My Favorite Things From 2022

At the end of the year I like to write something a lot more personal, and a lot more informal about the stuff I’ve seen and played over the past 12 months. It’s nice to think back on what really touched me or stuck with me in a way that doesn’t really require me to have A Point To Make. For that reason, the things I have to say here about most things are going to be deeply personal, and at times very direct when it comes to getting across what it is or why it is that a piece of art resonated with me. In short, I’m going to be very honest about my mental health, and about the things that have happened to me this year; good and bad.

And rather than the usual separate Top 10 lists for games, films, and television shows, this year I thought I’d just lay out the things that I liked the most, regardless of what it is.

This was an amazing year for art of all kinds, and it was tough to whittle this down to only the stuff I loved the most. But, I had to make concessions somewhere so that this piece didn’t end up being a book. For the sake of my own time, and yours. Because I am going to ramble.

Also these aren’t in any particular order, outside of the usual progression for dramatic effect. If you like me, and want to read a bunch of what I have to say about a bunch of random stuff, then... here you go!

Everything Everywhere All At Once

This year I made a concerted effort to start reconnecting with film-- to really watch a bunch of stuff, and Everything Everywhere All At Once was the first thing I saw in 2022 that really stuck with me.

The past calendar year has been rife with movies about “the multiverse,” to the point of exhaustion. Most of it has been capeshit, so I know the bar isn’t entirely too high, but it’s pretty disappointing that none of those outings have taken a single swing at doing anything interesting with the concept outside of dragging out actors to put on spandex they wore in the early-mid 2000’s; aside from EEAAO, of course.

The film takes advantage of the premise to tell a story that is not only just... good, but is also affecting in a real way. Rather than taking the conclusion of something like Rick and Morty (although I’ve seen some discussion online about their similarities in humor), and saying that the existence of an infinite number of “yous” ultimately makes your existence meaningless, The Daniels provided a story about finding comfort in that possibility.

That when you strip away the aesthetic of an existence. By which I mean your job, and your status, and your money, and anything else that isn’t intrinsically part of you, the most important thing you’re left with is your connections and your relationships.

It could have been so easy for this film to make a bleaker point, but really when it says that, “you may not matter much to most people, but you do matter a lot to a few,” I can’t help but fall in love with the thing.

The Fabelmans

This was a complete last minute addition to the list. Largely because it was also the last film I watched in 2022.

In the lead up to the release of The Fabelmans, I saw a lot of cynicism over Spielberg making a film about, “the magic of movies.” From the trailer, and its synopsis as an autobiography about Spielberg discovering his talent for filmmaking in his youth, I can see why people might be turned off by that. The thing is-- that’s not what the movie is about in the slightest.

Instead what I got was a movie made by a guy who has some serious mommy issues, and is trying to process the trauma and guilt that comes from getting caught in the middle of his parents’ divorce. In the same way that people decided to throw out that they didn’t feel like watching a cloyingly Spielbergian melodrama, he tosses that thought right back at the audience. The entire film is about the fact that Spielberg is aware of the kinds of movies he makes, and that any movie he’d make about his childhood would end up being exactly how we expect it to be. However, The Fabelmans is an interrogation of the difference between subjectivity and objectivity in depicting “real” events through film.

There are multiple scenes in the thing where characters admonish, praise, or otherwise recognize the fact that the young Spielberg turns real life into something it isn’t through his direction. When we think about Spielberg’s depictions of family life, or of even just the mundane, we know that he’s a master of turning those things into spectacles. As a result, he is in direct conversation with himself, and how he’s choosing to depict his family, and the things that ultimately lead to the dissolution of those relationships. He knows that audiences wouldn’t want to see a realistic version of those events... they want to see something interesting.

Spielberg apparently waited until both of his parents had passed before making The Fabelmans. It’s clear why that is upon watching it. I don’t think that it paints either of his parents in particularly positive lights-- especially his mother. But, I also don’t think that’s a correct read of the piece either. He’s grabbing you by the shoulders and saying, “this is the only way I know how to work through this stuff, it’s always been my only way,” and he’s clearly haunted by that fact.

At the very least, it makes you see his depiction of family life in Close Encounters of The Third Kind from a pretty different perspective.

The Banshees of Inisherin

My favorite film of 2022.

While the year had some pretty good moments, it also had some pretty low lows for me. What good that did come out of this year really came from a newfound desire to be open with people about myself, and to ask for help when I need it. To seek connection when I’d lost it. Inversely, I found a lot of solace in listening to the struggles other people were having too. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to be there for somebody in any situation, really. To me a good baseline of nicety is really the most healing thing I think a person can have.

