At the very end of 2019, people were looking back at the decade and writing lists of what they considered the best of the 2010s. At one point I sat down in an attempt to my own list of my top 10 games over the last 10 years. I sat down in front of my computer and nothing. I couldn’t recall the games I’ve played or how I felt about some of them. I remembered playing some games, such as Bioshock Infinite or the original Nier, and I remember enjoying them. But I couldn’t recapture how I felt about them or my thoughts outside of “oh I remember really enjoying it.” It inspired me to keep a list. A list of all the media that I’ve consumed in the year.
There are some caveats. I don’t include music, streams, or Youtube videos. I mostly consider those passive forms of media I don’t put all of my attention towards. I also don’t include some of the random TV shows that my Fiancée would put on that I’d watch maybe an episode or two of. This is mostly the media that I go out of my way to consume.
Finished
Anime
March Comes in like a Lion — might be some of the best anime I’ve ever seen. S2 is a masterpiece in a lot of ways that I’m not smart enough to translate into words. 10/10
Weathering With You — At some point while watching this movie I realized I had been grinning for the past 20 minutes. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat. This movie is a straight up masterpiece 10/10
Demon Slayer — A lot of mixed emotions on this one. Overall a very solid anime that has some amazing animation (it’s ufotable what do you expect) and solid story beats. Outside of one specific thing I don’t think it’s anything to write home about and I had a rough time getting through some parts of the story but overall I’d say I was entertained. 7/10
Rascal does not dream of a dreaming girl — good movie, good continuation of the show. really made me feel. 9/10
Chihayafuru Season 3–10/10.
Konosuba Legend of Crimson — a really good extension of the show. If you liked the humor, plot, and silliness of Konosuba you’ll like this movie. Had some amazingly funny moments along with a great climax. 8/10
My Next Life as A Villainess — The premise behind this show is just so far out there and it executes it so well. This is a show where the main character gets reincarnated as the main villainess of a visual novel and she has to prevent her demise. It’s funny, heartwarming, and a unique take on the isekai genre. 8/10
Tower of God — An amazingly crafted show. The world building is absolutely amazing. the characters are all real. I think the tell of a great show is how much the show makes you want more, and damn did this show make me want more. 9/10 and i’m now reading the source material.
Kaguya Wants to Be Confessed to S2 — I think if you enjoyed season 1 you’ll enjoy season 2. it’s a lot of the same humor and plot points, I kind of wish it evolved and did something different but the show knows how to take a serious comedy and do it very well. 8/10
Video Games
Pokémon Sword — comfy game. not really challenging but really comfy and Pokémon at its core is just fun. still need to do post game stuff but putting it on hold for the time being. 8/10
Zero Ranger — I’m going to say I beat Zero Ranger but I don’t know if others would. I had a lot of fun playing it. The bosses were challenging, the music was great, and it’s a very visually appealing game. My issues with it stem from the pacing of the actual levels. Stage 2 is annoying and Stage 4 is daunting. I really didn’t like the loop where you replay levels 1–3 a second time. Overall the game does a very very good job at being challenging not by RNG but by actually requiring skill, which creates a very rewarding experience when you clear the boss that took forever to kill. 8/10
Nier Automata — I have been trying to beat Nier Automata since it came out, but I was never able to due to a multiple of reasons. The pacing starts off weird, the controls felt clunky, and I wasn’t having a good time. However I finally gave it another chance and man am I happy about it. The visuals, story, and music create such an amazing environment. I was unable to put the controller down after I started the 3rd playthrough. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the controls and the game took forever to feel like the original Nier, which I kept comparing the game to. 9/10
Stanley Parable — what a unique game. I played this game while discord streaming it to my brothers which I think is the only reason I enjoyed it at all. Some endings were hilarious while others were just straight depressing. overall it was a very unique experience even if it was just a walking simulator. 5/10, perfectly average
Fire Emblem 3 Houses DLC — Absolutely amazing. The new characters that were introduced are great, the music fun, some of the most fun and unique maps in any fire emblem game that punished you if you turned your brain off at all. 10/10
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars — What an amazing nostalgia trip. I loved so much about the game from the visuals to the music to how lighthearted the story is. gameplay wise it wasn’t the hardest game, but there were some challenging fights. It was really nice to see that one of my favorite games from my childhood managed to hold up 20 years after it’s release. 9/10
Animal Crossing New Horizons — I wouldn’t say I finished the game, but I feel I did enough to truly understand what Animal Crossing is and what I like about it. Starting the island off and completing the first couple of tasks are great and keep the game fun. I remember on day 1 collecting as much species as possible for Blathers. The beginning of the game is amazing and keeps the goals in check and allows a great experience. I just hit the point of the game where it’s all about decorating and designing your island and I don’t think I enjoy that aspect as much. I loved the Stalk Market the first couple of weeks and then I had enough bells that I feel like I broke the game. Overall a very enjoyable experience especially with a lot of the friends I have online, but I haven’t felt the urge to play it in a while and I do not see me picking it up again. 8/10
