The missing piece of the great mosaic of the Winters family, whose vicissitudes have played a central role in the latest iterations of the series, is a pleasant addition to the now wide offer within Resident Evil Village, albeit not without structural ups and downs or missed opportunities. From a playful point of view, the large section at the Dimitrescu castle is certainly the most effective, thanks to the skilful use of Rose's powers and you find them as the nuclei of the Megamicete, whose removal - combined with the presence of sufficiently dangerous abominations - succeeds to create moments of healthy tension. It is a pity, however, that Le Ombre di Rose has explored a little the idea of the "network of consciences" in favor of the only experience of Ethan's daughter, whose journey in any case deserves to be experienced by all fans of the trend. of the Winters.

The developers of Dimps had set themselves the goal of offering a peculiar asymmetrical multiplayer with a Dragon Ball theme, capable of immersing players in the tension of a game between cat and mouse lived on a tightrope. Unfortunately, due to a clear imbalance between the experience with villain and that in the role of the survivors, Dragon Ball: The Breakers fails to hit the mark, also given the only game mode present and the small number of maps available.

HB Studios have done a good job with the PGA 2K23 adding some new content while improving the gameplay and simulation realism at the same time. The roster features first-rate stars and some global icons such as Michael Jordan and Steph Curry, while the routes included should keep fans busy for quite a while (thanks to the plethora of content produced by its passionate community). TopGolf mode is a great variation on the theme, and online multiplayer is robust albeit lacking in substantial novelties. The graphics sector, on the other hand, can be improved: the quality of the animations and paths is fluctuating and not up to what is achieved by Visual Concepts / 2K with NBA 2K23.

The one packaged by Kite Games is a formula full of proposals, appreciable by the admirers of the real-time strategy, especially in the medieval setting, which, however, would certainly have benefited from further study and care. After all, the playful recipe works but does not impress, accomplices of the constituent elements unable to interact better with each other. In other words, what The Valiant offers is an experience with a good dose of unexpressed potential, both from a narrative and a technical point of view.

New Tales from the Borderlands has amused us, excited us, even moved us at times (rarely eh, don't think you will get depressed!). To say that he never takes himself seriously would be a mistake, given that behind a shattered facade and at times jester characters in constant, deliberate and theatrical over acting hides an evidently remarkable study. The final result, whether in the form of direct narration, multiple choice questions, QTE or other is not always perfect but in general we are facing a more than successful revival of the expansive operation for the Borderlands universe that has begun. with the first Tales from, full of well-distributed quotes that will make RPG fans and enthusiasts very happy.

Gotham Knights is Warner Bros Games' experiment to also bring DC superheroes to open world RPG territory. Given the legacy of the glorious Arkham series, however, the result is a fairly controversial work: a digital playground for those who live off Batman comics and a good diversification system for the four playable heroes do not fully justify a formula in which the quantity dominates quality. The open world that acts as a theater for the adventures of Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Red Hood is traditional and repetitive, while the role-playing inspiration - however stimulating in terms of progression - becomes too overwhelming for the narrative and playful rhythm of the production. In general, the major divergences from the Arkham epic are in part the main limitation of the work. While having fun, the Gotham Knights still don't seem to be at the level of their mentor.

Net of excessive linearity and some uncertainty in the gameplay, Batora Lost Haven is a pleasant adventure that keeps players glued to the screen, eager to find out how the epic story of Avril around the galaxy will end. The journey of the heroine from Earth is studded with ingenious puzzles, dangerous enemies and difficult choices, which can be experienced in full thanks to a second game in New Game Plus, which guarantees a few more hours of play and allows without too many problems to complete the game 100%.

As things stand, Overwatch 2 is not so much a sequel as it is an update to the first chapter. Net of the changes made, we cannot consider what we have seen so far as something fully satisfactory or capable of justifying the number "to the right" of the title. The changes introduced are appreciable and the business model adopted could give new life to the franchise, but unfortunately, between the absence of the campaign and the progression of the characters, the real potential of the experience remained unexpressed.

Net of a fairly interesting story capable of offering some interesting narrative crossroads, the first work of GoldKnights did not fully convince us. The main problems lie in the gameplay of The Last Oricru: the combat system is cumbersome and not always perfectly responsive, a situation further aggravated by significant drops in frame rates. Exploration, on the other hand, suffers from scenarios that tend to repeat themselves and confuse those who pass through them. Basically we are talking about a missed opportunity, which we hope will give the team some important lessons in view of future productions.

