Microtopia is a colony sim where the player controls robotic ants engaged in resource collection, building construction and automating production processes. The gameplay is based on the design of an optimized path system, where ants follow predefined trajectories to maximize efficiency. The huge technology tree and the expansion into new biomes constantly introduce new challenges. With a minimalist design and a flexible sandbox structure, Microtopia offers a deep management experience and excellent longevity and a high degree of replayability in the search for the perfect colony.

Rise of the Ronin on PC confirms the strengths highlighted upon its arrival on PlayStation 5: an open world that was perhaps too banal is lifted up by a satisfying combat and progression system against the backdrop of a compelling and exciting narrative, set during one of the most particular periods in Japanese history. The technical limitations encountered on the SONY console are fortunately a bad memory, and this not insignificant element makes Rise of the Ronin on PC the ideal choice for venturing into the Bakumatsu era.

Konami’s Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars revives two beloved JRPG classics, preserving their deep storytelling and strategic gameplay. While the remaster improves visuals and adds quality-of-life updates, presentation leans heavily on HD aesthetics, which may divide longtime fans. The lack of a full retranslation and some dated mechanics hold it back from being a true definitive edition. Still, Suikoden II remains a masterpiece, and this collection is a welcome return for the franchise. Hopefully, Konami’s renewed interest signals future installments or improvements.

X-Out Resurfaced is a faithful remake of the 1990 classic, preserving its challenging gameplay, retro visuals, and customization system, but missing opportunities to modernize key mechanics.

Everhood 2 is as weird as the first game. More RPG, more "real video game" vibes, but in the end is the same unconventional experience played 4 years ago.

In case anyone had any doubts, Split Fiction is proof that It Takes Two was not a random stroke of luck. Hazelight’s new game is every bit as crazy as the 2021 Game of the Year, and although this year the competition is going to be fierce, Split Fiction might be a serious contender for the title as well.

Door Kickers 2: Task Force North is a real-time tactical strategy that can be paused if necessary to give orders to your soldiers, becoming almost a turn-based combat game. This duality works very well, and each player can complete the mission by following the way that suits him best, in an almost sandbox mode. The detailed 2.5D top-down view shows the map architecture while hiding the enemy's location, forcing you to advance with caution. It offers compact maps, three playable factions and extensive unit customization. The game also shines in longevity, thanks to a multitude of missions as well as extensive modding support.

Two Point Museum is not surprising, but it is convincing all the same. The developers have been working on this series for many years now, and the results are visible, especially in a campaign that manages to keep players interested, avoiding the risk of tying us into a too rigid cycle of identical levels. The theme of museums is less entertaining than hospitals and university campuses, but otherwise this iteration of the franchise also enjoys a granite solidity with regards to the room and workforce management mechanics.

Collector difficult to recommend to all gamers. Excellent for nostalgics, less so for those approaching Yu-Gi-Oh for the first time.

Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the most exciting games of recent years. It further polishes the winning intuitions of Monster Hunter World and grafts them into a living, changing open world to deliver a first-rate synaesthetic spectacle in the most successful instalment of the prestigious Capcom series. Repetitive by its very nature, but if the exquisite arcade action grabs you there's no escaping it.

Underward is a first-person cooperative horror game in which players explore an abandoned hospital, retrieving cryogenic cylinders while escaping mutant creatures. The game requires stealth skills to move in the dark and in silence without alerting the monsters. The graphics, inspired by found footage, amplify the claustrophobic atmosphere. Multiplayer allows play for up to four people, but single player is more complex and punishing. Despite repetitive environments and some design limitations, the experience is engaging, especially for horror fans.

PGA Tour 2K25 arrives after a long break, which 2K and HB Studios have used to improve the aesthetics and enhance the game offering. The game options have been expanded in both single and multiplayer and the existing ones have been refined, and three major tournaments have arrived as well as some new courses, while the roster could certainly have been more consistent. There are still some navigation problems in the menus due to some small bugs and the new control system, alongside the existing ones, requires a lot of patience and training.

