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.

Without infamy, without praise, Milestone's return to the world of Superbike. We expected something more, it is useless to deny it: the Milanese team has limited itself to doing what is strictly necessary. SBK 22 is an overall interesting simulation, limited in content (the other categories are trivially lacking) and sold at a budget price. In any case, we recommend the game to fans of Bautista and Rea.

Blind Fate: Edo no Yami stems from an intriguing concept that reworks mythology and folklore of feudal Japan to transport them into a dystopian future populated by bloodthirsty machines. Its blind protagonist is a truly remarkable gimmick, especially once placed in such a context. That said, in the field of game design there are too many problems overlapping one another, starting from the cumbersome controls and the perceptible input lag, up to an imperfect management of the checkpoints and the absence of explanations on the very functioning of fundamental mechanics. It's really a shame, because the art direction is certainly as good as the soundtrack.

The underlying concept is delightful and its application is applause: there is a lot, a lot of inventiveness in the way in which always new and stimulating situations are proposed, daughters of a creative inspiration that embellishes what is still very effectively. a basic play structure, but not for this thin one. It lacks depth, but it is a defect that weighs relatively, because in what it wants to do, celebrating with joy the most fervent imagination, the childish one, is instead fully successful; and with such a transport that it also reaches us who are mature.

Metal Hellsinger is a very fun shooter to play and with a remarkable soundtrack but the quality of the title The Outsider does not go hand in hand with the quantity and it takes very little to see everything that the adventure starring the Unknown has to offer . In short, this is an unmissable hellish journey for FPS and heavy metal fans, but it is difficult for you to want to extend your stop among the demons after reaching the credits. In any case, the game will also be included in the Xbox Game Pass catalog at launch and is a perfect product for those who decide to experience this heavy metal-based adventure through the Microsoft service.

Broken Pieces is a project created by a software house still in its infancy, an adventure that unfortunately has proved problematic on several fronts. Net of the pleasant setting that is the background to the events narrated, the plot fails to involve the player, most of the puzzles are uninteresting and repetitive and the combat phases are nothing more than a filler that tires already at the second meeting with the opponents, all equal to each other. In short, unless you are satisfied with a walk in a beautiful French town, Broken Pieces does not have much to offer, not even for fans of the reference genre.

Lego Brawls is an extremely basic and easy to learn platform fighting game, which does not shine for its combat system or for the level design of the gaming arenas. The title inherits the limits of a production born on Apple Arcade and then transferred to PC and console. However, thanks to the immediacy of the matches and the simplicity of the gameplay mechanics, it could be able to give some carefree fun at least to fans of the iconic bricks but, let's be clear, not for a long time.

Splatoon 3 is confirmed as a title in full continuity with its predecessors, supported by a formula that, seven years after the debut of the series, has not lost a drop of its bursting effectiveness. With an immediate, atypical and hilarious gameplay, the Nintendo title overwhelms players with a barrage of high-intensity multiplayer battles, at the center of a competitive proposal that, net of its undoubted qualities, would certainly have benefited from the '' introduction of more significant innovations, also on the purely content front. The improvements on the side of the "quality of life" of the users are welcome, mind you, so so are the additions to the paraphernalia, the catalog of skills and the list of maps, but a little courage could have opened up the exclusivity the doors of excellence. As for the single player sector, however, not all the changes made to the offer have fully convinced us, although the overall balance still stands at more than positive values. In short, if you loved the first two Splatoon, this sequel will not struggle to conquer you, and in case you have never splatted in company ... well, maybe it's time to think about it.

Steelrising could and should have been Spiders' test of maturity, but unfortunately the French studio was unable to hit the target even on this round. Although the developer has come up with some appreciable and in some cases brilliant ideas, it is their realization that is not convincing in the least, as different mechanics upset the system and create an annoying imbalance between the balance of the various categories of weapons. If we add to this the usual woody animations that the Spiders action RPG have in common, the final result is an imperfect and incomplete product in several respects. On the flip side, Steelrising enjoys a whimsical and inspired narrative framework, that in the twenty hours needed to reach the end credits easily captures the attention and above all the curiosity of the player.

By expanding the roster of playable characters and the number of fighters that can be dragged on the front line, the guys at WANIN International have endowed Dusk Diver 2 with a pleasant strategic component completely absent in the first episode. However, instead of conceiving a new growth system reasoned and designed specifically for the team, the studio has kept the leveling system of the original, which allowed you to manually intervene on the parameters of the Yang Yumo alone. Being shared among the various members of the gang, the experience points accumulated through the clashes are not sufficient to simultaneously improve the fighters available to the player, who is often forced to focus on one or two heroes to cope with a balance of difficulty to be reviewed. at most, neglecting the remaining three. Compared to the progenitor, Dusk Diver 2 has in short made some appreciable steps forward, but the road to perfect the formula of the saga and express its full potential would still seem long.

Ultimately, Jojo All Star Battle R is a title that can entertain for a long time, but with numerous reservations: if you are a JoJo fan and want to have fun in single or with friends locally, this product will offer you a gigantic roster, with iconic characters and animated with extreme care, moved by a simple and intuitive combat system. But if you are looking for a deep multiplayer experience, especially online, you better look elsewhere. The remaster operation is overall appreciable, but the unjustified absence of a netcode at the height heavily undermines the entire gaming experience.

What matters, in my opinion, is knowing that Part 1 is the best version of a game out of the parameters, yesterday as today. I am willing to swear it.

An intense and raw experience, Immortality marks an excellent return to the scene for Sam Barlow, in an adventure to be lived strictly with headphones and controllers. Preferably during a rainy night, in a dimly lit room.

If the great TMNT: Shredder's Revenge still hasn't quenched your hunger for ninja turtles, with The Cowabunga Collection prepare yourself for indigestion: Digital Eclipse has done a really good job in re-adapting 13 products that have made the history of the Konami series. Some titles have aged well, others a little less (especially the GameBoy ones). In short, for all those teenagers who grew up at the turn of the eighties and nineties with the myth of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello, it is a recommended purchase but some might turn up their noses at the launch price of this collection, proposed at 40 euros.

F1 Manager 2022 is a fun title with surprisingly high production values. The managerial management is deep to the right point, without ever becoming overwhelming or unnecessarily complex and some goodies such as the samples of the radio teams will surely make all fans happy. It is difficult to find real faults in what there is and it is rather what is not there that leaves a bad taste in the mouth: it is in fact impossible to change excuses, create your own team, or compete in multiplayer, to do some examples. These absences could seriously undermine the longevity of the experience and there is a risk that after a few seasons the game could become boring. Ultimately F1 Manager 2022 leaves us the feeling that the software house wanted to do a few things, but do them well and lay the foundations for a possible (and probable) annual series. If we want to evaluate it in this light, the experience leaves us extremely optimistic for the future, but at present - it is clear - we would have liked to have fun with some more content.

Crazy shootings, a successful script that mixes comedy with clichés, and last but not least, a graphic restoration of the highest level, make Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed an excellent remake that we are convinced will be able to entertain both those who have already loved the saga, as well as the players who have never approached it before. Unfortunately the title suffers from a somewhat repetitive mission structure typical of the open world of sixteen years ago, but overall it still manages to engage the user thanks to an immediacy that has become damn rare these days.