The story told in The Banshees of Inisherin takes place on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland, set against the Irish Civil War of the early 20’s. 1920’s that is. It’s a film that looks gray, and where every quiet moment is punctuated by the sounds of distant violence. But it’s also a film that is deeply interested in the struggles of people who can’t seem to connect, or reach out, or stand to hold up under the weight of it all for one reason or another. It’s about finding the people you can reach out to, and what to do when those people go away.

Director/writer Mark Mcdonagh is keenly aware of the importance of the niceness I mentioned earlier in finding that solace. There isn’t a single character in the film who wouldn’t have benefited, or ultimately fared better, if they’d only been shown a bit of compassion. Given even just a moment of relief. He also knows that both of those things exist around us, within our communities, if only we can muster up the courage to ask for it.

It makes the case that being there for somebody takes little effort at all, and that the opposite, being pretentious or rude is ultimately good for nothing more than being remembered that way.

It’s heartbreaking, and devastating. But it’s also very funny! There wasn’t anything else this year that captured the lived experiences of people with depression, and the myriad of causes for the disease, like the The Banshees of Inisherin.

Top Gun: Maverick

On a much lighter note, Top Gun: Maverick was definitely the most fun I had with a film this year. And before we go any further on this, yeah it’s obviously military propaganda, and Tom Cruise is... who he is. But this movie absolutely fucking whips and there’s really nothing any way around it. If you disagree you’re lying to yourself for some reason I can’t comprehend-- I’m sorry. Seeing this with friends who all cheered and clapped at the climax will not be topped.

Just a bit earlier, while writing about Everything Everywhere All At Once, I used the term, “capeshit.” Now, let’s not pretend that I’m above going to see superhero movies. I mean, I even saw Black Adam this year. And although I think it was actually probably the worst thing I saw in 2022, I can’t say that I’m not part of the problem for giving them my money. But we also can’t pretend that it’s pretty clear by critical and public sentiment that superhero stuff is getting worse (although the box office doesn’t seem to reflect that too much). And Top Gun: Maverick was the best in a year that I felt was full of great non-superhero stuff.

In fact, what I loved most about it was that it was expressly about the kind of movie that it is. It’s a film about how Tom Cruise is probably one of the last real movie stars we have left. Anthony Mackie put it best in 2018, when he essentially said that in our current landscape of big studio blockbusters, “It used to be with Tom Cruise and Will Smith and Stallone and Schwarzenegger, when you went to the movies, you went to see the Stallone movie. You went to see the Schwarzenegger movie. Now you go see: X-Men. So the evolution of the super hero has meant the death of the movie star”.

So when you look at a guy like Tom Cruise, you have to wonder why his modern process seems so insular. He produces all of the films he stars in, and looking at his output within the Mission Impossible franchise or other things like Oblivion, it’s hard to deny his knowledge of spectacle filmmaking and how to draw an audience into the theater. And then you have to ask yourself why nobody from a Marvel film, like let’s say Chris Evans for example, has been able to find similar success outside of the capeshit paradigm.

This is mirrored within the thematics of Maverick. It’s all about a guy who refuses to move on when everyone around him tells him that his time passed. That there are more efficient and profitable ways of doing things, especially when there’s less reliance on the human element of his work. Tom Cruise is constantly looking down the barrel of the lens and lamenting that, “he can’t teach it,” and that, “nobody else has it anymore,” because the powers at be aren’t willing to facilitate it.

Then he proceeds to deliver on two of the greatest action set-pieces I’ve seen in a theater since Mad Max: Fury Road. Because regardless of your thoughts on the guy, he’s right. For some reason there aren’t many people out there, especially not coming up, that can do it like Tom Cruise can.

Which brings me to my next thing...

The Entire Filmography of Tom Cruise

It really doesn’t look good for me when I try to convince you that I’m not a Tom Cruise evangelist, or apologist, and then I tell you that over the course of the year I’ve also been watching and ranking every movie that the man was ever in. Link is here, by the way.

A big part of my commitment to watching as much film as I can this year is because it is an easy touchstone for me and the people who are most important in my life to connect with each other. It was true of my love for Top Gun: Maverick and its been true of all of these other fucking Tom Cruise movies that I’ve watched. Making Tom Cruise into a personal in-joke with my closest friends will no doubt be one of my favorite memories of 2022.

