Ted Hazell, Freelance

  Written by Ted Hazell Published on Friday September 17 2021, 18:38 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58355/black-book-switch-review   Take a page out of this book and give it a go!   Black Book is a card-based RPG adventure set in 1800s Russia. It follows the story of Vasilisa, a young girl who is to become a witch but turns away from sorcery to marry her love. This doesn’t last long, as her betrothed suddenly dies. Heartbroken, Vasilisa turns to witchcraft and hopes to use this magic to revive her lost soulmate. To do this, she must seek out and use the Black Book: an ancient, demonic text that is powerful enough to grant those who uncover its seven seals a wish. Throughout Black Book, you play as Vasilisa, facing demons, assisting (and potentially terrorising) town folk, and traversing across a world heavily inspired by dark Slavic mythology and folklore.    Black Book is developed by Morteshka, who are a small Russian independent studio. At the tim...

Written by Ted Hazell Published on Saturday September 9 2021, 16:00 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58304/ultra-age-switch-review https://youtu.be/R2_QTR6IVvk   Age is but a… sword wielding warrior?    Ultra Age is a combat-focused action game co-developed by Next Stage and Visual DART that uses Unreal Engine 4 to create a graphically impressive game that feels as though you are playing a big budget game at a competitive price. Set in the distant future where a passing meteor has altered Earth's ecosystem, the planet has become almost uninhabitable and deserted. As Age, a warrior who has come out of orbit to Earth, your mission is to save humanity from extinction. Sounds easy, right? Well, Earth is now inhabited by creatures, robots, and mutants who don’t take kindly to you. Age himself has seven days left in his life and by completing this mission, he would be granted eternal life. Throughout the game, you are accompanied by Helvis, a little android, who assis...

Written by Ted Hazell Published on Saturday September 4 2021, 21:38 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58256/big-rumble-boxing-creed-champions-switch-review   Yo Adrian… this game is fun! Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is an arcade boxing game set within the Rocky and Creed franchise. It was published by Survios and is its second collaboration with MGM Studios Inc., with the first being Creed: Rise to Glory for platforms that support VR. Prior to getting my hands on this game, I was very excited about there being a proper boxing game on Switch, something the system lacks. I am surprised we are yet to get a new Punch Out!! in all honesty (come on Nintendo!), but that’s for another day.    The collaboration with MGM Studios Inc. means that we have fully licensed characters from the Rocky and Creed franchise. Fighters include Rocky Balboa, Adonis Creed, Apollo Creed, both Ivan and Viktor Drago, and a handful more. You begin with 10 fighters available, with a furt...

  Written by Ted Hazell Published on Sunday August 22 2021, 02:04 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58167/winds-of-change-switch-review   This better not awaken anything in me.   Winds of Change is a 2D visual novel and point and click adventure created and published by Klace and Crunching Koalas. It advertises itself as the “Ultimate Furry Tale,” which may be quite surprising to some that a video game is inspired by the furry fandom. Upon some research, I found that the creator of this game, Klace, is a very well known “fursuiter” within the fandom, and through a Kickstarter campaign, got this game created originally for Steam and now on the Nintendo Switch. What we have in Winds of Change is a huge roster of anthropomorphic characters in a deep, well told, epic story set in a high-fantasy world.   As the last Seer (or Seeress) of the land of Valinorth, you see visions of the dark future that potentially lies ahead for you and everyone around you. This visi...

  Written by Ted Hazell Published on Monday August 16 2021, 18:47 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58102/guild-of-darksteel-switch-review   Immortality is overrated.   Developed by one-person team Igor Sandman and published by Digerati, Guild of Darksteel is a cinematic 2D side-scrolling platform adventure game. You play as a nameless character, referred to by all as Sellsword, an immortal warrior. In this world, there is a mythical metal called Darksteel, and if a warrior wears armour made from this substance, they become immortal. Sounds great, doesn’t it? The only downside to this is that the armour, once worn, cannot be removed and you are then bound to fight in wars that may not reflect your values. As Sellsword, you travel to Ravenloft, where a place called The Guild of Darksteel is a haven for people like him. However, there is an evil secret that you unveil as the story progresses.     Guild of Darksteel is heavily carried by its story and narr...

Written by Ted Hazell Published on Wednesday August 4 2021, 19:00 https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/08/feature_fire_emblem_and_8_other_nintendo_franchises_that_need_a_tv_series   Lights, camera, action!   Recently, we’ve spent the   last who knows how long , re-playing   Pokémon Blue, Red , and   Yellow   on the 3DS Virtual Console, and bingeing the original Pokémon animated series on Netflix alongside this, and what a time I’ve been having! Netflix is   rumoured to be planning on making a live action Pokémon series , too, and this won’t be the first time Netflix have adapted a gaming franchise, with both   Castlevania   and   The Witcher   proving wildly successful as animated and live action series respectively, not to mention the recent   CG Resident Evil series .   Playing those classic Pokémon games, and watching a series based on them had us at Nintendo Life thinking, what other Nintendo franchises would we love...