A Like a Dragon a little bit different from the usual. A fun adventure starring the mad Goro Majima. All the elements of the previous chapters return in a Caribbean version, but the rate of madness reaches unprecedented levels.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a solid but unremarkable remaster. While the core gameplay remains engaging and fast-paced, the visual upgrades feel minimal compared to the PC version, and the new features—like high-speed mode—don't justify the full price for returning players. The soundtrack is still fantastic, and quality-of-life additions help accessibility, but this release lacks meaningful enhancements. If you’re new to the game, it’s a great way to experience one of Ys' best entries. However, veterans may find little reason to revisit this edition unless they specifically want it on Switch or PlayStation

Keep Driving answers the question "what if Out Run took a degree in philosophy?" Halfway between a proper video game and an experience, it's impossible not wanting to keep driving.

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is an extremely valid title that continues the idea carried out by the previous collector: to recall memories and introduce the first Lara Croft games to very young people. Accessible just enough, the aesthetic modernization is well done and pleasant to look at, apart from some small problems with the lighting. The rest of the package is about taking measures with the type of games and their release period. For everyone, but even more so, for incurable romantics it is something to absolutely have.

Avowed isn’t going to be the next Baldur’s Gate 3, or this generation’s Skyrim, being closer to The Outer Worlds than either of those games. And exactly like The Outer World, it’s a great action-oriented RPG set in a bizarre but not unpleasant world that is easy to recommend despite a few flaws.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a valid sequel that shares its predecessor’s compelling setting and some of its characters, while also introducing new mechanics. Stress could perhaps have been better handled, being essentially negligible most of the time and nerve-wracking during the new time-limited contracts, but that’s pretty much the only real criticism I can move at the game.

Tyrant's Realm is a roguelite with a – rather intangible – soulslike feel that aims to combine high difficulty with progression tied exclusively to equipment. Combat is essential: no jumping, only slow or fast attacks, dodges and parries by splitting milliseconds. The procedurally generated levels offer little variation, but all in all they are compelling, as are the boss battles. There is no storyline worth following, and the entire production is simplified compared to the major representatives of the genres from which it is derived. If you're looking for an immediate, no-frills experience, you might enjoy it; otherwise, it is likely to prove repetitive.

The Stone of Madness is a stealth adventure set in an 18th-century monastery-psychiatric hospital. Players lead a group of troubled characters, each with unique abilities and phobias that affect gameplay. The Commandos-like approach requires cunning to overcome guards and obstacles by capitalizing on cooperation among team members. The beautifully reconstructed monastery oozes Gothic eeriness, while the plot explores the cruelty of religious institutions of the time. Despite a few technical flaws, the game offers a compelling experience for fans of the genre, who have been on a diet lately; almost starving I would say.

Synduality: Echo of Ada is an extraction shooter poor in content and plagued by a pay to win system. The slow progression make a frustrating experience.

At the end of the day, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a great game and remains so even in the PC version. The much-talked-about conversion operated by Nixxes eventually turned out to be good, though still not great, thanks in part to a hotfix that fixed several of the problems that raised so much controversy. Wandering around the New York City shaped by Insomniac remains a great experience, as rewarding in the combat phases as in the aerial exploration phases hanging from the web. Support for DualSense and its in-depth use is another plus point.

KCD2 is a huge medieval RPG that carries all the strengths and a handful of rough edges of its predecessor, integrating them into an incredibly realistic world and epic narrative. It expands, refines and enriches the legacy of the first chapter in an excellent way in practically every way, so for those who appreciated KCD it is a must-buy.

When you're the best, the hard part is confirming it. Firaxis Games does it again this time, and it does it on many levels. It does it with the revolutionary age system, with specific game mechanics for each of them. And it does it on many small occasions, every time it makes a choice simple and intuitive, perhaps thanks to the cleanliness of the interface. Civilization VII is at the same time the most complex 4X on the market and the easiest to approach, with a remarkable vastness of possible approaches. The fact that the imperfections can be counted on the fingers of one hand is something miraculous.

Tales of Graces F Remastered is a shining example of how to revisit a beloved classic. With its refined combat system, deep character customization, and emotional narrative, it retains the charm of the original while adding meaningful quality-of-life updates. The transition from PS3 to modern platforms is commendable, despite minor technical flaws like Switch's capped 30 fps. The vibrant world, endearing characters, and intricate battle mechanics make it a must-play for Action JRPG fans. While the sugary tone and Wii-era visuals may not appeal to everyone, its competitive price and rich content make it a worthwhile addition to the Tales saga.