Then, the other reason I’m so deep into this project stems from the understanding that Tom Cruise is a weird dude who is really fucking good at his job. Trying to understand his process, what might attract him to a project. Really get inside the mind of this guy. I haven’t gotten to Eyes Wide Shut just yet, but Collateral was the closest I’ve felt to seeing the One True Cruise.

Also, let’s be frank. Tom Cruise has been in some of the best films ever made, and worked with many of the greatest filmmakers who have ever lived. If you can get over seeing his face every time, it’s actually not a bad way to get a taste of the evolution of tentpole American cinema.

Better Call Saul (Season 6)

This show started airing when I was just graduating high school. I had binged Breaking Bad my sophomore year in anticipation for its own final season, so of course I was totally on board for more of that world when the prequel, Better Call Saul came about.

The story of how Jimmy Mcgill becomes Walter White’s scummy lawyer was of course, the draw. But over the years, as I became an adult, and moved away, and went through all the things I have in the past 7 years, that story was a constant in my life.And I never expected it to grow into what it eventually did. I watched it with roommates, friends, and partners. It was something to get excited about every year. Or, every other year towards the end there.

Characters like Chuck, and Howard, and of course Kim, were all mysteries to me. I could roughly piece together the trajectory between Jimmy and Mike, but the newcomers left me completely stumped. How did they fit? Where were they during the events of the original show? These were questions that, in the early years of Better Call Saul’s run, I couldn’t wait to finally get answers to. I was content with the slow-burn journey, but of course my mind was always fixed on that destination.

However, by the time it finally came, I was scared of the ending.

Chiefly, because Better Call Saul is one of the best love stories ever told across a show’s entire run. I didn’t care anymore about when it was that Jimmy started wearing brightly-colored suits, I really only dreaded the inevitable fate of his relationship with Kim. I couldn’t see the comedic relief character from one of my favorite shows anymore, I could only see the tragic remains of a guy who lost it all because he couldn’t ever get it together. And that goes for every other character in the show, and their fates.

The final shot of the series, and the movement of the camera within it, is an image that will stick with me for some time.

It’s the best kind of prequel. It tells a story that not only builds right up to the beginnings of Breaking Bad, but it fleshes out the world of that show in a way that I could have never imagined it would when I was in high school. There’s so many locations and little pieces of each character that were retroactively fit to mean so much more. And it only punctuates the damage that Walter White would ultimately do to these people, who we’ve now seen have already been broken and lived entire lives by the time the first episode of that show airs. It gives the original show the feeling of an epilogue.

It was a monumental achievement, and I’m glad to have had it in my life for as long as I did.

Andor (Season 1)

I promise that this is the last time I’ll talk about Andor unprovoked. Until 2024.

If you spent any time at all with me in the latter part of 2022, you will know that I was completely enamored with and had most of my free thoughts consumed by this show. I even wrote an entire piece about making sense of being so obsessed with the thing back in late November.

With a showrunner like Tony Gilroy (who made motherfuckin’ MICHAEL CLAYTON), a staff of writers featuring people like Beau Willimon (the showrunner for House of Cards), and a score by Nicholas Britell (who also currently scores Succession), I’m pretty sure that somebody heard me talking too much shit about Star Wars and decided to make something specifically for me.

It’s not a show that I think about a lot just because it has great set pieces, or because it’s actually good Star Wars, but because it is a show that rewards revisitation and contemplation. If I felt like going back to the same well, there are probably a dozen equally long pieces that I could write about Andor. Its themes of rising, its focus on water, and even what it has to say about truth and trust as ideals.

But outside of all of that... It was just a show I really enjoyed watching. The performances were great, the action was well directed. Some of the most wonderful pieces of dialogue that I heard this year anywhere came out of this show. In the days between episodes, I couldn’t stop myself from rewatching clips, discussing my favorite moments online, or listening to podcasts about it. On top of being a genuinely well made piece of film, it was super entertaining. And, unfortunately, I am a fan of Star Wars so when it’s good I can’t help but become extremely obsessed.

It’s in the middle of the list, but there’s no doubt that above all else, Andor was my favorite “thing” of 2022.

Severance (Season 1)

This was another show that I watched in 2022 which took me completely by surprise. I had heard all of the good things about it during its run early in the year, but I didn’t get around to watching it until sometime in the summer. I think a part of that had to do with the fact that it was on Apple TV+. Which, outside of the first (and ONLY the first) season of Ted Lasso and a documentary called Boy’s State from 2020 (highly recommend), there hadn’t ever been much reason for me to see what was going on over there.

