With a few rough edges to smooth, Diablo IV might be a new masterpiece in Blizzard's resume.

Essentially, we are faced with a technically interesting game simply because it is the first to use the Unreal Engine 5, narratively excellent, but it can greatly disappoint those who are looking for a game that doesn't just tell them about fear but actually makes them live it.

The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-Earth delivers a traditional strategic RPG experience, enjoyable but similar to many other games available on iOS and Android. Packed with a nice roster of characters and enough content to keep you entertained for dozens of hours, the game suffers from some very early paywalls.

F1 23 represents the natural evolution of an already well-established series, strongly linked to the good things done in the past, but without neglecting modern trends, pursued even by Formula 1 itself.

Dordogne had enchanted us with his beautiful watercolors, able to fully represent the open, sunny and carefree spirit of the French countryside of the southwest, lulled by the calm and quiet waters of the Dordogne River. Unfortunately, however, the adventures of Mimi turned out to be very uninspiring, both from the point of view of the plot (all in all forgettable) and the gameplay, confined to minigames of mediocre quality.

MotoGP 23 comes to the appointment with some innovations capable of intriguing fans who are loyal to the game, such as the Rivalries and the addition of the relationship with social media. Unfortunately, however, the title remains rather difficult to govern, remaining an obstacle for new players and with graphics that need an important improvement.

Harmony The Fall of Reverie is an excellent narrative adventure: deep, mature, and exciting. It takes us on a journey about hardship, identity, and destiny, asking what role we want to play in a larger-than-expected story and in what ways we would like to shape not only the lives of a small group of people, but of an entire culture and in a sense even all of humanity. It is a game of pure storytelling, extremely focused on its strengths, even at the cost of limiting the pace and the introduction of any Life is Strange-style action gameplay mechanics.

Old school, retro, fun. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer is an FPS for true nostalgists who want a game that reminds them of the old days spent between Doom and Wolfenstein.

Force Octopus was quite enjoyable. It's not a masterpiece, but it's one of those games that cleverly takes an underexplored concept and builds a new experience upon it, resulting in something somewhat unique. Perhaps more could have been done with the enemies, and maybe a less rigid way of entering the game could have been devised, but overall, it works, especially considering its very low price. Give it a chance, especially if you loved Jumping Flash.

Supraland Six Inches Under is confirmed as the perfect sequel to the first chapter; many new features even if the underlying structure remains the same. For what was meant to be a simple DLC, the end result is undoubtedly an enjoyable adventure from start to finish.

With Amnesia: The Bunker, Frictional Games returns to pure horror, expanding and reworking the theoretical foundation it had already demonstrated with Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The result is one of the most terrifying experiences in recent years, in terms of video games, highly elaborate in design and harsh towards the player, to the point of being jagged in its distressing apparent simplicity.

Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a great but pricey remaster of three dungeon crawlers that redefined the genre thanks to mapping mechanics from the pen and paper era and a solid combat and build crafting system.

Decarnation lives suspended between carefree French songs and disturbing melodies from a horrific world, between reality and nightmare. With a similar dualism, the work carried out by Atelier QDB presents peaks worthy of consideration from both narrative and visual points of view, intermingled with low-quality interactions – which often result in mere parentheses between a dialogue and the other, devoid of a proper sense – and poor technical realization. In this respect, in fact, the version for the Nintendo console is full of bugs that, in several cases, have seriously affected the enjoyment of the experience overall.

The new incarnation of the historic Capcom series is exceptional in practically every aspect, a sort of extraordinary "mea culpa" for the problems of its predecessor at launch. The combat system is deep and layered - as well as offering a truly competitive option even for beginners - the tutorials are so complete that they represent a small encyclopedia of the genre, the single player modes will occupy hours of your time without effort, and the online competitive experience seemed more solid than ever. Negligible defects in the World Tour and a balance still to be defined are nothing at all, if faced with a title of this frightening quality.

An engaging, dense, interesting S-JRPG in anthropomorphic wartale: Fuga 2 is a fantastic sequel that deserves to be bought and lived by every japanese fan.

Shattered Heaven is a card-based role-playing game with a relevant narrative component that is interesting throughout the adventure, with even the possibility of making certain choices to change events. Also, do not be fooled by the "roguelike" categorization because it is only a tiny sliver of the experience. In terms of gameplay, battles are the focus of the game and the approach is nicely tactical, supported by various unique mechanics of the heroes and even the bosses.

Pro Cycling Manager 2023 is the perfect game for cycling and managing games lovers and nobody else because of its layers of complexity and extremely dull moments that only a fanatic could appreciate.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a very pleasant homage to the 90s FPSs, DOOM in the lead, but at the same time an effective transposition of the fascinating imagery created by Games Workshop.

