It’s difficult to believe the state of the world and life in general at the end of 2023. Everyone, including me, made jokes about how terrible 2020 was as a year with the hopes that things would get better or “back to normal.” But…well… you know. This is why escapism is more important than ever. It’s also why it’s that much more disappointing that there are so many unfortunate modern examples of movies or video games that do not understand their core purpose as entertainment, and instead try to hammer in an ideology or message. I tend to not even bother interacting with movies or games that fall into that category, otherwise they would likely fill up my list of “worsts” and I’d be even grumpier than I already am. There are plenty of brave content creators who are willing to dive into that toxic pool; I prefer to stay on the shallow end. Until condemned to watch or play these pieces of media that are determined to make me conform and think like the Big Brother of their dystopian dreams, I’m just going to stick with things that simply stand out to me, one way or another. And below you’ll see the lists of the best and worst experiences I had this year in terms of entertainment. They will include some relatively new releases, as well as things that have been out for a while but I only recently experienced for the first time.

Best Games I Played

Street Fighter VI

It’s been a long, long time since I was excited about a new Street Fighter game. Other than Street Fighter III: Third Strike, I have not watched or played as many matches of Street Fighter as I have with the sixth major installment. It’s an extremely balanced game with fun mechanics and a versatile roster. It’s a hard game, with a lot to learn, but the rewards are great when you know you’re getting better at making the right decisions under pressure. The online is pretty solid and there are a ton of features to make help keep you interested for a long time.

Honorable Mentions

Outer Wilds

I had heard good things about Outer Wilds for some time but managed to avoid any details as to why people liked it so much until I experienced it for myself. I’m glad I did because, within an hour into it, I had a “wow” moment and quickly understood the positive buzz. It’s a simple game that has a lot going on under the surface, and it manages to make exploration the key highlight of the game. It’s an experience that benefits from you not knowing anything. If you’ve never played it, do not look up guides beforehand; try it for yourself.

Hogwarts Legacy

Despite all the negative press from toxic, hackneyed, games-journalism rags like Kotaku, Hogwarts Legacy proved that the Harry Potter brand and legacy is still strong with fans: this game sold gangbusters. It also doesn’t hurt that Hogwarts Legacy was a pretty good game, too. I’m not a big Potter fan, but I still had a fair amount of fun exploring the magical world and solving the various puzzles scattered across the map. There’s a lot of room for improvement in any DLC or sequels, but it’s a great starting point.

Worst Games I Played

While there were certainly worse games that came out this year that people played, I’m a cheapskate who isn’t willing to throw money at trash like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum or Kong for the sake of the memes.

Lucius

I’ve had this game on Steam for a while and never bothered to boot it up until this year. I played it for all of an hour before realizing I was wasting my time. When it first came out, it might have had a little more novelty in the idea that you were playing as the son of Satan in a cheap Hitman-knockoff game. Unfortunately, I became a fan of those Hitman games and thoroughly enjoyed each one since Blood Money before I played Lucius. This game is limited in what you can do and often requires some obtuse solutions to the puzzles. If you want to see what you can do, you’re better off watching a YouTube compilation.

Warhammer 40,000 Darktide

Darktide is not a bad game. It’s just a flawed mess that should not have launched in the state that it did. Despite being one of my “worst” games of the year, I had a fair amount of fun playing it with a friend. I think that, given enough time, it will eventually reach the level it needs to be in order to be considered close to as good as the Vermintide games, but it’s got a ways to go.

Best Movies I Watched

Dave Made a Maze

Dave Made a Maze has become the most easily recommendable movie I’ve watched all year. Other than people with very particular tastes and those who hate fun, I struggle to think of who wouldn’t enjoy this movie. It has an indie-film charm and passion that pulls you in, along with a distinct love for film and creativity that gives you a positive vibe the whole way through, even when people are “dying.” There are moments that don’t necessarily make sense, and the jokes don’t always land, but they’re fleeting and you move on to other segments that are funny and quirky. I’ve seen it several times with different groups of friends, and it’s always gone well with some hearty laughs.

