Baby Steps is a deliberately provocative video game. Its goal is not to challenge you to master the physics that governs Nate's movements, but to speak to your gut, triggering reactions of frustration, anger, and visceral emotion. After all, that's its nature: it's a rage game. It will surely be the subject of thousands of angry reactions from those who play it with an audience behind the screen, and its most extreme moments will rack up millions of views. This is the fate it has chosen. But, outside the context of online entertainment, is it fun to play? Baby Steps is, at times, one of the most irritating gaming experiences we’ve ever had: its cringe humor is annoying, and the most extreme obstacles often give the impression that success is just a matter of luck. If you're masochistic enough, it can provoke a strange and irresistible pleasure. For everyone else, the answer to the question posed in the title is no: there’s little beyond the meme.

Silent Hill f is a bold and strikingly timely video game: a political horror with a powerful message, unafraid to be provocative as every true work of art should be. At the same time, it carries within itself the spirit of folk horror: having left behind Judeo-Christian iconography, it is the Japanese tradition that casts its long shadow over both the aesthetics and the narrative, at times through choices that bring it closer to fantasy than to the urban horror the series is known for. Tradition and modernity clash in a work that feels suspended between what Silent Hill once was and what it could become. The balance doesn’t always hold, yet its voice remains strong, with no fear of offending longtime fans or alienating purists. Many will not like it, and some will not even recognize where Silent Hill lies within this story. But those willing to listen closely to the narrative crafted by Ryukishi07 will discover that Silent Hill f knows how to take root. And how to bloom.

As beautiful to look and listen to as it is, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a very Japanese take on Hades with some clever gameplay twists but fails to capture the snappiness and and immediacy that the roguelite genre requires to be actually engaging.

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.

Formula Legends has style and ambition, but stumbles where it matters most. The driving model feels erratic, the career mode fizzles out fast, and the complete absence of multiplayer is baffling. A nostalgic concept wasted on shallow execution.

Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra is a compact and accessible MOBA, very enjoyable once you grasp the mechanics of this specific subgenre (and especially when playing with friends!), but characterized by simplifications that at some point could limit the experience. Being a free-to-play title, and one that is thankfully free of pay-to-win dynamics or overly aggressive monetization systems, the good news is that nothing will stop you from trying it out and getting a sense of what Ganbarion is attempting with this game, which is still only at the very beginning of a potentially long journey full of new characters and content.

LEGO Voyagers is a tender and well-crafted adventure that tells a story about friendship and the value of the time we choose to spend with someone else. It does so through a narrative conveyed by images, whistles, and small gestures of love and camaraderie, without ever putting a single word on the screen. The feeling it seeks to evoke, rooted in the Danish concept of hygge, is one of warmth and wholeness, the kind of completeness that only this type of bond can bring. Unfortunately, the control system lacks precision and reaches its most frustrating point precisely in two of the most important aspects of the LEGO universe: building and creativity. Players’ inventiveness is never truly celebrated; in fact, over the five hours it takes to complete the adventure, stacking bricks often feels more like an obstacle than an opportunity.

The Order of the Giants is a painfully missed opportunity. A DLC that is undoubtedly well put together, consistent with the style and tone of Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle — at times even daring, with a darker, more unsettling atmosphere — but one that suffers from a very short lifespan and a chronic lack of truly memorable moments. The new puzzles are enjoyable and well designed, the new areas are excellently crafted (though many are unfortunately underground and thus feel rather closed-in), and there’s even a solid final battle, but it’s all over in just a few hours. And MachineGames is asking €20 for it. Perhaps a bit too much for so little. Hopefully, a second DLC will come along that can elevate and build upon this first attempt.

When it comes to gameplay, aside from the gunplay, this fourth game is probably the best Borderlands yet. That said, it clearly needs to find the right balance on the narrative side, along with some fresh tricks to give more personality to the huge supporting cast — who, as of now, feel more like a nuisance than an asset. If you’re into shooting, Borderlands 4 is a safe bet, but when it comes to everything outside of gunplay, Gearbox’s game still lags behind.

Destiny Rising has so much content and features that there's something for every Destiny fan, but there's a lot of gacha monetization to dodge before getting to it.

DC Worlds Collide offers a pleasant experience for fans of Batman, Superman, and the other iconic DC heroes, once again adding a touch of depth to the traditional mechanics of a genre that has become quite saturated on mobile platforms due to its flexibility in adapting certain systems to the demands of the free-to-play model.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is, quite simply, a video game that shouldn’t exist. No publisher on Earth would ever fund the production of a colossal two-dimensional Metroidvania over the span of seven years, and no independent developer could realistically afford to turn such an immense ambition into reality. And yet, Hollow Knight: Silksong does exist, and it exists solely because a group of creators - deeply in love with their own work but above all blessed with extraordinary talent and the resources to make it shine - chose to invest seven years of their lives in the project. There has never been a Metroidvania so vast in content and so profound in its systems, nor one that marries such sheer scale with such painstaking artistry. On one hand, it is an experience of staggering proportions; on the other, it is enriched with the kind of craft and care one usually finds only in artisanal workshops. In the industry, it’s often said that this genre carries a fragment of the medium’s very soul. Playing through Hornet’s adventure is a reminder, plain and simple, of how beautiful it is to experience a video game made with love.