Convergence: A League of Legends Story is a good platformer that tells a nice story and is a brilliant way to expand one's love for the world of League of Legends.

The System Shock remake makes sense in an industry where remaking past games seems to be the only way to avoid the complete loss of a certain way of conceiving video games. In many ways, we can consider it a successful operation, aside from some issues with the combat system and its relevance being tied mainly to the celebration of the original title. It is well-executed, a nice haven for nostalgic players, but it doesn't add much to the overall discourse.

Miasma Chronicles is a very good mix of RPG and strategy. Some UI improvements, a better IA and better fonts are where The Bearded Ladies needs to grow.

There is no point in beating around the bush, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a big disappointment. Despite starting from interesting narrative premises, Daedalic Entertainment's adventure appears extremely dated in every aspect and its best moments are the least original ones, proving how the whole system was realized under the sign of a sketchy, inconclusive and confusing game design, which moreover does not redeem itself even on the technical level and on PC in particular offers a really sad spectacle.

After Us is a great platform with lots of abilities and freedom but it completely misses the point on its environmental stance by using an antiquated approach to the problem.

Tour de France 2023 is a sports sim for dedicated fans on cycling but its tutorials are well made and the learning curve is not steep so it's quite welcoming to new players.

LEGO 2K Drive is a fun, colorful and carefree racing game, perfect also to be enjoyed with friends locally thanks to the split-screen mode. The developers have tried to blend the exquisite humor of LEGO productions (evident in many secondary missions and in the main narration) with the typical gameplay of arcade racing games. The balance works almost always, net of some main weaknesses: a vehicle control system that needed several refinements, too often confusing; and a progression that will not convince everyone, since to access each new race it requires first to level up by dedicating yourself necessarily to the secondary activities.

Bum Simulator is a poorly executed and highly repetitive game that doesn't know what it wants to be. It feels like an accumulation of different elements added just for the sake of quantity, losing almost immediately all its potential and resulting in a mundane pursuit of patterns that one cannot afford to look at. Let it go.

The bubble-shooting dragons are back, in a chapter that stays true to their origins.

Planet of Lana is ostensibly the result of a work of synthesis and subtraction: far from being an overabundant product in its various elements, it points to the essence, to the utmost care of the elements that allow a narrative adventure to aim for excellence. Exceptionally directed from the point of view of aesthetics and sound design, Wishfully’s video game is responsive, precise and interesting in the construction of its puzzles. The story is certainly not among the most original of the genre, but it is told in an impeccable way, also thanks to the timely management of the elements present in the scenarios and particularly successful framing choices.

Clearly derivative but also pretty well-designed, TMNT: Splintered Fate combines the compulsive structure of rogue-lites like Hades with the compelling characters and world from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's a sort of clone, but an enjoyable one.

A crossroad of different genres, Monster Menu is a curious take on S-JRPG by NIS, surely second to no one in this approach. Fun for some hours, not in the medium run.

God of Rock is the unlikely merge between a rhythm and a fighting game and the result is brilliant. The only downside is that the characters really feel a lot similar to each other.

Tin Hearts is a puzzle game with fun brain teasers and cute tin soldiers that come to life in the attic of an expert toymaker. However, what emerges in the foreground is a sad story full of love, able to make up for the repetitiveness of the puzzles.

TT Isle of Man - Ride on the Edge 3's priority is to be a great simulator and at that it excels. If you are a beginner rider, thow, very little help will come your way.

Tin Can is based on a very interesting idea that brings a bit of novelty to space-themed games. The scarcity of contents, however, penalizes the final yield, limiting the time to spend trapped in the capsule and therefore the fun.

After What the Golf, Triband brings another crazy take, this time on driving: What the Car is primarily a sort of comedy based on surreal humour, but also an enjoyable little arcade game.

Humanity is a mix between Rez, Lemmings and Chu-Chu Rocket: practically the puzzle game we've been waiting for.

Honkai: Star Rail would easily be one of the greatest turn based RPGs of the past few years were it not for it's predatory monetization system.

Tears of the Kingdom starts from the foundation of the saga and aims for the sky: here, the tradition meets a freedom that's out of reach for modern video games, offering literally infinite ways to interact with a kingdom that is alive and full of content. It's a game which constantly answers any demand from the player and never stops providing new prompts. The return of dungeons, the world that rests hidden beneath the surface, and the floating archipelagos are great additions, but ultimately it's the gameplay - which doesn't know comparatives - to set a new standard.