Final Fantasy 7 Remake — I’ve never beaten Final Fantasy 7, but man this was so good it makes me want to go back and try and finally finish it. The music, plot, and visuals are all beautifully crafted and leaves you wanting more. The combat felt so amazing in this game, feeling clean and fluid. I absolutely love this game and made me feel like a kid again with glee. Even Renee had a fun time with it, even if all she did was the pull-ups. 10/10
To the Moon — what a nice small story. incredibly moving and well crafted. outside of it only kind of being a video game I have 0 complaints about it. 8/10
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle — Has this whimsical charm to it that makes you wanna either smile or groan at times. Gameplay wasn’t super hard but it was still enjoyable and had some challenging moments. My favorite part about this game is that I was able to play it at my own pace and not feel lost whenever I picked it back up. Overall a solid experience. 7/10
Divinity Original Sin 2 — I think my favorite part of this game was playing it with my friends. We had such a good time just messing around while completing the story and just exploring the world that was presented to us. My class felt like it fell off near the end of the game but I still felt like I was doing things in fights. Overall if you want to go on an epic journey with friends it’s something I would highly recommend. 9/10
Among Us — If were talking about the thing that consumed most of my time this year we’d be talking about Among Us. With the amount of time I’ve spent playing the game or watching content about Among Us I’d be scared to know the total hours. There’s lots of good Among Us content out there (I watch a lot of Toast, Sykunno, and Corpse) but playing the game requires a good amount of people to actually get going and it’s hard to get that train rolling at times. Overall a great time and has lead to amazingly funny moments. 9/10
Television Shows
Witcher (Netflix series S1) — what a treat. I love the world and the characters in this world. every episode was entertaining and I was constantly wondering what mess Geralt was going to get himself into and how he’d get out. really makes me want to read the books (which I probably will) 9/10
Dave — What a weird show. All the episodes felt like they were building up to some climax that never happened. I liked the humor and the characters, and what’s nice is the entire show felt real. 6/10
Working Moms S4 — Pretty funny show. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of season 1–3 but this show started strong and continued throughout the season. multiple times I was surprised by how fast the episodes went. Overall a pretty good show that kept us entertained for a few days. 7/10
Movies
Klaus — Cute, heartwarming, and beautifully animated. Predictable at times but what else do you expect from a kids Christmas movie. 8/10
Onward — Don’t have much to say but that I had a fun time watching it and teared up a bit. Not the best Pixar film I've seen but still a good time. 8/10
Life As We Know It — standard romcom, enjoyable with some really cute parts that I really enjoyed since i’ve become a father. Not groundbreaking in any regard but still pretty good for a romcom. 7/10
Sonic the Hedgehog — One of the most okay movies I think I’ve seen. Much better than I expected but still nothing to write home about. Watched it with a lot of buds in discord made it a much better experience than just watching it on my own. Jim Carrey was amazing in it, nothing else was though. 5/10
Scream 2 — Fun movie, more of the same as the first movie. Couldn’t tell who the killer was at all until the reveal at the end. I think a lot of these movies start off pretty slow and this is no exception, but as soon as the climax starts happening it happens pretty quickly and entertaining. 7/10
Meet the Parents — Pretty okay movie. I like Ben Stiller and i’m sure the movie was much better when it was new. Had some funny moments but at the same time wasn’t really all that great. 5/10
The Crazies — This movie kinda sucks. slow, predictable plot. Terrible color scheme that makes it hard to follow when it’s dark. Everything is just kind of super meh. 3/10
Meet the Fockers — more of the same. 5/10
Gone Girl — Very good, very messed up movie. Terrifying in a sense and thrilling in another. 8/10
Clueless — I liked it! I didn’t know Paul Rudd was in it and i had a fun time watching it. Sometimes movies don’t age well but I thought this one did pretty well. 6/10
Hamilton — really enjoyable. not really a big musical person but I really enjoyed watching this. I like history so it was cool on that aspect and I can see why this was universally praised. 9/10
Moana — I dont think there’s anything to write home about on this one. had an okay plot, good visuals and music, and just an overall “okay” feel to the movie. really liked the music and the visuals of the crab bad guy, however it’s probably one of the more weak disney movies i’ve seen. 7/10
Palm Springs — fun little time loop movie. Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and JK Simmons are amazing in it. no real complaints about the movie, did everything well. not the most original plot but something that was satisfying to watch. 8/10
The Help — I can’t think of anything to say about this film other that it’s really well made and does the plot really well. 8/10
Home Alone 1/2 — Both are pretty good movies that has humor and action that age well, one of Renee’s favorite movies that she can watch forever. I think overall they’re a pretty good time. 8/10 for both of them.
Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children — Honestly held up better than I thought it would. Dialogue clunky at times but the animations (minus the lip sync for voice acting) was still really good and the combat scenes were great to watch. 7/10
Books
The Last Wish (Witcher Book 1) — Pretty good book. I loved seeing the differences from the show. Had some slow parts and some parts that were hard to follow, but overall made me a lot more excited to explore the world. 7/10
Good Omens — this one was tough to get through. I really want to like Terry Pratchett’s writing because I love the vast majority of his ideas when it comes to writing but it feels like a slog to get through at times. Some parts of the book were dreadfully slow and others kept be entertained the whole time. Parts were funny and others the jokes just went over my head. 6/10
The Hobbit — I’ve never really ventured into Lord of the Rings and I decided I wanted to experience reading The Hobbit first and i’m not sure that was a good idea. It takes a long time to get going, but after it starts to pickup it’s pretty enjoyable. Definitely something you can tell is pretty old and a lot of fantasy tropes are based off of this world but it also does a lot well in it’s story telling. Humorous at times, serious at others and after the actual journey starts it moves from one plot point to the next pretty quickly. 7/10
Starsight — I loved this book. Never been the biggest fan of sci-fi but I love a good infiltration plot and man does this one do it well. Great pacing and humor, good plot development and intrigue, and a really good ending leaving me wanting the next book already. 8/10
Your Name (Book) — I loved reading the novelization of this. The core elements of the movie were all there and it was fun experiencing it from a first person view versus how the film laid it out. I will say the movie is better due to its stunning visuals and outstanding sound track, but reading it was very entertaining in its own right. 7/10
Edgedancer — God I forgot how much I loves the Stormlight Archives. It took me a while to start liking Lift and remembering exactly what went on in books 1 and 2 but by the end Lift became one of my favorite characters. Overall a really good kind of refresh on what goes on in the Stormlight Archives and got me excited to start reading Stormlight 3. 8/10
The Way of Shadows — If you take “The Lies of Locke Lamora” and change it to assassins instead of thieves it’s a pretty good comparison of what this book is. Highly enjoyable with stakes that just keep getting bigger and bigger. The main character has some great development throughout the book and it’s really cool to see where it goes. 8/10
Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future — a great addition to the world to FFXV. Adds much needed backstory to the main villain of the game and explores relationships that we don’t see in the game itself. I thought the pacing was well done and it was nice to see the characters from the game again. Overall if you enjoyed FFXV you’ll enjoy this. 7/10
No Game No Life Volume 1/2/3— Essentially the same as the anime currently trying to read through them to get to new content, overall a good time with so far and looking forward to getting to new stuff. 8/10
Manga
Death Note One Shot — I hate Death Note. interesting thought project but overall not my cup of tea. 3/10
The Promised Neverland (Manga) — It starts off so strong just to nosedive into mediocre by the end. I’ve been reading this one weekly ever since it came out and the first arc was so tense and well written, comparing it to the ending is like comparing apples to oranges. Some of the most predictable plot advancements and underutilized characters plague the back half of the story, leading to a mediocre feeling regarding it. Overall though, it was enjoyable and I was never in danger of dropping it week after week. 7/10
Haikyu (Manga) — really good sports manga. every character is amazingly crafted and believable, each with their own motivations and drives. easier to follow as an anime but I couldn’t resist catching up and reading the whole thing. 9/10
Bakuman — I reread this one as it has been a while since I’ve even thought of this manga, and man do I still love it. It’s a manga about making manga, and it tells it’s story so well. Some arcs are worse than others, but the characters are all amazing and make you want to root for them to succeed. 8/10
Burn the Witch — Pretty entertaining. Lots and lots of world building that lead me excited for future installments in this series. Really excited for more of Kubos work. 7/10
We Never Learn — Standard harem manga, had some really good chapters and the majority of the girls were strong contenders for the throne of best girl, however at the same time there were no real memorable moments. I did like how the author handled the ending. 6/10
Dropped
These are the types of media that I tried to experience that I either got bored of or dropped for other random reasons. I’m not going to categorize them, just gonna list them out.
In/Spectre — just boring, one episode in and I. just couldn’t get into it.
Legends of Runeterra — liked it a lot as a concept. however I dont have the brain power or the time to commit to being good at card games anymore. If I had more time and energy would probably like it more.
Risk of Rain 2 — Kinda a fun game? I get the appeal of why people love it but man I just get so bored every time I play it. fun to mess around with friends I guess but maybe I just haven’t found the right character. will probably still play with buds every now and then but won’t actively seek it out.
Final Fantasy XIV — I actually really loved this game. it scratches that mmo itch while still telling a good story. however life got in my way and I would rather spend my time doing other things and couldn’t justify the monthly payment. Maybe i’ll give it another go when I have less I want to do.
