Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a very bold game that manages to talk about mental issues in a truly emotional way, using the gameplay dynamics of an action adventure. It’s an authentic manifesto of how videogames can deal with serious matters in a way that fits perfectly the medium. And if you’ll decide to go along with Senua in her descent to darkness, you’ll probably remember her for the rest of your life.

Kring is a project that the author himself defines as intimately personal and, therefore, carried out out of pure hedonism. You buy it at your own risk with the knowledge that the game is the way it likes it, not the way it likes it, or you, or an audience framed by some market survey. So you may find it funny or maybe not, brilliant or terribly stupid, unmissable or forgettable and you can't get out of it: it goes just to taste. I found it pleasant but not irresistible, engaging but a little too borderline to last long. In short, one of those novelties that drive you crazy at first, but for which you soon lose interest. For five euros, however, it is free, and it is definitely worth doing this psychedelic gaming experience, if only to encourage Ivan to do other similar things.

The "rehydrated" version of Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is an all-round entertainment product for a younger audience, who can take the opportunity to learn about the franchise, or on the other hand consolidate it with an original and fun adventure to play. Also confirmed by my teenage double, who enjoyed playing it from start to finish.

X-Morph: Defense is an interesting experiment, a hybrid formula that combines the tower defense genre with the past-paced action of twin-stick shooters. The gameplay is great, but there are still some annoying technical problems that need to be addressed as soon as possible, in order for the game to reach its full potential.

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.

The Wandering Village offers us Onbu, which is great. It’s great to shape our relationship with him and care for him; however, as a city builder, the game rhythm is pretty flat and lacks memorable moments. It all runs pretty smooth – maybe too smooth.

Skate Story offers an original approach to skateboarding, using it as a tool for movement and combat rather than a purely athletic discipline. The physics are solid and accurately convey weight and inertia, while the controls are responsive and accessible, allowing players to chain together tricks and combos without excessive technical barriers. The boss fight system, based on speed and scoring, works well and enhances the gameplay. However, the level design remains cautious: the routes offer few opportunities for creative experimentation, board customization is superficial, and the quests, while clear in their objectives, sometimes feel like simple gameplay pretexts rather than genuine storytelling progressions.

Helheim is a simple yet engaging video game, and it’s pretty hard too.

NBA 2K20 remains a beautiful and satisfying title, but this time the loot box case heavily influences the final vote.

God Eater 3 isn’t quite polished like Monster Hunter World, but it surely is the best alternative to Capcom’s videogame.

Despite some narrative clichés, the little prequel of Life is Strange 2 proves to be very effective in intensity and emotion.

A deep and engaging video game based on the popular Japanese coin-op.

Terminator 2D: No Fate is a conscious act of love towards a specific era of video games, recreated with technical skill and aesthetic taste that go far beyond simple nostalgic exercise. Bitmap Bureau once again demonstrates its mastery of the 16-bit language, crafting a title that seems to come from an alternative timeline where quality tie-in games never went extinct. The problem is that, just like a 1990s action movie watched on VHS, Terminator 2D: No Fate ends too quickly. The challenge is quickly overcome, the longevity remains limited even when exploring the variations offered, and the extra modes fail to transform the experience into something more lasting. It remains, therefore, an excellent game in its form, but limited in scope: a small instant classic, destined to leave an enthusiastic memory rather than occupy the player's evenings for a long time. A creative success, in short, that only needed a few more cartridges in the magazine.

ChainStaff is a 2D action shooter built on twin-stick foundations, enhanced by a strong central mechanic: the ChainStaff, a multifunctional weapon that can be used for attacking, grappling, shielding, or interacting with the environment. The gameplay is fast and accessible, with solid ideas and a good variety of situations, although in practice the weapon is mostly used offensively. The choice system – whether to rescue or devour soldiers – is an interesting addition, affecting upgrades and endings. Among the drawbacks are a fairly linear level design, poorly integrated secret areas, and occasionally imprecise physics. The visual style is original, but inconsistent.