There's plenty of charm in Ravenlok, but its substance as an action adventure is quite thin. If you live it like an interactive fable, however, it can be really satisfying.

Mighty Quest: Rogue Palace is one of the best free games for Netflix users on iOS and Android: a solid, challenging roguelike experience that will reward you with lots of epic loot, spectacular boss fights and twenty different heroes to unlock.

Cassette Beasts is an excellent title from various points of view, with some slight stumbling blocks on the quality of life, but nothing impeding and so problematic. A truly profound monster taming title that shines for the design of the boss battles and narrative citations to the Arthurian cycle. A title that rewards strategy, thanks to a really well-implemented system of interactions between elements and which also takes full advantage of fusions between creatures and synergies with travel companions.

Darkest Dungeon II is definitely a good game, skillfully built upon the experience of the first installment. However, perhaps the comparison with the first game led the developers to go overboard, mixing in ambitions of a more traditional narrative role-playing game into the original formula. This ends up creating noticeable contrasts and lengthening the gameplay a bit too much, making it quite burdensome to start over from scratch each time.

Age of Wonders 4 is a solid 4X. More depth, variety and a smoother interface would have been nice additions to a collaudated formula.

Quotation forthcoming.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is far from being a bearer of H.P. Lovecraft’s thematics in the gaming world: the cosmic horror of the Providence writer is replaced by a plot that at times manages to result engaging, but ultimately reveals to be anchored to more classical horror themes, linked to magic, to the occult, and to the creation of constructs that can be governed by man. Beyond these considerations, the video game produced by Plot Twist is released on the market in a technical state that is far from excellent, and with considerable limitations in terms of readability of progression in its exploratory stages, as well as with a system of enhancements that is anything but exciting. The Last Case of Benedict Fox remains a discreet metroidvania but is lost in the vast sea of productions – even with similar themes – much more refined and refined, proving to be an experience far from unforgettable.

With a terrible gunplay, a blank open world, and a forgettable story, Arkane's new open world shooter is something far distant from anything that the studio made in the past. Something must have gone irreparably wrong in the development of Redfall, nonetheless, it represents a huge defeat for anyone who expected a good reason to fire up their Xbox Series S|X after a 2022 of empty promises.

The streamlined structure and easy to pick up gameplay works flawlessly for the first levels of Summon Quest, but its short length and lack of challenge flaw the entire experience, on the long run.

Viking Rise is a solid strategy game that doesn't revolutionize the genre in any way.

Stranded: Alien Dawn is an excellent survival game and one of Haemimont Games' best titles, demonstrating great competence and skill in managing such a complex game. Of course, there could have been more in terms of character customization and graphics style, but aside from that, it is an engaging experience that does not leave you regretting the time spent playing.

Minabo - A walk through life is a simulator with very original ideas, but also with very random mechanics.

The Mageseeker is an action RPG that tells a compelling story without requiring any knowledge of the lore of League of Legends and has a solid and enjoyable combat system.

Entertaining and charming, Labyrinth of Galleria is another example on how NIS mastered its own genre and delivered another fun, well built DRPG.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an improvement through and through but the slow building storyline and the unpolished visuals keep it away from true greatness.

Teslagrad 2 is a successful game that if it was slightly more ambitious it would certainly have stood out more.

With the strength of an ant, Point Blank Games managed to create an open world full of opportunities, even though the challenge was evidently larger than the size of the studio. The game has potential, but with a rigid and clunky combat system and many technical issues, it ended up collapsing under the weight of its own ambitions.

Afterimage is a densely packed metroidvania, with numerous regions, secrets and methods for upgrading the character. Platforming is a key part of the experience, with many sections that are quite intense though never overly complex. In terms of combat expect lots of bosses, a myriad of common enemies and a difficulty level that is far from high. For at least thirty hours you will have fun exploring a world that is beautiful to look at and has a mythology with potential, too bad only that the plot is poorly laid out and fails to take advantage of various ideas from the lore.

This puzzle game in VR has an emotional story about what's big and what's small told through easy to understand puzzles and with clever use of virtual reality.

Quotation forthcoming.

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.

9 Years of Shadow is not a true metroidvania and should not be approached as such. It is a scrolling action game that is linear most of the time and does not have much content, as you can get 100% in less than ten hours. The combo system is very simple, with few moves available, and attacks from a distance are far too powerful. If you are a fan of the genre you might give it a chance, as soon as you find it in a price range you think is appropriate, but don't expect it to be your new benchmark in terms of quality.