Lego Masters — Fun concept, not super gripping though. Watched one episode and it felt kinda all over the place and didn’t really get to follow the builds much. Maybe i’ll try and watch it again but neither me nor my girlfriend were that entertained by it.
Aviary Attorney — I might revisit this at some point. it seemed pretty good/funny when i played it but i haven’t had any urge to revisit it since then.
League of Legends — I dont think I could ever truly quit league. it’s a game that i’ve played since 2010 and I could see myself playing a game or two here and there for the foreseeable future. However I no longer have the urge to play it every night til the wee hours in the morning. it’s now something that’s just there. Something that I want to play every now and then. A large part is that I dont have the time to dedicate to wanting to be as good at it as I want to be. I dont have the energy to keep up with the meta. I don’t want to waste a night playing league when I could be doing something else. I think i’ve grown out of it, and that’s okay.
Uncharted 1 — eh I already beat this game years ago and was just replaying it since I got it for free. it’s alright and fun and all just would rather play other games with my time.
Fake Doctors, Real friends — this is a scrubs podcast that’s really fun to listen to, really good insight on not only how scrubs was made, but the television industry as a whole. really recommend if you have any interest in either of those, just unable to keep up with their release cycle of twice a week.
Valorant — I liked it but i’m not good enough at shooters to continue playing, I’m sure it would be fun every now and then with buds but I always feel like I don’t do anything because I have no idea what the call outs are or how to shoot properly.
Fall Guys — Another game that was fun but I’m not good enough at. Will definitely play with friends if the time arises but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to play it on my own.
100% Orange Juice — Snug game to play with friends.
Beaststars — Got two episodes in and I can see why it was universally praised while it was airing but it didn’t really capture me, if anything the CGI art style threw me off and didn’t really feel like watching more.
Active
Stuff that I’ve been trying to play/read/watch or whatever, some have been on hold for far too long while others I’m kind of active in playing. Just some short thoughts so far.
Sword of Destiny — I want to explore more of the world of the Witcher but this book is kind of boring so far. Might be because the first story in it was showcased in the Netflix show.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition — I’ll get back to this I promise, playing other RPG’s and whenever I play this game I feel like I’m not fulfilled unless I pour multiple hours into it.
My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu Season 3 — I’ve been waiting years for this show, planning on just marathoning this season at some point.
Fellowship of the Ring — I think the biggest issue I have with Tolkien is that every form of fantasy since Lord of the Rings came out is derivative of it. I see why it’s so universally praised but there is just so much of nothing at the start of this book.
Paper Mario the Origami King — I like the art direction and the gameplay is interesting, just need to get back into it.
Trash Taste (anime podcast) — Pretty good, haven’t listened in a bit but super enjoyable.
This is Us S4 — Was watching this with the fiancée, need to catch up so I can be current.
Yakuza Like a Dragon — I’m loving this and it is the main game I play right now. Fun combat, mini games, and good story so far. Only complaint was how slow it was at the start but after the world opens up you have a lot to do.
Hades — It’s fun but I’m bad, maybe I’ll get back to it soon.
Limbo
Haikyuu s4 — I read the manga instead so I don’t know if I’ll watch it, I’m sure I will at some point.
Death Parade — So slow, but I feel like if I just keep up with it I’ll finish it in one sitting.
Celeste — I’m bad at platformers and don’t know if I’ll ever want to continue this one, I beat the hotel boss and that’s the last thing I did. But I’ve taken such a long break from it the muscle memory might not be there to play.
Tower of God (webtoon) — I really liked this webtoon, just stopped reading it one day and haven’t really missed it. There’s just a lot going on and the story just keeps getting more and more complicated and different than what the first season was like.
Manga
I put this in it’s own category because they’re all weekly manga that I’m reading.
One Piece — amazing, please read so I have someone to gush about every chapter with.
Dr. Stone — Not enjoying it as much as I used to but it’s still pretty good. I just don’t know how long they can keep stretching the premise out but so far I’d say I’m entertained most chapters.
Spy X Family — Please read, might be some of the best wholesome and cute manga out there right now.
My Hero Academia — I think this is the most average Shonen ever and the only reason I’m still reading is because I’ve been reading it for a while. Current arc probably will be dope in the anime though.
One Punch Man — Just good stuff.
Jujutsu kaisen — Need to catch up still, I hear the anime is pretty good.
Rurouni Kenshin — Was trying to reread this one because I haven’t in over 10 years, maybe I’ll continue at some point. I think I stopped in the middle of a fight too.
Hard boiled dolphin and cop — I really liked Beelzebub and this is by the same author, I like this one a lot and hope it doesn’t get canceled.
Mission: Yokuzura Family — Pretty entertaining. Nothing to really write home about.