Honorable Mentions

The Menu

The Menu is one of those films that is smarter than you initially realize. There’s a lot going on with how it plays out and how things can be interpreted. If you have a dark sense of humor like I do, you’ll probably laugh or smile in some particular moments of morbidity. It’s not a movie I can easily recommend, but it’s a movie that managed to surprise me in a pleasant way.

Deadstream

This is just a fun movie. With a small budget and straightforward plot, Deadstream lays out its goals and accomplishes them all exceptionally well.

Worst Movies Things I Watched

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

I had to change the name of this section just for this. While there were certainly some movies I watched that disappointed or irritated me, none managed to do both more than the anthology horror show from Netflix. By the time I was halfway through the series, I was already disappointed in the squandered potential. By the time I stopped watching it, I was confused and enraged. How this pitiful show was approved by multiple people to be made available for consumption is a mystery to me. It’s an even bigger enigma as to why Del Toro was willing to attach his name to such poorly written crap. Don’t waste your time.

Other Losers

House of Darkness

If I’ll give it any credit at all, I’ll say this movie takes a few risks. Nothing significant happens for the first 40 minutes. Then, nothing significant happens again until the end. The rest of the film is just intentionally stilted dialogue between two people in dimly-lit rooms with undertones of malice. Had House of Darkness stuck the landing, I would have enjoyed it for its simplicity and use of tension. Unfortunately, as the movie comes to a close, it jumps into the proverbial “toxic pool” I mentioned at the top of this article and reveals its agenda. While the movie Men had a similar agenda, there were a lot of other components and qualities that I liked, which helped me look past the downsides enough not to hate it. I merely walked away from House of Darkness feeling like I had wasted two-hours of my time.

The Nun II

I did not expect The Nun II to be good. I also did not expect it to be as bad as it was. Having only watched it a few days prior to writing this up, I’ve already begun to forget significant portions of it, but the bad taste of the experience still lingers in my mouth. The acting is not good. The script is a mess. It does nothing to stand out or try to justify its existence in the strained and fatigued Conjuring franchise. This was a cash-grab film that does not deserve your attention.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

I would have liked to have been in the writers’ room when the script for Five Nights at Freddy’s was being drafted. Though I have no love for the FNaF franchise, I would still be willing to interject and tell the writers that they were on the wrong track to spare them the shame of screwing up what should have been an easy win. For example, I would have told them to not make the character motivations and the interwoven character arcs so complicated or contrived. I also would have told them to make sure the killer animatronics the franchise is known for (and what the audience wants to see) were the real stars of the movie. Instead, it has a plot the gets bogged down in its own nonsense, and the star robots are practically background decoration. They should have just let Willie’s Wonderland take the rights to the FNaF name. Maybe there will be a crossover film and it can be redeemed.

The Pope’s Exorcist

There are two things I remember about this movie. 1. Russell Crowe does his best to make this movie fun and engaging; 2. It is the most by-the-numbers cliché film I’ve watched this year. The Nun II was pretty predictable, but there was at least some signs of intelligence in some brief moments. The Pope’s Exorcist might as well have been written by AI with how standard everything is. The only hope this movie has is a Samurai Cop sequel with a buddy-cop exorcist team starring Russell Crowe. Otherwise, it will fall into the realm of obscurity to which it belongs.

This is something of a shameless plug, but also something to document the process. We recorded these songs a year+ ago. There were some significant sacrifices required for the project as a whole that weren’t just monetary, and we were all hoping to have this thing done before the end of 2022. Unfortunately, one delay after another has pushed this project out again and again. I’ve been listening to our songs throughout the year to find edits and improvements, but also because I long for the day the album will finally be complete. Until that day finally comes when we get it mastered, printed, and shared on streaming sites, you can enjoy this unfinished sample.

See you Next Year

With this wrap-up article, DagonDogs.com will undergo a bit of a hiatus from new content. As I mentioned at the top, this was a tough year. It became especially more difficult on a personal level due to some medical emergencies. So, I had to get the last few reviews done under a bit of pressure. I finally had a year where I didn’t take a break from the site during the summer and was determined to make it to December before I did. Now, I have to take one to properly handle some business. I don’t know when I’ll return, but I hope that you all have some happy holidays and that the year starts off right for you.

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