Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is a love letter to Tite Kubo's work and his legions of fans. By forgoing even the slightest competitive ambition, Tamsoft has managed to translate the spectacular and even unpredictable nature of Bleach's battles into playful terms, developing a noisy and strategically-focused combat system. Unfortunately, the story mode, the online infrastructure, the roster of playable characters, and even the balance leave much to be desired, but we are nevertheless convinced that the developer has succeeded in its main intent, which was to create a tie-in that fully respects the unique and unmistakable style of the license. Ultimately, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls may not be the video game adaptation that Bleach fans deserve and have been waiting for for two decades now, but so far it is the closest thing to it.

The Centennial Case attempts to engage the player / spectator, but lacks the bite of a Telling Lies or the simple but welcome interactivity with the scenarios of an Ace Attorney. The quality of the cast's interpretations is discreet and the story manages to arouse interest in those who play, but without creating the urge to discover the truth that must distinguish every good thriller. It is an experience that may be appreciated by lovers of mystery, but which does not derive all the possible benefits that a greater contextualization in Japanese culture and history could have given. In other words, the Square Enix adventure succeeds only in part, while it could have shown much more grit and character.

Arktika.1 does not revolutionize the kind of shooter on rails but adapts it in a perfectly successful way to Virtual Reality.

Although many have dreamed for years of seeing the world through the cockpit of a mecha, now it is best to be content to admire its shiny metallic body from the outside.

A fluid combat gameplay meets a great character progression system. The story does not reach the quality of the first episode, but the adventure is long and full of quests.

March of the Eagles is the last masterpiece created by Paradox Interactive who put the player in the chaotic Napoleonic wars. A title that condenses years of experience with some important new gameplay.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central does not require impeccable execution and perfect pitch, nor highly developed reflexes (more or less). The word "Party" in the name is a real declaration of intent, a message to revelers who can go wild with their friends, training alone or, even better, in online mode. Regardless of the length of post-launch support reserved for the title, SEGA has created a light experience, with some sagging in the recording phase of low notes and in terms of frame rate, but absolutely capable of giving hours of entertainment.

WWE '12 is one of the best wrestling simulations made in this generation, with lots of content and a well-balanced gameplay. The only remorse is poor hit box implementation.

Too Close to the classical Dynasty Warriors style, Pirate Warriors 2 ends up pleasing only hardcore fans of Oda's saga.

It's a classic Neptunia chapter, and you already know the drill. For some, it could be seen as a merry more of the same, but other might find it a little stretched.

As far as possible from a masterpiece, but still manages to bring the loaf home, in a sense.

The possibilities offered by the title will certainly delight the enthusiastic strategists, who will be able to count on a longevity that exceeds one hundred hours with extreme ease, while it takes "only" 40 to complete a main quest at times devoid of bite. The repetitive storyline is one of the rare weaknesses of the entire Disgaea project, while on the playful side there is very little to blame the Japanese developers.

Episode Aigis is a necessary product to complete this remake of one of the cornerstones of JRPG history. Die-hard fans of the title will certainly be thrilled to return to the shoes of the SEES, but the repetitive dungeons and the limited number of activities offered risk quickly giving way to monotony. Fans of the turn-based gameplay of Persona 3 will however be happy to be able to enjoy a gaming experience without interruptions, strong in an accelerated progression and in the name of dungeon crawling.

Green light for the new Batman: Arkham Shadow, a title that keeps its promises by bringing one of the most popular franchises in the traditional video game landscape to Meta viewers. Our experience with Meta Quest 3 was fun and at times very satisfying, with a dynamic and lively combat system and stimulating gameplay even in the more static phases of investigations or the study of areas to be tackled stealthily. The graphics department is good, but the high ambitions of the development team must clash with limited hardware for the standalone execution of a game of this kind. The test is generally good with some stumbles, for one of the best VR games of the year.

DOOM VFR is not a bad game at all, but one of the potentially funnest shooters currently on PSVR. However, it tastes like a wasted opportunity.

NHL 23 is an improved and refined version of last year's edition. EA Vancouver had declared that it had taken advantage of all the criticisms raised by its passionate community: so it was. Too bad that to improve the playing experience on ice and offer greater realism, the team sacrificed everything else. It is not enough to have cleaned up the audiovisual sector, improved the AI, retouched the Franchise mode or added the possibility of playing with the IIHF girls: everything else is more or less the same as seen in NHL 22 and given the premises it was it is reasonable to expect more.

Shadow Warrior 3 isn't quite the game we expected, and on balance, we feel it's a big step back from its two predecessors. Lo Wang's latest adventure is plagued by unparalleled linearity, a cumbersome presence of identical platform stages and a fair amount of technical problems that inevitably affect the gaming experience. To support Shadow Warrior 3 are exclusively the charisma of the protagonist and the frenetic and fun fighting system, although its use is limited by a poor longevity and the total absence of extras that encourage users to return to the game (such as the New Game Plus or a trivial horde mode).

Iterative production does not represent a shiny example of game developing.

No Straight Roads is a colossal wasted opportunity: the first work of the young Malaysian team Metronomik has character to spare and an aesthetic to scream, of those that grab attention without being shot. But be careful not to be charmed by a spell that ultimately proves to be all form and no substance.

Summing up the new Pokémon game always means triggering a conflict between heart and head. By heart, among other things, Scarlet and Violet have plenty to sell. Although very diluted and with a very staid pace, the plot entertains and surprises especially at the end, and the many supporting actors of this new epic are among the funniest and most intriguing of the entire franchise. Overall, Game Freak packs a fun and content-rich adventure, despite some of the new features not fully convincing. The open world works but at the same time is limited by a great underlying repetitiveness, while some of the most interesting achievements achieved by the spin-off on Arceus have been revised and adapted - not always positively - for the new formula. Unfortunately, to weigh on the final judgment are the many technical problems on which it is now really impossible to postpone. In the hope that the development team, sooner or later, will be able to align their productions with current generational standards, we can still assert that the new pair of Pokémon games is interesting.

Nintendogs + Cats reconfirms the formula that transformed this animal tamer in a great success. The 3D effect plays a key role in the interaction between the player and the puppy.

Quotation forthcoming.

The result is a pleasant but very narrow experience that is consumed quickly, despite the exclusive sections dedicated to the two characters.

It could've been perfect as a 3DS integrated experience, but, as a standalone game, it lacks the depth of other simulations.

New Dawn remains a fun title and able to satisfy the tastes of Far Cry fans, but it is clear that the future of the saga depends on its ability to bring the substantially new to the table.

For better or for worse, Day Gone exceeds expectations. Bend Studio focuses heavily on the plot of its latest work, sometimes even at the expense of the gameplay, forced to adapt to the narrative needs of the survival game. Despite this, Days gone is still a very unique experience, thanks to its extremely recognizable personality shining through.

Mixing lovely 8-bit graphics, puzzle solving and managing aspects, The Escapists offers an original experience. Escaping can be fun, but it will also require patience and a lot of trial and error, especially when it come to the most complex prisons. It lacks any form of cooperation with the AI controlled inmates, and that's a shame.

An epilogue that is not exactly explosive, but totally consistent with the creative path of the development team, which over time has composed a content offer able to offer players dozens and dozens of hours of heart-pounding fun, including loads of loot, levels of additional difficulty, new mechanics, new weapons and extraordinarily tough enemies.