I wish I had more to say about Severance being as good as it is. But, sometimes that’s all there really is to say. It’s a wonderfully written and directed show about a sci-fi premise that immediately gets your brain turning to a thousand different scenarios. It’s perfect TV because it keeps you guessing and theorizing, yet never goes in a direction you’ve already thought of.

It’s tense, it’s funny, and it’s wonderfully smart. Plus, John Turturro is in it! Go watch it!

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Now, I’m not sure why, but 2022 actually turned out to be a year where I found myself coming up short with games that really hit for me. And that’s not to say that there weren’t a ton of good games. Because, much like everything else, there was a deluge of great stuff to play this year. However, I’m not a Souls diehard, so while something like Elden Ring certainly has the potential to be one of the greatest games... ever made... I haven’t really thought about it that much since it came out last February (despite totally loving the time I spent with it). The first game that springs to mind when I think about my favorite stuff from 2022 actually came out a month earlier.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that Pokemon Legends: Arceus was some grand achievement in design, and certainly not in its visuals, but I don’t think there were many games that were as pleasant to play. Simply, I got a lot of joy out of exploring the game’s various maps, and seeing what kind of creatures were around every corner, over every hill, and strewn about the feature-less, texture-less landscapes. It’s the dream of every person who likes the franchise to interact with that world in a more naturalistic way, and I think that this game provided just that.

I’m kind of the worst Pokemon player there is in that, I really don’t enjoy the battles in these games. To me, they get in the way of seeing new Pokemon, exploring the world, and just taking in the character that the series is known for. So, for this game to take the approach that it does, with players assuming the role of a researcher rather than a trainer, I was really able to indulge myself in all of the aspects of the series that I like the most. It was the first time I’ve actually ever felt compelled to complete the Pokedex because the discovery of new monsters, and what habitats they came from actually felt like charting an unexplored land. Catching Pokemon without battling them made the act of cataloging them all into an almost meditative one. To boot, it doesn’t hurt that the story this time around was actually pretty interesting. Sure, it’s got the conceit of a bog-standard isekai but I think the inherent mystery surrounding the time-traveling shenanigans was compelling enough to keep me entertained across the... way too many hours I put into this thing.

My love for this game also has a lot to do with where I was at last January, in general. My routine was nice, I was happy. I got to spend a lot of my time playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus sharing the experience with people I really cared about. Much like the experience I would have only a month later with Elden Ring, I got so much out of Arceus just from sharing stories about what we had discovered each day. Where we were able to catch a certain Pokemon, how we finished a quest, or what strategies we used when tackling this new open world. It was something to be excited about with people; and when it comes to games those are the memories that matter to me the most.

Vampire Survivors

This is one game that really doesn’t really need too much of my evangelizing. I’m pretty sure it topped more than a few GOTY year lists across the internet but that’s because... it probably is the best game of 2022.

Aside from being what may be the greatest time-sink ever created, what appeals most to me about Vampire Survivors is that it harkens back to an era of indie games on PC that we just don’t really get much of anymore. There’s something about the simple graphics, and obviously low-budget atmosphere that the game gives off which reminds me of something that I might have picked up back in 2011 and immediately become obsessed with. Well, it’s 2023 now, and after almost half a year of playing Vampire Survivors whenever I can’t decide what else to do with my time, I can definitely say that I am obsessed.

From its single-input controls, to a surprisingly deep potential for build-crafting, and the dopamine rush that comes from those builds turning you into a screen-clearing god, it’s clear that Vampire Survivors is going to be a game that I come back to for not just the rest of 2023, but for years and years to come. Instant classic.

Neon White

One thing about me, and the way that I play games, is that it’s pretty uncommon for me to care about high scores or leaderboards very much. However, there was a period of time this year where I spent a single 5-hour session trying to climb the global leaderboards for a single level in Neon White. And that’s because, while I’ve never given a shit about games focused on chasing leaderboard positions, I do give a shit about really well-made and fast-paced arena shooters. Neon White just so happened to be the best of both things.

My love of games like Unreal Tournament and Titanfall 2 knows no bounds. I love a fast shooter with an emphasis on skillful movement. If your game doesn’t move at 100mph and allow me to rocket jump, or at the very least use a grappling hook, I probably won’t think too highly of it. Which is why I was completely addicted to getting the highest rank possible in each level of Neon White, which is built entirely around learning how to rocket jump and use your momentum to skip entire sections of levels. It was made for people like me. On top of that, its innovative mechanics for doling out loadouts as carefully placed power ups made mastering each level into a puzzle unto itself. Basically, in order to get good at the game, you’re organically placed into the mindset of a speedrunner.