Meet Your Maker is now the standard for sandbox experiences in terms of entertainment, ease of use and scalability. This endlessly repayable dungeon raiding and building experience has the friendliness of Minecraft and the aesthetics and gameplay of Doom and it will hook you.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly sports minimum innovations on the first chapter’s gameplay, while the writing is under the spotlight, managing to improve some of Coffee Talk’s asperities, but often failing in giving depth to newly introduced characters. Toge Productions’ videogame is nonetheless a must have for those who look for a laid-back, enjoyable experience, without the need of frequent inputs on the player’s part, and has a clearer narrative focus, wisely leaving behind some of the (way too many) themes addressed in the first Coffee Talk.

20 years on, Advance Wars is still a great series. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is full of content, stylish graphics and lots of battles. Wayforward is perhaps too faithful to the original games and lacks some of the quality of life features that could improve the game. And we also miss Dual Strike, to have the whole trilogy in one place. But Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a great addition to the Switch line-up and a great experience for players new and old.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a simple and short, but enjoyable visual novel that is graphically polished and, above all, completely free. The platforming minigame could have avoided the final difficulty spike, but if you are a fan of the blue hedgehog you should give it a chance.

We played Wartales for about seventy hours with the desire to play it again to try to manage the party in a completely different way. This is probably the best compliment we can pay to the Shiro Games game, which after Evoland and Northgard has created another little gem, perhaps a little rough in certain aspects and with some annoying problems, but certainly worthy of being played and in its own original way in approaching the genre of role-playing games.

Dead Island 2 is an adventure that in the end disappears without a trace. If you enjoyed the first one, you will probably enjoy this sequel as well; however, if you are looking for something more exciting and incisive you will necessarily have to look elsewhere. But it's nice to look at, somewhat relaxing in company, and despite the flaws it could be just the game you've been looking for.

Rusted Moss is a challenging Twin Stick Shooter Metroidvania with a grappling hook that completely turns most of what you know of the genre on its head.

I Did Not Buy This Ticket has unique narrative premises in the video game field: Candelaria, a woman who weeps for the dead as a hobby, is a memorable character in her being a singularity, an anomaly, her face continuously changing in a mirror’s reflection. This videogame, developed by Tiago Rech and Lírio Ninotchka, can make the players think about complex themes like identity and the personal approach one has to lose.

Mixing history, mythology and gameplay, Raji: An Ancient Epic manages to entertain as a good game and amaze with its fascinating background based on hindu culture.

Thanks to a solid cast, Process of Elimination delivers a good experience, despite not being the most ambitious.

NightCry controls are a mess, its graphics are outdated and the tension is broken by the monster spawn points. Remember the good old Clock Towers and forget this game.

Minecraft Legends is an experience for everyone, from RTS experts to young kids who have spent hours playing Minecraft. The game is simple and deep at the same time, able to entertain both during the Campaign but above all in multiplayer.

Everspace 2 works very well too. Despite all the changes compared to the first chapter, or perhaps precisely because of them, it manages to present itself as a space epic on the one hand, and as an engaging shooter with spaceships on the other.

Hunt the Night moves smoothly just like her protagonist, Vesper, without forgetting to indulge in its aesthetic and musical delicacies, revealing to be capable to build a well-structured, stimulating dark fantasy ambiance, effective both in the exploration and in its combat system. The soundtrack is excellent, and some tracks have left a deep mark in our mind. Some undeniable technical issues notwithstanding, we can’t help but applaud Moonlight Games for its capacity to build a retro action adventure that looks at the past its aesthetics, but gives a deep insight at more modern experiences.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution does not bring many innovations compared to the prequel, but in its new edition for PlayStation VR 2 it emerges as an excellent survival horror thanks to precise controls, excellent graphics and intense action.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is a well done compilation that includes the six main installments and their variants and a good amount of extra features and contents which are mostly all new to the West.

Not For Broadcast is an extremely entertaining satire inspired by modern politics and journalism focused on scandal and propaganda. The actors' performances on screen are perfect and make time spent watching hilarious commercials or public scandals even more entertaining.

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened is a good remake of a good game. It's not the right chapter if you're looking for innovation, in any case, since in terms of gameplay it takes up the same mechanics as Frogwares' most recent games. We recommend the game to fans, but anyone who was not impressed by Chapter One or The Sinking City is unlikely to change their opinion with The Awakened.

Sid Meier's Railroads! Retains all the good elements of the original and transfers them in a mobile environment. The task is carefully handled by Feral Interactive, although its UI can be a little too convoluted on small screens.

