Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a thoughtful reinterpretation of a historically divisive chapter, finally able to showcase its strengths without being hampered by the structural limitations of the original. The Dragon Engine, the revised pacing, and a deeply refreshed combat system restore dignity to a story that never lost its merit, but which for years remained trapped in an unappealing form. The much-hyped Dark Ties content proves to be more for fans than newcomers, but the overall balance is finally right. Yakuza Kiwami 3 doesn't rewrite the history of the series, but it gives it a much-needed facelift that makes it enjoyable to experience again. And that's exactly what this chapter needed.

Arkane Studios offers a very well crafted roguelite experiment, although repetitive on long distance, with some small but forgivable weakness.

Nobody Saves the World is a hack n' slash that starts from a quite casual approach, due to the lack of both inventory and skill points distribution, but shows its real depth after a few hours of play, when we are called to experiment with thousands of different builds to to better tear all enemies to pieces. The repetitiveness that generally plagues this kind of games is kept under control thanks to fun quests and a plot that takes us on a tour around a crazy world. Absolutely recommended both for hack n' slash lovers and for those who want to approach to this genre of games without taking them too seriously.

Death Stranding is a good game, as well as the most ambitious work born from the mind of Hideo Kojima. It's not perfect, but successfully captures the player in a dark and fragmented world, so it's really worth fighting for.

Aegis Rim is another small, but at the same time impressive masterpiece from Vanillaware that delivers an engaging story through an incredible visual style and an enjoyable narrative-strategic hybrid. This will be remembered as one of 2020’s best PlayStation 4 exclusives.

Back to the Dawn is a management RPG set in a prison populated by anthropomorphic animals, with strong survival elements. You have twenty-one days to organize an escape, keeping an eye on time, resources, social relationships, and skills. Every action consumes precious minutes and can influence future events. The turn-based combat system mirrors typical JRPG gameplay. Deep, branching, and challenging, it surprises with its wealth of options and narrative variety, despite its lackluster sound. A brilliant and strategic game, worth replaying several times to see as many endings as possible.

Undemanding and decidedly enjoyable, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a light-hearted and often cartoon-like Action JRPG which is really fun to spend your time with. Of course, you don't have to have anything against going back and forth a thousand times in the same places, to do the same things again and again, because in this case appreciating it would be quite difficult. The visual quality is really impressive and I really liked the mix of backdrops in (very rich) 3D and two-dimensional pixelated characters, and I can't get the music out of my head. In short, a good game: not essential but absolutely enjoyable.

Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is a convincing expansion, the perfect entry point into the series for newbies, while offering a range of improvements for everyone.

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.

RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is the perfect example of how a minor classic should be brought back to life: without distorting its identity, but updating it with intelligence, respect and a healthy dose of courage. The work done by Atlus is not limited to a coat of HD paint: it is a real redevelopment of the original game, which today can be played with pleasure even by those who have no nostalgia to redeem. The new combat system, the more balanced pace and a more modern general direction give new life to a title that, at the time, had brilliant ideas but a rough realization. It is not perfect, nor does it want to be: it is a fascinating piece of a larger story, a bridge between the old Megaten spirit and its more accessible incarnations. In short, Raidou awaits you in better shape than ever, and finally ready to be discovered by everyone.

Valkyria Chronicles finally comes back to major gaming platforms, where it belongs. Despite some minor defects, the management of tactics and strategies in and out the battlefield offers a great experience. SEGA bring us a huge amount of high-quality content, but the tone of the narrative might not be in line with part of the western audience.

A cool puzzle-platformer where cloning and killing ourselves is mandatory to reach our goals, with nice looking pixel art graphics and a great atmosphere.

EA SPORTS FC 26 marks a step forward from its predecessor. Balanced gameplay and a fluid structure that's incredibly fun, it also brings some changes to Ultimate Team and Career modes (both player and manager), always hitting the mark. We hope this holds true throughout the year, and we're keeping our fingers crossed for any patches that, in the past, have brought about some unwelcome changes.

The latest horror from Bloober Team is a great bridge between the new generation of consoles and the old classics of the genre, with an intriguing story, a surreal setting and a road full of puzzles to decipher.

Crusader Kings III is one of the best Paradox Development Studio’s games to date. Deep and compelling, this grand strategy can entertain you for dozens, if not hundreds of hours between its intrigues, holy wars, and dynasties in the making.

Village is an intense Resident Evil experience, with a great cast of heroes and villains. While it does not lack great moments, its story also feels a little jumbled and non-cohesive, and some gameplay elements are not perfectly focused.

It won't be remembered for its technical features, but the depth of the gameplay and some truly original features make Dragon's Dogma one of the best role playing games ever made.

Crisis Core Reunion is the prequel that if you haven't played, then you absolutely have to recover and this operation is just for this, to aesthetically insert this chapter in line with the modernization work of the remake of Final Fantasy VII and add a piece for the future of the relative remake. The defects it carries with it are those of a game that - on balance - was released in 2007 on a portable console.

On the PS5 Death Stranding is as beautiful as ever and this Director's Cut gives players a bunch of new and (quite) interesting content, but not enough to make it feel really new and fresh.

Octo is an excellent expansion, even better than the original game campaign if you are looking for a really stiff challenge.

MotoGP 23 is the qualitative leap that the Milestone series needed. We are not talking about revolutions, it would be unrealistic to think so, but about consistent improvements in all the characteristic aspects of the title, from the simulation verve through an engaging career, from a high-profile technical sector to the physical and mental sensations of the race, where the AI exhibits new behaviors although some issues still persist.

Endless Space 2 is probably the best videogame ever created by Amplitude Studios, a 4X strategic game with an incredible personality, a deep (and unusual, for this type of productions) storyline, and an almost flawless gameplay. A real gem.

The Lost Legacy follows in the footsteps of Uncharted 4, and it couldn't be otherwise, and Chloe and Nadine make for a nice buddy couple. It's a pretty short experience, with some replay value and an unprecedented - at least for the series - open level to explore. A solid "more of the same", for better or worse.

Returnal might not be the mind-bending masterpiece that I was, perhaps mistakenly, expecting after the praise I’d heard from friends and colleagues, but it’s still an excellent roguelike with clean gameplay and a beautiful presentation. Word of warning though: the length of each run combined with the difficulty might make it frustrating for some, and graphical optimization relies heavily on the use of supersampling technologies.

Sniper Elite 4 is a superb adaptation, capable of shrinking Karl Fairburne's Italian adventure into a pocket size while keeping the strengths of the original game intact. If you already played Sniper Elite 4 three years ago and aren’t itching to replay it in a portable format, your savings would be better spent elsewhere, given the absence of exclusive content.

Monster Sanctuary merges a complex turn-based combat RPG we are used to see in big JRPG productions with metroidvania-style exploration and succeeds in both genres. Pixel perfect jumps alternate with tactical battles down to the last hitpoint, and we’ll need the help of our monsters to overcome difficult areas and solve puzzles. Meanwhile, an interesting storyline compels us as we catch enemy eggs, Pokémon style. So many genres mixed in one game, and such a pretty one to boot! Highly recommended.

Creative Assembly has been working hard in these months and results are pretty clear: the innovations in Dynasties bring well implemented improvements that help modernise the campaign.

Football Manager 2020 is another Sports Interactive title packaged to the smallest detail, almost perfect and optimized in all aspects. However, its structure is starting to need updating.