Black Myth Wukong turned out to be a game far beyond our expectations. This is a game that more than ever represents its market: it's imposing, impressive, at times exceptional, but at the same time, it focuses too much on technical impact and large-scale elements, neglecting important details and falling into oversights one wouldn't expect from a team with such technical capabilities. It remains an extremely varied and enjoyable action game, with unique qualities and some truly high moments. We are far from a masterpiece, but we don't doubt it will make waves, and if this is the beginning of Game Science's story, we can't wait to see what they will achieve in the future.

Arco is a game that doesn't exceed its premise. The story that unfolds in front of the player is gritty and uncommon to see in the video game industry, with some threads bonding it to Central and South America's actual history at the end of the 19th century. The gameplay isn't as interesting as the narrative but it is interesting to find the best way to go through the fights. Some bugs mix this nice melting pot of ideas with a fallibility that makes it seem humane and a nice ticket for the future of these valuable artists.

Dustborn is divided into three parts. The plot, the adventure, and the action. The last two are the least interesting, unstructured and often require more attention than they should, but fortunately they fail to spoil what good the team has done with the characters and the game world. In a dystopian future that is all but unimaginable, a group of outcasts rebels, grows, discovers itself and forges new bonds.

Metal Slug: Awakening brings a pleasant revisitation of the SNK classic to iOS and Android, starting from its iconic action platform formula and gradually adding new elements both in terms of gameplay and structure, so as to deliver a particularly full-bodied campaign, full of different scenarios, characters, weapons and enemies. It's a real shame that the game lacks controller support, but the touch controls work quite well (despite a few stumbles) and a good job has been done on the graphics front too.

Bleak Faith: Forsaken finally arrives on consoles, and presents itself as an accessible and fascinating variant of the soulslike genre.

Quotation forthcoming.

Volgarr the Viking 2 is a great platform arcade, with some lacklustre choices.

Deathbound is a fresh take on the soulslike genre that will keep fans happy despite having a few technical issues that may get in the way of enjoyment.

Quotation forthcoming.

Creatures of Ava is a cheerful game with a deep meaning behind it, something that we are not used to see in the action/adventure genre. Its driving force of a non-violent gameplay, though, brings the scope of its action down, torn by a simply not engaging interaction with the world and its creatures. The story seems to drag the inventive but static gameplay, making the whole experience one that touches the heart, but that you want to shrug off your shoulders really fast.

Tomba! Special Edition is a major preservation effort by Limited Run Games that successfully brings Tokuro Fujiwara's masterpiece back into the spotlight, packaging it with a series of small extras to further tickle the nostalgia strings. At its core, Tomba! remains a must-play video game for both veterans and newcomers, but the reissue presents some rough edges that could have been smoothed for the current year.

Arriving sixteen years after the first, this second chapter lands in a radically different gaming context: the creators know this, and manage to play just right with the nostalgia of the original World of Goo players, while simultaneously unfolding a game formula that spirals in surreal directions towards the end of the adventure. And it is precisely this happy spiraling that makes World of Goo 2 great and significant, a true manual for those who want to evoke great glories from the past. In its mobile and chaotic structures and in the physics of its unpredictable fluids, the virtual world of Goo Balls is a certainty for puzzle enthusiasts and, more generally, for games created with care, courage, and awareness.

CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a nice surprise, a flash of light in the darkness of a market that is all too domesticated and at the same time the passionate homage of a small Scottish team to the glorious and all-Japanese era of bullet hell-style shooters. Faithful to these prerogatives yet capable of introducing some interesting new elements, the game is completed quickly but only if you approach it in a distracted and superficial way: those who want to invest effort and energy will have it for several days.

SteamWorld Heist II reconfirms himself as an excellent successor of the first chapter, introducing lots of new content.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Sweep the Board! is a very simple party game that must be played with friends: it's the only way to really appreciate the experience and turn a blind eye to the actual quality of the minigames.

Thank Goodness You're Here! is crazy, irreverent, surreal, and funny. Unfortunately, it's all in English, sometimes a bit garbled. Take a stroll through the town of Barnsworth to meet its quirky residents and help them with their routines, which seem to be going anything but smoothly. It will make you laugh and then leave you confused. Only when you're ready to embrace the nonsense and its metaphysical oddities will you truly get in sync with it. But then, catching the bus back home might be tough.

