just a cute game I decided to download on a whim, seeing it was made by Hal Laboratories. Yeah t has a similar sort of cutsie charm as the Kirby games, it’s kind of adorable.

It’s a pretty simple premise: you have a crane you use in a series of stacking missions, challenging you to balance and move everything in the time limit. Not much to say about it, other then that I got a lot of entertainment out of the numerous side-objectives. Frustratingly fun

It’s mostly the charm factor. A lot of the situations are pretty silly and the characters cheering you on in the background go a long way. Give it a shot if it’s on sale. Plus I just love supporting new Nintendo IPs. Would love to see this concept expanded.

Day 13: Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy (video game)

I didn’t grow up with a PS1, but Spyro was a series that always interested me, especially after playing the first game for awhile at a cousin’s house. This collection was a good excuse to finally try them.

I got the collection for Switch, and while playing docked 1080p was a little to shaky for me (whether I turned the blur on or off there was just too much stuttering), playing in handheld mode was perfectly fine, so it became a handheld game for me.

Probably better that I played it handheld, because it let me watch other things on TV while I did the more mindless stuff like collecting every last gem, which was actually really satisfying. It stretched my old Collect-a-Thon muscles from games like Banjo, but differently.

Performance issues aside, there are some great improvements from the original, especially Spyro’s cat-like movement. I wouldn’t say I cared much for the story or characters, but I can see how I might have felt different if I grew up with these games.

Day 14: Blood of Zeus (Netflix series)

Only one season of this out so far, but I’m sure they’ll get a second one. Made by the same studio that made the Castlevania animated series, BoZ is an intensely violent story set in Greek Myth, and it’s pretty metal.

I mean I don’t need this much blood and gore to have a good time, but it’s very well done with fight choreo and a lot of weight to every action. The main story is original (somewhat) but it takes place amongst established figures in mythology.

I really liked the show’s take on figures like Hermes, Charon, Hera, the Fates, etc. The show suffers from too many characters I think, some of them don’t get the time they deserve. For example, the hero makes two friends who seem cool but kinda get lost in the shuffle of gods.

I was all in on the setup, but something about the last episode just didn’t quite work for me. Sometimes it feels like certain gods get bested a bit too easily, and I was confused why characters survive some heinous acts of violence but not others. It was a feast for the eyes tho

Good stuff, with a lot of grand pathos and mythic drama. I just think it works better if you turn your brain off. And I hope they get more seasons, they’ve earned it.

Day 15: Life is Strange (video game)

Right off the heels of Walking Dead I finally played this game, which feels in part like a weird rebellion against Telltale-style adventure games, and so don’t know if I have the time or the ability to say everything I want to about it...

The story is this bizarre fusion of a hipster teen drama and an existential psycho-thriller. It’s pretentious, all the characters are irritating, it kind of fails both genres of storytelling, and I’m absolutely fascinated by it. Like, man, I’ve spent so much time thinking on it.

I don’t think I can call it objectively good, but it’s not a failure either... it’s my favorite kind of game, one that’s completely unlike anything else, with merits and flaws that could only have occurred in these unique circumstances. The dev’s other works don’t even come close

You ever see a movie or art piece and think, wow, I feel like I can see the artist’s soul in this, warts and all? It’s like that, and yet it feels so corporate and manipulative at the same time. Words fail me, but I’m so glad I played this stupid game.

Oh, and sorry if you’re one of those people who loved this game ironically. Like most hipster teen dramas, I’m sure there are people to whom this will speak to on a profound and personal level, and that’s totally cool. Glad it could be that for you.

I meant unironically... sorry if you like this game UNironically.

Day 16: Musical Splaining (podcast)

I’m a big theatre guy, and sadly 2020 was a bad year for live theatre. That only made my three favorite musical-theatre-themed things in 2020 more impactful for me though. One was just this simple podcast discussing different Broadway shows...

On this podcast, Lindsay Ellis, an author and video essayist who I really love, uses her vast Broadway knowledge to explain a musical to Kaveh Taherian, who generally hates musicals. It’s the best kind of podcast duo, a seasoned retrospective and the fresh take colliding.

