The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is an excellent action RPG that clearly demonstrates its influences, but uses them to deliver a unique game. It shines in its combat, exploration, and a good story that makes every hour worthwhile.

Coffee Talk Tokyo changes countries and brings new characters to the franchise. The new plots have their moments, but maybe it's time for the series to come up with new paths.

Overflowing with charm and comfort, Junkster is a fun 3D adventure that blends platforming and puzzle-solving. While the narrative, challenge, and graphics aren't exactly impressive, the game relies on creative mechanics in building machines and paths as its main selling point, even if some issues prevent the gameplay from being as precise as it should be.

Motorslice is a fun and creative action-platformer that clearly shows its inspirations but uses them to create something new and functional. Although the controls could be better, it's a good journey that players will enjoy.

Hollowbody turns survival horror into a harmless ride: a tribute to the past without its own identity, lacking any sense of danger, and wasting great voice acting on a weak and confusing script.

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a remake that hits the mark by recapturing the unique trading dynamics of the original Nintendo DS title, while also introducing new events, characters, and quality-of-life improvements. Exploring the city of Zephyr and making new friends is even more rewarding in this version, which features dynamic gameplay, charming graphics, and voice acting that makes everything feel more alive. It's an experience that perfectly contrasts nostalgia with modernity, in an addictive loop as you strive to make your bazaar the best in the region.

While technically the best version of an incredible classic, the Darksiders Warmastered Edition update for the current generation offers subtle improvements to the controls, as well as minor tweaks to smoothness and resolution. This package, however, may not justify a new financial investment for those who would like to play it on PlayStation 5, except for die-hard fans or new enthusiasts who want to get to know the franchise.

Mina the Hollower shines in its building of a detailed, complex world that rewards the attentive gaze of explorers with pleasant surprises and benefits. However, its many difficulty modifiers don't help much for those who have trouble figuring out the paths, since the game's main issue is the lack of a useful map. This demanding and meticulously crafted adventure may end up dividing the audience, pleasing those who find satisfaction in exploring and progressing on their own and alienating those who prefer a more directed and convenient experience.

007 First Light is an excellent James Bond game: varied gameplay with intelligent approach options, a story worthy of the character's films, beautiful graphics, and great technical performance. The TacSim mode is a great way to increase the title's longevity. Although the campaign features many slow-paced moments with secondary characters and combat animations that repeat frequently, it's an adventure that deserves to be checked out by any 007 fan or action game enthusiast in general.

Bubsy 4D is a good platform game with interesting mechanics. However, the levels are too simple and it's a rather short game, with a very low overall challenge. What will make you return to the levels are the collectibles and the challenging Time Trials.

Despite some hiccups in adapting the interface for console, Menace from the Deep: Complete Edition is an interesting blend of core Lovecraftian horror concepts with a solid foundation in turn-based combat using a deck-building system. While roguelike principles may be showing signs of wear, here it works well, even if the pace of progression can feel too slow at times.

Constance is a pleasant surprise for fans of the genre and for those seeking deep narratives. It doesn't revolutionize the formula established by giants like Hollow Knight: Silksong, but it shines by using its mechanics as a powerful metaphor for mental exhaustion and the healing process. Despite its excessive linearity, the game compensates with good platforming challenges and balanced boss fights. A journey that may be uncomfortable and heavy for some, but which delivers a necessary final reward: hope.

In a way, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is easy to evaluate: if you're willing to be captivated by either LEGO or Batman, or even if you just want to enjoy the simple fun of playing together with a dear one, there are plenty of reasons to join in the romp of defending Gotham on the Bat's long life journey. On the other hand, those expecting in-depth character and gameplay development should look elsewhere.

Even if I wanted to try ponder, this game leaves no room for any "buts." The combination of visuals and sound is a true spectacle; the narrative magically blends story, pacing, and direction; and the experience proves to be a catharsis that's hard to shake off. Mixtape is simply, without any qualifiers, a real masterpiece.

