I want to write down some thoughts about Under the Waves down, because I’m going to put it to one side for now after twenty hours or so. The visuals were gorgeous, and I used UEVR and my Quest 3 headset for increased immersion–the presentation absolutely captures that same lonely underwater feeling I so enjoyed with Subnautica. I also liked the lead actor’s performance. Gameplay-wise, however, there really isn’t anything special here, and all the tasks I had to do felt a chore. Might return to it one day, or might not.

I’ve played twelve hours of Death Stranding and that may be enough for me. Fans online insist it becomes something truly special at some point, but also tell me that the core gameplay (put containers on your back and take them somewhere else on the desolate map) stays the same. Perhaps I am too impatient, or blind to the depth of director Hideo Kojima’s vision, but I found this mostly visually and mechanically dull. The occasional beautiful moment–usually cued by one of the songs–was not enough to make up for all the tedium.

This episodic narrative game starts very strong. The first few episodes are engrossing, with compelling characters, excellent animation, and some interesting choices for the player. The second half of the game, however, does little with your earlier choices and makes you spend too much time in the dull “dispatcher” minigame. ★★★☆☆

I thoroughly enjoyed playing this. In terms of gameplay it’s a fairly simple puzzle/adventure game, but the location design (1980s London!) and eerie horror works fabulously well in VR. The story isn’t hugely original but the environments are fascinating. For me easily one of the best VR games made so far. ★★★★☆

This is a very different game from the usual Nintendo 3D platformers, and that idiosyncracy doesn’t always work–there are too many levels that just aren’t particularly fun. It is also remarkably ugly in its glowing greens and purples–but I suppose that does also give it a unique visual style. Yet, despite these caveats, the smash-everything voxel technology perfectly fits with Donkey Kong’s endearing character, and there is something very satisfying about eating all those rock bananas. ★★★★☆

It’s the season of reflections on the past year and I thought I would join in with a quick list of highlights for the year.

Best films for me were the Chinese comedy-drama Her Story, the very-long-but-worth-it The Brutalist, the fun new French blockbuster The Count of Monte Cristo, and the Hong Kong drama about a funeral business, The Last Dance.

Best TV was the second season of Andor and the first season of Pluribus. Both were sci-fi shows that went far beyond their genre expectations. Black Swan, the Danish documentary about white-collar crime, was also excellent.

Best books included Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, about Facebook’s culture and global ignorance; Octavia Butler’s Parable series; and Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed.

Best games for me were Astral Chain and Street Fighter 6. A much larger number are still unfinished, and Donkey Kong Bananza, Hollow Knight, and Ghost Town were all hugely enjoyable during the time I spent with them. Wobbly Life is also a great co-op game to play with a six year-old.

My only small resolution for 2026 is to keep writing this blog–I really do enjoy the process of putting my thoughts down into a short review or blog post.

The Dispossessed (by Ursula Le Guin, 1974)

Like the recently reviewed Where The Axe Is Buried, this is a science-fictional exploration of politics. Here the main idea is anarchism, and Le Guin does an excellent job of showing how an anarchist society might operate. Unlike Axe, however, the characterisation and journey of Shevek provide plenty of novelistic interest to add to the theorising. Deservedly a classic of the genre. ★★★★★

(dir. James Cameron) As a fan of the previous two movies I found Avatar: Fire and Ash to be a disappointment. It is surprising how little there is original here: same locations, same characters, same characters fighting each other, same big battles, and same last-minute intervention by nature to defeat the evil humans. It’s still all very beautiful, and the action scenes are impressively intense, but it feels like an unnecessary rehash of the second film. The 3D worked well, but I am one of those who found the constant switching between 24 and 48 frames-per-second extremely off-putting–I wish Cameron had picked one frame-rate and stuck with it. Avatar 4 is scheduled for release in 2029 but I’m not sure anyone needs it. ★★★☆☆

(by Ray Nayler, published 2025)

Very much a political science-fiction novel. AIs become PMs and run countries; high-tech makes the totalitarian surveillance state near-inescapable; a new invention makes changing people’s very minds possible. It is, though, for me one of those novels that might have been better as a non-fiction polemic (and the acknowledgements helpfully point to the various non-fiction books that inspired it). ★★★☆☆

I suppose a real TV adaptation of The Last of Us would have the viewer experience, over and over, all the horrific ways Ellie can die in each encounter–with that grim musical cue each time. This game is a technical marvel, etc. etc., but also genuinely unpleasant to play. I soldier on because it’s supposed to be brilliant, but right now it’s three stars–just like Alan Wake 2 this is not as deep as it thinks it is (and doesn’t even have a rock musical hidden inside).

This article by Eric Kain does a very good job of exposing the fundamental problems of characterisation and motivation in the two lead characters. While he writes he “still had something resembling fun while playing” I am not sure I had any fun at all. I would have stopped if it hadn’t been for all the plaudits and 10/10 reviews.

★★★☆☆ (mainly for the technical artistry).