I wish their were more episodes of this, though unsurprisingly COVID has slowed them down. Still, it’s just great to hear intelligent discussion of a medium that’s very important to me.

Day 17: The Forest (video game)

Played this game with Pad fir the channel. An open world survivor horror with crafting elements, not my usual thing, but playing it co-op made it a lot more fun. Turned out to be a unique experience for me, and the game is deeper than you’d think.

Making a base is a lot of work, but by the end we had a well-fortified super base. I’m a little disappointed we never got to defend it against a true point onslaught of enemies, but there were also caves to discover. I have complaints, but most of them were dev-intended I think.

I mean it’s a survival horror; gameplay shouldn’t be too convenient. The endgame is pretty fascinating, and it meant a lot more knowing how hard the road to it was. Here’s the full Let’s Play if you’re interested. Editing it was also a fun challenge. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRktDlhqdkWqitZjT3cZ7RFNIOWqj8D3o

Day 18: Take Me to the World (Digital Concert)

Stephen Sondheim, lyricist and composer for several Broadway musicals and a personal hero of mine, turned 90 this year. They wanted to have a concert like they did for his 80th, but due to COVID they did this instead...

This was a beautiful collection of filmed-at-home renditions of Sondheims songs by tons of amazing Broadway talents. You got songs from Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park With George, Company, Into the Woods, Follies, Pacific Overtures, even an unused song from Assassins!

This is such a specific thing to me, but it meant so much for me watching this. I’ve heard all these songs hundreds of times, but in the context of the what this year has meant for the live theatre industry, this was so beautiful and sad and strangely uplifting. Loved it.

Day 19: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (video game)

I’ve been following the development of Shovel Knight since the beginning and have watches LPs of most of the campaigns, but I only got around to actually playing it for Steamcember this year, then was playing it in my own time.

Now I got 50 hours in it, having beaten all four campaigns plus a lot of Showdown mode. Shovel of Hope might still be my fav in terms of being a great NES-inspired platformer. Plague of Shadows was fun, though being so much like SoH felt a little tacked on compared to other modes

Specter of Torment was great with its new level designs complementing a very different control scheme; I just wish there was a little more of it. King of Cards, at first I felt like it was too much; it really ramps the difficulty both in the main game and the Joustus card game.

Though I ended up playing KoC more than any other mode, and Ongot really good at his controls to the point he might be my favorite now. And while Joustus was annoying at first, getting better cards and learning the game better was very gratifying. KoC might be my favorite now XD

As for Showdown, the Smash Bros-style fighter mode, I’m not a big fan. It’s charming but kind of a big clusterfrick to play. Didn’t stop me from beating story mode with all 20 characters to see every bit of story details.

Gripes aside, Yacht Club Games is proves to be an amazing and dedicated indie developer. They’ve moved onto other projects now, which I think is a good thing, but the Shovel Knight myth is feels like they didn’t stop until they exhausted every possibility. Good stuff.

Day 20: Pom Poko (film)

I’ve been a fan of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I’ve seen every one of their movies. For ten years I slept in Pom Poko after hearing reviewers say it’s too weird and not as good as the others. Turns out that’s BS!

Pom Poko is actually AMAZING! And yes, it’s super weird, but so is Spirited Away, so...

To be fair, Pom Poko aims to be offbeat. It’s presented more as a documentary. There’s no main character, just a bunch of Tanooki working towards the goal of saving their forest from industry

I think people wrote this one off based on a few odd details. Yes, there’s a lot of animated scrotum in this movie. It’s weird to a western audience, but you’ll get over it. The plot is slow most of the time but it’s kinda hilarious to me how this society can’t get anything done.

You still get the expect Ghibli charm, complete with likable characters and a few CRAZY spectacle moments. What I didn’t expect was how heartfelt it was; Miyazaki was always an environmentalist, but this film seems the most bitingly direct with its message. This is our world!

All of the humor and small victories for the raccoons are accompanied with this foreboding sense that, eventually, they WILL lose. The forests WILL be destroyed. And I’m just not used to movies having this moral from the perspective that we’ve already gone too far.

I was sobbing at the end. Despite how upbeat the last scene actually is, the movie trusts you to understand how bad things really are, and what your part in it is. It’s like one of three works of fiction that has actually affected me with an environmental message as an adult.

