I remember 2018 like it was yesterday.

The dumbest thing I did this year: Getting a belt made for me on holiday when I was 11lbs heavier. Now I've had to poke holes through my lovely new belt :(

While I do it a lot, I really take no pleasure in being a Debbie Downer, but 2018 so far has been the weakest year for entertainment I can remember. I think the most recent year that was even in the same ballpark was 2002.

So far this year I can only name one game, one film and one television series that I've fallen in love with, those being Into the Breach, Eighth Grade, and Cobra Kai respectively. If you value quality entertainment I highly recommend you support those works.

For films, I also enjoyed Mission Impossible: Fallout and A Quiet Place but I don't really consider either of them "must see," and am kind of baffled by MI:6's unprecedented critical acclaim as far as action movies go. I've also seen four of the big superhero movies this year, each more mediocre than the last: Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2 and the Incredibles 2. I had high expectations for all of them and walked away disappointed. I'm tempted to see Ant-Man and Wasp since it's still playing and I'm hungry for some escapist fun, but I'm so disillusioned with blockbusters that I don't think I can take anymore disappointment. It will be the first Phase Three film I haven't seen in theaters ending a seven film streak. Solo has already left theaters, ending a nine film streak for Star Wars, and I can't even bring myself to care. I'm so tired. The Incredibles 2 kinda broke me.

For television Cobra Kai absolutely floored me. I never expected to enjoy it so much. It's totally 80's kitsch much like the original film, and the production values are kinda shitty, but it's such a heartfelt sequel story for the characters, overflowing with passion and enthusiasm. Now in my thirties with all semblance of youth behind me, seeing a story about older characters who still don't have their lives fully figured out really strikes a chord with me. It's also nice to see Daniel passing on Mr. Miyagi's philosophy and see the introspective aspects of martial arts explored, something we haven't seen much of on film or television recently. And while the other aspects of production like lighting and cinematography are pretty B-grade, the fight sequences are quite well executed and exciting.

But alas, that is literally all of 2018's television content I've found worth talking about. Some of the sequences in Who Is America? are brilliant (yes, mostly the ones featuring Erran Morad) but the show is overall very hit and miss for me, and I've mostly just taken to watching the highlights on Youtube.

Into the Breach is a very good game, though it was much shorter than I was expecting and it has virtually no plot to speak of, which disappointed me considering Chris Avellone is credited as writer. All I can think is "Writer of what? A bunch of stock dialogue?"

Outside of that, God of War is one of the most overrated games in recent memory. Very pretty, but the combat is sluggish and mediocre and the pacing is abysmal. I am so fed up with slow, walkie talkie sequences in games. Everybody thinks they're the Last of Us. If you're going to go for that formula you need to fuckin' BRING the drama, and Dad of Boi just doesn't, and its efforts are only hamstrung by the baggage of the previous games.

I also played Monster Hunter: World for a few hours and that was all I needed to know that whole franchise isn't for me and likely never will be. Too much fuckin' around in menus, the combat is far too sluggish for me to get any excitement out of it, and it feels more geared toward the MMO crowd, a genre I've never even dipped my toe in. To those who like that stuff, I wish them a good time.

Then on the indie scene there's the Banner Saga 3, the conclusion to a series I have a great deal of love for. While I enjoyed my time with it, as I outlined in a post from shortly after the game came out, I was disappointed that they didn't fix any of the issues I've had with the series since the beginning, which have only been exacerbated by how wildly your choices can affect your roster of heroes. There's also the aspect that in the original game I could see so much potential, but this conclusion largely fails to deliver on it. It also somehow feels less polished despite this being the third game in the series with minimal changes to assets or game design.

I've also played Dead Cells, which I rather regret purchasing. It's certainly a good game but I haven't touched it after the first few hours I spent with it. I've grown really tired of indie Metroidvania clones and the rogue-like elements don't add a whole lot for me. I've put off buying Guacamelee 2 for just that reason, despite being a huge fan of the previous game. Hopefully something will click when I go back to it.

And yeah, that's basically entertainment in 2018 for me so far. This drought could not have come at a worse time either, since with my new job I'm making much more money but am a casual employee with an inconsistent schedule and occasionally long stretches of down-time. And really, I don't see the rest of the year turning things around much. I am REALLY hoping Spider-Man hits it out of the park when I get to playing it, and hopefully Red Dead Redemption 2 is enjoyable, though I've gotten really fed up with Rockstar and Take Two lately. It doesn't help that last year's games weren't especially exciting either. I'd really like to see Sorry to Bother You, but I don't think it's coming to theaters in my city (FFS!!!!!). I'm sure I'll eventually track down some indie dramas and such I'll enjoy, but it's hard to remain enthusiastic when I'm excited for pretty much fuck all.

So in turn I've had to scour my backlog, and oof, I've had to dig deep. I've watched more foreign language films this year than all previous years combined. I've taken to watching anime. FUCKIN' ANIME! What have I become? I've expanded my horizons and found some really great stuff, but digging through the past for entertainment is a lot more work, and it's a lot harder to find people to talk it over with compared to stuff that's hot and new.

So that's my mega-rant, my apologies. I know there's a lot of radio silence on Favslist these days but I'd appreciate anyone who wants to share their own impressions for 2018's media output, particularly anyone having a similar experience who wants to commiserate. Best wishes, all!