Disney Speedstorm comes to iOS and Android with a lot of characters, tracks, events and modes, while delivering an immediate and fun gameplay just like the best kart racers around. The stunning graphics that grace each and every challenge are a plus for fans of Disney brands, which are represented in the game in an excellent manner.

Quotation forthcoming.

Asphalt Legends Unite confirms itself as a sensational arcade racer and represents a major step forward for the Gameloft series, which becomes multiplatform and introduces new cross-platform multiplayer modes in an effort to further increase its already huge installed base. Bringing the game to PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch has obviously meant no small commitment for the developers, but from the point of view of the most loyal iOS and Android users the update inevitably looks less meaty than hoped.

Nobody Wants to Die is a narrative adventure featuring a fascinating cyberpunk setting that draws heavily on some rather famous works (Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, and a dash of Ghost in the Shell) to tell an interesting and engaging story built entirely on the two protagonists. The gameplay is limited to crime scene analysis and the developers have not dared to trespass; rather, they infused the investigative mechanics with contextual hints that make the experience quite guided, but no less enjoyable.

Été is a relaxing and beautiful game, full of poetry. Try it if you are searching for something different.

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.

Once Human excels at practically nothing, yet it is a thoroughly convincing free-to-play. Thanks to a map packed with points of interest, adrenaline-pumping and immediate combat, and crafting that is never too overwhelming, even those who usually steer clear of survival games might find Starry Studio's offering interesting. Unfortunately, the AI is woefully inadequate and artistically everything is really far too derivative to generate real interest.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is a puzzle and combat-based action game with an intentionally compassed and relaxed tone. The level of challenge offered never crosses a certain line, and this is reflected in modest level design and a lack of depth in the mechanics. Fun and enjoyable in these summer months, but far from memorable.

Fresh, fun, light-hearted, immediate, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is the quintessence of gaming of yesteryear, when you played and replayed the same software over and over again until you learnt it by heart and did home-made speedruns. A joy of nostalgic gameplay.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is the souls-lite that inherits game mechanics from many video games, to offer something new.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a precious gem. These are precisely the games we sorely miss: the ones that made a console shine between one blockbuster and another, the ones that the general public should respect. The mere existence of a game like this is a success, but Kunitsu-Gami is also a fantastic video game. We couldn’t ask for more.

The First Descendant has great gameplay and characters trapped under predatory monetization, nonexistent story, repetitive mission design and an unholy amount of grinding.

SCHiM is a narrative experience with a truly peculiar graphical style, which tries to bring platforming mechanics and puzzle elements to the table to deliver a gameplay that flows nicely but doesn't leave its mark due to its excessive simplicity and linearity.

Quotation forthcoming.

Zenless Zone Zero stands at the moment as one of the best expressions of a genre often subject to fierce criticism, almost always justified. From an artistic point of view, the work done by miHoYo with the game is truly amazing, and every single sequence turns out to be a thrilling spectacle, thanks to an extraordinary use of cel shading and a direction that is perfectly aware of its prerogatives. The fights are as simple as they are frantic, they certainly return satisfaction even if the challenge is lacking for much of the currently available content and the action, also due to the too short missions and small and often repeated scenarios, soon tends to become repetitive.

Anger Foot is not a game without flaws. We've actually encountered many throughout our adventure in the sunny Shit City, while kicking doors and asses of goons and strange creatures. Nonetheless, its funny, stupidly satisfying gameplay makes this "first-person shooter" genre debut one to cherish jealousy in our library.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dawntrail is by far the most complex expansion that Final Fantasy 14 has ever had to tackle: after concluding a ten-year-long story, it had to lay completely new narrative foundations, a goal it has only partially achieved. Similar to what happened with Stormblood, it suffers from much weaker writing compared to the usual standards and is particularly marked by significant pacing issues; however, it compensates with an exceptional "Battle Content" design, promising tons of satisfying encounters.

Riven is one of the best possible remakes to date. It's a smart game blessed with smart decisions.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is what it is: an arcade game today as it was 23 years ago. We appreciated its richness of levels, some level design ideas, but above all its honesty and consistency in showing itself today as it did then as humble but straightforward, immediate and fun.