It’s a weird movie, but if you’ve already seen the most famous Ghibli movies and are looking for something similar, hard recommend. Also watch Porco Rosso, and My Neighbors the Yamadas. Those movies don’t have enough fans either.

Day 21: Paper Mario: The Origami King (video game)

I have a lot to say about this game and I do t know if I’ll get to all of it, but let’s go.

TTYD is not be if my favorite games ever; I think its playstyle, along with PM64, is the superior RPG... BUT...

It is clear now that old Paper Mario isn’t coming back. Leave that to indies like Underhero and Bug Fables now. So long as we’re sticking to the style introduced in Sticker Star, PM:TOK is the best version of itself, and manages to be a pretty great game.

The battle system is... fine. Not really fun, downright tedious when you’re backtracking through old areas, but at least so can say it’s creative. But TOK shines in its storytelling and charm. Story still isn’t as good as TTYD or SPM, but how it’s told is great.

Like its predecessors, TOK has a great script that was amazingly localized. The strange scenarios Mario finds himself in rank up there as the best of the series, and exploring the world to find the copious secrets really had me hooked. I actually 100% this game, it was that fun.

A shame they couldn’t make the battles feel more rewarding; without a proper leveling system you’re just fighting for coins and before long I had more then I could spend. For how puzzle-like the battle system is, I can see why they were afraid to give us customization options.

Bottom line, I’ve accepted that Nintendo isn’t going to give us another “proper” TTYD-style Paper Mario game. This is Paper Mario now. And for what it’s worth, it’s a pretty good time. One of Nintendo’s better games this year.

Day 22: Guacamelee! 2 (video game)

I was a big fan of the first Guacamelee, a great Metroidvania-platformer-beatemup hybrid. Guac 2 doesn’t do much different, and that’s not a problem in the slightest. More moves, more memes, more macho! Not a ton to say besides... play it!

I will admit not everything about it was better than the first. Not that the first’s story was legendary or anything but I did find the sequels narrative a bit less resonant. The villain’s rogue’s gallery for instance, while all visually interesting, didn’t have the same intrigue

I mean I liked El Muneco, but then he just kinda drops out of the story. I know most of the characters become playable with DLC but even if they resolve him there, it won’t fix the hollowness the villains seem to have in the main story. The humor is still quality though.

In terms of gameplay, it’s just the same but better. They colored shields on enemies is easier to distinguish now, the new vaulting move gives me Ori vibes, and I like the expanded moveset for the chicken transformation. Sometimes I’d stay in Pollo Form just for the fun of it.

Minor gripe with the ending: Basically, like the first game there’s a better ending if you got all the secret collectibles, which is a fun challenge. But as far as what the two endings are, I think the first game handled it better. But I don’t wanna spoil it. Good games y’all.

Day 23: Hamilton (musical)

Basic alert! No but listen. So I’ve been aware of Hamilton since it came out, I’ve heard the entire soundtrack multiple times, it’s not like this was a totally new discovery for me. But this is the first time I’ve SEEN the full show, thanks to Disney+.

I know this show has gotten enough praise already, I kinda went into this with, I would say, pretty even expectations. I mean I love the composer, Lynn-Manuel Miranda. I’m a huge fan of his last big Broadway success, In The Heights. If you like Hamilton, definitely look that up.

Anyway, I expected another very good show, and I got one. Even knowing all the songs and the story already, seeing them all executed in context really worked for me. It’s high emotion and for me it landed. It’s no wonder to me that it became such a sensation.

I’m not about to put it in my Top Ten Musicals or anything... but it’s definitely in the Top 50. And yes, I’m the kind of guy who knows what my Top 50 Musicals are. It’s a higher honor than it sounds, I’ve seen several hundreds of musicals.

It’s not as simple as “oh, it’s a musical but it uses rap.” It’s well-researched, well-written, well-directed and well-performed. Maybe you’re tired of hearing about it, but I’m happy it got big.

Day 24: Catherine: Full Body

When I first heard of this game, I kinda wrote it off as smut. Hearing reviews, I got more interested to try it out, but I didn’t get the chance until this year when the enchanted version came to Switch. It’s interesting, in a good way.

