Thumb Culture
HomepageI personally absolutely love the game, I’m still playing it and this review has taken a whole lot longer than it initially should have done but I just wanted to perfect it. I know when I stop writing this I’ll be heading off back to my graveyard to clean some things up with it and further venture into the dungeons. Yes, there were a few bugs, but nothing that made it unplayable or frustrated me. An amazing little game with so much to offer so I will be giving this the Thumb Culture Platinum Award!
Fade To Silence is a good idea. It takes two popular and enjoyable genres to make its own style of game. Unfortunately for me, I think it should stick to one or the other. I think this will be one of those cult classic games where it has its followers but it’s not one I could recommend due to it being aimed for such a niche group. I give Fade To Silence a Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
If your an (American) Football fan and don’t own Madden 20, why not? This game is perfect to go hand in hand while the season starts and to get over the post-Super Bowl blues. There’s a lot of fun to be had, hard tackles to be made and way too many hail mary’s too. If you on the fence about it and not convinced, grab an EA or OPrigin access for a month, download it and play it, you really won’t regret it as its the best football you are going to get this year. I give this the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
ETRC is an excellent game and one the developers should be proud of. I loved my time on this game. I wish there were more choices in truck racing to compare this game too. Sadly there isn't, and it would be unfair to compare them to games like Project Cars 2 or GT Sport. It's really not like either of them but in some ways, it feels so much like it should be. Even though this game might be a niche market with it being truck racing. I have no hesitation in giving this game a Thumb Culture Gold Award.
All in all, I quite enjoyed playing Wolfenstein Youngblood. I thought the two character’s relationship was fascinating and their journey was captivating to see how far they would go in order to find out what happened to their dad. Yes it was a little samey at times, and I couldn’t care about what the side missions had to offer, apart from levelling up of my character, but I enjoyed using the different weapons in deciding the best ways to kill the “Zitadelles”, “Zerstorers” and “Ubersoldats” as well as the many, many soldiers standing in my way. This isn’t a great game compared the previous Wolfenstein games, but this is more of a bridge in the gap to fill whilst waiting for the mighty Wolfenstein 3. Therefore I gave this a sexy Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Secret Files 2 is far from perfect, but if you’re after another game to scratch the itch only a Broken Sword can typically scratch you could do a lot worse. I am gracing it with the prestigious Thumb Culture Silver Award – oh look, there’s a pictorial depiction of one passing by!
I award Car Mechanic Simulator the Thumb Culture Silver trophy. What it sets out to do is really quite clever however I do not think the Playstation console shows it at its best due to the controller.
Forged of Blood is a very good Xcom-like game, using a lot of different new mechanics. Overall, I like the difficulty of the game, and the art style isn’t hard to look at, making for long sessions of “just one more turn”. A lot of the little things about it, really make it unique, from the spell crafting, to how you can level up using a classless system. The gameplay is very tough, but when you win, you have a feeling of satisfaction. I’m going to give Forged of Blood the Thumb Culture Gold award, as it may not appeal to a lot of people, but fans of tactical RPGs are going to love it.
Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is a frustrating one for me because I would recommend it so much more if it didn’t have all the technical issues that it has. That said, there’s a promising game underneath all that and the game is satisfying enough to play that I would recommend it if you have a lot of patience and have the ability to see past a bunch of technical faults and glitches. It’s a game I don’t regret spending my time with and it’s a pretty competent top-down, twin-stick shooter all things considered. It gets a Thumb Culture Silver Award from me!
Streets of Rogue is a fantastic title with loads of replay value, and crucially it lets players decide how they want to play without penalising them, which might make it a good rogue-lite entry point for the uninitiated. It may perform slightly better on other platforms but it is perfectly suited to the on-the-go experience the Switch provides. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a chloroform rag-wielding doctor (I’m referring to the game, no need to send help).
I have loved playing Night Call, Everything about it just works so well to me, as I played I found myself becoming more interested in picking up fares and listening to their stories, from a priest to a poet, a couple trying to find a donor to help them conceive to a cat, yes I said a cat, than wanting to solve the actual investigation. I look forward to seeing if they add more investigations to solve and more fares to pick up in the future. I feel the game thoroughly deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
PLahHP is an enjoyable puzzle title with enough twists and turns in both the plot and gameplay to keep the player engaged for its relatively short run-time. What first seems like a simple concept is expanded with the introduction of characters with questionable motives and interesting new mechanics which change up the pace considerably. The game is not without its flaws but I found the combination of tricky puzzles and (very) light sci-fi horror quite satisfying. A quick glance over BeautiFun Games’ Twitter shows the enthusiasm and passion they have for this project, which is always heartening to see. In a sequel, I would like to see more of a focus on visuals and atmosphere, and with a bit more polish with regards to the script and voice-acting. I advise you to check out some gameplay footage as I suspect quick glance will tell you if this game is for you. Much like Professor Lupo’s pets, I found it quite hard to put down. I will be awarding it the Thumb Culture Silver award!