The adventure offered by A Plague Tale Requiem is a homecoming, an incessant search for a home, a story made up by a collective in love with its characters. Net of the team's unquestionable desire to overcome the first chapter in every sense, adopting courageous and intriguing solutions, the edges are not lacking but such an impressive journey from a visual and narrative point of view certainly deserves to be experienced, especially by those who have already enjoyed the debut of the series.

A few years after the overwhelming debut of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, the extravagant Ubisoft rabbits are back to join forces with the icons of Nintendo. From Mario to Bowser, the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom form a team of nine Heroes, ready to do anything to save the sparkling Sparks. Will there still be hope for the galaxy threatened by the dark Cursa? We recommend all Nintendo Switch owners to board the spaceship led by Ubisoft Milan to find out. With a renewed freedom of exploration and an even more marked strategic component, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope extends the formula of its predecessor, packaging an experience full of fun and full of style.

Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief is a technically pleasing remastered edition, capable of offering an exciting and moving story thanks to the great heart of its proagonist, a gentleman thief who operates the streets of the town of Mikado. Clearly the gameplay is a child of its time and consists of mechanics that end up clashing with the stealth philosophy of the adventure in an all too evident way.

The new IllFonic title manages to express the best of itself in short sessions spent in the lightheartedness of a game aware of its limits, capable of challenging fans of the Ghostbusters brand with its continuous quotes but also to intrigue those who are not accustomed to the saga with an immediate and easy to master gameplay.

If you are into extreme horror, you should really try Scorn. If you are absolutely terrified of visions of flesh and gore, you should even more consider giving Ebb Software's video game a chance: you may be amazed by your own reactions. One cannot remain indifferent to the work of the Serbian studio: a radical product, which walks with its head held high in a world in which you try spasmodically to please everyone, only to discover that it has not really fascinated anyone.

Net of numerous positive aspects, such as the art direction, the level design or the humor that permeates the adventure, LEGO Bricktales unfortunately presents itself as an imperfect product. While representing the only major lack, the complicated control system that distinguishes the construction phases significantly inhibits the pleasure of the experience. A doubly unpleasant circumstance, given that the puzzles and puzzles proposed by the creative phases are genuinely stimulating and varied. As can be easily understood, given the belonging of the game to the LEGO franchise, the moments that require you to assemble the bricks to proceed in the adventure represent in fact the founding core of the production. This circumstance forces us against our will to penalize a title whose concept and creative potential would have deserved more.

Black Mermaid debuts with a brutal and punitive action but at the same time manages to give great satisfaction once you have learned the different nuances that characterize its gameplay. Moonscars is an adventure with few flaws and boldly draws from the worlds of soulslike and metroidvania to propose a series of interesting solutions, the Moon and temporary enhancements above all, which make every single session almost always unpredictable and exciting.

In spite of those who since the announcement have criticized Square Enix's choice to set aside the Valkyrie Profile turn-based combat system, the spin-off packaged by Soleil has entertained us with a solid and varied playful mixture, a level of challenge satisfying and a lot of strategy. What is not convincing, however, are the renounced narrative component and the dated technical sector, which suggest obvious problems related to the budget. Ultimately, Valkyrie Elysium may not have fully hit the target, yet we are convinced that, with the right investments, the playful formula synthesized by the Soleil studio could prove to be a winner. In this sense, the hope is that a possible sequel will then be able to express the full potential of the spin-off.

Hokko Life arrives on Nintendo Switch in an unacceptable technical state, so much so that any possibility of feeling sympathy for the dishes of Hokko's inhabitants and their stories fades regardless. It does not help the low quality of writing and an experience structure that made us feel trapped in Hokko, and not masters of the adventure. Dragged into a whirlwind of assignments, wood gathering and unpleasant fishing sessions, we were not in any way fascinated by a life sim that promised a relaxing and creative experience, but which on balance cannot compete with the most famous exponents. like that, Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley above all.

Unlike the first chapter, Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 does not hit the mark, but in contrast it represents a clear step back in many respects. Its only real strength is represented by the artistic direction, which, abandoning the pixel art of the progenitor, preferred to adopt a cleaner design inspired by comic books. Overall, the title turned out to be somewhat unsatisfactory: once the adventure began, you are immediately catapulted into history without a real guide, while the combat system appears slow and clumsy, also due to woody animations. To this already unfortunate situation must be added some rather unbalanced enemies, numerous bugs that compromise the experience, an isometric view that sometimes makes you turn up your nose and, last but not least, the unexpected removal of the cooperative mode promised to the public during the development. At present, Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 appears to be far from being able to be a playable experience that can be promoted.

