A frantic run into the fighting madness with convincing visual effects. Great in single player, less long-lived in multiplayer, but always original.

Beautiful to look at, powerful to listen to, highly optimized, and with gameplay that takes us back to the glories of the best games in the series, Battlefield 6 is the unexpected return we've been hoping for for years. The campaign is a concentration of explosions and uncertainty, but multiplayer is where you'll spend most of your time, and it's here that things take a turn for the better. The nine starting maps are a tasty appetizer for what's to come in the coming months; the feel of the weapon in your hand is just right, and when everything falls apart around you, you've definitely fallen in love. With the usual flaws, but also with strengths we almost forgot, this is, finally, Battlefield.

A fighting game with a classic, solid gameplay, a cast of forty characters, various modes of play and several rankings and customization. Tekken 6 on PlayStation Portable is probably the best version of this game.

This War of Mine: Final Cut closes an important path for 11 bit studios and does so at the most appropriate time, when it's really important to raise awareness of what war really means for ordinary people. From this point of view, the game still does its job very well and the three extra stories add further narrative depth to the package, which however remains designed for mouse and therefore turns out to be rather cumbersome when playing with a controller.

Ib Remake is a good entry in Nintendo Switch library: despite being short and not gameplay oriented, its narrative and setting make for a good experience in portable mode.

It's surprising how this has come together to be a quite good game. Animal Crossing is clearly the model here, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure turns out to be a pretty peculiar game with a distinct identity.

Fresh and fun, minimalist to the point, Arranger is a perfect summer work for portability. Fast-paced but hardly frustrating, Arranger's puzzles combined with a very dry narrative make for a refreshing indie experience that entertains, even if it only lasts a handful of hours.

Very funny at first and technically impressive, Split/Second: Velocity is a very addictive game that brings you adrenaline constantly. It's a pity it has some balance and multiplayer problems tough.

Dragon's Crown is without any doubt the best heir of Golden Axe we have ever seen in the last years.

Crusader Kings II is an engaging game. Grand stratedy fans will be pleased by all its features, while other people may also enjoy it. Simply a must for all the people who loved previous Paradox games.

Art of Balance on Wii U is still one of the best puzzle games around, with great and challenging gameplay. But it's not a true sequel, therefore if you played the previous versions keep that in mind.

This is the best Art Academy ever released: drawing and painting lessons are interesting and complete, and finally we can share them online. The only real limits of this "game" are the same limits of the touch screen, which isn't the best tool to paint.

The same good rally game, with a surprising use of the Dualsense.

With Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm managed to surprise us both positively and negatively: from a gameplay perspective, this is clearly the installment with the most potential in the series, as well as one of the most fun overall, and it manages to maintain a certain overall balance despite being far from perfect in terms of balancing. Content-wise, however, the game feels somewhat flat, and the invasion mode in particular seemed rather rushed and repetitive to us. Overall, though, it's a high-quality fighting game, an absolute must-play for any fan of the franchise, and likely to convert even the most skeptical.

It's great to see Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath in high definition, since it's a game that deserves to be played. The dual gameplay works fine, as you can switch from third to first person perspective by just pressing the right analog stick. The way you get ammo is different from everything else, but will put you in both pleasant and unpleasant situations.

There are no vehicle assaults or perks in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary but the original gameplay, brought again to life by a shiny new engine, is still so enjoyable that it seems a modern title.

Twisty Hollow is a simple and addictive puzzle game, with a beautiful art style and a peculiar gameplay.

NBA 2K26 confirms itself as one of the most complete basketball games ever made. The graphical improvements, refined gameplay, and variety of game modes make it a title that can satisfy every type of player, from casual gamers to hardcore fans. MyCareer and MyTeam remain the cornerstones, but multiplayer options and management modes also offer deep and engaging experiences. Microtransactions remain a sore point, yet despite this, NBA 2K26 represents one of the most polished sports experiences available. It’s true that there’s still no real competition, but once again, Visual Concepts has delivered a quality package this year.

Child of Light is a simple but intense RPG hidden inside a marvelous fable.

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour is a solid FPS, with a blockbuster direction and stunning graphics. The touch controls work fine and are fully customizable, but they lack of an auto-fire option.

