John, Author at Thumb Culture

Castlevania Requiem PS4 Review – A Classic risen from the Dead?

1Nov

By JohnNo Comments

Castlevania Requiem PS4 Review – A Classic risen from the Dead?

Ever since I first played Castlevania Symphony of the Night back in 1997 I was hooked. I enjoyed it so much that I went back and played previous Castlevania titles on older consoles as well to make sure I hadn’t missed out on something iconic. So, it comes as no surprise when I first heard that Konami were releasing Castlevania Requiem on the PS4 and that it was going to contain ‘remastered’ versions of both Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood, I was dying to 'sink my teeth' into to it (excuse the pun). I will say that I have tried to stay away from any news of this title prior to reviewing, as I wanted to experience it completely for myself. So just bare this in mind if you read something below that has been announced previously. The only question left to ask is; what does...

Online Trophies – Should they be tied to a Platinum Achievement?

11Oct

By JohnNo Comments

Features, Gaming

Online Trophies – Should they be tied to a Platinum Achievement?

With the upcoming release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in just a couple of weeks, more and more information is coming out about what we can expect and one of the things that jumped out at me this morning while I was flicking through the little bits of info (when I was supposed to be working) was the inclusion of Online only trophies. What’s the big deal? You might be asking. Tons of games have online trophies! And you are correct, they do. BUT, my question is: Should they be tied to the 100% Completion Platinum trophy? I’m sure this is partly my age creeping in, but I remember a time when you didn’t need all the extra bits and DLC and paid content to be able to complete a game fully. Hell it wasn’t really that long ago that online content didn’t really exist and 100% of the content y...

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Review – An Insurmountable Greek Tragedy?

5Oct

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Review – An Insurmountable Greek Tragedy?

When Ubisoft first announced that they were bringing us an Assassin's Creed game set back in Ancient Greece I was super excited. Finally I was going to get the setting that I’d always wanted this series to explore. Was I concerned that it was coming hot off the heels of AC Origins? A little as I started to wonder how many new things they could include when developing the two games side by side. So does Assassin's Creed Odyssey live up to the expectation? Here are my thoughts: First thing I want to mention is that I splashed the cash and went for the Medusa edition which comes with a very nice statue and artwork book etc. (Yes I know, feel free to criticise but I did). I won’t go into too much detail about what’s in this edition as there are plenty of unboxing videos online and...

Fire Pro Wrestling World PS4 Review – Woooooooo

4Oct

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

Fire Pro Wrestling World PS4 Review – Woooooooo

Fire Pro Wrestling World from Spike Chunsoft has finally made its way over to the PS4. It’s very much a niche title and the good thing is that most people will know from the title and a screenshot if they will enjoy it. Fire Pro Wrestling World slots very nicely into the 2D Wrestling game genre and aims to fill that void in today’s market... The question is; will it Suplex its way into new gamer’s libraries or should it finally submit to the modern day 3D games? Gameplay Fire Pro Wrestling as a franchise has been around since way back in 1989 and definitely has its own fan base that would be salivating at getting a new game in 2018 on a current gen console. As a fan of retro gaming in general this franchise has always peaked my curiosity and since I was a huge fan of the 90’s WWF game...

25Sep

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

Fishing Sim World PS4 Review

Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening fellow gamers (wherever you may be)! I’m going to be completely up front with all of you before I even start this review. I don’t fish, I have never fished and I have no interest in starting any time soon. Why am I telling you this up front? Because I don’t want to be the reviewer that pretends to understand something when I have no real idea of any of it. On a positive note, it does mean the review is going to be based purely on the game and not on any prior interest in the sport. So does Fishing Sim World reel me into the world of fishing or leave me to drown in my sorrows? Let’s find out! Gameplay Fishing Sim World is the latest release from Dovetail Games, It’s exactly what is says on the box. A full on simulation of Competition fishing acr...

