Nioh 3 is a bubbling cauldron of ideas and mechanics—undeniably fascinating—now featuring a dual combat system that lets you switch between samurai and ninja styles, both top-tier in terms of quality. Customization is through the roof: you’ll be swimming in thousands of weapons and armor pieces, happily getting lost among the sheer number of skills and moves available right from the start. That said, the game world—more open than ever—still feels like yet another liminal playground built purely for our rampages, lacking a story strong enough to hold everything together. There are no memorable legends or truly empathetic characters to light up its gloomy paths. Difficulty comes and goes in waves, swinging between relatively gentle stretches and brutal spikes of pain, especially when facing certain damn bosses with particularly messy and hard-to-read attack patterns. And then there are simply too many systems in play: too many blessings, the regular parry, the deflecting one, the purifying one, the anti-explosive one. Many of these layers don’t make Nioh 3 deeper—just more confusing, and noticeably less elegant.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined has been basically remade from scratch and yet it's absolutely faithful in intent and purpose to the iconic original JRPG. It's a valuable revision, especially given the various tweaks, additions, and improvements, but Dragon Quest VII remains by its very nature a fundamentally anachronistic title, entrenched in a specific way of telling stories and playing them. In the end, it's simply Dragon Quest, that's how it is, and otherwise it would be a different series. This Reimagined edition understands this and delivers it in a more contemporary condition, limited only by its conservative spirit.

Ebola Village is an unsatisfactory survival horror, with far too many limitations and flaws to be recommended to fans of the genre. However, those very same limitations and flaws also make it an entertaining product, one that could provide plenty of laughs for lovers of trashy games.

Probably too easy and uninteresting for the hardcore gamer, Eufloria HD is an original, charming and relaxing experience. It's not supposed to be hard and challenging, but there is a peaceful joy in playing it during the night, headphones on.

Riot makes its console debut with 2XKO, kicking off Season 1 and the full release of its new fighting game. Predictably, the title adopts a standard live-service structure, featuring a Battle Pass, in-game currencies to unlock characters—provided you're willing to grind—and a cosmetic shop with rather steep prices. On the flip side, however, is a fighter with a rock-solid combat system and an excellent roster that makes every online match incredibly rewarding, thanks in part to its high-tier rollback netcode. The real question remains whether the game can attract and retain a large enough audience to sustain future updates. 2XKO falls into that 'easy to learn, hard to master' category—a trait that has historically alienated a significant portion of the casual player base.

In Cairn, two opposing philosophies coexist. On one side, there is a dry, nihilistic nature rooted in human incommunicability and in the ambition to understand one another—and to be understood. A stark, primitive soul. On the other, the game sometimes seems to reach for more: at times excessive exploration, quirky characters, and almost fantastical elements. These two identities clash within a videogame that, in its purest form, works wonderfully as a simulator—also a philosophical one—of climbing, and far less so as an adventure. What remains is a harsh and affecting title that succeeds brilliantly at what it was designed to do: convincing you to climb an impossible mountain.

Although the first Code Vein was not a memorable title in the Soulslike landscape, it was still able to hold its own. For this reason, the disappointment is even greater to see how this sequel fails to evolve the original formula and, in some aspects, even ends up worsening it. The combat system remains solid, and the progression system, complex and deep, allows for a good amount of freedom in creating builds, even if it sometimes gets lost in excessive and unnecessary complexity. The narrative, too—less cryptic than the genre's standards and closer to Japanese animation tropes—is pleasant, without leaving a lasting impression. Where the game truly fails, however, is in its world-building and technical department. The result is a Soulslike with good foundations, but today these are no longer enough: in a now rich and competitive landscape, we would have expected a much bolder evolution from this sequel.

Disc Drivin' is a genuinely entertaining multiplayer time-waster, and since it's free it's easy to overlook on its issues.

The concept behind Borderlands Legend is interesting, but the execution is lackluster and the game ends up being a repetitive and unresponsive mess.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is a solid entry in the series and a decent virtual reality video game. The “problem” is that Maze Theory’s work is exactly what everyone expected. The London-based team took its VR know-how and applied it to the world of Thief, without trying to make a real leap forward. VR—and therefore its users—don’t need another title with by-now well-established mechanics at this moment. They need new emotions. Something that does justice to a vocabulary with boundless potential, but which for too many years has struggled to truly take flight. Lately, as can be seen from our reviews of VR titles, the real strength of virtual reality games lies in the universes they are set in. Over time, this clearly translates into an inability on the developers’ part to create something memorable through pure, straightforward gameplay. Something that would make even those who aren’t fans of the comic-book character or the legacy video game brand want to put on a Meta Quest 3.

Kejora visually draws inspiration from the works of Studio Ghibli and offers a primarily narrative-driven adventure, with few puzzles to solve and some light stealth sections. While the game is aimed at less demanding players, the overall experience feels bland and far too limited in every aspect. Recommended only if you are a fan of Studio Ghibli’s works and are looking for something light and undemanding.