Roots of Pacha was built with skill and dedication by a small team and deserves your undivided attention: far from being a Stardew Valley clone, it offers an adventure full of content and heart, in the name of collaboration and progress. Some technical issues notwithstanding and considering that it is common occurrence for rural life simulators to "grow" over time thanks to the feedback of their communities, we were amazed by the very high quality of the adventure proposed by Soda Den, even if some minigames are a bit repetitive and the "hook" for the exploration sections of the caves is not very effective at the beginning.

Hard to resist Cataclismo: build ever higher, more imperious and resistant fortresses with bricks that are very reminiscent of Lego, and to see how they resist enemy assaults. Sure, sometimes it hurts to witness our arrogance, to watch the collapse, but that is also the beauty. By day the optimization of resources, the joy of exploration; by night the continuous challenge between the human being and death. Between the solid stone walls and the claws, teeth and tentacles of monsters. Not everything is as fluid and smooth as we would have liked, due to an interface that is sometimes unnecessarily complex, a map readability that is not always exceptional and a basic repetitiveness of the idea, but it is hard not to get excited in front of some of the skirmishes we fought against thousands of enemies.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is absolutely one of the masterpieces you will play this season for PlayStation Portable, but also one of the best games even made of the entire Square Enix saga. If you are a fan of Kingdom Hearts, or simply you like the action RPG genre, buy this game.

The Last Guardian has lived up to his hype offering a great adventure and some iconic moments between Trico and the boy. The first hours are less impressive, the camera could be better and the graphics have some highs and lows.

Slowly Konami is starting to enhance its soccer experience and with PES 2013 we've finally got a good product that still misses some of the best features we'd like to see in a soccer game.

The Sega style is clearly visible in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, both graphically and gameplay-wise, which stands as a solid example of arcade kart racing. Even with some imperfections in the power-up organization and the track design this remains maybe the best choice among the Mario Kart adversaries.

Dragonflight is the best expansion Blizzard has released for its masterpiece MMO in a long time.

Mists of Pandaria is the best WoW expansion to date. Filled with content, quests, optional activities, items to find and reputations to grind for, this expansion will keep fans hooked for a long time. If you don't like WoW, though, there's no way you will be interested in Mists of Pandaria.

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion is a great DLC for anyone who liked the single player campaign and wanted more. There are so many levels, different challenges, dramatic cutscenes and new gameplay ideas, while the new retrowave soundtrack has some of the best songs in the entire series.

An original gameplay and funny carachters contribute to make a addictive formula that catches all-accomplished the gamer's attention.

Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition delivers a complete, up-to-date driving experience, with over 170 cars that feel absolutely unique when it comes to handling, traction, sound and setup.

Don't Starve Mega Pack is the definitive edition of Klei Entertainment's little masterpiece, with all the expansions released in recent years.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is an excellent successor to Jet Set Radio. Artistically stunning, with a wonderful soundtrack, it delivers great fun. Unfortunately, the fighting is terrible and the control system is not as precise as hoped.

Botany Manor is a solid puzzle game that lasts just long enough and is able to tell an interesting and more exciting story than we would have expected. It manages to do this gently and without ever overdoing it, with just a few lines to read here and there that are enough to tell us everything we need, both in terms of play and narrative, without wasting our time or boring us. If you like the genre we absolutely recommend it, just don't expect a particularly high level of challenge.

Ether One is an interesting first-person adventure that explores human mind and the causes of dementia in a very original way. Technically surprising, considering the low-budget nature of the title, it deserves to be tried, even if the slow pace could distance action-oriented players.

​Forza Motorsport 7 is absolutely stunning on PC, with a solid 4K / 60 fps presentation that offers a spectacular driving experience.​

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable stands as one of the best fighting game available for PSP, thanks to a solid gameplay and a good number of characters, each with abilities that make it more or less suitable for a particular approach. The ability to perform special moves by simply using the analog stick will annoy purists, but this feature can be useful if the movements required are too elaborate and difficult to achieve with the d-pad.

Miami Vindication, the second Gangstar game for the iDevices, can provide a more wide-ranging experience than West Coast Hustle, thanks to its bigger city, truly different vehicles and less repetitive missions. Unfortunately, some of the previous episode's issues are still there, including annoying pop-ups, lack of bug fixes, very few side quests and whimsical controls.