12Sep

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

Marvels Spider-Man PS4 Review

When I first heard the news of there being another Spider-man game coming out I had mixed feelings, being completely honest part of me wished they would just leave it alone and maybe look at another property, but then another part of me wanted them to keep at it in the hopes that eventually they would get it right… Insomniac are the latest team of Devs to tackle the unenviable challenge of bringing Marvels Spider-man into our gaming hands. After many attempts by other studios to a varied reception (to be polite) could this be the one game to rule them all? (Oops sorry.. wrong franchise). Gameplay I’m sure everyone is familiar with the origin story of Spider-man so I won’t go into that here, which is a good thing as Marvels Spider-man actually takes place a little further into the lif...

Yakuza Kiwami 2 PS4 Review – The Dragon of Dojima Returns with a Vengeance

4Sep

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

Yakuza Kiwami 2 PS4 Review – The Dragon of Dojima Returns with a Vengeance

That’s right, it’s time for me to talk about Yakuza again... It is of course one of my favourite game series to talk about & this time it’s to look at the re-make of the PS2 game Yakuza 2; Yakuza Kiwami 2. Just like with Kiwami, the hopes here are that it’s bigger, badder & well just better all around (fingers crossed) than the original from 10 years ago. Before I get started here, I am going to assume that if you’re looking to play or researching this title then you already know about the series and have played at least one of the previous titles (as this is the 3rd game in the series). While I have tried to avoid it, there may be spoilers for Yakuza Zero / Kiwami mentioned below (you've been warned!). For the benefit of any newcomers who may not have played the others, ...

Rainbow Skies PS4 Review – Play the Rainbow

23Jul

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

Rainbow Skies PS4 Review – Play the Rainbow

After 6 years SideQuest Studios have finally given us the sequel to Rainbow Moon with Rainbow Skies. I think the biggest question I had going into this review was: Bigger and better platform, will we get a bigger and better game? To answer that question simply... Yes, in almost every department. Personally I didn’t spend much time with Rainbow Moon. If I’m completely honest I lost interest in it pretty early on. I will hold my hands up here and say at the time I wasn’t really enjoying RPG games very much so it could have been wrong place at the wrong time more than a bad reflection on the game... But I digress. Rainbow Skies is a much more rounded game with a strong narrative that keeps you playing. I have already found myself looking at the clock to see huge chunks of time disapp...

All-Star Fruit Racing PS4 Review – A Sweet Racing Smoothie!

11Jul

By JohnNo Comments

Gaming, PlayStation Reviews

All-Star Fruit Racing PS4 Review – A Sweet Racing Smoothie!

All-Star Fruit Racing is the latest release from 3D Clouds and is finally making its way over onto console. Being completely honest at first glance when I was given this to review, I was expecting a budget ‘Mario Kart’ wannabe with little to no variety or replay value. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to be wrong! Taking into account the price point (£31.49 (on PSN) at the time of writing). I think All-Star Fruit Racing could be up there as one of the most fun ‘pick up ‘n’ play’ racing games for the PlayStation 4. Below are the reasons why I think everyone should play this game… Gameplay The first thing that impressed me with All-Star Fruit Racing was, instead of bringing up the main menu and letting you pick and choose what you want to play around with, it instantly throws yo...

Shadow – Does More Power Come With More Problems?

15Jun

By John2 Comments

Gaming, PC Reviews

Shadow – Does More Power Come With More Problems?

UPDATE: Blade updated something which affects the freezing issue you experienced when the TV was on: Using the beta apps, you can use H265 and greatly reduce bandwidth without affecting quality. Blade also pushed a massive update 3 days ago that vastly improves fluidity. Hey there fellow Gaming Enthusiasts! Any of you that know me know my PC gaming pretty much died out back in the 90’s and I’ve only just started to dip my toes in the water with Steam more recently thanks to being part of this group. This means that my PC equipment itself is a little dated and makes some of the gaming a little frustrating to use with higher-end specs and can be a little more troublesome at times to run at all. Enter Shadow from Blade, the answer to all my problems! Access to more powerful hardware...