Trails beyond the Horizon represents a true turning point—the moment when The Legend of Heroes series breaks with the past and projects itself into the future. We know nothing about the next game in chronological order, but at this point Nihon Falcom can no longer turn back; it can only move forward. The studio has refined the combat system, set the narrative on a path toward its conclusion, and assembled an impressive cast. All that remains is to modernize the technical side; after that, even opening up to new players becomes a secondary concern. From our point of view, the appeal of The Legend of Heroes now lies precisely in the universe it has cultivated over many years of JRPGs—a universe that makes the saga a truly unique experience for genre fans who have the time and desire to catch up on the previous titles. Trails beyond the Horizon has shown that it’s worth it.

MIO: Memories in Orbit does not bring any real innovation to the metroidvania genre. Moreover, it suffers from a few shortcomings, such as poorly placed checkpoints and a certain lack of precision in the protagonist’s hitbox. Nonetheless, it remains a two-dimensional adventure with a striking artistic vision, a solid pacing, and an effective grasp of the mechanics and design principles that underpin the metroidvania formula.

Escape from Tarkov is a game with many flaws and limitations. And yet, its formula — which helped lay the groundwork for the extraction shooter genre — is extremely addictive. It’s not a game for everyone, but in its 1.0 version it stands as an almost essential title for fans of the genre.

Rocket Riot HD is a very stylized arena shooter, with fun presentation and tons of crazy power-ups. Unfortunately, the lack of multiplayer mode highlights the repetitive and unoriginal single-player levels.

Super Crossfire HD is an enjoyable arcade shooter, packed with a good number of levels and some very nice graphics.

Unbeatable is an extraordinary game to see and to hear: the animations, the style that looks like it came straight out of a ’90s anime, the colorful imagery of a world where music has no right to exist. And yet it does exist: loud, punk, rock, rebellious, coming from deep within, and at other times it embraces you, gently and warmly. However, the sum of its parts is far below what one would expect. It is too imprecise to be a good rhythm game: the note charts are confusing, input windows are off, and the feedback from the notes leaves much to be desired. On top of that, even after such a long wait and last month’s delay, the bug and glitch situation is still far from ideal. With a heavy heart over this missed opportunity, we hope that Unbeatable can at least serve as a foundation for something greater, through continuous updates, additional tracks, and new options.

RuneQuest: Warlords is a turn-based war strategy game with solid, well-tested gameplay, but it ultimately lacks the tools it needs to truly shine. The mission design never really surprises, and the game never quite reaches a suitably epic pace. On the audiovisual side, there are too many rough edges as well, especially when it comes to sound effects and voice acting. An opportunity that was only partly realized.

MJ The Experience is nice thanks to a polished gameplay, but the 4 playable songs included are a shame.

SFxT is a smaller and reduced version of the console game, with less content and only 10 characters, imprecise controls and a new "tag system".

The World Ends with You: Solo Remix is a more than welcome release on the App Store, taking one of the best recent Jrpg to the iOS platform. Even if the original still plays better, the adaptation to the touch screen could be considered a success. Shame on Square Enix for the absurd price, the separate iPhone and iPad versions and the lacking of support for the new iPad Retina Display.

In Moto Racer 15th Anniversary, only the MotoGP mode can be considered interesting; SuperCross and FreePlay are in fact just two extras, without the same accuracy and with gameplay limitations that it's not possible to accept in a modern game.

Far to be fresh or polished as iNiS' previous games, Symphonica is still an excellent rhythm game. A must have for everyone who likes classical music.

Fifa 12 on iOS is probably the best soccer game available on the App Store; unfortunately there is some serious lacking of game modes - most of all the multiplayer -, and the improvements over the last year are mostly minimal.

Quotation forthcoming.

Skate Story is an enchanting sensory experience, one that Sam Eng set out to recreate by drawing on his nights spent in a nocturnal New York, headphones in his ears and a skateboard under his feet. It’s a bizarre tale, made of glass demons, talking rabbits, and capitalist penguins, an epic journey all the way to the moon. Defining it is a challenge: at times it’s an adventure game, at times a sports game, and you even end up using your board as a weapon against bosses. Everything feels original, even though the story, suspended as it is, isn’t always strong enough to fully capture the player’s attention. A greater focus on board customization could have added more depth, and certain choices—like the camera—lean more toward the aesthetic than the functional. But Skate Story remains a fascinating experience: a story about the skateboard not just as a means of transport, but as a tool for life and hope.

Quotation forthcoming.

Resident Evil: Survival Unit is a mash-up of different mechanics, with Capcom’s characters thrown into semi-automatic strategic battles, city-builder-style sections, invasion or PvP missions, and a very scaled-down representation of Resident Evil’s exploration phases and puzzles. The experience is decent and flows smoothly during the first few hours, but it becomes immediately clear that the monetization system is lying in wait... and its fierce bite may end up being far more frightening than that of a zombie.