The high visual quality, the complex of stories and the charm of Red Creek Valley make The Vanishing of Ethan Carter a title that is hard not to recommend.

Ys VIII is a very good action RPG with looks a bit outdated but still plays wonderfully thanks to its frantic combat system and some skillfully crafted progression. The Switch version is crisp and works fine both docked and undocked but lacks smoothness and visual details.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon nails the 80's action revival, but besides jokes, lasers, and one liners the gameplay fails to deliver the same depth of Far Cry 3.

Taking Hearthstone's throne is not an easy task, and Duelyst probably won't be able to handle Blizzard's titanic card game. Still, it's a brilliant game, with enough energy and originality to conquer a significant niche in the genre.

A great value for a little price: Waves is, simply, one of the best twin stick shooter of the last few years.

If you love the The Walking Dead comic book or a well written story with a lot of drama and emotional insight, this game is for you. If you're looking for action, puzzles or challenge, run away from any Telltale Games adventure.

Much like the great explorers of the past, Valve embarked on a grand venture - the quest to further enhance the world's most popular FPS, driven by the curiosity to unveil what lay beyond the horizon of perfection. They did so, fully aware that the transition to Source 2 might potentially disrupt the balance that the CS:GO gameplay reached over ten years of updates. Yet, after several hours spent in the lobbies of Counter-Strike 2, we can confidently say it was absolutely worth it.

Watching game modes go away is never nice, but MLB The Show 18 makes you forget everything and enjoy the ball game as soon as you step onto its pitch.

The DCS Ka-50 Black Shark 2 reaffirms the ability of Eagle Dynamics to create deep and complex simulations. Better graphics, scalable difficulty levels and the anticipated compatibility with the form A-10, makes it a great buy for new and old fans.

Pes 2010 on the Wii is really a little step forward compared to the 2009 edition; the series seems to have lost some kind of interest by Konami itself, and the result is a product that fails to impress and innovate over the solid exclusive wiimote gameplay.

ModNation Racers is a great title, with many excellent modes and an awesome online implementation in terms of multiplayer and content sharing. The graphics engine, which in the beta raised more of a concern, has been properly optimized and now delivers fluid and fast races on spectacular tracks.

Soul Sacrifice Delta brings the experience of the original game to a new level, thanks to a more polished and fast gameplay, an interesting factions system and a good number of new, compelling missions.

Like The Legend, just better thanks to loads of new contents and a more refined balance.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds stands out as an excellent arcade racing title, arguably the finest in Sega’s mascot-driven series. Boasting a wealth of content, it delivers engaging experiences in both single-player and multiplayer modes, supported by a truly impressive track design.

Raiden Legacy is a nice compilation for all the classic shoot'em-up fans out there, but the controls should be more sensitive.

Wave Wave is hard, stylish and addictive, similar to Super Hexagon in some ways but with its own personality.

Absolutely stunning from a graphic perspective, Afterpulse ultimately ends up struggling with the same problems that affect almost every single third person shooter on iOS.

Quotation forthcoming.

PC Building Simulator 2 is a relaxing experience that improves the first chapter in every possible way.

Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition marks the arrival on Nintendo Switch of one of the most interesting video games of recent years. The adventures of our teporian explorer still have a lot to say and - we are sure - will fascinate those who have never experienced the thrill of exploring a solar system only seemingly small, trapped in a time loop of twenty-two minutes. With a few technical compromises, Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition lands on the Nintendo Switch with perfect timing for the Christmas holidays, an ideal time to sit on the sofa and explore the universe while holding it in the palm of your hand.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D is a visually beautiful remake faithful to its original release, hence very outdated gameplay wise. The paper thin narrative may off put players used to the more compelling and recent Dragon Quest XI but it's still a piece of history that franchise lovers should play to understand its evolution and ramifications.

Enslaved shows off Ninja Theory's attention to detail, level design and characters' depth. If it wasn't so easy and if its combat system and platform mechanics were put to a deeper and more taxing test, it could have been one of the best action game in this hardware generation.

