Paul, Author at Thumb Culture

10Jun

By PaulNo Comments

Cairn – PS5 Preview

Climbing a mountain is one of those activities that seems exciting and life changing, but one that I will never actually do because of the risks, much in the same way as skydiving, spelunking, and weekend trips to IKEA. Cairn aims to deliver at least one of those experiences to you without the risk of flat pack divorce. Following Sony PlayStation's State of Play showcase on 4th June, a PS5 demo was released, and I wasted no time clambering into it. I'm amazed by The Game Bakers' apparent ability to turn their craft to vastly different genres of video game. From the ultra-fast twin-stick shooter Furi, to laid back adventure narrative Haven, and now a surprisingly deep mountain climbing/survival simulation. They've even tackled a drag-and-fling, top-down RPG about squids. Is there nothing...

4Jun

By PaulNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

MIO: Memories In Orbit – PC Preview

Action, mystery, and wonder await in MIO: Memories In Orbit, a new Metroidvania from Shady Part Of Me developer Douze Dixièmes (Twelve Tenths). They are a small, French team who form part of PulluP Entertainment (formerly Focus Entertainment) since their acquisition in 2021. This should immediately give you a sense of the quality to expect, given the publisher's history backing titles such as Curse of the Dead Gods, Dordogne, and A Plague Tale: Innocence, among many others. You can play the demo and add MIO: Memories In Orbit to your Wishlist on Steam now, with a release due sometime this year. Remember MIO? MIO, an agile robot with flowing, tendril hair, is awoken on the Vessel; a decaying spaceship drifting through space. The ship's AI overseers have seemingly gone offline, leaving ...

Lost In Cult Launches Prestige Physical Games Label

20May

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Lost In Cult Launches Prestige Physical Games Label

Anyone who knows me knows I live for physical video games. The ever advancing shift towards an all-digital future concerns me due to issues around access and preservation. Today (at the time of writing), however, brings news of a new venture that aims to fight back against the download-code-on-a-cartridge and digital-only landscape of the industry. Lost In Cult, who have a long, storied history of producing beautiful media-accompaniments to video games, including vinyl records, cassettes, and books, are now turning their hand to physical game publishing. Let's Get Physical The Lost In Cult publishing label launches today, 20th May, with 3 physical game announcements; Thank Goodness You're Here (PS5/Nintendo Switch), Immortality (PS5), and The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow (Nintendo Switch)....

8May

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Wings of Endless – PS5 Review

Gamers are being spoilt in 2025. We're not even halfway through the year yet, and we have at least 3 credible shouts for GOTY. In between trying out these bigger budget titles, though, I want to make a more concerted effort to try games from smaller, up-and-coming developers. One such game that came across my metaphorical desk at Thumb Culture is Wings of Endless. A sophomore offering from Uruguayan team, Isoca Games, who have once again joined forces with JanduSoft to bring their game to market. While their first game was a top-down roguelike, Wings of Endless is a 2D platforming RPG in which you can freely switch between 3 main characters at any time. The premise was interesting enough to gain my attention, and so let's have a deeper look. The Best Bounty Hunter, or Just Winging It? ...

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – May 2025

1May

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – May 2025

It's time to have a look at the 3 games bundled for free with PlayStation Plus Essential for May 2025. There is one stand-out for me this month, and it's a game that will take over your life if you let it. These games are available between May 6th and June 2nd. Remember that even if you don’t plan to play these games immediately, you should still add them to your library when they become available. That way, you can check them out at any time — as long as you have an active sub. Balatro | PS5, PS4 Genre: Rougelike, Card Game Longevity: 10hrs+ | Trophies: 32 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 90 | OpenCritic: 92 Balatro is the poker-inspired, deck-manipulation roguelike that you never knew you needed. Take a deck of playing cards, manage ever-changing rules and enhancements, and play yo...

18Apr

By PaulNo Comments

Features

Game Pass Games – April 2025 Wave 2

Like our PlayStation Plus Games Catalogue update this month, April's second Game Pass update includes 2 Day One releases. Alongside those, we have a few great indie titles, and the return of one of the best-selling video games of all time. As usual, there are a few titles leaving Game Pass, make sure to check those at the end of the article. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Genre: RPG Available: April 24 (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) Tiers: Ultimate & PC Each year, The Paintress paints a number, and each year everyone of the age turns to ash. Every year, an expedition sets off with the goal of killing The Paintress to end the cycle. In this stylish turn-based RPG, join voice actors Ben Starr and Jennifer English as their characters set off on Expedition 33. Clair Obscur look...

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – April 2025 Update

17Apr

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – April 2025 Update

A little later than usual, here's our summary of the PlayStation Plus Games Catalogue update for April 2025. This month, users are treated to not one, but two Day One releases. As usual, there's a decent mix of genres to chose from, so have a look at what's on offer below and check them out with your PS+ Extra or Premium subscriptions. Blue Prince | PS5 Genre: Puzzle, Roguelike Longevity: 15+ Hours | Trophies: 17 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 93 | OpenCritic: 89 A game that I am currently losing many hours to, Blue Prince is a magnificent puzzle game that has staggering depth. Each day, you must enter the Mt. Holly estate and decided how to lay out the many rooms available to you, all in an effort to reach the secretive Room 46. Along the way, you'll uncover additional mysteries ...

6Apr

By PaulNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Silksong Will Release This Summer?

It's been 84 over 6 years since Hollow Knight: Silksong was first revealed by Team Cherry, way back in February 2019. Since then, the journey to release has been a tumultuous journey for fans. However, 2025 has begun with a flurry of small, but hopeful, titbits of news. Taking this burst of news, and some older quotes from people close to the game and Team Cherry, we can speculate on a summer release. There Has Been Yes NewsPrior to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, Silksong fans had been enjoying an uncharacteristically busy period of updates. Most of what the community were using to cling on to hope though, was borderline insignificant, such as metadata updates to the Team Cherry website, or a confirmation via a Twitter reply that the game is indeed real and progressing. In March, however, t...

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist Of Memories & The Envisioned Land – PS5 Review

31Mar

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist Of Memories & The Envisioned Land – PS5 Review

The Atelier series is a long-running Japanese RPG series from developer Gust and publisher Koei Tecmo. With this latest release, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist Of Memories & The Envisioned Land, the series now has 26 main entries, and 17 spin-offs. With such a vast history, it can feel daunting to jump in at the latest point and essentially ignore all the previous games. However, that's exactly what I'm going to do. So, I'll be bringing you a review from the point of view of an Atelier newbie. As a small aside, I do have the Ryza trilogy in my backlog, so hopefully this will give me a flavour of what to expect there. You, Me & Yumia A cold-open gives us a glimpse at a party of characters, riding a large platform upwards. Among the party is main character Yumia Liessfeldt. Suddenly,...

27Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Nintendo Direct – March 2025

In the lead up to the big Switch 2 Direct on April 2nd, Nintendo have deemed it important to give the Switch one final Direct, focusing on games coming out in the rest of 2025 and beyond. Today's showcase delivered updates and announcements on upwards of 20 games. I've picked out a few of my highlights below. One Last Hurrah For The Switch With the Switch 2 update around the corner, it was good to focus on some yet to be released Switch titles, and some surprising ports. What was your favourite game shown off in today's Nintendo Direct? Shout them out in the comments. I've picked out some games to highlight based on my interest in them so let's take a look at them first. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Metroid fans finally got a better look at Prime 4: Beyond. Samus is transported to a str...