I’ve now played 67 hours of Street Fighter 6. Since Steam and the other services started counting, I’ve only spent more time on Minecraft, Warframe, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Red Dead Redemption 2. It deserves to be in their company–it’s a fascinating game, with a skill ceiling that seems to go forever and, as I praised back in August, a suite of tools that allow you to improve your play. I have reached Silver 4 rank, which is nothing for a fighting game aficionado, but for this 45 year-old seems just fine. Time is limited, and I have other things I want to play (I finally have started the original Hollow Knight and have also returned to the dour Last of Us 2) but I now understand why for some a good fighting game will be all they want to play. ★★★★★

A couple of weeks ago I downloaded Arcade Time Capsule, a VR game/experience that allows you to walk around multiple floors of classic arcade machines, all of which you can immediately play via emulation. It’s a wonder. I was most struck by how much I enjoyed giving the various shoot-em-ups and fighting games a go, genres I had ignored for years. Playing Street Fighter II in particular reminded me of my 1990s self, who wanted to beat people at games, rather than just finish them as quickly as possible to reduce “the backlog”.

This has led to me buying Street Fighter 6 and, for the first time in over twenty years, playing matches online. Late 1990s clan Quake was the last time I tried to beat other humans at games, so it is strange to rediscover the rush of competitive play. I sweat. I get angry at myself (though, middle age has definitely given me better perspective on these things). But I’m having a lovely time, fascinated by how the tutorials, training modes, replays, and ranked matchmaking make it easy to study the game and improve your performance.

And when this newfound fighting interest dies down I suspect I might try to learn how to play all those amazing-looking shmups…

(dir. Richard Donner) I was worried this wouldn’t live up to my memories of watching this when younger, but no–this remains a superb action film. Quality practical effects and a high standard of cinematography (see this interview with DP Stephen Goldblatt) elevates the standard plot. Well worth the rewatch. ★★★★☆

(dir. Danny Boyle) This is the coming-of-age story of a 12 year-old boy, Spike, who is growing up on island off the coast of a quarantined British Isles. When his father takes him to the mainland for the first time he encounters an “alpha”–a stronger and more intelligent type of “infected”–and also sees a mysterious fire in the distance….

Excellent acting and an unpredictable script makes this the best zombie film I have seen in recent times. It also balances the horror with a dark sense of humour that keeps it more enjoyable than the grim seriousness of The Last of Us. I’m looking forward to the sequel. ★★★★☆

This first-person adventure game was developed by Swedish developers MachineGames, who were previously responsible for Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. It is, however, less a shooter and more a simple stealth and puzzle game that allows you to punch your way clumsily out of messing up.

Credit must be given for all the work that went towards making this seem like the Indiana Jones film we never had: Troy Baker’s impersonation of Harrison Ford and the quip-filled script strike exactly the right tone. The story also captures the B-movie blend of adventuring and mystery of the original trilogy, complete with a despicable Nazi villain and a final act veer towards the supernatural. Special praise also for composer Gordy Haab, whose original music is good it could almost be John Williams himself (read an interview with Mr Haab on his scoring here).

The actual gameplay is very straightforward–sneak up behind baddy, whack him on the head with whatever implement is at hand, and if you are noticed by other enemies then sprint off and hope they will lose track of you. Puzzles are heavily signposted. Fist fighting is fine but not particularly engaging. The game has a strange combination of elements that never fully cohered for me, but I did enjoy my time adventuring.

★★★☆☆ (But add an extra star if you are a big Indiana Jones fan.)

(dir. Wes Anderson) I remember loving Rushmore when it was released, but otherwise have often found Wes Anderson’s films more twee than inspiring. I was surprised, then, when The Phoenician Scheme proved to be genuinely funny. All the usual hallmarks of his style are still there, and some of the actors he loves to cast turn up in minor roles, but the plot moves briskly and the jokes keep on coming. ★★★★☆

Many were baffled why Disney had greenlit a prequel series to the prequel film Rogue One, but Andor is the best Star Wars has been since Empire Strikes Back. Dispensing with the space wizard and magic sword fantasy, this shows how the Empire’s galactic fascism was maintained and how its oppressive rule seeded its own destruction. The script is intelligent, the characters diverse and well-acted, and its short two seasons are plotted impeccably. The best science fiction series in a long, long time. ★★★★★

(dir. Mike Nichols) This is an almost flawless comedy. Robin Williams restrains his excess and provides pathos, Nathan Lane is outrageous but finally sympathetic, Hank Azaria scene-steals as Agador the houseboy, and even Gene Hackman’s comedy timing is surprisingly strong. Its setting in South Beach also provides a now nostalgic 1990s dayglo seminude rollerblading backdrop to the story. ★★★★★

(dir. Henry Selick) The first film by Laika Studios, based on a Neil Gaiman novella. It’s a beautifully imagined world and the technical artistry of the stop-motion is, as always with Laika, staggering. ★★★★☆

Sleeper Beach, by Nick Harkaway (2025)

The follow-up to Titanium Noir (2023) continues the story of Cal Sounder, a detective investigating crimes involving “Titans”, genetically-altered long-living humans. Much as the last book, it is a somewhat old-fashioned noir novel with the spice of sci-fi elements and is well-written fun. ★★★★☆