Tag: review

Totaku figures #01-06: World exclusive review

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an absolute fiend when it comes to collectible figurines.

Yer man Scullion currently owns a complete set of 70 Lego Dimensions characters, a complete set of 105 Disney Infinity figures, 116 amiibo – incomplete, because nobody needs two Kirbys – and precisely zero Skylanders (because obviously).

Later in March the first wave of Totaku figures hits the UK and US. They’re going to be sold exclusively at Gamestop in the US, and in a handful of stores in the UK (most notably GAME).

Given my obsession with collecting similar figures, you’d hopefully agree that I’d be the man to trust when it comes to reviewing these Totaku thingies.

It’s fortunate, then, that I’m lucky enough to currently have final samples of the first six figures, and I’ve managed to secure them before anyone else.

Friends, here is your world exclusive first review of Totaku figures #01 to #06. Continue reading “Totaku figures #01-06: World exclusive review” →

Bayonetta 1 & 2 (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion2 Comments
Nintendo / Platinum Games
Switch, Wii U (Switch version reviewed)

If you ask me, this is definitely the best social climate to release a pair of games about a sexy witch who has an outfit made out of hair that makes her naked any time she attacks with it.

Don’t worry: I can already imagine some of you getting nervous. That’s a discussion for another website, and given it’s an important topic (and rightly so, in my opinion) I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding said discussion elsewhere before too long.

It would be daft, though, not to address the skimpily-dressed elephant in the room: Bayonetta 1 & 2 are very much games that would result in plenty of uncomfortable conversations if they were brand new releases and not ports of games that are nine and four years old respectively.

Much like my review of the significantly more questionable Senran Kagura: Estival Versus on PS4, though (don’t click that if you’re at work), I’m going to spare you the morality lesson here. It’s up to you to investigate the content and tone of these games and decide if they’re suitable for you or any younger gamers in your life: my job is to tell you if they’re actually fun to play.

In that respect I can confirm that yes, yes they are. Continue reading “Bayonetta 1 & 2 (Switch) review” →

Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #2

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment

Following some really positive feedback on the first of my more casual, unscripted review round-ups, it’s time for a second helping. Reviewed in this episode are:

• Tallowmere (Switch)
• Rock ‘N Racing Off Road DX (Switch)
• Aces Of The Luftwaffe: Squadron (Switch)
• Antiquia Lost (Switch)
• Ittle Dew 2+ (Switch)
• It’s Quiz Time (PS4)
• Star Wars: Battlefront II (Xbox One)
• WWE Mayhem (Android)
• Mom Hid My Game! (Switch)
• Arcade Archives: Vs Super Mario Bros (Switch) Continue reading “Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #2” →

Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #1

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment

Since I’m still working on a big Secret Project™ that’s been taking up the vast majority of my writing time, I’ve had to think of a better way to review games (which I still enjoy doing in my downtime).

Here, then, is the first in a regular series of review round-up videos, in which I’ll give you small reviews of a bunch of newly released games.

Most professional video reviews on YouTube are scripted, to ensure the reviewer gets across the points they want to make. Since I hate doing that fake radio-style YouTuber voice (trust me, I’ve tried it), these videos will be completely unscripted and I’ll be talking about them normally.

Think of them as a podcast that focuses on game reviews, complete with footage. Here’s episode 1: there’s more information underneath the video.

Continue reading “Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #1” →

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) review

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment
Nintendo / Monolith Soft
Nintendo Switch

What a difference seven years makes.

Back in 2010, the first Xenoblade Chronicles launched in Japan. The UK got it a year later, but North American audiences were annoyed that they seemingly weren’t getting a sniff.

This resulted in Operation Rainfall, a protest campaign run by US gamers who wanted to see Xenoblade Chronicles (as well as The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower) released in their region.

Eventually, nearly two years after it launched in Japan, Xenoblade Chronicles was finally released in the US. Nowadays, though, it’s a different story.

A handheld port of the game hit the New 3DS in 2015, and this time the gap between eastern and western releases was a mere eight days.

The Wii U spiritual successor Xenoblade Chronicles X did take a while longer (seven months) to make it outside of Japan, but when it did it enjoyed full parity with Europe and the US getting it on the same day.

And so now here we are with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the first ‘proper’ sequel and the first to have a proper worldwide launch day. We’ve come a long way. Continue reading “Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) review” →

Resident Evil Revelations 1 & 2 (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion2 Comments
Capcom
Switch, Xbox One, PS4, Steam, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS, Vita (Switch version reviewed)

We aren’t even nine months into the Switch’s life yet and it’s already proving itself to be a fantastic device for ports.

That may not always seem like a good thing: after all, the Xbox One and PS4 were criticised in their early days for having their libraries artificially increased with enhanced ports of previous gen games.