It’s an interesting premise, part interactive romantic anime, half high-paced puzzle game. Very artsy, with a lot to say about modern relationships. I don’t love everything about the story, but even when I don’t like what happens, but it’s fascinating to think about.

I don’t LOVE the puzzle aspect, but I was surprised how much better I got at it over time. Made extra playthroughs much breezier. Full Body adds a major aspect to the plot, and without really getting into it, my favorite stuff in the game tended to revolve around the new girl.

Not everything about Catherine had aged very well, and while Atlus is never *great* at certain subject matter, some of the new content in Full Body feels like an earnest attempt to be better. If you’ve played these games, you know what I mean.

Basically, my favorite kind of game isn’t necessarily a “great” game or a “perfect” game. It’s an “interesting” game. And there’s nothing else quite like Catherine.

Day 25: Hollow Knight (video game)

Gonna make this one quick cuz it’s Christmas and I talked a lot about this game after a beat it a couple months back; Hollow Knight is one of the best Metroidvania’s I’ve ever played, even among actual Metroidvania and Castlevanias.

The controls are buttery smooth, the combat is challenging and satisfying to pull off, the world and characters are vague yet memorable, suggesting a rich lore to the world, and progressing through the game is so rewarding. It’s worthy of every praise it gets.

Day 26: Wargroove (video game)

Normally I wouldn’t lost a game I wasn’t finished with for the year, but I’m enjoying it a lot so far, and I’m worried if I finish it early 2021 I might forget it for next year. That will be hard to do, granted, because this is pretty great.

I’ve been trying to play more tactical RPGs since I’m such a Fire Emblem fan. Ironically I haven’t played what Wargroove is most directly inspired by, Advance Wars, but if AW is anything like this then I should try it. It’s like FE with expendable units, flipping the strategies.

You’d think this would make it feel impersonal, but the designs of the generals and the writing makes it brim with personality. This world is really vibrantly realized. Man, I love high-effort indie games, they’re so full of love. And they’re so GOOD!

And the ongoing let’s play is available to watch here! Tactics games are becoming kind of a thing on my channel. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRktDlhqdkWow-3lKGeB8rte6J2Ks4hT0

Day 27: Community (tv series)

After years hearing about this show, Ali and I finally binged it while in quarantine. And it is delightful. It’s one of those exaggerated situation comedies built around a group of wacky characters stuck together by, in this case, a crappy college.

First of all, you’ll recognize a lot of memes that came from this show. Second, if you’re a fan of Rick & Morty this is a neat watch. Same creator, Dan Harmon, using a lot of the same genre-savvy narrative voice as he would later use in R&M. More weirdly heartwarming in the end.

It reminds me a bit of Always Sunny in how it kinda breaks down and refutes the sitcom formula as it’s building it. Less dark though... usually. The cast here is amazing, and by the end of Season 3 I was really invested in all nine major characters.

Then things get weird. The latter three seasons had a lot of production difficulties, with Harmon fired for S4 and brought back for S5 and 6, and several main characters leaving. At its worst it’s still decent but it’s just sad to see the momentum of the first 3 seasons destroyed

But, and this is gonna sound weird, I kinda love how the last 3 seasons degrade in quality? Like at the end of the series, the moral is that nothing lasts for ever and it’s dangerous to try and prolong certain phases of your life. And, like, the show exemplifies that. Literally.

Give it a watch if you like this kinda thing. You’ll have strong feelings. Highlights are the D&D episodes, the stop-motion Christmas special, the Die Roll universes, and any time they play paintball. This is right up there with The Office and ParksNRec for postmodern sitcoms.

Day 28: Persona 4 Golden (video game)

No surprise here, I’m really enjoying doing this Let’s Play. Besides playing the first three dungeons of P5, I’ve never had any prolonged exposure to SMT at all. I love the 3 sides, how the combat and the NPCs reward and influence each other

There’s also a lot of great psychology, and even the “problematic” elements of it that haven’t aged well have at least given me plenty to think about. But that’s all I’ll say. If you want more of my thoughts, here’s a whole playlist of them :P https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRktDlhqdkWoaFN6EUsy3oNjqUrSCcEf0

Day 29: Queen’s Gambit (tv series)

The best season of television I watched all year, easily. Anna Taylor Joy is incredible at communicating a rich internal logic behind an externally stoic expression. The visuals keep finding amazing ways to express the static game of chess.