Call of the Elder Gods manages to deliver a consistent experience within its premise: a narrative adventure focused on mystery, atmosphere, and clever puzzles. The character writing, the Lovecraftian setting, and the gradual evolution of the puzzles make the campaign constantly engaging, while the art direction and soundtrack contribute to its identity. There are certain visual technical limitations and some frustrating moments caused by demanding puzzles, but the final result is a confident, mature, and very well-constructed sequel, especially for those who enjoy more contemplative and investigative games.

With its revamped stealth mechanics and refined aesthetics, Directive 8020 offers a clear evolution of the genre, but continues to reaffirm some of the limitations, particularly in terms of interaction, inherited from the first season of the anthology. With excellent references, the story (along with the excellent work of the cast) remains its best quality, with good pacing, great development, and important turning points that, while not escaping old cliches, still work very well.

Kamikaze Lassplanes makes its unusual mix of visual novel and shoot'em up its biggest selling point, but ends up suffering the consequences of trying to combine genres with such different rhythms. While its narrative has a strange premise that manages to hold up throughout the campaign, its action sequences start from a solid foundation without going much further, resulting in a touching and daring, but also inconsistent, work.

Invincible VS is a great fighting game with simple controls, but packed with mechanics. It's not easy to master it and will probably appeal more to those who want to delve deeper into its gameplay. The story mode is simple and there are other basic single-player modes, while the online mode does its job. However, the number of characters leaves a little to be desired for a 3v3 game.

PowerWash Simulator 2 could be described as "just a standard sequel", as it takes the first game as a basis and refines some of its aspects while adding a handful of new features. The target audience might be restricted, but the "ding" which confirms each objective has been fully cleaned is still as addictive and will sate your OCD.

Neopets: Mega Mini Games Collection appeals to nostalgia, but it may last less than an hour due to an terrible story mode and a weak adaptation for consoles.

Saros masterfully delivers on everything it sets out to do. Although the game doesn't yet have any extra content to enjoy after the ending, it manages to entertain the player for a long time simply through the curiosity of testing all types of weapons and searching for audio recordings of past crews. Saros is the kind of homework a student is proud to show to the teacher.

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection is a great compilation of games that deserve to be remembered by fans of the classic Capcom character. Featuring a good evolution of the Battle Network gameplay and delivering some of the best narratives in the series, there's a lot to enjoy here.

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch hits the mark with its visual style and fidelity to the humor of the universe created by Kevin Smith, delivering vibrant graphics and a very distinctive identity that, in itself, is quite eye-catching. However, the experience is ultimately hampered by technical problems, as well as repetitive and shallow gameplay that can quickly become tiresome. Although it works better in multiplayer and appeals to those looking for something more casual and straightforward, the game leaves the feeling that it could have gone further, especially in the refinement of its mechanics and the overall pace of progression.

Aware of its ambitions, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire avoids delving too deeply into complex mechanics or sophisticated exploration and progression structures, but there's no doubt it manages to blend the "rubber hose" aesthetic with the creation of an undeniably immersive noir atmosphere. The audiovisual excellence, which articulates a spectacular sound design with cohesive art direction, underpins a solid first-person shooter - even if its gameplay is not very innovative - finding a good balance between inspiration and originality.

Hades II is a masterpiece in every sense. A game that not only improves upon everything that made the original special, but also expands the combat and adds even more content that rewards players' dedication. With virtually flawless execution, it not only establishes itself as one of the best titles in the genre, but becomes a must-have for every video game fan.

Pragmata is a great Capcom game with a good story and unusual, yet very functional gameplay. The length is ideal in some ways, and there are many extras to enjoy. In the end, the only criticism is that the game as a whole becomes repetitive in combat after you get the hang of it.

Even though the price is far from adequate for such a late release, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach on PC is a great port of one of the best sequels ever made by Kojima Productions.

Excellent in many aspects, with great atmosphere, fun combat, a constant sense of discovery and novelty on an absurd scale, Crimson Desert is one of the best open-world experiences of this generation. Some problems don't detract from the brilliance of a title that always rewards the time invested and makes the player want to play more whenever possible.