Songs of Conquest is a turn-based strategy game that fits into the mold of Heroes of Might and Magic, trying to fill the void left by the latter, now missing from our screens for almost a decade. Despite a few flaws in the single-player campaign, Lavapotion's video game features a near-perfect balance of the four playable factions, all of which are well characterized, as well as a huge amount of content, including full support for community-made stuff.

Halo 3 for PC is an excellent re-release of an already amazing FPS, despite being held back by a few issues (no advanced graphics settings and the heavy changes of the netcode).

Persona 3 Reload is a necessary return, a bridge between past and present that confirms the strength and sensitivity of a saga capable of reinventing itself without betraying itself. Atlus demonstrates its ability to respectfully restore, giving the game a modern look and splendid art direction, even if it fails to completely smooth out the wrinkles of a dated design. The experience remains intense, emotional, and deeply human, with a refined combat system and a narrative that continues to shine. The Switch 2 version, unfortunately, shows some technical limitations that partially dampen its magic, but not enough to obscure the greatness of the work. An essential journey for fans, and an excellent entry point for those who have never experienced the Dark Hour.

Although fishing is an intrinsically repetitive activity, Dredge is proportioned so well that it is able to give you every virtual day a reason to take your boat and push your limits a bit further than yesterday, fighting against everything and everyone but above all against yourself.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is an excellently packaged rhythm game overflowing with options and good music. If the genre suits you and the soundtrack of Kingdom Hearts holds a place of honour among your memories, you can't go wrong.

Need for Speed ​​Heat is the greeting of the series to this generation but also a new beginning thanks to its solidity, aesthetics, and playability. Ghost Games has combined the simplicity of the inputs with a great sense of control, in a beautiful open world to see and full of events.

Dragon’s Dogma shines on the new consoles in its final form, free from the limitations of old hardware. It aged pretty well, and still manages to offer a challenging and intriguing gameplay. Content-wise, there's really nothing new compared to the first release of 2012.

Yooka-Laylee is an excellent homage to the best works of Rare on Nintendo 64 (with the notable exception of GoldenEye 007). It's challenging, fun, albeit a little heavy on the hardware requirements. If you still love the old-school platforming, you should definitely consider it.

Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes takes the series into virtual reality territory, skillfully reworking its structure and perspective. VR could have been used more with the puzzles, and the visual polish on Meta Quest 3 isn't perfect, but Iconik's experiment is certainly a success: it's too short, but what an atmosphere.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is a RPG that mixes game elements in a wise and detailed way, managing to do something excellent. It’s doesn’t that step than its predecessor, but it improves its qualitative in every aspect. Must have absolutely.

Supergiant Games just gave us another gem: despite some verbose sections and the amount of text to read (that can be overwhelming at times), Pyre has a sophisticated art direction, a compelling and charming story, and an original and unique take on the RPG genre.

System Redux brings the original Observer to new heights thanks to revised gameplay mechanics and redesigned visuals. Looks gorgeous on next-gen consoles.

Knock on the Coffin Lid aims to expand on the gameplay of the Slay the Spire-inspired games by adding an interesting story to follow thanks to charismatic characters, excellent speech, and a highly polished graphical style. Forget the forked progression until you get to the boss, here there is great freedom allowed for exploration thanks to very large maps full of interconnected points of interest. Fighting takes place in the typical style of this genre of video games, and although the many cards available do not introduce great innovation, we are in front of one of the best card battlers around.

With its gorgeous, minimalistic visuals, Forma.8 is a cool metroidvania game with something to say. Backtracking is well-implemented, while the lack of a detailed map could be considered one of the few weak points of an awesome production.

EA Sports WRC manages to bring the sensations and essence of rallying to our screens, revealing itself to be an engaging, at times overwhelming, racing game. Some details are less refined than others and there is various room for improvement, however if a good day starts in the morning I would say that, as regards the future of the series, fans can celebrate.