And now here it is, the moment we’ve all been waiting for; the section where I give Steel Division II a rating. Given how fantastic the game looks, sounds and plays, I’m going to have to give it the Platinum Essential Award. There’s just no other option that fits it. If you’re a fan of Strategy games, World War 2 games, or even just PC games in general, Steel Division II is a must own game, in my opinion. It is well worth the CDN$49.99 price tag on Steam. I definitely recommend picking it up and convicing your friends to play as well.
When you look back at the origins of the Yakuza series (the original was released way back in 2005). It’s a credit to think almost 15 years later we’re still seeing fresh content and looking to explore this world with new characters. Judgment definitely ticks all the boxes to be considered a top-quality ‘spin-off’ and hopefully with a few little tweaks we will see more of Yagami and perhaps other characters. Ryu ga Gotoku Studios have certainly found a formula to produce great games and it makes me very excited to see what the future holds, both for a potential Judgment sequel as well as the rumours we may be seeing some of the previously released spin-offs here in the west. My verdict is that Judgment truly deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award and should be a part of any PS4 collection (especially if that collection contains Yakuza games).
In a strange way, I knew I would love this game. Like I said earlier I enjoy the games that Devolver Digital have published or developed, and when I first saw the gameplay trailer back in March, I knew it was a game to keep my eye on. This game, in a nutshell, makes you feel like a right proper badass!! From Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator chasing down Sarah Connor, or John Wick going gung ho in a nightclub, you feel unstoppable and that you can take on any of the enemies the game throws at you, and in this case, alongside a talking banana sidekick named Pedro. I really, really enjoyed this game, and hope that the developers will be expanding it with some new DLC in the future, and with the ability to be able to play online with others. This is why I am going to award it the Thumb Culture Platinum Award! As always, I look forward to more games coming out by Devolver Digital in the near future.
With upto 4 player local splitscreen enabling frantic racing and battling as well as the chance to take the racing online, there is enough to keep you entertained for a long long time, while enjoying the resurrection of all things Bandicoot. Beenox has definitely smashed it with this remaster. Now c’mon Activision, bring us Tony Hawks! Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled receives the prestigious Thumb Culture Platinum Trophy!
Overall the game is fantastic, another great iteration into the F1 franchise, and once again Codemasters have done themselves proud with a game of this calibre. F1 2019 receives the Thumb Culture Platinum Award!
If you enjoy horror games like Outlast then Home Sweet Home is definitely for you, yes it sure made me jump and the story was intriguing however I did find sometimes the interaction with objects, particularly when trying to hide could be a little hit and miss, costing you your life! I award Home Sweet Home the Thumb Culture Silver Trophy!
Project Nimbus: Complete Edition is definitely a niche title that would appeal only to people who are into battling robot suits. For fans of Armored Core or Mechwarrior, it might be lacking a bit of what makes each of those games special, but it brings something a bit different to the table. I don’t see a whole lot of replay value for myself personally, but others might really enjoy the challenge of survival mode or warfront. I’m going to award Project Nimbus: Complete Edition the Thumb Culture Silver Award. While it may not appeal to a huge audience, I’m sure there’s a group of people out there who would be very into it. And at it’s price of $19.99 on the Nintendo Eshop it’s a hard value to argue with.
I have a love/hate relationship with RPGs, I’m a huge procrastinator so I really lose myself in these types of games, often being distracted from the main quest, by side quests, exploration and collections. The amount of quests and things to do with just the base game/chapters is in my opinion great value for money and with the option to subscribe to ESO Plus for £8.99 a month, giving you access to all of the current dlcs and access to a (I feel essential) handy crafting pack with unlimited space for crafting materials. This is a game with the potential to sink many hours into, with much more to come. As a new player, I find it hard to find much I don’t like with the game, except possibly that it’s too big?! and award it the Thumb Culture Gold Award!