Assigning a bad rating to Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is a dirty job, but someone had to do it. Reduced to the bone content and one of the most feeble rollbacks I've ever seen condemn to insufficiency an extraordinary but outdated game, unable in its current state to offer an online infrastructure that guarantees the development of a healthy community. We hope that the new chapter in such a prestigious series will not suffer from such neglect.

Eternal Strands is an action-adventure with a rather generic, if enjoyable, aesthetic and gameplay that takes a while to get going. However, when you manage to uncover its best cards, you'll find yourself immersed in a well-conceived, well-written and damn entertaining title.

Threefold Recital is narrative game with light investigative elements, by which I mean that more often then not a wrong deduction will simply lead to the main characters correcting themselves. But the story itself is compelling, the dialogue is snappy, and the minigames are varied enough.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is not perfect. It tries to remedy the mistakes made by the Sigma series, but it only partially succeeds in its intent and fails to replicate the perfect intensity that Tomonobu Itagaki managed to nail in 2008. However, it remains the best declination of the game currently available on modern systems, thanks also to the Unreal Engine 5 that enhances its aesthetics to excellent levels. It may not be entirely worthy of the Black suffix, but this Ninja Gaiden 2 still deserves your attention while waiting for the fourth chapter.

Sniper Elite: Resistance is a solid "more of the same" of the fifth chapter, or a "Hitman with a sniper rifle" for the ones not used to the series. And it feels good.

Planet Coaster 2 suffers from sequel syndrome: the original Planet Coaster eight years after its release is still a benchmark of the genre and it is difficult to do better. Planet Coaster 2 tries by adding water attractions that significantly expand the possibilities offered to the player. What has remained unchanged, however, is the underlying structure, which is certainly solid, but not always smooth: before you get to resent it, in any case, dozens and dozens of hours of fun will pass.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth successfully expands the universe of the original game, offering an experience that combines vast explorable regions, refined gameplay mechanics, and a deep and engaging combat system. The technical improvements of the PC version, such as support for 4K, DLSS, and frame rates up to 120 fps, enhance the visuals and fluidity, making this edition the best way to enjoy the adventure. Although some secondary activities sometimes break the narrative rhythm, the title impresses with its ability to reinterpret classic events and expand the story, in order to give emotions to long-time fans and newcomers alike.

Ender Magnolia follows in the footsteps of Ender Lilies by delivering a longer-than-average metroidvania with a fun combat system and a very pleasing art style, especially when it comes to backgrounds. However, while its story beats are by no means bad, they lack the spark that was present in Ender Lilies.

A traditional metroidvania with a fascinating setting that mixes Japanese folklore and cyberpunk, brought to life by excellent pixel-art. The classic gameplay is enhanced by a mechanic that allows you to manipulate time and matter. A couple of bugs and a few minor technical stumbles, as well as an imperfect difficulty balance, however, prevent Blade Chimera from aspiring to the Olympus of the genre.

On Your Tail is a lively journey through Liguria in the role of the young Diana, a Turinese in search of inspiration for her new work. Built well and with soul, the title reaches the heart of the player with simplicity and skill, leveraging the memories and memories of the past of each of us. It is not easy, if we think about it, to be able to tell oneself with memories. Long live memories, then, but also beautiful Italian video games. And On Your Tail is a beautiful Italian video game.

Nine worlds of fantastic platform action peppered with generous doses of colorful swearing. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has aged quite well and is still a pleasure to play, even though its sequel Tropical Freeze remains the high point of the series. Given the “full” price, we expected some additions that would justify the additional outlay for this fourth edition of the game, which instead (facelift aside) is identical to its 3DS counterpart.

The rebirth of the Musou dynasty starts with Dynasty Warriors: Origins. A greater emphasis on duels against officers and bosses combines with better management of battlefield resources to give Tecmo Koei's armies a new soul. Not being able to directly impersonate its legendary heroes weighs a bit and the absence of a multiplayer mode almost feels like an affront, but nevertheless this is the restart the series needed.