The Case of the Golden Idol is an excellent debut. Color Gray has learned the lesson of Return of the Obra Dinn and reinterpreted it with its own style. The cases to be solved are well thought out and to come to grips with puzzles that require deduction and intelligence rather than skill with the classic mechanics of the genre is quite satisfying. The Latvian developer duo in his first game shows they have personality, including in the graphic style that does not mind being disturbing and in the appropriate background music, all of which conveniently mystery-themed.

Fans of sandbox management games will be in their element with Timberborn, though those less familiar with the genre might initially find it disorienting due to the absence of more guided game modes. Once these initial hurdles are cleared, however, it becomes evident that this is a title offering a potential playtime measured in the tens—if not hundreds—of hours, thanks in no small part to robust community mod support.

Sonic X Shadow Generations was a must-play a year ago, and if you haven’t played it yet, it definitely is now that you can do so virtually anywhere without too many compromises in terms of performance. It’s a shame that SEGA didn’t think about those who decided to buy it on Switch last year, who for now are at least forced to pay full price to play what is effectively one of the best Sonic games ever released. Which is not a great compliment.

With plenty of quality content, a revamped progression system and many intriguing features like Torgast and Covenants, Shadowlands is an artistic triumph and one of the best expansions ever. It doesn't revolutionize World of Warcraft and the leveling phase doesn't really develop the character that much, but who cares? The Afterlife is fun.

When I was young, my parents told me that patience is a virtue: I never believed them. WWE 2K22 taught me that was true. The two years hiatus gave Visual Concepts the time to make things right, tuning all the parts of the game that weren’t good enough in the past. You can always do better, so some aspects (like the MyGM game mode) could be improved, but WWE 2K22 feels like a fresh new start.

After nine years, Secrets of Grindea finally leaves Early Access. The finished product is undoubtedly a fun, charming action RPG à la Zelda with a great build variety and an emphasis on loot and farming. However, it does suffer a little when compared with other, similar games that released during its long development cycle.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is still an excellent FPS today, almost thirty years after its first publication. The many improvements introduced by the developers, both on the graphics and gameplay side, manage to modernize the original to make it enjoyable both by the older ones and by those who have never had the opportunity to experience the adventures of Kyle Katarn.

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.

Remnant: From the Ashes is, in all honesty, a breath of fresh air. A solid and alluring co-op action RPG with a good lot of innovations. Don’t call it a “souls-like with guns”, it’s much more than that.

Not only is Rainbow Six Extraction a great cooperative shooter, it also differentiates itself from most of the competition by promoting a more tactical, reasoned approach: the Archean threat is not to be underestimated, as things are always a poor decision away from turning sour for your team. It’s a real shame that you have to unlock almost everything though, difficulty levels included.

Like its predecessors, Yakuza 6 is a beautiful, engaging and deep title. Nonetheless, after seven main chapters, countless spin-offs, remastered versions and remakes, a slight whiff of deja vu is almost inescapable. Having said that, The Song of Life is a great conclusion to an unforgettable saga.

Octopath Traveler 0 is not only an ambitious bridge between past and present, but Square Enix's most mature attempt to reconcile the mobile nature of the original project with the expectations of a JRPG for home consoles. Its monumental structure, the dark, melodramatic, and uncompromising narrative, and the richness of its strategic mechanics deliver an experience that, while stemming from a gacha title, manages to establish itself as an authentic and significant chapter in the series. It's a long, at times challenging journey that requires patience and dedication, but one that rewards with a sense of growth, community, and discovery that is rare even in the modern landscape of the genre. Octopath Traveler continues to represent one of the most consistent and passionate interpretations of the classic JRPG.

Fun, light-hearted, stimulating, ghostly and adorable, Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is a great game that mixes joy, brilliant ideas and ghosts with expert craftsmanship. It's not perfect because the original wasn't perfect, for example the level setting can make you turn up your nose as can the repetitiveness or the resulting rhythm, but there's no doubt that those who appreciated the chapter on 3DS will also love this revisitation. Those who have never played it before can finally fill the gap with a game suitable for adults and children, full of passion, attention to detail and curious ideas, both in single player and multiplayer. As usual, when Nintendo is involved: if we had more video games like this, the world would probably be a better place.