Dragon Ball DAIMA – Episodes 1 – 12 Review

David HoganLeave a comment

Dragon Ball DAIMA (is it all caps? Not sure, I’ll go with it…) was originally just a 40th Anniversary celebration mini-series, but sadly it’s now turned into Akira Toriyama’s swansong with the franchise after his passing last year. So does it work as both? Yes! DAIMA has Toriyama’s old sense of fun adventures with the odd childish gag here and there that he loved to write so much, but it also has added a lot of lore and continuity to the franchise to give it a little bit of a kick as it enters its 41st year. What will happen to the franchise after DAIMA is up in the air, so let’s just enjoy the start of this full stop at the end of the original creator’s run, shall we?

Continue reading →

Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Reflections Review

David HoganLeave a comment

“Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Reflections” (bloody hell, enough subtitles for you?) is the latest Eighth Doctor Time War offering, continuing the adventures of The Doctor, his great-grandson from another universe Alex and Cass, that one off character he met right at the end of his life that has been retroactively made into a companion I guess he forgets. It’s an odd mix, but even more oddly it really works! Reflections is a really fun four story set, with each story building nicely from the one before it. Let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

My Top 10 Games of 2024

David Hogan2 Comments

I knew going in that 2024 might be a bit more of a lean year game-wise, but thanks to games like Star Wars: Outlaws just disappointing me (to the point of an extremely rare giving up halfway through and selling it scenario) and the latest Assassin’s Creed game, normally good for an early Top 10 placement, getting delayed to next year it’s more lean than I’d imagined. Plus due to its length and having already played through a similarly-lengthy Atlus RPG a few months earlier I haven’t played Metaphor: Refantazio, nor have I played Astro Bot, two games that dominated most Top Games lists elsewhere. It’s so bad I’ve thrown in a few compilation re-releases to make up the Top 10, something I really didn’t want to do but a “Top 7” just sounds weird, so… Hey-ho. Also every game this year is either a sequel or a remake, so either I’m getting old and refusing to look into new things or the business has really gotten lazy… Either way, let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

My Top 10 Doctor Who Stories of 2024

David HoganLeave a comment

For the first time in many years I haven’t actually gotten around to listening to all the Big Finish releases this years, thanks in part to falling behind due to the new website/app disaster from a few months ago. So if any of December’s releases end up being better than my Number 10 pick… bugger. With that being said it’s also been a few years since we’ve had a year with a full Series of Doctor Who airing, so at least there’s a greater pool of stories to choose from! Let’s take a look…

Continue reading →

My Top 10 TV Series/Seasons of 2024

David HoganLeave a comment

It’s been an odd year for TV for me, thanks to playing a lot of long-form games and having a lot less free time in general there have been shows I’d normally have watched but I never got round to, like the second seasons of Arcane or Squid Game (though that only coming out a few days ago meant it never really had a chance…) That being said, there were still some shows I enjoyed but didn’t make the cut, like Agatha All Along or Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, so I guess it can’t be all bad. Also reminder: this is what I’ve enjoyed the most, not necessarily what has contained the best acting or anything like that… With that out of the way, let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

Doctor Who: Joy to the World Review

David HoganLeave a comment

While it’s nice to once again watch a new Doctor Who Christmas Special on actual Christmas, I will have to say that “Joy to the World” was a mixed bag leaning towards boring, at least in my opinion (which after all is what a review is, so I don’t know why I typed that…) It has some good ideas and some fun sequences but it was also capped off by the most Steven Moffat-y ending you could imagine, which at this point is somewhat nostalgic but still… Ah, enough waffling, let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) Review

David HoganLeave a comment

Back in March of 2022 I started a look at all the Mario Kart games tying in with each DLC release for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and stated that I’d end with a look at the game itself, so let’s do that, even though it’s been nearly a year since I looked at Mario Kart 7, but hey… it’s been a busy year. I’ll be looking at both versions but let’s be honest, 8 Deluxe is just 8 with more stuff so there isn’t really any reason to look back at the Wii U original too hard…

Continue reading →

Doctor Who: The Quintessence Review

David HoganLeave a comment

It’s time for another story from probably my most anticipated Doctor Who range of them all at the moment: the Third Doctor adventures. “The Quintessence” is the next in the line of older Jo Grant (or Jo Jones) adventures that got off to a bad start last year but I’m happy to say that this second set is among the very best this year. While it starts slowly (and oddly familiar) it turns into not just a great story but a great story with the Cybermen, the original Mondas ones no less. Let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

Gundam: Requiem For Vengeance Review

David Hogan6 Comments

I should have been thrilled when I heard a new Universal Century set Gundam series was being made but it soon became obvious it was a CG show, which rarely hits with me, and then as more and more trailers came out it seemed less and less like Gundam and more like generic “hoo-rar” American army stuff with UC era mobile suits in it, the often super realistic CG only serving to make things even less appealing as it crossed over to the uncanny valley. At six episodes it didn’t over-stay its welcome at least, but I’m glad the recently revealed new Gundam show “G-Quuuuux” or however you write that insane title shows this extremely Westernised take on Gundam isn’t a new direction… Let’s take a look!

Continue reading →

Doctor Who: The Great Beyond Review

David HoganLeave a comment

“The Great Beyond” is the latest Fifth Doctor release from Big Finish and has taken the approach of doing a six-parter, something that can sometimes lead to a great story full of slow-burn plots and great characterisation, but often ends up spinning its wheels and padding out the story poorly, and I’m sorry to say this is very much the latter. It’s a shame as there are some fun sci-fi ideas on display here and the TARDIS team is well realised, but the plot doesn’t survive the nearly three hours, and the new characters barely survive the one scene they’re introduced in! Let’s take a look, anyway…

Continue reading →