A dungeon crawler that delves a little deeper into the "ruolistic" elements of the first Hammerwatch while still remaining too much on the surface and offering no particular creative flourishes. If you plan to play it alone be prepared for a fair amount of repetitiveness, but if you have a few friends on hand the fun rate is bound to go up quite a bit.

The Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack collects three chapters of the Atelier series released between 2016 and 2018. It also includes all DLCs and some additional content, making it a good choice for people who would like an introduction to the series – but if you come from the recent Ryza games, keep in mind that the Mysterious Trilogy is not as detailed or refined. Finally, the price point seems pretty steep, especially on PC.

Pure Farming 2018 is still a pretty sour plant (pun intended): technically modest, with a narrow roster of farming vehicles, and limited possibilities for the players. Despite the name, it's not a "pure" simulator, and the arcade approach may turn away the fans of the genre. The seeds have been planted; we'll wait and see if they will bear fruit.

20XX is a roguelite shamelessly inspired by Mega Man, with a strong RPG component that makes it enjoyable and cleverly challenging. Unfortunately, the game also shows strong weaknesses, including predictable bosses and a technically unstable multiplayer.

Madden NFL 22 is like a roller coaster”. That’s what I wrote last year in my review. 365 days after, I must repeat myself, going from NFL 22 to 23. Madden NFL 23 is a game that can be compared to a roller coaster. You go up with FieldSENSE, you go down with a problematic AI. You go up with new features in almost all game modes, you go down after experiencing bugs and glitches. There are steps forward made since the last videogame, and the direction taken by the developers is the right one, but there is still work to do to reach levels of excellence.

Idle Evolution is a nice, successful experiment: an incremental game with a lot of challenges and minigames, and an unusual way to give you a grounding in chemistry.

On one hand, Call of Cthulhu is able to drag the player into an adventure with a dark and oppressive atmosphere, in which nobody really seems to be on our side, and curiosity can turn out to be our worst enemy. On the other hand, the little care given to some aspects of the game and the implementation of certain mechanics transform this game into a missed opportunity to celebrate the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

As Dusk Falls is a mixed bag. The story, while certainly not out of this world, provides good characters and a fair amount of drama, but the peculiar art style doesn’t always succeed in conveying the right emotion. The voice-over, and especially the Italian dubbing, also occasionally suffers from the same issue. The multiplayer mode does make the game more engaging, but it’s still an experience with very little interaction. Enjoyment might vary wildly depending on your tastes.

Dicefolk is a valid alternative in the search for a good roguelike with mechanics linked to dice management that are interesting, but very unbalanced and managed by luck.

Brilliant idea that is not developed to its fullest potential. Still, if you are not necessarily looking for the next Portal, it will be good fun for some hours.

Dragon is Dead is a solid, challenging, and technically well-crafted action roguelite. The combat system is responsive and rewarding, with wide room for customization thanks to an articulate skill tree and elemental builds that reward experimentation. Persistent progression between runs encourages you to improve, while well-characterized bosses offer intense challenges. However, those hoping for complex levels or deep exploration may be disappointed: maps are simple, repetitive, and structured as arenas, more functional interludes than true worlds to discover.

Valkyrie Elysium's combat system is sufficiently complex and entertaining, which is good, considering that what remains of the game is quite forgettable. A decent game for fans of the tri-Ace saga, but certainly not essential. Also because, if you're hungry for Norse adventures, there's a certain god of war waiting for you at the end of November.

Paper Beast is a fascinating migratory tale that highlights the power of collaboration and mutual help. Too bad its distinctive graphic style is brought down by terrible textures and the Sandbox mode is only the shadow of what it could have been.

Shadowkeep is an extremely lazy expansion that offers nothing more than the bare minimum of content. Some new sets of armor, a few additional weapons, several exotic and a pleasant additional endgame activity are of little use when everything else is in fact recycled from the past incarnations of the franchise. Let’s hope Bungie will somehow counterbalance the scarcity of present contents in the next season.

