Tag: Chris Scullion

Splatoon 2: single-player review

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment
Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
Switch

Splatoon 2 is out this Friday and yer man Scullion’s been playing it for the past week. Well, sort of.

You see, I received my review code the day I headed out to Canada to visit my father-in-law, and it turns out my Switch can’t detect his router (it’s fixable but I don’t want to mess about with his stuff).

As such, my online multiplayer experience with the game has been limited to about seven or eight matches that I’ve had while sitting in Ontario malls, connected to the mall Wi-Fi as I’ve waited for Louise to finish shopping.

That certainly isn’t enough to justify a review of the game’s multiplayer aspect, so here’s the deal: having an offline Switch still hasn’t prevented me from rinsing the utter piss out of Splatoon’s single-player Hero mode instead.

Here, then, is my review: not of Splatoon 2 as a whole, but of what you have available to you any time you’re playing without an internet connection (on certain public transport, for example). Continue reading “Splatoon 2: single-player review” →

Review round-up #3: Kirby’s Blowout Blast, Flip Wars, Death Squared, Rudymical

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It’s time for another group of mini-reviews in which I cover the games I’ve been playing over the last couple of weeks. This time:

• Is Kirby’s Blowout Blast a birthday bash or a no-show?
• Is Flip Wars a Bomberman rival or a load of flipping pish?
• Is Death Squared a block-rocking feat or a cubic whinger?
• Is Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical a toe-tapper or a missed beat? Continue reading “Review round-up #3: Kirby’s Blowout Blast, Flip Wars, Death Squared, Rudymical” →

FIFA 18 Switch hands-on preview

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Note: Because of restrictions placed by EA, I wasn’t allowed to capture any gameplay footage or screenshots of FIFA 18 on Switch while I was playing it.

I also wasn’t provided with any screenshots, and I don’t agree with showing Xbox One and PS4 screens in their place, because they aren’t an accurate representation of how the Switch version looks.

To make up for this, instead of screenshots of FIFA 18 on Switch, I’ve included my favourite Celtic goals against Rangers.

Quick disclaimer: I’m an enormous FIFA fan. I saved my pocket money for months to buy the first FIFA International Soccer on the Mega Drive on the day it launched in December 1993, and although PES took over my attention in the early 2000s (because of course it did) it still didn’t stop me buying every FIFA game over the years.

I’m not ashamed then to say that, after Super Mario Odyssey, FIFA 18 is the game I was most looking forward to try out when I visited Nintendo’s UK HQ earlier this week.

EA is infamous for fucking over Nintendo fans in recent times when it’s come to its sports games. FIFA 13 on Wii U was just an enhanced FIFA 12 with all the good modes taken out: this led to understandably poor sales which EA then pointed to as a reason never to make another Wii U FIFA.

As such, FIFA 18 marks the first time in FIVE YEARS that Nintendo fans will be able to play FIFA on a home console, and the first time they’ll be able to play ‘proper’ FIFA on a handheld (because, let’s face it, the 3DS versions couldn’t quite handle it even though they did their best).

I held my breath as I selected the FIFA 18 icon on the Switch I was using. “Please don’t bottle this one,” I thought. After just a minute into my first match, I exhaled. It’s legit. Continue reading “FIFA 18 Switch hands-on preview” →

Fire Emblem Warriors hands-on preview

Published on by Chris Scullion3 Comments

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to be invited to Nintendo’s UK headquarters,where I was sat in front of a Switch for three hours and given free reign to play through its E3 demos without any annoying queues.

Over the next couple of weeks, expect a bunch of hands-on preview articles in which I give my views on these demos: starting with this one.

I have a strange relationship with the Warriors games.

Over the years I’ve played loads of Koei Tecmo’s Musou titles (as they’re known in Japan). Whether it’s the main Dynasty Warriors series, the spin-off Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi games, or one of the licensed tie-ins based on the likes of Gundam, One Piece and Fist Of The North Star, the process has always been the same for me.