Freedom Wars Remastered is an operation that fails to restore luster to its former glory. Already narratively it was not something never seen before that could be defined as seminal and, even today, unfortunately the absence of a charismatic character is felt throughout. Not helping are the technical problems, such as a slowdown in the pace due to excessively long loads and an unstimulating work from a gameplay point of view, really old.

Nintendo cares about our health and to prove it brings us a new chapter of the Fitness Boxing series, urging us to get off the couch and follow the workout routines of inflexible virtual trainers. The playful streak of titles like Ring Fit Adventure and Boxing Fist of the North Star disappears in favour of more serious training based on the fundamentals of boxing. Worth considering if you're looking for an excuse to burn off those Christmas calories.

Beyond its very obvious Overwatch comparisons, Marvel Rivals is a competent hero shooter that is fun to play and easy to pick up, full of love for the original characters, and with a free to play model that refreshingly doesn’t require you to unlock gameplay elements. Hopefully some technical mishaps can be fixed with future patches.

There's a lot of potential that was only partially exploited in the Xenomorphs' VR debut, but there's no doubt that Part One has laid the foundations for something important: let's hope Survios takes the feedback to heart and delivers a spectacular Part Two.

The Thing Remastered is a solid operation that brings attention to a game that, already upon its release, had truly cutting-edge mechanics and solutions. Great to play again today.

Priest Simulator: Vampire Show may not be the single-player shooter of the year or the one that revolutionizes the genre, but it’s certainly refreshing to see an FPS that isn’t afraid to be different, over-the-top, and, in its own way, unique.

Antonblast meets the primal need to play a game to smash everything and score points without caring too much about the story, which, however bizarre, is simply a guise for introducing the action. The various levels are very different from each other but always united by destruction. The atmosphere felt owes much to Wario and sometimes even to Sonic, with mad runs down very steep slopes and jumps into the void while crossing fingers for everything to be okay. The ability to remember critical points on the map is rewarded more than the players' actual skill, but who cares? It entertains, and that's enough.

A very pleasant and engaging adventure, Flint: Treasure of Oblivion reaches the goal without distorting the genre and not inventing anything particularly new in the scenario of tacticians with RPG elements. Shuffle the cards on the table by taking inspiration from Baldur's Gate 3, inserting the dice mechanic and, in the meantime, detail an intense story polished to reach as many players as possible. If you haven't read Treasure Island, you want to get closer to Stevenson and then buy this toy here, then this adventure could give you unexpected emotions.

The Spirit of the Samurai is a decidedly particular game: it is full of very good ideas which, however, are never fully developed. The stop-motion style is still worth a try.

Sorry We're Closed is an action adventure horror that brings back to our monitors gameplay and techniques born in the 1990s, adding a modern story about love, loss, and acceptance, flavoring it all with combat and puzzles that integrate nicely into the experience and do not seem included just to add a couple of hours to the time it takes to see one of the multiple endings. Despite the strong personality of the protagonist and the other characters, the direction of the production is not always evident, with action and puzzler sections easy for veterans of the genre but almost too many for story mode lovers. An excellent debut, in any case.

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 restoration work of the first chapter convinces thanks to some tweaks that involve many aspects of the original game. Nowadays you can find VR titles that are technically more refined or evolved, the base is still from 2016, however Arizona Sunshine Remake with its DLC included in the price is a great gift for those who are approaching the fun franchise of Vertigo Games today.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered is like the two-sided coin dilemma. On one side we have two video games that are true milestones of video game entertainment, up until now impossible to play in an acceptable way on modern platforms. If the coin had fallen on this side, Soul Reaver would have been condemned to oblivion. On the other side we have a remaster that only makes a few indispensable changes. In any case, heads or tails, the game is rigged and no one wins. I would like to think that there could be a third option, a monumental secret hidden somewhere, but the truth is that we can do nothing but settle for this double remaster and hope the series continues in some way or another.

Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop is a very good video game that manages to fit the simulation soul and the roguelite one. Making mistakes makes poor Wilbur's life a real hell like the real one, and what he manages to achieve is not always optimal. What is really great, however, is this pearl of a game here that manages to do all the right things and implement simulation mechanics that are really well integrated within it. To be had seriously, both if you love space and if you need to stock up on a similar video game.