When you’re 1.2 seconds off from getting the S-Rank, despite feeling like you’ve cut every corner possible, you can’t help but wonder what skip you’re missing, or what trick you’re losing time on. Again, this is not the way that I usually play games, but here I couldn’t help but become obsessed with dropping times. This mindset is only furthered by a wonderful atmosphere set by some really neat visual design and a score that, for lack of better terminology, totally fucking rips.

The only knock I can put against Neon White is that the story stuff is pretty bad. The characters are uninteresting, and their dialogue is on digestible by the worst kind of JRPG enthusiast. There’s a Persona-esque social system, but I only ever interacted with it to unlock each of the NPC’s secret levels. If you’re gonna play it, skip the cutscenes entirely.

But the actual game is so good, I don’t even hold the bad story stuff against it. Total banger.

The Case of The Golden Idol

This was the most memorable and most satisfying experience I had with a game in 2022. It was also really therapeutic in a way that I didn’t expect.

For those of you who know me, I don’t think it’s shocking to hear me say that the end of Summer 2022 was spectacularly awful. But, I will say that it did give way to the Fall and the Winter which were actually quite good to me. I reconnected with a lot of friends, I opened up about the shit I’d been up to, I started recovery for OCD by going to group therapy, and in general I just felt a lot more emotionally secure than I did at any other point in a year where my mental state was anything but. I felt like I was transitioning into a momentum that I hadn’t had for a long while.

My time with The Case of The Golden Idol falls smack in the middle of this “transitionary period.” The sessions I spent with the game were, “cozy,” for lack of a better word. In the day I was seeing people, bettering myself, then at night I was able to unwind by sitting down and unraveling the twisted yarn that makes up the game’s dozen or so mysteries.

It’s probably not hard to crack the case on why carefully scrutinizing various crime scenes that are built like an Eye Spy picture, and determining which person is which only through context clues turned into such a meditative experience. Being able to deduce who killed who, where each person was, and ultimately piece together a massive mystery that spans the entire game and almost a century of fictional history.

Sure, most of its mechanics are ripped pretty directly from Return of The Obra Dinn, but I consider that to be one of the greatest video games of all time, so I wasn’t too upset about it. However, I did find the gorgeous 2D pixel-art environments of Golden Idol to be a bit easier for me to wrap my mind around, which just furthered my enjoyment of the thing and only enhanced its therapeutic qualities.

If there’s any game you rush to play after reading this list, I hope it’s The Case of The Golden Idol. But, even if you’re itching to burn through it, I recommend you take it slow. It’s the kind of game you can really only experience for the first time, and I’m jealous of anybody who can.

The Cutscenes in God of War: Ragnarok

Is this allowed? It’s my list. So yes. But, it does seem a little mean at first blush, doesn’t it? Trust me, I don’t intend it to be that way.

I don’t want it to sound like I thought the gameplay parts of the 2022 video game God of War: Ragnarok were bad or anything. I just don’t think I’ll find them to be particularly memorable. In fact, the moment I rolled credits on the game, I haven’t really thought about the act of playing it since. The only thought I can seem to conjure is that whenever I was solving some benign puzzle, or working my way through a combat arena, I was only motivated to do so because I wanted to get more of the story, and the writing, and wonderful performances that the game has to offer. I mean, Toby Ziegler as Odin just can’t be beat. Oh, and shout out to the amazing score by Bear McCreary, too!

I don’t think it does much more than any of the better Marvel movies do in terms of emotion, or thematic depth, but Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 made my cry... and so did this! Unlike most people, I actually came away from 2018’s God of War feeling a bit lukewarm on the entire experience. I wasn’t sure why people were heralding it as a masterpiece in storytelling, or gameplay. It all seemed like pretty bog-standard big-budget AAA fare. Ultimately, that’s kind of how I felt about the actual game parts, but I think the story of Kratos and Atreus here is so much more enjoyable when they’re surrounded by an interesting cast of characters. And, the discussions that the game has about fate, forgiveness, and whether a person can change or if they’re defined by their nature were really moving.

Towards the middle of the thing I thought that it was running long in the tooth, but that’s only because I’m obsessed with completing side content if it’s presented to me in a game. So, if you do get around to this one, I don’t think you’d miss much by mainlining the story. In fact, you might enjoy it more than I did.

