Wizard Dojo’s 2019 Through the Halfway Point (Q2)

Wow, 2019 is already halfway over. That’s kind of scary. Where did the time go?

At any rate, Wizard Dojo has had a productive year so far, as we’ve reached 2019’s halfway point. Maybe not as productive as I would like, but here’s hoping I can catch up in the coming months.

Just as I did after the first quarter of the year came and went, I’m once again writing a chronicle of Wizard Dojo’s 2019 so far, and discuss some stuff I hope to implement on this site in the coming months of the year, and maybe even beyond!

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First, let’s reflect on the reviews I’ve written here for the Dojo so far in 2019, and the number scores each one currently boasts (titles in bold were released in 2019).

 

Total Movie Reviews Written in 2019 so Far: 23

Total Video Game Reviews Written in 2019 so Far: 24

Sadly, 2019 hasn’t been my busiest year in terms of the amount of reviews written (remember back in this site’s first year, I wrote 100 video game reviews alone!). But hopefully things can pick up a bit, and more importantly, I hope the quality of my writing has improved. You beautiful people deserve the best.

Here’s hoping I can make up for lost time…

January Reviews

Movie Reviews: 8

Bumblebee – 7/10

From Dusk ‘Till Dawn – 5/10

Mary Poppins Returns – 6/10

The Cat Returns – 7/10

Ralph Breaks the Internet – 8/10

Unbreakable – 7/10

Split – 6/10

Glass – 3/10

Video Game Reviews: 5

Wario Land II – 6/10

The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game – 6/10

Inside – 7/10

Donut County – 7/10

Tetris Effect – 8/10

 

February Reviews

Movie Reviews: 1

Fighting With my Family – 7/10

 

Video Game Reviews: 3

Red Dead Redemption 2 – 8/10

Wario Land 3 – 6/10

God of War (PS4) – 8/10

 

March Reviews

Movie Reviews: 2

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – 6/10

Captain Marvel – 5/10

 

Video Game Reviews: 10

Kingdom Hearts 3 – 6/10

Tetris 99 – 7/10

Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove – 7/10

Wario World – 4/10

Sonic the Fighters – 2/10

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble – 4/10

Tails’ Skypatrol – 2/10

Tails’ Adventure – 5/10

Sonic R – 2/10

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 9/10

 

April Reviews

Movie Reviews: 5

Dumbo (2019) – 6/10

Shazam! – 7/10

Marvel’s The Avengers – 8/10

Avengers: Age of Ultron – 5/10

Avengers: Infinity War – 8/10

 

Video Game Reviews: 3

Yoshi’s Crafted World – 7/10

Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee – 5/10

Wario Land 4 – 7/10

 

May Reviews

Movie Reviews: 2

Avengers: Endgame – 9/10

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu – 6/10

Video Game Reviews: 2

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 7/10

Wario’s Woods – 7/10

 

June Reviews

Movie Reviews: 5

Aladdin (2019) – 7/10

Godzilla: King of the Monsters – 6/10

X-Men: Dark Phoenix – 4/10

The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 5/10

The Dark Crystal – 5/10

Game Reviews: 1

WarioWare, Inc. Mega Microgames – 7/10

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Unfortunately, it seems my consistency with reviews has wildly fluctuated from month to month in 2019. Even more notably, the fact that I only reviewed a total of three games between May and June means that’s the smallest amount of games I’ve reviewed in a two month timespan here at the Dojo. Hopefully, as the year goes on, I can pick up the pace and keep it up. There are so many games and movies I’d like to review – old and new – so fingers crossed I can get to them.

As I’ve stated in the past, I imagine in the near future that I won’t be so much about writing as many reviews as possible in any given amount of time, and  instead focus more on taking my time with the reviews so I can write other things (like top 10 lists and other articles) in the interim. Lord knows I’ve been meaning to catch up on top 10 lists…

Another recurring thing I’ve been mentioning on this site recently: modern video games are too damn long, which means I can’t rush my reviews for them very quickly. I also plan on making fewer gaming purchases going forward, largely because of the time investment they require far too often these days. So I can imagine my movie reviews becoming more frequent down the road (exceptions being older games and modern titles that are reasonably lengthed). I can see myself, come 2020, only buying about four or five retail games per year, if that. My love of gaming may be undying, but there are only so many hours in a day, and so much money in my wallet. I still stand by what I said before, however. If I reach my game purchase limit, and a game that I would just have to play comes out, I will make exceptions and exceed that limit. But I’m talking things like a Super Mario Galaxy 3 or Bloodborne 2 to make such exceptions. Gotta be the big ones.

Now for some brighter news! I’ve been spending more time with certain other creative endeavors as of late (such as drawing and creative writing). With my creative juices flowing the strongest they have for some time, I plan on continuing my studies of video game design and pick up on my sprite-making. Because I want to make video games, and maybe you’d want to play them? Please? I hope…

Also, I may start posting some of my drawings here (I currently only post them to my Instagram). I’m hesitant to do it, because I don’t think I’m very good at drawing – despite my love for it – and I don’t want people to think I’m trying to show off great artwork or anything. I just think it would be a fun way to share my creations and imagination, and maybe give my readers something of an insight as to what my eventual video game(s) might be like. And of course, I will post whatever sprites I make in the future.