It took a while, but in the end Fate of Atlantis can give up its scepter: Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is the best video game dedicated to the archaeologist with the whip, a true cinematic blockbuster to be played. Technically and artistically glorious, it shows some uncertainty on the front of the secondary missions not always interesting and some mechanics that could have been developed with greater judgment. Everything else is pure love for the world of Indiana Jones.

An old-school point-and-click adventure with a detective storyline full of twists, out-of-the-box humour and a superbly characterised cast. The development team should work a little more on the fair amount of bugs that plague the gameplay and the enjoyability of some puzzles that cross the threshold of illogic.

Fantasian Neo Dimension is a title that needs to be played, explored and brought to everyone's attention. There is nothing new, except for a couple of interesting mechanics, but the aesthetic and musical realization is of the highest quality, net of what is a game made with an extremely low budget. They have made a virtue of this situation, squeezing every single experience in Mistwalker and returning a decidedly remarkable JRPG.

A bit Duke Nukem without the Duke and a bit bit Bulletstorm with some reminiscence à la Anger Foot, 420Blaze It 2 is an engaging and lively FPS, powerful both in exposure and in their never tiring content. It is a work that, very capable of surprising and bewitching the player with borderline situations, manages to speak well to the hearts of fans.

The beauty of an art style in which retro and modern give life to a visually credible dystopian world cannot hide the gameplay lacks under its pixelated guise: despite the short duration, the lack of depth between investigative phases, exploration and combat has time to leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

I tried to be objective, I swear. Little Big Adventure – Twinsen's Quest is good at respectfully transposing into the contemporary a French action-adventure that many of us keep in our memories, but it also has to deal with some limits that are partly inevitable since they are children of other times. The pragmatic desire to modernize the initial work trying not to overly distort it is pleasing even if it is not completely convincing in the result, especially if observed with eyes free of the beauty filter known as nostalgia. However, it remains a balsamic dive into the past to return to Twinsun and see old friends who seem rejuvenated, despite a technical sector that, due to a few too many flaws, does not fully do justice to the original masterpiece.

Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms is an action RPG that takes the graphical style of Baldur's Gate and Pillars of Eternity and enriches it with a much more challenging than average combat system, making any button mashing-centric approach futile and forcing us to use, for once, all the skills the game makes available. Although all the typical RPG elements have been included, a certain sparingness has been used in the variety of options so as not to scare off those who do not like to get lost in hundreds of statistics, making sword skill more important than the skill point placed on a given feature.

A classic beat ‘em up lacking any particular flare of originality, but enjoyable to play and quite rich in content. The combat system is simple but sufficiently articulated to make the fights varied and appropriately challenging. What is missing for now is an online co-op mode, promised in future updates by the development team, and some intervention is urgently needed to correct a few technical issues.

One of the most beloved games is finally back, not without some flaws but overflowing with content capable of sticking us to the screen for weeks to come. A fantastic open world, alive, populated by believable NPCs that will lead us along a well-told story with various side quests to face in order to obtain a particular item or just for the pleasure of exploring the Zone. Superbly crafted maps worthy of a PvP shooter go hand in hand with survival horror atmosphere and gameplay. Some features, such as crafting and food management, are barely sketched out, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will succeed in breaking through the hearts of all first person RPG fans.

The so-called Remastered versions of Warcraft I and II show the least possible effort to bring back two of the most important legends of the Blizzard catalogue. Such a lazy and lacklustre result would have made sense had it been given to fans to celebrate Warcraft's 30th anniversary, but as it stands, it joins Warcraft III: Reforged in the ranks of mediocre products that, until a few years ago, we would never have expected from such a legendary developer. Thrall does not approve.

The so-called Remastered versions of Warcraft I and II show the least possible effort to bring back two of the most important legends of the Blizzard catalogue. Such a lazy and lacklustre result would have made sense had it been given to fans to celebrate Warcraft's 30th anniversary, but as it stands, it joins Warcraft III: Reforged in the ranks of mediocre products that, until a few years ago, we would never have expected from such a legendary developer. Thrall does not approve.

