Paul, Author at Thumb Culture

27Mar

By PaulNo Comments

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...

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – April 2025

27Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – April 2025

PlayStation has revealed the PlayStation Plus free monthly games for April 2025. This month's games cover a good range of genres, so there's quite possibly something for everyone. These games are available between April 1st and May 5th. 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. RoboCop: Rogue City | PS5 Genre: FPS Longevity: 10hrs+ | Trophies: 28 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 72 | OpenCritic: 73 Legendary actor Peter Weller returns as RoboCop in this shooter-adventure set between the events of RoboCop 2 and 3. TC's Vinno gave RoboCop: Rogue City a Thumb Culture Gold Award, saying “There will be plenty fo...

20Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Features

Game Pass Games – March 2025 Wave 2

We're already past the midpoint of March, so that means more Game Pass news. This month, alongside additions to the Standard, Ultimate, and PC tiers, Xbox are also expanding the offering on the Game Pass Core service. We've got realistic a hyper-realistic transport simulator, a deep JRPG, a collection of arcade games and more. Train Sim World 5 Genre: Simulation Longevity: 11–16 hours | Achievements: 81 Available: Now Tiers: Standard Released: 17 September 2024 Our very own EIC Stu checked out Train Sim World 5 when it released on PC last September and said “Dovetail Games has done it again, they have brought another fascinating train simulator onto the track… …It’s glorious!”. Alongside the usual train driving action, TSW2 adds a new mode where you can take on the role of a...

Hanako’s Flower Shop – Cosy Visual Novel Launches In April

20Mar

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Hanako’s Flower Shop – Cosy Visual Novel Launches In April

Tokyo-based FantaJI Games have announced their upcoming flower shop management visual novel, Hanako's Flower Shop, which also contains some resource management elements, is launching on Steam in April. In what is somewhat a staple hook for cosy, indie games, Hanako, a young woman at a crossroads in her life, takes on the challenge of running her grandpa’s beloved flower shop. Hanako’s Flower Shop is a heart-warming coming-of-age story, where every flower tells a story and every bouquet has the power to heal. Business Is Blooming There's not a more recent trailer available than the demo one I've included below, but that does give some indication of the gameplay. Hanako will need to grow and harvest flowers for her inventory. Customers come to the shop with requests for all kinds of bou...

19Mar

By Paul1 Comment

News & Updates

FuturLab Announce PowerWash Simulator 2

Get ready to grab your gear and return to Muckingham when PowerWash Simulator 2 releases later this year. FuturLab are brining us a sequel to their much loved grime busting simulation game, which now boasts over 17 million players worldwide. Soap, Lather, Rinse, Repeat PowerWash Simulator 2 is set to return with fresh locations, better soap, more features, deeper mysteries and even split-screen co-op. There's something therapeutic about spraying water on virtual muck-covered buildings or vehicles and watching as everything comes up looking shiny and new that real-life cleaning just can't match. The first game had surprisingly deep lore involving aliens, time travel, an impending volcanic explosion, and missing cats. From the sneak-peek trailer below, I'm already intrigued to find out ...

17Mar

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Split Fiction – PS5 Review

Hazelight Studio, champions of modern co-op, return with another 2-person adventure, Split Fiction. Their last effort, It Takes Two, sold over 20 million copies and won multiple Game of the Year and Best Multiplayer awards. It even managed to snag a Thumb Culture Platinum Award from yours truly. Can Hazelight create a follow-up that matches or exceeds their previous game? There's only one way to find out. Writers Blocked Split Fiction tells the story of 2 struggling writers, Zoe and Mio, who are in the process of getting their first publishing deal with mega-corporation, Rader Publishing. Zoe is a chirpy optimist who writes fantasy stories, while Mio is a reserved pessimistic, sci-fi author. Upon discovering that they must submit themselves to a strange experiment to complete their deal,...

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – March Update

14Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue – March Update

March's update to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue is upon us, and it's a bit chunkier than last month. This time, 8 titles are joining the service for Extra subscribers and above, with an additional 4 being added for those subbed at the Premium tier. I dare say there's something for everyone in this update, with arcade soccer all the way to arcade management! Let's have a look at what's being added. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | PS4, PS5 Genre: Metroidvania, Platform, Action Adventure Longevity: 15hrs+ | Trophies: 42 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 86 | OpenCritic: 87 The Prince of Persia franchise takes a critically acclaimed foray into the Metroidvania genre with 2024's The Lost Crown. Play as Sargon, the youngest members of the Immortals — Persia's elite warrior force ...

3Mar

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

ID@Xbox Showcase 2025

IGN FanFest kicked off last week with the ID@Xbox Showcase 2025, and wow — what a showcase it was. Buckle up for the round-up because even though I was trying to be conservative with my highlights, there's still 8 games below. They range from cosy camping simulators all the way to horror-movie-inspired, action-roguelike romps. I have no idea how the heck I'm going to find time to get to them, but into the backlog they go upon release. How Am I Supposed To Play All These Awesome Games?! I've put the games in alphabetical order for simplicity. Before we get into it, what were your favourite trailers from the ID@Xbox 2025 Showcase? Shout them out in the comments below. Blue Prince Platforms: Xbox Series X|S (Game Pass), PlayStation 5 (PS+ Extra|Premium), PC (Steam) Release Date: ...

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – March 2025

27Feb

By PaulNo Comments

Features

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games – March 2025

The PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March have been announced. These are available from March 4th for all PlayStation subscribers. Remember that even if you don’t plan to play these games right away, you should still add them to your library so you can check them out later (as long as you have an active sub). Dragon Age: The Veilguard | PS5 Genre: RPG Longevity: 30hrs+ | Trophies: 53 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 82 | OpenCritic: 80 Dragon Age returns with it's 4 main instalment, The Veilguard, sequel to 2014's Inquisition. While this entry in the series made changes to the exploration and combat aspects of the previous titles, it has received mostly favourable reviews, as demonstrated by it aggregated scores. “When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries ...

19Feb

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip – PS5 Review

Terry has finally made his way onto PlayStation in his comical adventure, Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip. Originally released on Steam last year (check out our PC review here), Tiny Terry can now cause chaos on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch as of February 13th 2025. Join me as I explore the wacky world of Spranklewater and help Terry achieve his dream of going to space. Terry Tries To Take-Off Terry wants a car to go to space, so he obviously goes to the Job Application Centre to get one. After accepting a job as a taxi driver, purely for the car of course, Terry can begin his mission. This introduction to some characters of Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip immediately sets the tone for the humour and dialogue of the game. If you ever think you know what direction a conversation is going, you can be...