Tanuki Studio has concocted a stimulating plot that takes cues from Borges’ novel but manages to enrich it with new elements that create an interesting framework, a not-that-enthralling rhythm notwithstanding. The soundtrack is really pretty, offering sophisticated sonorities that were not often heard in video games, inserted in a virtual world. It’s a shame that the game mechanics give little sense of progression and remain anchored to the most classical stealth, degenerating in tough, uselessly frustrating platforming.

Curse of the Sea Rats is a beautiful jewel, shimmering and inviting, full of interesting ideas from an artistic and characterization point of view, but it is insubstantial to the touch. Nice to see, a little less to play. Flat and unbalanced. A pity, given the whole series of excellent choices taken about powers, skills and improvements.

Ragnarock is the true heir to Guitar Hero, a title that should not be missing from the collection of any genre's fan.

Lone Fungus takes inspiration from Hollow Knight without being a clone of Team Cherry’s masterpiece: Basti shows a firm willingness to create an experience that can be adapted to every level of ability, opening metroidvanias to newcomers. Basti’s videogame is enjoyable in the world’s exploration, but doesn’t manage to create a distinctive combat experience due to a monotonous enemy design.

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR hits the right spot and manages to strike an excellent balance between hyper-realistic simulation and arcade golf, with many game modes, both online and offline, and an interesting use of top-notch, up-to-date technology to develop faithful virtual reconstruction of the most beautiful golf courses in the world, keeping a keen eye on ball dynamics. The experience is fun and enjoyable, also due to the numerous options given to players to customize the difficulty level; it’s a shame that swings have not been rendered in a truly precise way, but EA Sports makes it up building a robust, governable game system, capable to adapt to the needs of both absolute beginners and golf pros alike.

The Last Worker is a narrative adventure with satirical overtones and a simple game structure. Unfortunately, the gameplay never quite succeeds. The game should perform best on VR, unfortunately the worst optimized version.

Probably this is the best Resident Evil remake in every aspect, technical component too.

Remnant From the Ashes is a good game, but it is clear that the Switch version is not the best and not preferable if you have other platforms. On the technical side, every element has taken a visible hit, but the frame rate is stable enough that you can play without too much worry. It is probably not the best game for outside play, but it also depends on your taste. However, if you only have a Switch and have always been intrigued by this adventure, we recommend it.

Overall, Beyond Contact is not entirely contemptible, but it lacks aspects that make it a must-play.

Road 96 Mile 0 is not the prequel we wished to have: leaving behind the procedural structure and the roguelike dynamics to introduce not very well-baked rhythm game sections, DigixArt’s work fails to express the ludic, emotive and political incisiveness that Road 96 could boast. Moreover, the replayability factor has been drastically reduced. The team’s will to change direction and go further on new paths is completely understandable, but the developers’ work lacks focus and fails to engage the players in the adventure’s various ludic systems.

There are some rough edges in Highwater, but overall it's a captivating experience in a desolated yet fascinating world. This is a valuable extra for Netflix subscribers, maybe one of the few must have to download for every user.

The Great War: Western Front is a good real-time strategy game that effectively captures the madness of World War I in a way that nobody ever dared to attempt. Despite some shortcomings typical of an independent production, Petroglyph's title offers innovative ideas that elevate it to the level of the greats in the genre, such as Paradox and Creative Assembly. For a studio new to the field, this is an impressive achievement.

Cities: VR - Enhanced Edition is an excellent management game with complex and stratified gameplay. Unfortunately, virtual reality is not well suited to the genre, and the absence of a campaign mortifies the progression of the experience.

There's little to be saved in Emoji Kart Racer: its very genre is somehow enjoyable, but the game does almost nothing right, in its uninspiring and bland design, further flawed by lack of modes.

A solid real time strategy game back in 2007, the OnceMore edition packs new features for Grimgrimoire, boosting its quality-of-life factor and delivering a game that still shines today.

Ravenbound, to emerge from the classic roguelikes, challenges the competition by adding an open world map and permanent death to the formula. Unfortunately, despite the idea being original, the technical problems that afflict it and the dated combat system don't make the game shine, leaving us at the mercy of repetitive and uninteresting activities.

The Last of Us Part 1 is the excellent remake of an excellent game, and you must play it if you haven't already done so. However, the PC port developed by Iron Galaxy suffers from too many problems related to bad optimization.

Vernal Edge is an action packed Metroidvania set in a world that resembles a lot the one of Laputa - Castle in the Sky by Haiyao Miyazaki and with the excellent combat system of Hollow Knight.

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos is the classic game from ACE Team: stylistically splendid, it requires the player to accept its peculiar dynamics in order to truly appreciate it.