Thoughts?

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Anyway, I finally got around to writing my 2018 video game awards, and it only took the calendar to roll around to May in order for me to do them! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – the only 2018 game I scored a 9/10 – naturally took home my top honors, but it wasn’t for lack of competition, as Marvel’s Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War and Celeste were also heavy-hitters.

As I mentioned in my recap of the first quarter of 2019, I’ve also managed to review one Wario game per month so far in 2019. Why am I doing this? No real reason. I originally intended to write reviews for Wario Land 2 and 3 shortly after I wrote my review for the first Wario Land last year. But it took me a wee bit longer to get to them, as I posted my WL2 review in January, and followed it up with WL3 in February. And then I just kind of rolled with it. I wonder if I can keep it up for the rest of the year, especially seeing as I’m running low on Wario games…

Oh, and if you say Wario’s Woods doesn’t count because you play as Toad and Wario is the bad guy, you’re a big doo-doo head! After all, the first game Mario himself ever appeared in was Donkey Kong, which is officially recognized as a Donkey Kong game, despite DK’s status as the villain (Mario didn’t even have a proper name at the time). So yeah, Wario’s Woods counts as a Wario game. Streak intact…for now.

Once again, I feel a bit guilty that I’ve neglected by top 10 lists for so long, especially since, going into 2019, I wanted to make them a priority on this site this year. Hopefully I’ll catch up on them soon, and maybe come 2020 I’ll have at least one list per month or something.

For the near future, however, some of the lists I hope to write include

Top 10 Nintendo Systems

Top 10 Nintendo Franchises

Top 10 Most Influential Video Games

Top 10 Video Games from my Childhood

Top 5 Nintendo Supporting Characters Who Deserve Their Own Game

and a ranking of the nine currently-released ‘modern’ Disney animated films (from Princess and the Frog onwards). And maybe an updated version of my ranking of every Pixar movie…or just a top 10 Pixar list. Maybe you have a preference for that one?

Now let’s just hope it doesn’t take me too long to get to these lists…

Going back to reviews, here’s some more stuff released/going to be released in 2019 that I’ll hopefully get around to before year’s end.

2019 Video Games I own but haven’t reviewed yet

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr’s Journey

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Super Mario Maker 2

 

Evidently I have my work cut out for me with these games piling up. But, I must persevere! The fate of the world depends on it!

Or, you know, it’s just something I’d like to do.

 

Then of course we have more games coming out before the end of the year, and I became a total sucker and decided to pre-order them (I swear, come 2020 I’m buying less games).

2019 Games I have on pre-order

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)

Luigi’s Mansion 3

Pokemon Sword Version

 

Blasted E3 got the better of me. I also have Animal Crossing: New Horizons on pre-order, but that was delayed into next year. I’m actually kind of happy about that. That’s one 2020 game so far, and assuming the Breath of the Wild sequel comes out in 2020, that would be two. I’ll have to seriously consider what other games will be worth the time next year if I want to stick to my limited purchases thing…

In addition to the above mentioned 2019 games, I also downloaded both Final Fantasy VII and IX on my Switch over the past few months, so I’ll probably review those too, when I get the time. Not to mention I beat Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions some time ago, so expect me to review that in the near(ish) future. And of course I have a treasure trove of old games, so there’s still plenty of retro titles to review. Also, I really need to get back to Rare Replay and review the remainder of its games.

2019 Movie I’ve watched recently and will review soon

Toy Story 4

I will see Toy Story 4 again before reviewing it. Considering it’s been nine years (?!) since its immediate predecessor alone, I think multiple viewings are in order to review it fairly. I think that’s usually necessary for anticipated sequels that made me wait for so long, so that my love of its predecessor(s) doesn’t heighten/hinder my opinion of it too much.

Upcoming 2019 Movies I plan to review

Spider-Man: Far From Home

The Lion King (2019)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Frozen II

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

 

There are a few other 2019 films I’m interested in reviewing, but the ones listed above are the ones I think I’m pretty much guaranteed to see in theaters. I may review It: Chapter 2 if I decide to watch the first one again and review it. Maybe I’ll even catch up on some of the 2019 films I missed n the past few months. Of course, there are plenty of older movies on streaming services I can review. And as I stated in the past, I would like to get around to reviewing the remaining films of Hayao Miyazaki, the rest of Quentin Tarantino’s back catalogue (I’ve only reviewed Reservoire Dogs so far, unless we’re counting From Dusk ‘Till Dawn), and review the rest of Pixar Animation Studio’s library.

Also also also, as I’ve said more times than I can count, I do plan on reviewing TV series in some capacity. With Stranger Things season 3 arriving on Netflix in the next couple of days, maybe I’ll review the first two seasons of that to start with.

Yeah, so there’s a lengthy, rambling, incoherent tirade for ya. I think I pretty much just reiterated things I talked about in my last recap post…

Oh well, hopefully you look forward to my future writings. And if you aren’t, well, why did you read this blog up to this point? Here’s hoping I pick up some steam and crank out more consistent content for the remainder of 2019, and here’s hoping for a bright future for the Dojo beyond that!