And the sets and cinematography game are amazing. Seriously, I didn’t think they could make so many different tones of scene around two characters playing chess. It’s like the best sports anime ever, except a highly sophisticated, inward looking script and style.

I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to express how good this was. It’s good if you like chess, it’s good if you’ve never played chess. It’s mature but very approachable. And even the cheesiest moments feel completely earned. Please watch it.

Day 30: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (video game)

The game that saved 2020, for a little while at least. Ali and I had been waiting YEARS for a new AC, and finally getting one really made the months trapped inside more bearable. What perfect timing fir a game’s release.

This maybe worked against it longevity-wise, as most players had so much free time to blast through all the content and quickly modernized their towns to a point where they’d seen most of what the game had to offer. It’s not as limitless as at first it seems.

But comparing it to any older AC, this is by far the best one, even if I still miss some old features. Terraforming may be cumbersome, but it’s a game changer, and new players might not realize how big a deal it is to be able to place any furniture piece outside. Also crafting.

Plus each month brought with it new content, some baked in (which you could just time travel to get, I guess), and some released as free DLC. It’s really helping keep this game alive. I still play it a little every day. Or at least I time travel back to play days I miss.

I wish there was a little more to it (that’s just life, huh?). I notice that this game’s expansion to the formula was more about “starting with less” than “ending with more”. But with the amount of customization possible it’s a great box of tools to play with.

Day 31: The Talos Principle (video game)

It may not have come out this year, but this is my favorite piece of media I’ve experience in the past 12 months. This game feels like the purest distillation of what I love; robots, puzzles, and existential philosophy.

The puzzles are at the perfect level of difficulty for me. I would spends your time an hour on a really hard one, but I never felt the need to look up answers (excepts for some of the hidden Stars, which I looked up how to get so I could get the final ending).

Not the BEST ending, mind you. I think the best ending is just out-of-the-way enough to feel like a challenge, but was oh so worth it to me. The stars get you more of a Completionist ending, which is a nice reward, but not something you’re missing out on if you don’t wanna do it.

It’s not the most exciting game to play; at times it got kinda sloggy, but it is really nice as a slow and thoughtful game: the time spent on puzzles is also spent ruminating on the deep quandaries the game often presents you with. All the reading material really sparked my brain

I had kind of a small ethical crisis at one point while talking to Milton. What a great character, there to sew doubt into everything you do. The game puts you into kind of a Adam and Eve dilemma at some point, and even though I knew what the game thought was the right choice...

...having to make that decision for myself, even hypothetically, really shook me. I’m not saying this game will work for everyone, or even most people, but I beat it in April and have not stopped thinking about it since.

Not that it’s January, I want to list at least a few more pieces of media that I really enjoyed this past year. These first three I experienced this month, while I was already writing the list:

Klaus (movie)

Soul (movie)

Why Am I Dead at Sea? (video game)

Some video games that didn’t make the list:

Finding Paradise
Stunt Race FX
Metroid (beat the original for the first time)
Metroid Prime 2 (beat for the first time)
All the Genesis Sonic games (beat for the first time)
A Mortician’s Tale
A Good Snowman is Hard to Build

Some movies that didn’t quite make the list:

The Raid
Hocus Pocus
The Happiest Season
The Cat Returns

Ongoing TV shows that, since incomplete, I didn’t list:

The Mandalorian: S2
Hilda: S2
Space Force: S1
Another Life: S1

A few YouTube channels I discovered this year that I’m enjoying:

The Take
Mother’s Basement
DK’s Music Box

Other:
Obscura (tabletop game)
Icewind Dale (D&D module)
The Smash Ultimate Fighters Pass 2 trailers
The Parks & Rec Reunion
The music videos of a Donald Glover

I’m a little ashamed Indidnt have any books to talk about. Aside from a few I reread for research on things, I really haven’t been reading. Maybe that’ll be a New Year’s Resolution for me.

Anyway, I wish you all a much-needed New Year! Thanks for reading!