5 Things I Loved from 2024

January 6, 2025

Tags: blog games comics

Let’s Make a List

I’ve been thinking about the end of the year and while most people do their lists and wrap-ups starting the beginning of December, I like to do my reflection in January. As I was reading another blog I came across a post that I really liked. and thanks to them, I’m 100% going to rip off this incredibly simple and fun format.

1. Backpack Battles

I had never really played a game like Backpack Battles before. I’m not really a rogue/lite player, and I don’t play a lot of games you’d need a mouse for. But when my brother-in-law had me a play a round of this game I was immediately hooked. It’s incredibly fun, funny and addictive. It’s been a constant for over the course of the year, especially as I dealt with de quervain’s tenosynovitis in my left hand. Having this game to fall back onto was just wonderful. I was even able to get this running on my macbook pro thanks to some plucky redditors and porting kit.

2. Feral

In 2025 I found myself getting knee deep into comic books again, something that I hadn’t really explored seriously since the 90s. I went from stumbling onto the book Hack & Slash in 2023 to having a dozen books on a pull list at my local store. One of those books is FERAL! Tony Fleecs, Tone Rodriguez and Trish Forstner team up again to write an awesome horror book that has that looks like the Aristocats and spooks like Return of the Living Dead. I’m a horror guy and a cat guy and while my baby boys will never get put through this horrific zombies as a metaphor for rabies, I enjoy seeing a horror book that revolves around my favorite little domesticated buddies. PLUS! PLUS! They keep doing all these amazing alternative covers that take classic horror films and redraw them with CATS! It’s awesome. And I’m really enjoying the story and the art and the cats!

3. Girls5Eav

Originally launched as a Peacock exclusive, Netflix graciously picked up this show after the second season underperformed. Ashamedly I had not heard of it until the third season launched. If you are a fan of 30 Rock, I would recommend this show whole heartedly. As someone who LOVED 30 Rock but was (graciously) luke-warm towards Kimmy Schmidt, this was the follow-up I had been waiting for. Sara Bareilles is EXCELLENT, really understanding how to fall in line with the timing and delivery of a Liz Lemon-like character. And while the rest of the cast is also great, Paula Pell and the episodes centered around telling her story gave me some of the hardest and deepest laughs of the entire series. And as much as I hate to beg corporations to continue to produce great art, maybe if enough people watch the third season Netflix will give us a fourth!

4. Lisa Frankenstein

I know a lot of people really didn’t like Lisa Frankenstein, but I thought it was great. It’s a Sunday afternoon spine-tingling experience, a great romantic Halloween movie. A film that felt as though everyone involved was cool in a that people are cool without even trying. More ‘Heathers’ than expected, in a good way, and retained the same charm of films like ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’ without feeling intentionally campy. Just well made, well acted and fun to watch.

5. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

I’ve written about this game a little before but I think it is such a cool thing to have come out in 2024. Half TRPG, half RTS, all character action. There is lots of praise in the right channels for this game, often written by sickos with a giant backlog of PS2 and OG Xbox games, by people who yearn for the glory days of Team Ninja, by intrepid folk who just want to see sick, combo-based character action seemlessly melded with troop-based strategy games set against a backdrop of Shinto mysticism with kick-ass demon designs! Alright that’s enough, I’m panting with fervor. I think the best part of the game, from my simple perspective, beyond all that hyperbole I just baited you with is the skeuomorphism of the upgrade menu and OSD. It’s very neat, please give this game a try (it will scratch the itch until the new Onimusha comes out)

Special Mention - Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered

the SotD remaster came out this year and I really loved it. Since it’s a given that I would love anything that grasshopper releases, this is going in the special mentions section. I’ve played through it once, and started a secondary play through but am going to wait until the special edition releases (yes I bought that giant LRG johnson).