Killing Time: Resurrected is the perfect combination of exploration and the latest shooting. Nightdive Studios has been able once again to improve a video game and make it enhanced, modernizing some things on the gunplay side and offering animations that are really beautiful to look at. It could really be much more than a classic moment to enjoy a work from the past.

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.

There's a Shakespearean love story that has cursed a village, a wayward king waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of the crown, a fantasy world modelled on our own, and a story that has decisively influenced Japanese fiction: Dragon Quest III is an invaluable piece of history, and this remake is the best way to play it. Provided you are able to stomach a dose of antiquated mechanics.

The world of Horizon seems tailor-made for the LEGO world. The Earth of the year 3000 and its mechanical beasts are a delight for the eyes and everything is enhanced by the always excellent direction Guerrilla. A marked linearity and repetitiveness of the level and mission design mortify a little the excellent combat system and a little more "meat around the bone" would be useful because completing Horizon Adventures will not take you more than 8 hours.

Providing an environment where you can shoot dozens, hundreds of enemies with glee is one of the most surefire ways in which you can keep gamers entertained. However, that’s also all that Viscera has going for it – weapons are shoddily balanced, the graphics are chaotic and messy, and the game’s poorly optimized. Still moderately fun, but not the kind of game you’d enthusiastically recommend.

Not very different from other GIANTS Software productions, Farming Simulator 2025 certainly brings some interesting news, implementing three new biomes and as many different methods to deal with the experience. Recommended for anyone who needs to get their hands dirty with mud and for those looking for a quiet experience.

[REDACTED] is an excellent Hades-inspired roguelite that wants to introduce new elements to stand out from the crowd and ends up getting in the way of itself. Forget the race for freedom against rivals, and you'll have an excellent dungeon crawler right on your hands with a whole bunch of weapons and uniforms to unlock in order to tear apart zombies, monsters, and bosses in increasingly brutal ways. Try to rely on confrontations with other fugitives, and you will be disappointed. The gameplay formula is still relatively fresh, the art design and excellent, so let's jump into this new ordeal without caring too much about originality.

9th Dawn Remake is an action RPG with very simple gameplay, in which all you have to do is move and click, that manages to offer great complexity thanks to the huge choice of weapons, builds, and companions ready to help us out in battle. Dungeon crawlers lowers will find everything they want, from secret passages to hidden treasure chests, scattered along a vast and pleasant world to visit with various side quests. The Vampire Survivors-style fishing is a nice little touch, and the whole production drips love from every pixel. Too bad most of the monsters are quite anonymous, bosses included.

Finally, after fourteen years, Red Dead Redemption also arrives on PC. The title has aged very well, unfortunately this conversion brings with it countless technical problems.

While We Wait Here tells a very pleasant story. Despite the absence of a trial and error that I would have found very apt within the title, the parts dedicated to the preparation of dishes are also well integrated. The absolute pro goes to dubbing and atmospheres. I've always dreamed of making puncakes while the world is disintegrating out there.

The atmosphere of Metro Awakening is extraordinary, skilfully realised thanks to an absolutely fine setting and great care for tension. The linearity of the path and a certain repetitiveness of generally already seen mechanics risk trivialising the whole thing, also in the light of the not exactly low price. If you are able to turn a blind eye, however, you will be rewarded by a plot worth experiencing, especially if you love the dystopia created by Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Thanks to a magical level design and a gameplay that comes out strengthened by the tweaks and the Doom skill, SEGA and Sonic, with the precious contribution of Shadow, remind us that the timeless adventures of the blue hedgehog are special.

There is nothing to say, Dotemu has a real nose for those games in which the nostalgia effect is not mere marketing, but a basis on which to build solid and satisfying gaming experiences. Who would have thought that the formula of the turn-based strategy would have adapted so well to one of the most famous run'n'gun franchises ever? Dotemu would have said it, that's who. And in fact, here we are singing the praises of Metal Slug Tactics, which only lacks a few additional bosses to add that variety that in a roguelite adds hours of longevity for players.

Empire of the Ants is wonderful for many reasons. First of all, it is wonderful to look at, and then it is also wonderful for its naturalistic value, for the theme that is rarely seen in video games and for how it manages to open our eyes to a world that is everywhere around us, but we do not see. From a gaming point of view, the developers have created a gameplay that is not very deep, perhaps to attract a wider audience, and this brings with it some limitations that could alienate veterans of strategy games.