Monster Energy Supercross 5 takes all the main gameplay elements of the past edition, without making huge changes. For this reason, despite the work done by the Milestone team being overall quite good, those who expected a clear step forward compared to the earlier entries could be partially disappointed. Among the positive aspects, some tweaks to the physics and greater accessibility should be noted. Among the negative ones, the lack of significant new features stands out: more content would undoubtedly have improved a gaming experience which, however, remains more than enjoyable.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes may initially seem like just another musou, but it possesses some elements that serve as a link to the illustrious Fire Emblem series. This gives it a distinct identity, but at the heart of the combat, the mechanics of the series will inexorably feel like something already seen. Great for fans, a little less so for others: if you're not afraid of a challenge, play by enabling the permanent death of fallen warriors. It will help you better enjoy all the possibilities the game offers.

Leaving aside a disappointing lack of ideas, Mega Man 11 stands as a decent modern chapter of one of the most important Capcom sagas of all time.

Saints Row: The Third Remastered faces the market as the umpteenth well-built remake, in these last few months, upgrading in a sufficient way all the technical aspects of the original title. Irreverent, reckless, armed with good intentions, the game could be easily recommended, even just for a taste of insanity madness in full swing.

Those looking primarily for a co-op horror FPS to savor will be well-received, as Killing Floor 3's foundation and core mechanics are solid, despite some performance issues and limited content. Those hoping for an evolution that enhances the franchise's brutal charm, or at least a third installment that innovates the gameplay, may be slightly disappointed.

Playing Destroy All Humans! is like watching an old alien movie in a summer drive-in. The movie may not be a masterpiece, but atmosphere and context play a fundamental role in enjoying the experience. So the not particularly clever mission design and the not-so-inspired mechanics feel a little less annoying when you are playing a game that makes you laugh, does not take itself seriously and does not require a month of vacation to be finished.

Despite the absence of the co-op and the free mode, Warriors All-Stars succeeds in bringing fans of the genre a lot of action, imbued with a lot of well known characters from the Koei Tecmo roster.

In recent years we have had a large offer of city builders and, more generally, management, each with a well-defined perspective on the genre or with elements of novelty. In this context Pharaoh: a New Era makes the years he carries on his shoulders feel more than other franchises resurrected by Dotemu. However, it remains a very solid city builder on which Triskell Interactive has intelligently got its hands on to modernize the interface and simplify some mechanisms that were a little too 90s. The amount of content has something truly remarkable (in fact, the Cleopatra expansion is included) and will delight videogame nostalgics and archaeologists.

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.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is yet another Tri-ace jrpg, beautiful in the combat system, while poor in the aesthetic realization of the game world.

First-party developer Japan Studio shows competence in the use of virtual reality, and even more in the way it takes the DualShock controller at the front of the action. The protagonists, Sony's Bots, are as cute as they come, and the general look and feel make Astro Bot a joy to play. On the other side, the game does barely offer any kind of challenge at all and more variety in gameplay would have been appreciated by experienced players. However, it is good to see this type of production for virtual reality, which show great potential.

What if during the jump from mobile to PC you lose some attractiveness and do not try to remedy it in any way? Slice & Dice's formula, perfect on smartphones, is a bit poor on the desktop, and there is nothing to do but decide which dice to roll and which enemy to attack, hoping for an interesting drop or the arrival of a stronger character. The strategic component would be interesting, thanks to gameplay that allows us to know the moves of monsters in advance, but it is all too simple and too tied to luck. The multiple options and situations make it a good game, but not the expected masterpiece.

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.

Deliver At All Costs seems to be aware of its limitations, and by virtue of that the guys at Studio Far Out Games decided to focus their attention on the most important elements, such as the quirky and original missions, or the layout of St. Monique City. However, not everything is at the same level: the animations of the humans are quite stiff and in general everything is poorly polished, but fun still abounds and that is what matters most.