A step forward and a step back: that, in essence, is Octopath Traveler 0, a work by Acquire and Square Enix that presents itself as a sweeping tribute to the medieval fantasy tradition and that—miraculously—manages to turn what was once a mobile gacha title into a fully fledged JRPG. With an extraordinary wealth of content—over seventy hours of story campaigns and more than thirty playable characters—it opens a window onto the series’ past while offering an ideal point of entry for absolute newcomers. Yet it continues to suffer—partly for reasons of age alone—from several of the very issues that affected the original instalment. This is a colossal adventure that excels in many of the genre’s essential elements, particularly on the artistic front, and yet there is no facet of the experience that does not cast a faint shadow, from the narrative presentation to the ensemble cast, all the way to certain anachronistic systems. In short, it is Octopath Traveler in its near-purest form—but rather than looking ahead, it opts to keep its roots firmly planted in the past.

Warhammer: Vermintide II is a solid sequel to the original game, with several new features including jobs, maps, enemies and design.

Visually stunning when maxed out, Gears 5 for PC comes with a very solid campaign and lots of exciting multiplayer modes that will keep you entertained for a long, long time.

Sword of the Sea is a splendid journey that uplifts the spirit and concludes at just the right moment.

This is that kind of software capable of delivering to everyone: fun in single player, addictive with friends, perfect for a relative and so full of games you may play with something forever.

Ensemble’s last game represents one of the best examples on how to make a console RTS, freeing itself from the Personal computer RTS’ heritage, and bringing a faster, more dynamic approach to the genre. Its lighter gameplay will surely please Halo fans, without just being a fan service, but leaving behind some strategy and depth.

Funky Smugglers is a crazy endless game, that gives you a new point of view about airport security. The gameplay is original, the level design and the soundtrack are very addictive, and overall it could be a recommended purchase.

Woah Dave provides a frantic and challenging experience, a little bit spoiled only by its lack of content.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a surprise only for those who don't know other Edelweiss games.

Gnosia fails to deliver a satisfying experience, becoming more frustrating loop after loop due to its randomness.

NBA 2K19 continues the theme of excellence that has made the series so popular. The game follows in the steps of its predecessor, but it brings new options and tweaks its gameplay to become the best basketball simulator to date.

It's been a long wait but well worth it: SSX returns at its best with a new approach to the snowboarding genre. Its exaggerated tricks mixed with the new survival tune, well crafted graphics and abundance of content make it the game that SSX fans - and generally extreme sports games fans - were dreaming of during the last few years.

A Promise Revisited is a great port of the original, bringing old and new contents while improving and tweaking the experience on Vita.

Loop Hero is a meta video game that shows the force of the core loops in the player experience.

BioWare's new epic is an enormous, layered, sprawling, often overwhelming mix of various elements that desperately tries to offer a wealth of content, aiming to appeal to every RPG lover, yet in doing so, fails to truly excel in any particular area. We want one thing to be clear, though: in the end, the experience is enjoyable, definitely exceeding the expectations we had formed from months of announcements and trailers, but there's really nothing that can captivate the player and elevate the game to the level of the genre's heavyweights. And that's a real shame, because the dedication of the development team shines through in many aspects, like the structural depth, level design, ensemble dialogues, and even a combat system that, ultimately, is fun — but not quite enough. More than ever, this was a case where it would have been better to cut back, trim down, and streamline further, to offer a more focused and well-defined experience.

Eternity Warriors 3 is one of the best action RPGs for mobile devices, thanks to a fantastic combat system, three different classes, some gorgeous graphics and no real freemium limits to the experience.

It's a gorgeous game with tricky puzzles and much fun.

Year Walk was already an amazing game, full of atmosphere and ingenuity. The Wii U version, although two years late, adds a very clever use of the Gamepad and a couple of surprises, resulting the best one. But no matter how you play it, Year Walk is a game which deserves to be played, even if it is very, very short.

30XX shows with greater confidence than 20XX to have its own identity, improving upon the elements that were appreciated in its predecessor and attempting to carve an even deeper groove away from Mega Man. The matrix still remains evident, the gameplay is overall very close to the style dictated by Capcom, but at the same time, it offers something unique that will surely please those waiting for a new Mega Man. In this sense, while 20XX excelled in remembering its source of inspiration and almost presented itself as a splendid celebratory object, 30XX tries to assert that it has all the means to cut the umbilical cord, without denying its spirit.