A game geared towards younger players, but that doesn't mean that hardcore RPG fans should necessarily ignore it: with a volcanic dose of inventiveness that will make you laugh more than once and an enchanting artistic direction, the game is the perfect bedtime story to end the Switch's extraordinary career with a bang.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, aka the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, are back on track. Mutant Unleashed is a game that remains in the comfort zone of third-person action, trying to offer a minimum of depth in the off-stage phases but falling into repetitiveness when it comes to taking the field, play the hard way and above all entertaining.

Building on a rock-solid foundation, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 manages to sustain the world's oppressive expectations with disarming ease. Solid gunplay combined with gameplay refreshed with new features and many tweaks aimed at optimizing the user experience give us one of the most entertaining CoDs in recent years. And that's just the beginning.

As beautiful to play as the first Horizon Zero Dawn, as beautiful to look at as the latest Horizon Forbidden West. This is how you can sum up this Remastered, which keeps the gameplay of the original intact while increasing the graphic rendering thanks to the greater hardware resources available. In particular, Aloy and the other characters are now much more expressive and move in a world in which nature is lush and the anthropic structures stand out solemnly among volumetric effects with a realistic day/night cycle. Those who have recently played the original may not want to spend another forty hours on the Remastered, for newcomers it is one of the best ARPGs around.

In its attempt to mix STALKER and Escape from Tarkov, ZERO Sievert does a good job overall. Be careful, though, because this is not a game where shooting relaxation is the priority: you have to plan a little, you have to carefully evaluate when caution is the wisest choice, and you have to expect that sometimes your character will not return home. And yes, sometimes this game setting can be frustrating. Other times, however, there is the satisfaction of having risked a lot and still managed to come home safe.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is one of the best stories ever told by a video game, with a clever mix of mystery and science fiction. All the characters are credible although stereotyped, and the twists chase each other unpredictably while maintaining coherence with the narrative. Excellent technical realization, editing worthy of a television series and good acting support the plot that requires important decisions capable of influencing future events and personal relationships. The excessive ease in the progression could discourage those looking for a challenging game, but perhaps it is time to turn the page and embrace the new generation adventures.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a work that comes to the proverbial test after ten years. It is immediately clear how complex the project was and how the videogame world has changed over time. With a good combat system, a convincing narrative and a good development of the relationships with the other characters, on some points it does not fully succeed in reaching the objective. I admit that so many words are actually too many, and I actually hope that someone has gotten to the end... but there really could not be another analysis for such a delicate work. Sales will decide whether it will be the actual relaunch of the series. In addition, of course, to us players of the franchise.

After the bizarre variations on the theme of Night Springs, The Lake House brings us back to the survival horror genre, giving us another of the infinite facets of the increasingly stimulating Wakeverso. In less than three hours, the essences of Control and AW2 are condensed to distill them and put them aside for the future... which promises to be nothing short of exciting. Perhaps one or two more hours to give more breathing space to the events, however, would not have hurt.

Some extra content wouldn't have sucked in addition to 4K, 60fps and New Game+, features that are welcome anyway. Playing Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, however, one gets the impression that the light technical dusting is not a matter of laziness, but rather of necessity turned into virtue. Behind a refresh that still doesn't hurt, in fact, there may be the awareness that touching up more deeply the technical foundations of an action-adventure with a powerful artistic direction and a crazy, visionary, deliberately exaggerated and grotesque style, would have turned out to be an unforgivable own goal. And now, thanks to this remastered, we all know what Garcia Hotspur is capable of doing for one mistake too many.

I like to think that Phoenix Springs is what happens when talented people who do not work in the video game industry decide to create a video game, without knowing or following patterns and rules that we now consider axioms. Maybe that's not the case, however, it feels like it, and that's still a good thing.

Light-hearted as the flight of a butterfly, refreshing as water raised by the dart of a fish and relaxing as a sunny summer afternoon. Shiro and the Coal Town is an old-fashioned title that requires no special skills, but if played with the right spirit can awaken sweet emotions, welcoming you into a typically Japanese rural atmosphere.