Saints Row IV Re-Elected comes to the Nintendo Switch many years after the launch of the original version, but it certainly is a valid option for anyone looking for an excessively exaggerated and over the top open world action game. Unfortunately the conversion proves to be anything but flawless, even if the many technical issues don’t undermine the overall gaming experience.

If brainless fun is what you are looking for, look no more. Starship Troopers: Terran Command is light on strategic elements but delivers the feeling of being part of the mobile infantry, as made famous by Paul Verhoeven’s movie and Robert Heinlein’s novel.

A cozy and mildly paced RPG. Bandle Tale enters the world of League of Legends from the farthest corner of Runeterra and offers "Stardew Valley-style" gameplay based on the use of bizarre machines, sewing skills, gardening and cooking talents. A simple but charming adventure, suitable for all ages and featuring delightful pixel-art.

A solid dungeon crawler, affected by some technical issues and a tasteless plot.

The Serpent Rogue focuses the whole experience on gathering resources and crafting, relegating every other feature of gameplay to the role of supporting actor. But then it repeatedly puts a spanner in its own works by inserting materials too hard to find, a limited inventory and a loot system that relies more on luck than on skill or knowledge. The result is some kind of roguelike adventure that can be great fun when everything runs smoothly and you quickly find what you need, but is extremely frustrating if you can't progress because that common ingredient is nowhere to be found. Those who prefer the alembic to the sword will surely like it, others may find it a bit dull.

Deliver Us Mars is a sequel that follows in the wake of the previous title. Excellent narrative and environmental puzzles functional to the story, but it is a game without novelties and with absolutely mediocre cutscenes, animations and polygonal models.

This new installment of the Skylanders franchise relies upon a solid and deep collectible card game. There are some interesting ideas here and there, unfortunately ruined by some over-simplifications in the design, that ultimately make the game a little boring.

A decent graphic adventure in which some good intuitions, excellent replayability and some problems of various kinds such as frustrating controls coexist.

void tRrLM();++ //Void Terrarium++ features everything we are used to see in modern Roguelike games: dungeon crawling, crafting with materials and blueprints, turn-based combat, character skill tree and a story which takes shape one run after another. It's also easy to pick up and it takes quite a while to be completed. The issue is that Void Terrarium doesn't shine in any particular aspect, and given the recent flooding of roguelikes, it doesn’t stand out from the crowd. Only recommended if you desperately need to play another roguelike.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is particularly impressive when it comes to gameplay: the combat system is varied and creative, the exoskeleton customization is extensive, and the boss fights, when they work, offer spectacular moments. Multiplayer is also solid, thanks to cross-play that expands the possibilities for cooperation. The rest, however, isn't quite as impressive: the plot is weak, the cast forgettable, the filler missions slow down the pace, and the game world, while vast, feels empty and repetitive. Last but not least, on a technical level, the Switch 2 version reviewed here shows clear limitations, with slow loading times and an unstable frame rate. This is a game that will entertain fans of mechs and gear optimization who are willing to overlook the objective problems, but it's unlikely to satisfy those looking for an engaging story or a world to enjoy exploring.

Hoverboards and rock music made the fortune of Back to the Future and the formula works quite well also in Star Overdrive. The game developed by the Italian team Caracal presents an aesthetically pleasing sci-fi adventure, with a setting that is not particularly original but fascinating and full of activities. Some ‘stiffness’ problems in the walking phases, small technical stumbles and a bit of repetitiveness in situations, however, prevent it from taking off.

Relicta is an intriguing puzzle-game, full of puzzles ready to squeeze our meninges without the slightest regret. The level design proves to be up to a production on the genre, although some bugs and inaccuracies end up not making it shine as it should.

Blair Witch tries to do its job but can’t keep the player's attention highly enough throughout the entire experience. Despite that, Bloober Team put some interesting new mechanics on the plate, but the inspiration seems to get lost at the same rhythm with which Ellis's past tries to emerge.