The final moments of God of War: Ragnarok are so beautiful though, and made the time I spent with the game totally worth it.

The Steam Deck

It’s not a game. It’s a piece of hardware. But, this is my list and I firmly believe that the Steam Deck irrevocably shifted my gaming habits in such a way that I couldn’t not include the thing.

Before the Steam Deck came into my life, I would have probably told you that the Nintendo Switch was my favorite piece of gaming hardware that I’ve ever owned. People complain about its library being primarily comprised of indie titles or games released well over a decade ago, but the thing is I’m the guy that those releases are for. I spend most of my time with my Switch playing things like Stardew Valley and Resident Evil 4. Being able to play things like that from the comfort of my bed, or take them on trips with me is insanely valuable. The only downside to the thing, is that the Switch’s hardware was outdated the moment it was released. Ports of newer indie games, or even games from just 5-6 years ago, have the potential to run pretty poorly.

The Steam Deck does everything my Switch can do... but better. And now I have access to almost all of my PC games. And mods. And emulators. That’s really the only reason it’s on the list! But it’s impact cannot be understated.

From my Steam Deck I can play Ape Escape 3, then switch over to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, then to a newer release like Death Stranding. Hell, if you want to go through the effort of dumping your Switch games, you could even play Breath of The Wild at a higher frame rate and resolution then you can on its original hardware. Basically, it allowed me to play a bunch of games that bring me comfort whenever and wherever I need them. So long as there’s an outlet nearby because the battery life is actually pretty terrible.

I don’t think I would recommend the Steam Deck to somebody who isn’t into tinkering with computers, but if you’re brave enough it can become the greatest piece of gaming hardware ever made.

Fortnite

It didn’t come out last year, but it certainly is the game I played the most in 2022.

As far as being a game goes, I think that Fortnite is one of the only actually fun multiplayer shooters left in the space. It doesn’t feel like I’m playing something that was made to be an esport like it does when I’m playing Overwatch 2, Valorant, or disappointingly enough even Call of Duty. I’m not really involved in the community, but as far as I can see there’s so little focus on what’s balanced, or what’s considered optimal play. Most of the time, Fortnite is just me and my friends dressing up as Will Smith, RoboCop, and Thanos, then winning by hiding in the passenger seats of semi-trucks or through some other silly shenanigans. The video below is an example of said shenanigans…

That last part is also why Fortnite was my most played game in 2021, 2022, and likely 2023. I play it with my friends. In fact, I’d say that I spend more time with some people who I consider to be closest to me in Fortnite then we actually get the opportunity to in real life. And I don’t consider that to be a bad thing, essentially we use our time in Fortnite as an extended phone call where we can also occasionally hit the griddy on an enemy player who we’ve decided to kidnap and use as bait for their friends.

We talk about life, that annoying guy at work, that girl you’ve been seeing, or the neighbor who you’re pretty sure slashed your tires. It’s mostly gossip and shit-talking. We also, unsurprisingly, talk about Fortnite itself. Where we hope to see the game go, what we think of the endless flow of new weapons, or changes to the map.

Specifically, one of my fondest memories of the past few months was staying up until almost 6AM talking with a friend about the newest patch that would be out the following day. It was like we were kids on Christmas morning, eagerly awaiting the new toys we’d get to play with.

The only confusion we still have is why people pretend like this game is bad, or that they’re better for not playing it. Really, if you’re like that, get your head out of your ass and come play this fucking thing. It is actually that good.

I don’t think I’ve laughed harder, cheered louder, and felt so fondly about a multiplayer game like I do Fortnite in a long time... if ever. It is the epitome of why I play games.

CONCLUSION

So, that’s everything. Well, it’s not all of the things that I liked this year, but it is most of the things that will stick with me going into 2023. And I hope you liked reading it regardless! Or maybe, at the very least, I hope you found it funny for me to say, “Top Gun: Maverick ended my depression.”

It was a year where I really valued reconnecting with art on a deeper level, and a year where I was able to approach things from wildly new perspectives. I wouldn’t call 2022 a bad year, looking back on it, but it was a turbulent one for sure. I got crazier, I got better, I started going to the gym, and I learned a lot about myself and my friends and my family. I’d like to think that a lot of things on this list, and why they’re on it, reflect the person I was in 2022, and who I ended up being by the end of it.

I can’t say that I’m as happy going into 2023 as I was going into 2022-- but I’m certainly better off.