Destiny 2: The Ultimate Form is an expansion that manages to carry on the tradition of the series by adding new content and significant improvements to the classic formula created by Bungie 10 years ago. The storyline is engaging and the gameplay continues to be solid and fun, thanks also to the new Prismatic class and the many fun guns. This is the ultimate form of Destiny 2, if you'll pardon the pun, and now Bungie will have to work hard to continue surprising players and evolving its formula.

Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition is a journey into the past that turns out to be surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to a remastering job that goes beyond the usual standards and some minor attention also aimed at controls and gameplay.

Trails Through Daybreak is a very good entry point in the Legend of Heroes series with new characters, a new story arc and some interesting tweaks to the iconic battle system of the series. As good as it may be, it feels outdated: the series needs to jump to the current generation as soon as possible.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Gameis the unexpected clone that has no reason to exist.

Honor of Kings is the king of MOBAs and it shows. Lots of different modes, dozens of heroes and stellar production values make this game a safe haven for anyone who wants to try something different, albeit akin, to the likes of Wild Rift and Pokémon Unite.

Quotation forthcoming.

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is, overall, a well-crafted game. The main issues lie in its portable nature, which does not suit the Switch well: the fragmented rhythm due to missions, the local multiplayer requiring more than one console, the graphical inferiority compared to Luigi's Mansion 3.

From a gameplay perspective, Gold Road is rich in interesting ideas and quests that differ from previous installments. The map is highly detailed, and exploring its countryside and incredible Ayleid ruins was enjoyable. The overall difficulty in the open world is slightly higher compared to the rest of the game world. Both World Bosses and World Events cannot be completed alone, not even with a max-level character; the presence of other players is crucial, which fortunately is never lacking. However, it's noticeable that the game's 10-year age shows, especially in quests where developers pushed the game's limits.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a monumental expansion, a meticulous work that partially returns to the roots of the Souls series without betraying the spirit of the base game or abandoning the features that have endeared it to so many players. It is an impressive work, capable of astonishing with its incredible map design and the variety of new elements introduced, and its balancing issues do not diminish its value. Even after exploring the Land of Shadows so extensively and uncovering almost every secret, we seriously believe there is room for more stories, more places, and more revelations.

Still Wakes the Deep is a conundrum: a narrative adventure with a penchant for passive survival horror, but one that proves incapable of expressing the values one would expect from The Chinese Room a full eleven years after Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. It feels like a Scottish-style reworking of Dead Space, and the gameplay is merely a set of gimmicks put there to tell the story, but with little desire and even less courage.

Monster Hunter Stories HD is a decent remaster with some nice additions as far as presentation is concerned. Stories 2 is still a better game all around but if you have already played that and liked the concept, this remaster might be a good way to go back riding instead of hunting.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is your usual Atlus update but the baseline game, which was amazing per se, has been improved by nice quality of life additions and a huge amount of content that ends up improving the rethreaded narrative as well. It's a massive deal for newcomers and quite a good one for returning players too.

Squad Busters comes with colorful graphics, simple and fun gameplay, many elements to unlock among characters and maps, and finally a rather rich progression system, ready to entertain us for a long time.

Autopsy Simulator is more a narrative game than a simulator, but it delivers a good story.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is a great remake of a great classic, maybe too hard for the modern audience.

Hypercharge: Unboxed is an incredible vision made reality thanks to inspired design and a lot of nostalgia, its only downsides are a not so original gameplay and guns that are a little sluggish.

F1 24 represents only a small, weak and in many ways unnecessary step forward for Codemasters' series. The driving sensations are very similar compared to the past with some incomprehensible and unrealistic behaviors. The newly added content can be glossed over and does not add much value to the production. Perhaps the developers should cut out the older generation consoles and change the game's distribution model to get back on the right path.

XDefiant's debut undoubtedly lays a solid foundation for Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter, which in terms of gameplay succeeds in offering a fast-paced, fun and very grounded experience, although not perfectly in focus.

Capes is an XCOM with super heroes where the superheroes are the problem to solve.