If you look at it from an entertainment and sheer fun point of view, the last installment from the LEGO series by TT Games is probably the best ever made. Unfortunately, this is also one of the sloppiest portings ever seen, full of bugs, crashes and hesitating frame rate. You should wait for a patch, or some summer sale.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is a successful and must-have Japanese RPG for Adol fans, but it's not the decisive step forward that a legendary series like Ys deserves. The Switch version is plagued by too many technical uncertainties.

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is a solid turn-based tactical game, but also quite generic. That's because the developers did almost nothing to differentiate their game from other titles in the same genre. Recommended if you're a WH40K enthusiast, but demanding turn-based tactics fans might want to look somewhere else.

The top-down tactical shooter Thunder Tier One offers a realistic and engaging singleplayer campaign, unfortunately ruined by AI partners who are too prone to ignore orders and cause havoc. The multiplayer is fun and shootouts are hectic, but there’s also a distinct lack of modes and the progression system isn’t too exciting. We don’t doubt Krafton will keep the game patched and updated though.

Although I am convinced Red Solstice 2: Survivors will find its niche fanbase, I can’t really say the hybrid action/strategy gameplay impressed me. The single-player campaign is nice to have but it doesn’t stand out - the core experience here is definitely the multiplayer co-op.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a title that continues the path started by its predecessor, placing the thrill of a mercenary sniper’s life in a simple, linear and somewhat bland story. A rather predictable but all in all enjoyable experience, with some limitations (and some oddities) in artificial intelligence and an average graphics/sound department.

Deliver Us the Moon manages to amalgamate the sci-fi thriller concept with a third-person adventure in an entertaining way. The gameplay structure is too basic and almost chained to the usual stylistic elements seen and revised. Unfortunately, this penalizes the final result.

Crackdown 3 comes directly from the past, from an era in which the open-world action games focused mainly on the number of things to do, to the detriment of the overall quality and variety of situations. This does not mean that the formula proposed by Sumo Digital doesn’t work: far from it. But it’s linked to a now anachronistic concept of a genre that has evolved over the last couple of years into something that goes beyond the simple repetition of the same tasks throughout the duration of the campaign.

The Guest is a somehow fascinating adventure, despite a short playtime and a story not on par with its excellent puzzles, reminiscences of the great classics of the past.

Despite the excellent work done by FieldSENSE, Madden NFL 24 fails to solve some of the issues that have plagued the EA Sports saga for years. Adding poor menu navigation to predictable game modes and imperfect AI, the final result is a game that has some good moments, but has no chance to win the Superbowl.

The Beast Inside is a walking simulator that tries to make the most of the horror setting to create a good but not perfect videogame.

Ghost Blade HD is a pretty good old-style bullet hell (the original version was published on Dreamcast two years ago), albeit a little too derivative and not so original. You'll have probably already played something better in the past, but there are not so many games like this on the PSN, and the 2-player mode is really fun.

A "Layton-esque" detective game in which Pikachu is obviously the undisputed star. Light and somewhat repetitive gameplay make it suitable for a fairly young or inexperienced audience in this genre of titles. Those looking for a deeper, more complex and challenging experience should look elsewhere.

NHL 26 delivers a mixed experience. The game shows flashes of brilliance, thanks to a solid gameplay rhythm and a fair amount of on-ice spectacle, but it's still weighed down by a range of persistent issues. These flaws, while sometimes minor, can become increasingly frustrating over the course of a full season, especially for dedicated players. The revamped Be a Pro career mode is a welcome improvement, addressing several weaknesses from previous iterations. However, the rest of the game modes offer little evolution, largely recycling content and features from last year without introducing meaningful innovations.

Double Dragon Revive isn't a complete disappointment, but it doesn't completely captivate either. It's a prime example of a project that works just enough to entertain, especially when the action heats up and the combat system shows its potential, but never really pushes the envelope. Arc System Works has crafted a respectful and reasonably solid beat 'em up, but it lacks a clear vision: a comeback that doesn't know where to look, torn between reverence for the past and a fear of fully modernizing itself. The result is an honest title, even enjoyable for fans of the genre, but inevitably destined to fade away without a trace, especially when compared to far more successful experiments like Neon or Gaiden. Perhaps wait for a price drop before giving it a chance.