It feels different on the Switch, though. Its handheld capability means fans of games like Doom, Skyrim and LA Noire are happy to re-buy their old games on Nintendo’s system, the addition of portability appealing more than better textures or frame rate.

The Resident Evil Revelations games don’t get to use this ‘novelty’ as a selling point. The first made its debut as a handheld game, enjoying 3DS exclusivity for a year and a half – while its sequel was released on the PlayStation Vita.

Both have already had the handheld treatment, then, but it’s fair to say the Switch version blows the 3DS’s low resolution and the Vita’s low-poly visuals and poor frame rate out of the water. Continue reading “Resident Evil Revelations 1 & 2 (Switch) review” →

Review round-up: Doom, Skyrim, LA Noire, Rime, Kirby Battle Royale

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment

It’s been longer than usual since my last review round-up so here’s a special bumper edition, packed to the chops with mini-reviews.

This week:

• Get your ass to Mars in Doom on Switch
• Take an arrow in the baws in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Switch
• Speakeasy or forever hold your peace in LA Noire on Switch
• Getting outfoxed in Rime
• Bowing to the altar of the eternal loading screen in Moon Hunters
• Kicking it old-school in Lumo
• Point-and-click quirkiness in Violett
• Getting cheap but surprisingly non-nasty in Knight Terrors
• Speeding away from mobile roots in Gear Club Unlimited
• Having a good feline about Cat Quest
• Talking fascism and abortion (seriously) in Wheels Of Aurelia
• Passing GO with reckless abandon in Monopoly on Switch
• Smacking the hell out of a bunch of fighting bollocks in Kirby Battle Royale Continue reading “Review round-up: Doom, Skyrim, LA Noire, Rime, Kirby Battle Royale” →

Review round-up: Super Lucky’s Tale, Disneyland Adventures, Splasher

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment

Another week, another helping of reviews of games that may have passed you by.

This week:

• What the fox going on in Super Lucky’s Tale
• Pooh-related antics that aren’t X-rated for once in Disneyland Adventures
• Paint-based platforming in Splasher
• An adventure that has nothing to do with Elliot Ness in Elliot Quest
• By-the-numbers RPG Switchery in Revenant Saga
• Going back to the future in Time Recoil
• Dialling 1471 (or *69 if you’re American) in Another Lost Phone Continue reading “Review round-up: Super Lucky’s Tale, Disneyland Adventures, Splasher” →

Review round-up: Dead Horizon, Party Golf, King Oddball, Yono

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment

Time for some more mini review goodness!

This week:

• Cyberpunk dystopian twin-stickery in Neon Chrome
• Come dangerously close to a Twitter hashtag in Yono And The Celestial Elephants
• Beer pong on your Switch in Super Ping Pong Trick Shot
• A tongue that would make Gene Simmons jealous in King Oddball
• Eight-player foreplay in Party Golf
• A short sharp shock in Dead Horizon

As usual, each review (except for the last, for reasons which will become clear) is accompanied by a First Play video, in which I captured the first 15-30 minutes of each game as I played it for the first time.

This way you can see how I reacted to it at first, and then how the game eventually panned out in the review. Continue reading “Review round-up: Dead Horizon, Party Golf, King Oddball, Yono” →

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion14 Comments

This review, like all the reviews on Tired Old Hack, contains no major spoilers. The only plot mentioned takes place during the game’s intro, and any worlds or items mentioned are limited to those previously revealed in official promotional material (trailers, screenshots etc).

Nintendo / Nintendo EPD
Nintendo Switch

“It’s cute listening to you playing that game.”

When I reviewed Super Mario Galaxy a decade ago for Official Nintendo Magazine, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 three years later for the same publication, I was on my own.

Sitting at Nintendo UK’s headquarters, I was essentially left to my own devices in a room with nothing more than a Wii, a television and a copy of the final code freshly emailed over from Nintendo’s Japanese office.

This time, reviewing Super Mario Odyssey in the comfort of my own home, I’m not alone. My wife Louise has been sitting in our wee home office, using our PC while I’ve been playing on the living room TV next door.

Back then, the Galaxy games felt special. I could tell I was playing something out of the ordinary, something that connected with my inner child in a way that was nothing short of pure joy.

I felt it again with Odyssey. But this time those feelings were reinforced by Louise saying to me after my second night with it:

“It’s cute listening to you playing that game.”

Usually when I’m reviewing something I’m pretty much silent, save for the odd “fuck off” when I die. But Odyssey has me spontaneously laughing, giggling, whistling along to the music and gasping as I play, to the extent that my wife hears the difference.

This game is a Galaxy challenger. This game is a Galaxy beater. Continue reading “Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) review” →