Hauntii is full of character on an artistic level, while it turns out to be less centered and brave in terms of gameplay. Often confusing and unpolished from a technical point of view, Hauntii is a swinging experience, beautiful during the exploration phases, while frustrating in the fights and in the resolution of many puzzles.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is simply Lorelei and the Laser Eyes: it's hard to find other words to describe this video game because it shies away from any common genre or comparison term in favor of its strange identity, which embodies the very essence of Simogo's production. Hotel Letztes Jahr is a labyrinth outside of space and time that houses, beyond its approximately one hundred and fifty puzzles, an investigative thriller, a search akin to Arthurian legend, and a profound reflection on art, all framed in an offbeat aesthetic style able to transform it into a true obsession.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 perfectly meets all the expectations we've had for months (and years) for this sequel. It undoubtedly capitalizes on Ninja Theory's expertise and the work done seven years ago with the original title, but it doesn't even attempt to bring any real innovation to the gameplay. This is an adventure game with some puzzles and a handful of combat sequences that serve to break the narrative's rhythm. If you approach it prepared and aware of this reality, we're confident that Hellblade 2 will not disappoint you. However, if you were tired of the first game or expected a cutting-edge action title, you might end up feeling burned. But one thing is for sure: if you find a way to check it out, do so at all costs, if only to understand what is, to date, the new technological benchmark of modern video games.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door aged impressively well. The game itself is still exquisitely crafted with brilliant characters and story arcs, fun battles and interesting puzzles. Nintendo mitigated a few issues as much as it was possible without changing the fundamental level design and added some new content for returning players: all in all, a very good remake for a masterpiece hard to find and in need of much more love.

It's remarkable how Little Kitty Big City manages to be imaginative and ironic but also surprisingly realistic. Ultimately, it is probably the best way to completely immerse yourself in the fur of a real cat, in a world transfigured in a feline-humorous sense.

Die by the Blade has some good ideas and at the best moments it works, but it struggles to find a perfect balance between all its elements and, above all, offers a horrible camera that ruins confrontations. Add to that a skimpy number of modes and a less-than-excellent technical component, and the result is a game that tries but doesn't go all the way. It's cheap, sure, and we're sure the idea of a fighting game in which you die on the first hit intrigues, but genre fans will be weirded out by the fact that the combos are secondary and that there are such big delays between one action and the next.

Megaton Musashi W: Wired is a return to form for Level-5 and an ambitious game which can be often overwhelming but still keep on engaging players with a solid narrative, awesome customizations and a straightforward battle system for fans of the mecha anime scene.

V Rising is one of the best ARPG experiences available today thanks to it's scalability and array of option on private and public servers.

Songs of Conquest is a game that we didn't expect: practically a new Heroes of Might & Magic with a totally different and much more interesting magic system and a leaner and dynamic structure.

Animal Well is an atypical and irreverent metroidvania that makes a point to overturn the most trite conventions of a genre giving more and more often signs of fatigue. It's impossible to stop at the credits: at each screen you want to push the darkness a little further, gradually revealing a world that can be gentle and ruthless at the same time. Never unjust, Animal Well rewards the spirit of observation and critical ability, constantly putting lateral thinking and the natural curiosity of human beings into play.

It may not be perfect, or exactly how any of us wanted it, but Homeworld 3 is a great game.

Dread Delusion is an old-fashioned RPG that focuses everything on exploration and freedom, hitting the mark. Exploring these magical and strange flying islands is fun and exciting and is an experience we recommend, unless the only thing you want is to run straight and fight all the time. In fact, the melee system and AI of enemies is trivial, just an extra in the middle of the rest of the game. We would also have liked a bit higher difficulty level, but overall with its never-too-large map and interesting missions, Dread Delusion is an excellent adventure that you should not ignore.

Solo Leveling: ARISE is a very good action RPG, packed with spectacular graphics and a solid gameplay but also short and repetitive missions.

Minimal, surreal, proud of its own identity but also far removed from the average expectation of a modern-day JRPG of this magnitude, SaGa Emerald Beyond represents a step forward in its own JRPG approach, but also to the side. A very distinct personality and a solid combat system keep it on its feet even in the face of a narrative context that is complex to frame.

MotoGP 24 has one of the best game physics of the series but it's held back by an erratic AI that controls the other drivers and is generally inaccessible to new players

World of Warship Legends PvP manages to simplify the formula of the Wargaming series and make it suitable for mobile platforms. The immediate and fun gameplay, however, is undermined by the multiplayer battles, which appear unbalanced by a mechanism inexorably tending towards pay to win.

Indika is a significant adventure worth playing that speaks about religion and videogames as a medium.

Quotation forthcoming.

