Things I enjoyed in 2024

Avg. 5 minute(s) of reading

My take on that popular youtuber/internet personality trope where they list the games/movies/etc. they liked the most during the year.

Preamble

I'm usually not one to be late to a party, but it's already March and I haven't published anything this year. I was thinking about publishing a blog post per week this year, but I'm not sure that will happen (as usual for new year's resolutions).

Anyway, I want to talk a bit about the games, movies, etc. that I liked the most last year. Maybe you find something you find interesting here.

Games

This year I played some of my old favorites again. The main one was Warframe. I've playing this game on/off for the last 10 years. After a 2 year long pause, I spent close to 4 months catching up in Warframe. According to Steam, these 4 months amount to 72% of my 2024's playtime in Warframe. Once you get going, it's a really nice game to play alone or with friends. I just love coming up with new builds/loadouts and I think the game is in a great place for that. Warframe is the game I think about when someone mentions labour of love.

Then, Elden Ring's DLC was released (Shadow of the Erdtree), so I went back to that game. It was a nice experience. It's a shame it was released on a period where I was a bit short on time. Still, I really enjoyed the new bosses and the story.

Now back to replaying games, after the DLC was over, I still had that urge to play a souls-like, so I went through the whole Dark Souls series once again. This time I payed extra attention to the second installment of the series. That game always had a special place in my heart, but this time it might have become my favorite in the series. Spent some time getting the achievement of beating the game without dying or resting at bonefires. Hard, but a rewarding experience.

After this trip through the souls-like land, I went to play some indie games. I played Dicey Dungeons, 9 Years of Shadows, Mosa Lina, and Lunacid. Lunacid definitelly steals the crown here: such a great game. It really had me glued to my computer for 3 or 4 days. Highly recommend this one. Also, give Mosa Lina a try if you like puzzles and platformers.

Anime

I didn't really watch that much anime last year. I went back to reading manga and light novels: feels like reading suits me better than watching. Still, besides movies, the anime series that I enjoyed the most in 2024 was Pet. I started watching almost by mistake, but the story really captivated me. Watched it all in one go. Then there was My Deer Friend Nokotan laughed a lot with this one.

I'll also include anime movies here, so I can fill this section:

Manga/Light novels

I've watched the first season of Mushoku Tensei a couple of years ago. Got interested in the story, so I started reading the manga. Turns out that the manga isn't much further ahead than the anime. As such, I started reading the light novel. I haven't read a light novel in years, but Mushoku Tensei was great. A bit unconfortable at times, but it picked my interest like no other. I still have 5 volumes or so to go through, but I'm taking a pause for a bit.

Then I went through phase where I was feeling like reading, so I read a bunch of manga and manhwa. Mostly shorter older stuff. I liked Kitanai Kimi ga Ichiban Kawaii and Solanin (for very different reasons). Don't read the first one if sexual violence bothers you.

Movies

I have never watched as many movies as I did in 2024. In no particular order, these where the ones I liked the most:

  • The Hunting of the Snark - the story doesn't make any sense, but it is still fun to watch (which I find interesting).
  • Lady Bird - I'm definitely not the target audience for this one, but I think it handled its themes well.
  • The Father - From the personal references I have, I found it to be good portrayal of having a family member go through dementia/alzeimher's.

Music

This year I've been exploring a bit more music. I've found some artists that I enjoyed and I never heard before:

  • Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - This isn't exactly my style of music, but I enjoyed some of their work.
  • Wolf Alice - I got hooked on their Silk track and went from there. They're great.
  • Dry Cleaning - One of the most unique bands I know. They quickly became one of my favorites.

As usual, the groups I've listed to the most were Mão Morta and Linda Martini. Although both groups released new albums in 2025, some songs of the new albums were released in 2024. In my opinion, they keep getting better and better.

Conclusion

I wanted to share some appreciation for these things with the world, so I quickly put this together. Hope you find something cool in this list.

Stay safe :P