The game does nothing new but works for what it wanted to do: making young players have fun and feel that it's (almost!) Christmas time.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is overshadowed by the name it carries: Free Range Games have indeed managed to recreate the atmospheres that Tolkien's fans will love but, in terms of gameplay, the game fails to shine as it should.

EA Sports WRC is a complete game, with a well-structured driving model, full of realism and variety. Even though it has a less than excellent career, the Codemasters game has been able to defend itself very well among driving titles, remaining one of the best this year. It is an excellent experience that brings the rally back to its most exciting phases.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The man who erased his name was originally born as a DLC for the eighth chapter in the mainline saga, and it shows in its shorter length and in the reuse of assets, locations and character models. Still, exploring Sotenbori in the shoes of Kazuma Kiryu is a lot of fun like it's always been up to now.

Wizard with a Gun is colorful roguelite that mixes in an interesting way different gameplay styles. The result is satisfying, but not as much as it could have been, because the loop feels like it already shown what it had to give way too early.

Quantum Error is very far from modern game standards and fails to deliver the experience promised during the promotional campaign.

Football Manager 24 is, again, a dream come true for wannabe coaches, but giving a score to this game is becoming harder and harder. Sports Interactive managed to have an impressive level of details and this actually (and still) feels and plays like a real encyclopedia of football. On the other hand, it still has some flaws that have not been fixed in the last years, making it look more like an update, than an actual yearly iteration.

The Invincible tells the story of the iconic Lem's novel from another point of view and recreates the same atmosphere, tackling important philosophical themes.

Generally speaking, UFC 5 shows various improvements both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Technically speaking the game is excellent, with an incredible level of attention to detail that makes the title truly pleasant to look at. The blood, the sweat, the blow effects and the animations are truly impactful. The gameplay is smooth and the combat system quite solid, albeit with its difficulties. We also appreciated the tons of contents, the new online career and the more classic one, which, however, is a bit monotonous in the long run. In short, a title that is very funny to play, very impressive graphically and very complex in the combat system.

Crazy and fun, WarioWare: Move It! is a party game that will make you laugh like never before, if you can play that with friends.

Seems like Square Enix has finally found a way to give value to its enormous catalogues of great JRPGs: after Live a Live and Tactics Ogre Reborn, Star Ocean Second Story R marks the third successful entry in this newfound current of remakes. A great journey for both veterans of the genre and newcomers.

Jusant is a puzzle game about climbing that offers the player a variety of beautiful scenarios, a wonderful soundtrack, and a captivating narrative while addressing important topics with grace and sensitivity.

It could have been a by-the-books license shooter, an easy cash-grab for older players fans of RoboCop. But Rogue City is otherwise: it's not perfect by any means, and in fact there are a lot of much better choices on all of the platforms it lands on, but it's still a work of love from a small studio with a small budget.

Song of Nunu is another well crafted project from Riot Forge.

Kona II Brume is a direct follow-up to the 2017 adventure, with the same strengths (great atmosphere, good writing, rewarding exploration) and the same weaknesses (weak shooting, stiff animations, inconsistent enemies) of the first title. It's overall better thanks to new graphics and more focused story, but we would only recommend it to fans of the first chapter.

Stray Souls is a project with too many technical flaws to be good enough. Aside the good prologue mission, the game is very far from the quality shown by modern games.

Just Dance 2024 Edition is just a content update of the previous title, which means it's exactly the same game, without many new things that can even be discussed about. But for those who want to "Just Dance", maybe that's just what they want.

Mineko's Night Market is a fun, colorful and kitten-filled life simulator. The game features a number of entertaining and simple mini-games, in addition to lovely art direction and a catchy, enjoyable soundtrack.

Crymachina is not the triumphant return that many were hoping for from FuRyu Corporation. The game has a story that, while potentially interesting, feels like it squanders its potential, partly due to an excessively stereotypical cast of characters that could easily fit into a teen drama. Even from a gameplay perspective, things don't improve significantly. The game is certainly playable and functional, offering some initial fun, but its lack of depth makes it repetitive after just a few hours. When you add in some inexplicable choices regarding certain game mechanics, it becomes clear that Crymachina can only be recommended to die-hard fans of the genre, as it truly lacks anything that would make it preferable to other titles.

Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express is a good adventure and a faithful adaptation of the timeless classic of mystery, but it settles for just that. On the narrative front, despite some deviations from the original story, there are no standout twists that make this adaptation better than the many others offered in the past; as for the gameplay, the game does what is expected from a graphic adventure, without going above and beyond. This is not necessarily a flaw, but from an adaptation of a mystery masterpiece of this caliber, one might have expected something more.

Alan Wake 2 is the most visionary, bold and brillant Remedy game to date. From the terrific concept to the ambitious game design, Alan Wake 2 destroys the trivial ideas behind every pop videogame and creates a complex opera that will be remembered over the years.

Sword Art Online Last Recollection may entertain fans for a while, but as JRPG is unfortunately dull and uninspired.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is a fuller gaming experience compared to its previous game. However, for better or worse, it's still almost identical to its predecessor.

Ghostrunner 2 reintroduces the same formula as its predecessor, enhancing it with more open maps and new abilities for Jack, adding a touch of depth to the gameplay. While it lacks significant innovations, the gameplay formula still manages to work and entertain. However, its nature of extreme trial and error makes it a title not suited for everyone, as it can frustrate a good portion of players.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is divided into two souls, which both have a fundamental weight: the first is the indisputable value of the works it includes, which in many aspects are still unmatched and unmissable for understanding the communicative power of the video game. On the other side of the coin, and absolutely not up to par, we find the work of re-proposal carried out for this box set, which is limited to the homework, almost as if having to start these games was a nuisance to be done as soon as possible and with minimal effort. The result is a collection that winks at those who already loved Metal Gear Solid, which is unlikely to be able to make new fans discover the saga because it makes no effort in that direction, partially embellished with bonuses that are however forgettable. If this is the modus operandi envisaged for future box sets, including prices, things could get thornier, because - perhaps beyond Metal Gear Solid 4, still confined to PS3 - neither the excellent Peace Walker nor MGSV enjoy the driving force of the extraordinary original trilogy. And if it is true that you can never say goodbye to yesterday , and Konami knows this very well, in this case it would be difficult to think that the best is yet to come.

Cities Skylines II does its best to become the best city builder on the market and this first step surprises for how many things Colossal Order managed to improve. Of course it still needs more time to build (pun intended) on this foundation, but the ambition of this game was surely delivered with the right amount of love and care for even the little details.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd is, sadly, a giant wasted opportunity: the sublime artstyle wasn't unfortunately accompanied by a gameplay that could do justice to the beloved hero.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a new classic: charismatic, eclectic, lysergic, funny, entertaining and... entertained.