I almost always start by running aimlessly around, because in the space of time since I last played a game in the series I’ve forgotten how I’m expected to make progress. Continue reading “Fire Emblem Warriors hands-on preview” →

Nintendo Classic Mini SNES – all 21 games explained

Published on by Chris Scullion6 Comments

Earlier this week Nintendo answered our prayers and announced a successor to the NES Mini, this time dedicated to SNES games.

The Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or Super NES Classic Edition as it’ll be known in the US) will come with 21 classic SNES games installed.

Well, 20 games and one previously unreleased title: the mythical Star Fox 2.

Since all of these games are more than two decades old, there’s a chance younger readers may not be familiar with some of them, or have heard of them but never played or seen them in action.

My dear friend, I give to you my latest video epic, in the hope that it shall solve this very dilemma. Continue reading “Nintendo Classic Mini SNES – all 21 games explained” →

New 2DS XL review

Published on by Chris Scullion6 Comments

Hello Chris!

Oh, hello there, Completely Fictional Person Created For The Purpose Of Livening Up A Review Of A Minor Hardware Iteration! I haven’t seen you since the days of the PS2 Slim.

What’s that you have there?

This? Oh, glad you asked. This is the New 2DS XL. It’s the latest in Nintendo’s 3DS family. Continue reading “New 2DS XL review” →

New 2DS XL unboxing and first hands-on impressions video

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments

Nintendo will be releasing the New 2DS XL on 13 July in Japan and 28 July in the US and Europe.

The latest member of the 3DS family, the New 2DS XL is the budget offering in the ‘New’ range, clocking in at £50 cheaper than the New 3DS XL.

But how does it look, and is it worth the money? Yer man Scullion will be giving a full written review next week, but until then here’s a 12-minute video of me unboxing it and pointing out some of the key good and bad points. Continue reading “New 2DS XL unboxing and first hands-on impressions video” →

E3 2017 – The 45 trailers you may have missed

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E3 week is slowly coming to an end, and while it may not have been the most dramatic in terms of big reveals it certainly clarified one thing: over the next 18 months we’ll be getting more great games than you can shake a Joy-Con at.

Of course, the main events during E3 week are the numerous press conferences, many of which I covered with podcast recaps. Most people are happy enough in the knowledge that if they watch every conference they’ll see the best of what E3 has to offer.

What you may not have realised, though, is that there are a wealth of other games at E3 that aren’t part of the conferences: either because they’re made by third-party publishers who aren’t showing presentations, or because they’re first-party games that for whatever reason have taken a back seat (sorry, Gran Turismo Sport). Continue reading “E3 2017 – The 45 trailers you may have missed” →

Nintendo E3 2017 Digital Event: exclusive script leak

Published on by Chris Scullion3 Comments

After revealing the full scripts for Sony and Microsoft’s E3 2017 press conference, yer man Scullion is also finally ready to shed light on Nintendo’s offering.

Content is subject to change, but it really won’t. This is cast-iron, mate. Continue reading “Nintendo E3 2017 Digital Event: exclusive script leak” →

ARMS (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments
Nintendo
Switch

When I first played Arms at the Nintendo Switch reveal event back in January, I left with a few concerns.

“Before I fork over my cash for it,” I wrote in my hands-on preview, “I’m going to want to see a lot more characters, plenty more stages (each with a unique gimmick, preferably) and a solid single-player mode that goes beyond arcade-style ‘beat this fighter, then this one, and so on’ stuff.

“I like what I’ve seen so far, but I remain unconvinced at this point. It’s going to take a little more than this to disarm me. You’d think I’d be sorry for that joke. You’d be wrong.”

I’ve now spent the last week playing the game at home, and I’m happy that most of those concerns have been put to rest. I’ve even come to terms with calling it ARMS instead of Arms.

And I’m still not sorry for that joke. Continue reading “ARMS (Switch) review” →