Hell is Us is a video game unlike most others: it is bold in addressing current and brutal themes such as the war ravaging the Middle East, showing the atrocities of conflict without compromise, and in giving players both the honor and the burden of keeping track of their own progress in the story, completely removing from the equation any markers or indicators that might point out the path or highlight elements of interest. At times, perhaps, it overestimates the player’s attention span, perceptiveness (and memory!), forcing connections that aren’t always immediate, but it’s flattering that it dares to try, and that it succeeds most of the time. It’s a pity, then, that the combat system clashes with the rest of the game: it feels uninspired, simplistic, and never tries to reinvent itself to provide the same kind of mental stimulation that the rest of the experience strives for. Not everything holds together as it should in this title, but we are certain that some of its elements will stay with us for a long time.

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.

Hot Shots reminds us what makes this franchise so timeless, with every release: it is a cheerful, colourful golf game, sometimes bizarre but also technically and athletically accurate in its transposition, not overly technical but not inconsistent either. It is a container of seemingly distant worlds brought together by a realisation that does justice to golf, while conveying all the Japanese flavour typical of the saga. Nothing new under the sun, or almost nothing if we consider the extravagant mode: Hot Shots remains competently on that path, careful to follow, at times with excessive caution and redundancy, that typical but probably somewhat tired stylistic approach, at least for those who have been following it for almost 30 years.

It was certainly no easy task to get the player's empathy to penetrate beneath the steely layer of the space diver's suit. It's difficult to feel sympathy even for the unfortunate Travelers who preceded us, and at times the dialogue exchanges between characters seemed less interesting than the written notes we found while exploring. Those, indeed, are full of humanity. And yet, despite all their limitations, we must give Bloober Team credit for having once again succeeded. Maybe even to have started a new franchise that, in a few years, could be among the great titles of science fiction horror.

Metal Eden is a good game plagued by development problems. It can be a valid alternative to DOOM Eternal.

There are two souls fighting within Lost Soul Aside: the first is that of a small project created by solo developer Yang Bing and painstakingly nurtured over many years, while the second is that of a PlayStation-branded title sold at a triple-A price. It’s a “stylish action” video game inspired by the formula of Devil May Cry and the aesthetics of Final Fantasy that — not always for the right reasons — recalls the structure of old PS2-era hack and slash games. The combat system starts off with the handbrake on but steadily grows into something solid and challenging. The gameplay manages to stay fun throughout the adventure, but as soon as you step away from this core, a number of weaknesses start to surface: in addition to bland, impersonal storytelling and art direction, there are many rough edges, both in terms of presentation and mechanics. In short, it shows all the flaws and inexperience you’d expect from a small debut team, but these are inevitably magnified by a price and positioning that don’t reflect its true nature.

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

Gears of War: Reloaded represents a very important step in Microsoft’s current strategy, marking the beginning of a path that will inevitably lead to a multiplatform launch for the highly anticipated prequel Gears of War: E-Day. Most notably, it signals the debut of an iconic Xbox intellectual property on PS5, a franchise that has meant (and still means) so much to a large number of fans of the green brand. This new edition takes the excellent Ultimate Edition released ten years ago and refreshes it just enough to make it feel current, relying on the depth of a gameplay that remains devilishly fun.

Shinobi: Art of Vengance is a vibrant reimagining of the beloved SEGA franchise. Lizardcube developed a masterpiece 2D platformer featuring metroidvania exploration and a solid, engaging combo based combat system.

The Rogue Prince of Persia may be a strange take on Prince of Persia, but it’s definitely one worth playing. It does just about everything well and makes a real effort to stand out from the competition, offering unique gameplay mechanics that create dynamics completely different from those of Dead Cells (the game it’s most often compared to). If you can get past the prejudices surrounding it, you’ll find an excellent title in your hands, full of ideas that we hope will be carried forward in the future.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a faithful remake that brings Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece into the present with the power of Unreal Engine 5, focusing primarily on aesthetics while only lightly touching the framework of the mechanics. It’s an exceptionally complete edition, packed with extra content, whose purpose lies in its contemporary presentation, the modernization of its core dynamics, and a host of quality-of-life improvements. Its only real limitation stems from the reverence the publisher feels toward the original — and it’s a justified reverence, since Snake Eater was and remains a sensational video game, a magnificent spy story brimming with the brilliant ideas of its Japanese creator. The remake can be considered a success: there’s room for some flair and a few welcome surprises, but Konami ultimately lacked the courage to fully reconcile modernity with the game’s more classic soul, opting instead to satisfy those who desired blind fidelity to the original and daring only when it was certain there was no real risk.

Drag x Drive is a confusing and unfocused project that fails to offer a lasting and deep experience. Fun for a few games with friends, it lacks a sufficiently structured design to maintain user interest over the long term.

Stormgate is both a classic and an innovative RTS which mixes the old and the new, it still needs some work but the foundations are strong.

Luto is a horror of the soul. It inherits the form of P.T., but changes the substance with intelligence, building a reflection on our connection with personal ghosts. It does so by exploring non-Euclidean spaces and drawing on many works that have deconstructed the house as a place of memory, reimagining it as a mental labyrinth. Intangible and uncanny when the domestic hearth becomes an inner prison. Luto is a loop that must be broken not necessarily through logic. It’s a deconstruction of the genre, but also an intriguing celebration of it. It manages to be frightening while also sorrowful and melancholic, even with the flaws of a debut work.

Echoes of the End is a very interesting action-adventure, characterized by an evocative setting and solid writing, despite a few oversights. In terms of gameplay, it is blatantly inspired by God of War and other entries in a genre that has long since stopped producing truly original experiences - though in this case, it often leans more toward outright imitation rather than passionate homage. Now, if the framework put together by Myrkur Games worked as it should, we wouldn’t be lamenting its derivative mechanics, but unfortunately the game lacks polish and reaches launch saddled with some significant issues that will inevitably take time to fix.

Quotation forthcoming.