The Cruel King and the Great Hero combines an excellent storyline and an exceptional art-style with a significantly simplified gameplay, which wouldn’t be an issue if not for the tons of very repetitive fights that end up constantly interrupting the narrative flow. Perhaps more exploration and less combat would have served the game better, but unfortunately that’s not the case.

Invader Studios has packaged a survival horror experience with a good atmosphere and decent pace, adding small but interesting new features and significantly improving the technical compartment. A sequel that represents a good step forward but still has a long way to go to walk side by side with the best exponents of the genre.

The Falconeer is an interesting aerial combat game which, however, is weighed down by several burdens that do not allow it to shake off the monotony that arises from its own ambition as an open world.

Speaking purely in terms of content, NHL 23 feels more like a (modest) update to NHL 22 than a new chapter in the EA Games series. The changes made to the gameplay and game modes are very limited, and do not significantly affect the overall experience. On the other hand, positive steps forward in graphic/sound, which continues along the lines of last season showing further improvements. Skates on your feet and stick in hand, even with some issues in artificial intelligence, the games are quite fun, but the few innovations make it difficult to justify the purchase for those who already have NHL 22 in their collection. Or rather, they make it justifiable only for those players who focus on those modes that require extensive use of online (Ultimate Team and World of Chel above all).

Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot has a lot of potential and a lot of very good ideas, but it’s a very short experience and doesn’t have any replay value.

Gex Trilogy reintroduces the three original chapters of the famous 90s platformer, with accurate emulation and some modern features such as quick saves, rewind, trophies, widescreen support and CRT filter. The first episode, in 2D, is notable for its wall and ceiling walking mechanics, while the two sequels in 3D chase the Super Mario 64 model, losing some of the originality. The constant, dated humor may be repetitive, but the collection remains a solid product for nostalgists and completists, enhanced by extra content such as concept art or interviews with the developers.

Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is a good collection plagued by a couple of mistakes. I wouldn't recommend it to newcomers (for them, the right game is clearly Drum 'n' Fun), but if you don't have enough of Don-chan and Ka-chan it can be a good way to get the band on the road again.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 4K & Full HD Remaster is a decent new version of a decent game: the graphical options are good and allow to have a beautiful experience on the more modern screens. The combat system is still intriguing, but everything else is pretty dull and predictable, without any new features to justify the buy if you already played it seven years ago.

A decent arena shooter, but the lack of PS Move support is somewhat inexplicable.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is not a bad game per se, there are no real flaws or problems, but the overall experience is a little bland and generic. Things get a little (but just a little) better if you play with some friends, even in PvP. It's your typical product that will only please the hardcore fans of the original material, nothing more.

ADR1FT on PS4 confirms its nature of highly spectacular orbital exploration experience, but also remains limited in length, plot and game's mechanics. And the lack of a virtual reality console version will be a pity, in the near launch of PS VR.

You can see sparks of an excellent game here and there, but the full potential got lost along the way. Still, not so many tactical action games around – beggars can’t be choosers!

Super Soccer Blast: America vs Europe is a small, arcade soccer game that is super entertaining to play, at least for the first hours. As almost every other arcade sport game, when you learn to master all of its mechanics it gets a little less entertaining, but you can always use it as an old-style 1vs1 couch game with friends. Few rules, a fast pace and hilarious names are everything the Euro (or Copa America) summer needs.

SpongeBob once again stars in a 3D platformer that rests its gameplay on well-established stylistic features, offering few surprises but still providing a fun and enjoyable experience.

Sam “Serious” Stone is back in a new top-down shooter with roguelite elements that delivers a thin-like-paper crazy story and some entertaining (but repetitive) bite-sized gameplay elements.

My Friend Pedro is a sequence of short, intense levels which morally oblige the exasperated spectacle, exciting like few other run ‘n’ guns. Then There is a whole outline of apathetic environmental puzzles, bizarre situations and an aesthetic between the chilling and the anonymous.

Uninspired and with a bunch of issues, this fast-paced shooter can fill the void left in the hearts of Left 4 Dead fans.