Forgive Me Father 2 doesn't last long to be a story driven game, towards the end it loses a bit of charisma and has some imperfections such as a questionable difficulty balance, yet it convinces in its evolutionary attempt. It succeeds by propping up the disturbing and "Lovecraftian" experience of Forgive Me Father with a clearer and more intuitive customization, blending it with a more mature and stimulating level design and applying it all to an old school context with a more intelligent pace, with areas with dizzying peaks of mortality capable of coexisting with exploratory phases in search of items/resources and puzzles to solve. To season the result, needless to say, the usual and abundant dose of amazing art direction, darkness, blood and madness, a weapon itself when horror reaches its zenith.

Voidwrought is a competent Metroidvania, in which, admittedly, not all the ideas are very original, but that does not make it any less enjoyable to explore the recesses of its occasionally a little too cryptic world or less than successful soundtrack. Overall, therefore, a game that is absolutely worth considering if you are a fan of the genre (or if you need something to calm the wait for Silksong).

Enjoyable, rich and long-lasting, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven arrives with the aim of carving out its own space in today's market. Coming out in a truly fiery October is a little self-destructive, it must be said, but the experience could - both for veterans of Metaphor: ReFantazio and Silent Hill 2 - be a great dive into the past and, at the same time, a great way to experience a truly atypical JRPG.

Rogue Flight is a fast-paced and adrenaline-filled rail shooter. It has an excellent artistic component that brings to mind some of the great classics of Japanese animation from the 1980s and 1990s. The plot and structure of the campaign are good, the latter with five difficulty levels to allow anyone to appreciate it. The only shame is that the roguelite mode is only sketched out and that there is an exaggerated presence of visual effects that are too shiny and annoying.

A survival horror with a strong stealth component, which forces you to experience the protagonists' story in absolute silence. The gameplay mechanics are well-tested and work quite well, the tense atmosphere is felt, but some questionable design choices and situations that tend to be repetitive partially undermine the player's involvement.

Had it been released in the middle of the last generation, perhaps Unknown 9: Awakening would have had a different effect. Today it is really hard to be impressed by a video game like this, technically and conceptually too old in which the only thing that is promoted is the story.

The strength of the Just Dance franchise is that each edition will make the existing fan base happy. The weakness of the Just Dance franchise is that no edition will change the minds of those who can't stand party rhythm games. Just Dance 2025 Edition therefore goes its own way, pleasing fans and not caring about haters. Too bad the camera mode is still in beta and not present in the old songs, on the other hand the improved accessibility options make it a game truly open to everyone, meant to be danced to while jumping all over the house, sitting on a couch or locked in a closet.

I’m not kidding when I say that Jamboree is quite rich and varied with many minigames and activities. So rich in new features, so many additions and new discoveries that it is the best installment of the Mario Party franchise that anyone can remember. However, there are tons of works in the franchise: so many, different and peculiar that they have become fundamental to the creative development of the Big N. The only recommendation is to try not to make some friends angry because they conquer a star before they can reach it. In that case, play dead.

With its new title, the GRIS studio does not disappoint expectations at all. The story of Alba and Neva is told very well, with the right rhythms, and manages to touch the strings of the soul without ever falling short. Helped, in this, by an exceptional artistic style, with very few equals in the entire sector, and by music that holds up well in comparison with the rest. To play without a shadow of a doubt, but keep in mind that it has a rather short duration.

With Ys X Nordics, Falcom reconfirms the pedigree of excellent action role-playing games that it has always boasted in the Japanese production panorama. The new navigation mechanics enrich and multifaceted an exploratory system that, if it had only expressed itself in the contained three-dimensional maps that represent the islands, could have disappointed most. The battle system remains the jewel in the crown of the work, especially at higher difficulty levels, but perhaps it is time for the Japanese company to take a further step forward in terms of production values. Adol deserves to be the protagonist of a video game that does not seem to have come from a distant era.

How much potential is there in Shadows of Doubt’s ideas, its noir setting, and the special way it lets us experience firsthand every aspect of an investigator’s daily life? Too bad for the bugs, for sandbox cases that are less convincing than scripted ones, and for a sensational concept that isn’t fully exploited.