We eagerly awaited the return of Endless Ocean. Unfortunately, Luminous has largely disappointed expectations. The gameplay and level design are so ephemeral that relaxing while exploring the seabed is too boring and lacks any appeal.

AFK Journey can currently be considered the state of the art of idle RPG with gacha elements, although this doesn't mean much for those who don't digest this type of semi-automatic games. It is a refinement of AFK Arena in many aspects, from aesthetics to gameplay, although in others, such as in terms of narrative and character charisma, much more could have been done.

Phantom Fury is not bad, but it's a forgettable experience. It would be an iper boomer shooter, but fall short of its ambitions.

Sand Land is just a good game, as some would say: an enjoyable but in many ways dated experience, that brings Akira Toriyama's style to the screen with stunning cel shading that, however, is not supported by animations up to the mark, while the desert maps that characterize the main setting prove to be very uninteresting to explore. The vehicles work well in the game, however, as does the combat, and in the end ILCA takes home a decent result that Sand Land fans will appreciate.

Another Crab's Treasure is a soulslike action and platform game that manages to come up with some original ideas and knows how to entertain. It is a pity that it drags a bit in the ending, stretching the last section too long, but overall it is an adventure that we recommend, both for its good combat system and for its story, which in a mostly cheerful and comic way tells about the evil of pollution and capitalism.

Stellar Blade has exceeded our expectations, once again demonstrating how the Korean development ecosystem is not lacking in talented teams. It's certainly not a flawless game, and it suffers somewhat from direct comparison with its main inspirations, never really reaching their heights. However, it is a fast-paced action game, extremely solid and technically impeccable. It's a very promising first attempt in this field for Shift Up, which bodes well for the team's future projects.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau adheres perfectly to the promises made by the team, proposing itself as a more contained metroidvania experience than that offered by other members of the genre. Tales of Kenzera: Zau is therefore an excellent debut in video game development for Abubakar Salim and Surgent Studios, and a valuable addition in the rich catalog of EA Originals. We are sure that Salim’s father would have been proud to have inspired - albeit due to incredibly dramatic circumstances - such a well done work.

TopSpin 2K25 is a world class experience, but Hangar 13 will have to work hard to improve on the depth and variety of game modes and get as many top 10 finishes as possible.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an honest tribute to the genre as it was in the nineties. The severe lack of modern quality of life features might discourage new players but the gameplay is rock solid and feels Suikoden every step of the way. Which is enough said.

Harold Halibut is a touchy narrative adventure with a strong personality, due to stop motion technique.

We Are Football 2024 is a good step in the right direction. It aims to be a more manageable and user-friendly version of Football Manager, but it needs more realism in the simulation and a better match engine.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is a very traditional and very derivative stealth game that definitely delivers an enjoyable experience for fans of this subgenre.

Headquarters: World War 2 is a compelling turn strategy game that evolves the XCOM formula.

Broken Roads is an old-school role-playing game that draws heavily from revered classics like Wasteland, Fallout (especially in terms of settings), and Planescape: Torment. With its well-established and ever-relevant mechanics, it manages to engage veteran players, primarily due to its intriguing plot and multiple-choice dialogues, which allow for extensive replayability. It’s a shame that certain aspects are neglected, although this can be partially justified by the available resources: with five years of development, more could have been achieved.

Death Noodle Delivery is the Cyberpunk version of Paperboy with a compelling story to tell and an ending that makes you think about the nature of video games themself.

Children of the Sun is no rough diamond. Maybe a harsh diamond. Actually, it's not even a diamond. It's a lump of coal that no one wants, but some people fall in love with. Somehow, the vengeful journey of the young girl who has lost everything because of broken promises, in its darkness, in its boundless cruelty, manages to capture you. This trajectory of death makes one feel like the conductor of a macabre ballad. A small work not for everyone, but worth trying.

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.

Geneforge 2 - Infestation is a role-playing game in which the role concept is developed in every possible way.

TerraTech World is a solid and intelligent game, creative and compelling in its own small way. However, this is not enough to mitigate the negative effect of some questionable choices.

Despite some flaws, Pepper Grinder is far from being an unsatisfactory video game. In an industry where quality has now become synonymous with quantity, the game developed by Ahr Ech and published by Devolver Digital goes against the grain. Nothing too complex, but complexity is certainly not required to propose a fun, old-fashioned adventure that looks more to the past than forward, while still being able to amaze with the "little" it has to offer.