FIFA greets its fans with an ambitious and rich chapter like never before, which manages to compensate for some historical mistakes with a convincing mix between a football with arcade nuances and simulation realism. Strengthened by an impressive and extremely varied content offer, we are sure that the community will be able to appreciate the many facets of this last episode, before the historic EA franchise changes its shirt becoming EA Sports FC. A formula that allows the production to bring home the result, for a farewell rich in content and effective on a playful level.

The DioField Chronicle basically has good potential, not always exploited properly. With this atypical experiment, the suspicion is that the developer Lancarse has aimed mostly at the casual audience or at least the neophytes of the genre, who through The DioField Chronicle could in fact approach for the first time the evergreen world of strategists and remain trapped in it. All the others will still be able to let themselves be carried away by an intriguing narrative system and an incredibly rich mythology. With the right precautions to the playful formula, The DioField Chronicle could become the starting point on which to build a valid and innovative series.

Grounded is a product that knows how to be delicious in its genuineness. Leaving aside the narrative sector that will hardly be able to conquer you and a technical level not in line with that of modern productions, on a playful level the Obsidian title is able to entertain players of any kind and harness them with its multiple options within a world full of different biomes, with many activities to do and an avalanche of objects to collect and analyze. A small, large world in which to immerse yourself with the smile of a child.

Unfortunately, Serial Cleaners is not as striking as its predecessor: the adventures of Mr. Bob and his company of Cleaners attract the player more with a deep story and narrative branches to discover, all with a pleasant jazz accompaniment and a peculiar aesthetic rendering but from the fluctuating effectiveness. The simple and arcade gameplay is ideal for those who want to approach stealth and better frame the genre, and it is satisfying overall. Artificial intelligence is the Achilles' heel of the entire experience and its shortcomings have not allowed the potential of the playful offer to be fully expressed. If we add to this the lack of replayability, the criticalities of the product become even more evident.

Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden recycles aesthetics and ideas from the two predecessors, and a bite-free storyline risks failing to involve players in the story of the warrior and her companions. They don't help overly abused clichés and an interesting, but underdeveloped combat system. The Beasts of Burden underestimates the players and could well be a good entry point for those not accustomed to the world of JRPG, but we would like to recommend it only to fans of Yoko Taro and the DrakeNier universe, who will be able to grasp references in the narration and in the settings of a title that, for the rest, is easily forgotten.

NBA 2K23 best honors the number it carries. The playful offer of the new basketball iteration by 2K and Visual Concepts is sumptuous, both in terms of visual presentation and content offer. Alongside the now classic game modes such as My Career and My Team, we find the experience in the expanded and enriched WNBA, a Mia NBA mode even more layered and structured than in the past, with several new features (such as the Age of Basketball) that fans of the wedge ball will love. The highlight, however, is the return of the Jordan Challenge, which could be worth the price of the ticket alone. With NBA 2K23 the development team confirms the very high simulation level that is now the trademark of the franchise, this year further refined and studied in detail.

Despite their inexperience with the stylish action genre, the Reply Game Studio guys have developed a multifaceted and innovative combat system, which uses the different resources of Briar and Lute in a very ingenious way. On the flip side, the excessive chaos that arose during the battles, combined with a camera that we believe to be almost entirely redesigned, too often penalizes the reading of the action, complicating even the simplest challenges. Hoping that the Italian studio will roll up its sleeves to at least partially remedy the shortcomings of the product, we recommend its purchase to fans of heart-pounding clashes.

Despite the many years on his shoulders, the saga created by Ron Gilbert still seems to have a lot to tell. With Return to Monkey Island, the videogame author packs a nostalgic work, but deeply immersed in the contemporary world, which he tells with the usual dose of sagacity and irony. With excellent writing quality, the graphic adventure gives point & click lovers a fun and puzzle-packed experience to be solved using imagination, logic and careful observation. Between new and familiar faces - with special mentions for Murray and Stan - this anomalous sequel has given us about ten hours of unshakable good humor: not even a good mug of grog could have done better.

Ancient Dungeon VR is a great roguelike dungeon crawler in every respect. The proposed story is not very deep and confirms the essential setting for a truly fun playful package. The procedural generation of the levels guarantees a remarkable replayability, while we would welcome the debut of more creatures in the future. Particle effects and lights do not stand out, thanks to the voxel modeling that aims at simplicity, while realistic physics is the real surprise in light of its fundamental role, because it embellishes the clashes with a pinch of tacticism. The support for mods and the promising roadmap, finally, are what could further elevate the content value of Ancient Dungeon VR.