The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is predictably an excellent work, enhanced by the fact that it finally brings us an official translation of the second chapter of Miles Edgeworth's adventures. It's just a shame that this translation is not (equally predictably unfortunately) in Italian, and that the structural shortcomings of the first chapter have remained almost unchanged, despite some changes to the quality of life toning them down. However, these are two games that are still very enjoyable and extremely brilliant today, which deserve to be part of the Ace Attorney series and to be played.

Blacklist is made with great care and full of content, whether online or not, for countless hours of fun. A package that's truly commendable, although slightly reduced by not very exciting AI, a factor that prevents the Ubisoft production from becoming a classic.

Citizen Sleeper is a title that we feel we can promote without too many hesitations because it represents what any author's game should be: a personal work that carries out its main theme within its systems, that is, that makes its ultimate meaning in the mechanics alive.

Tekken 7 had quite a lot of time to perfect its characters and systems, and it shows. What we have here is one of the best fighting games of this generation, held back only by a spectacular but ridiculous and short story mode (that is still quite fun to play, nonetheless). Long live the king.

Last Light is a good shooter with a focus on atmosphere and narrative. It's a shame the stealth doesn't work very well and the artificial intelligence is a bit underdone.

Rising Storm improves the formula of Red Orchestra 2 with convincing asymmetrical gameplay and outstanding maps. More than enough to deserve the attention of FPS lovers.

Lethal League is easy to learn, spectacular to watch and complex to master.

A solid port with the some new issue with the controls but enhanced by a beautiful graphics and gorgeous 1080p.

Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is a fantastic opportunity to own two of the best JRPGs in history in one package and with several additions that improve the player's quality of life. Both chapters of this legendary saga are still beautiful to play today, especially if you are willing to turn a blind eye to some of the rough edges typical of video games from thirty years ago. With a little effort you are rewarded with an enviable pace, a wonderful phase of recruitment and management of the castle which is a game within the game and with one of the most beautiful narrative plots ever. The remastering operation is rich and perceptible, even if we didn't find all the features we would have expected, we feel like saying that this is the right opportunity to rediscover (or to discover, lucky you) these two wonderful titles.

Botanicula is an explosion of joy. A breathing world dotted with fantasy creatures, hilarious situations and enemies no scarier than a puppet box.

Anthill is a mix between tactical games and tower defense, is simple but fun, and a must buy for all fans who aren't afraid of insects!

A Short Hike is a game loyal to its title. The condensed adventure may not be capable of delivering an ever engaging main narration, but its strenght resides in the world that polyhedric Adam Robinson-Yu and composer Mark Sparling managed to build in such a charming way.

The second season of Life is Strange is now completed: Life is Strange 2: Episode 5 Wolves, the final episode, is amazing.

Lil' Guardsman is a Papers, Please who never takes itself too seriously. Not for this it is a mediocre video game, indeed: in its fantasy setting Lil' Guardsman can say a lot, thanks to its high-quality writing, allowing the gamer to have a lot of fun with the crazy stories of those who desperately try to enter the castle of Sprawl. Too bad for a space of possibility perhaps too large provided to the player from the first moments of the adventure: a more marked sense of progression would have perhaps guaranteed a more fulfilling experience.

Major Mayhem is a very fun, fast-paced touch shooter, packed with four different modes and plenty of weapons, items and skins to unlock.

Cordy is a great platformer, which recalls the style and the gameplay of LittleBigPlanet. The game features some very nice graphics, very accurate touch controls and 26 levels, asking you to complete them in several ways to get all the stars. If you like the genre, this is a must buy.

WWE 2K23 is the first major work born on the foundations laid last year. Curious to understand what Visual Concepts will offer us next year (the third year is always the most substantial), and and despite the small uncertainties found in the Showcase mode and in the nature of the MyFaction mode, we are enjoying the return of Wrestling towards the top of the sports video games.

Wandersong is a joyful, relaxing and sometimes moving adventure that stands out from the usual videogames clichès.

Ninja Gaiden 4 is exactly what we expected - nothing more, nothing less: an action game that focuses on combat and does so with great authority, showcasing all the power of an iconic franchise and the talent of a development team (actually, two) that needs no lessons from anyone.