Not bad, not great: Welcome to ParadiZe is a fun pastime that made me want to play more Diablo IV.

The Occupation is an intriguing video game with some cool gameplay mechanics, but it’s flawed by many issues.

Tennis feeling, the physical feedback of the shots, the animations, everything is in place but the responsiveness that allows to move with more agility on the field is still missing. AO Tennis 2 remains a little rough, but its talent is crystal clear.

First time in Europe for the Chinese-folklore inspired ARPG series, Sword and Fairy: Together Forever has a charming personality and world-building, but it fails in delivering a strong experience due to balance and optimization issues.

Eternal Crusade is a funny multiplayer TPS, with a lot of factions, classes and weapons. Unfortunately, the game has been released too soon and has too many issues currently. Unless you're avid fans of Warhammer, you should wait for a price cut and more than a couple of updates.

Forspoken is a game that has great potential, expressed in a precise, fast and fun combat system. Sadly, everything else in the game lacks novelty or interest in exploration.

A teen drama adventure with a lot of nostalgia and a good atmosphere, but with a lazy script and boring gameplay.

Weird West has a fun and engaging sandbox structure and is narratively solid, but it is also unfortunately marred by technical and gameplay issues.

We wish we'd loved Double Dragon IV a little bit more. It can be chaotic and frustrating, with some obvious problems (no online play! How is that even possible?) and a pretty limited arsenal. But it has the true, genuine Double Dragon's DNA, and that's all that matters to a real fan. It won't cost you but a few bucks, and that's also nice.

Labyrinth Legend is a very simple ARPG in which you explore a bunch of automatically-generated dungeons, collect equipment, and battle in real time against thousands of enemies. Nothing more, nothing less.

An ugly UI and some gameplay simplifications don't prevent Transport Fever from being an interesting product, especially if you are used to filling your games with tons of mods.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 is mainly dedicated to the fans of the saga, including those of the "dynasty warriors-like" games. From this point of view it turns out as a fun, long-lived and complete offer, unfortunately not so strong in the technical porting.

My Hero One's Justice improves the predecessor's formula too shyly, making it especially suitable for fans of My Hero Academy. It can be fun, but not if you are looking for an excellent quality defect-free fighting game.

Monster Energy Supercross is a step ahead in mastering Unreal Engine by Milestone. It is overall a fun, spectacular and intense motocross game. The sense of speed is great and the action, although more arcade than MXGP, is always tense and gripping. Unfortunately, its great potential is undermined by the lack of polish, AI balance and some poor design choices, which limit its sense of progression.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles brings on Switch the same flavor we savored at the end of 2021, bringing to the table the free updates released on the other platforms, and the promise of new playable characters coming in the future. The portable experience is surprisingly faithful to the home console one, but some extent of exclusive content or at least an updated story mode would have turned a simple “switch port” into a much more welcomed return.

If I had to define Crossfire: Legion in one word, I’d use “competent”. If I could use more than one word, I’d say “competent, but overall lacking in personality.” While it’s not a bad game by any means, it also never really shines, it never surprises, and it doesn’t leave a mark. It doesn’t help that, despite a good variety of multiplayer game modes, the population has already dropped to a few dozen players. Still a decent choice if you’re itching for more RTS gameplay, but don’t expect to be blown away.

The little Ball That Could shows a good style in its attempt of a Marble Madness revival. The creature of NaissusWorks is fascinating and playable title, peculiar in the presentation and clear in the controls response. On the other hand, visual aspects could have been far better, even in their geometric simplicity.

While Stray Blade occasionally shows glimpses of the care and effort Point Blank obviously put into it, the end result winds up not too convincing, mostly due to a general lack of polish and balance.

Astor: Blade of the Monolith is an action game with a nice combat system, but unfortunately it tends to repeat game situations a little too often during the approximately 15 hours needed to reach the end credits.

The content of this DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online, part of the Greymoor arc, may not satisfy in terms of content added but still manages to give a worthy ending to the Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline. Markarth is essentially a piece of content that focuses on the story; you should not expect new gameplay mechanics or anything of the sort out of it. Could it have been better? That is often the case, but the hopes for ESO’s future lie elsewhere.

Fanise’s new game feels like an interesting way of remembering the Great War, but it does not take full advantage of the possibilities offered by the video game medium.

A typical fan service product: probably the best Berserk video game ever published, but nothing more than a classic Omega Force musou.

Mortal Kombat 1 Khaos Reigns is a DLC poor in content, which does not justify its excessive cost. The new balance fixes some issues from the past, but there is still a long way to go.

Dark Envoy is an interesting CRPG that has some good features such as customization, some not always negligible defects such as a flawed AI, a combat system that fails to express its potential, a weak story and, perhaps, even an ambition that seems held back by the constraints imposed by her independent nature.

The risk of being repetitive or boring in some situations, the insipid narrative and a perfectible technical sector work against it, yet not everything is to be thrown away because Skull and Bones has potential, I can perceive it while I sail its seas juggling between PVE clashes and other players who, like me, aspire to the title of pirate king. Unfortunately, the problems during development end up being reflected in a live service which, despite the intriguing pirate setting, in the current state of things appears incapable of standing out from the crowd to rival the giants of the genre.

A faithful and visually stunning adaptation of Demon Slayer’s latest arcs, but limited content, minor gameplay tweaks, and weak online support make it feel more like an expansion than a true sequel.

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 contains four good titles, bundled with a bare minimum of extras (like an image gallery...). A little bit of effort, in that regard, would have been appreciated. Recommended only if you already played the original games, and if you really, really want to play them again.

When it works, Darksiders Genesis is quite fun and entertaining. Unfortunately the game is plagued by many technical issues and some very questionable design choices that prevent to guarantee an enjoyable experience from start to finish.

By focusing on surprising customization but not on a deep combat system or gameplay, LEGO Brawls is a decent digital hobby for LEGO collectors rather than a stimulating brawler game for competitive gamers.

Birthdays the Beginning could be the love-child of Minecraft and Spore, evolution merged with sandbox in its purest form. It's an interesting idea, at least in theory, but you're gonna need plenty of patience and dedication to fully appreciate it.

Fairy Tail 2 improves the combat system, now clearly more action, but it fails to create a playful structure without depth and with few positive sides within it. It is a rather compassionate adventure, which still manages to entertain but not to upset the cards on the table.

The Franz Kafka Videogame is a delicious mix between books and videogames, resulting in a unique and visionary work. The puzzles are decent, but not always clear, and usually require a deep knowledge of the author. Considering the "gestural" gameplay, we'd recommend you wait for the mobile version.

Somerville aims high, very high, succeeding in certain things (puzzle design, atmosphere, and scenic impact) and missing the target in others (emotional involvement, technical cleanliness, weak central part). In the end, the experience is certainly pleasant but never shocking, a short and evocative journey in the middle of an alien apocalypse with some scenes capable of remaining impressed for a long time, despite often missing that ludo-narrative amalgam to connect them. A promising debut for Jumpship, with a perfect Game Pass title that could easily be finished in an evening but would have deserved some extra refinement.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is a game aimed primarily at Saitama fans with a nice progression system and lots of content. Unfortunately, not all of them are well made, the gameplay can become monotonous and the fights weighed down by various structural defects.

The tormented development of Homefront: The Revolution shows in gameplay that is far from perfect, and ruined by a myriad of bugs. The urban scenery is quite varied, there are some good ideas in the weaponry and the gadgets departments, but this is a game we can recommend only to fans of the peculiar, dystopic setting.

Aeon of Sands – The Trial does have some flaws, but it may appeal to those gamers in search of an old school experience.

EVE Valkyrie is an interesting, but controversial project. It's fun to play, but offers too little content to justify the full price.

Kong Survivor Instinct is an extremely simple metroidvania, but functional in its nature. It lacks structure in the narrative sector, decidedly over the top, as in the depth of the level design, but overall it turns out to be a good job.

Outward is a survival RPG that might seem a bit chaotic at first, but it might be able to entertain those who can overcome its many flaws.