The Games Machine's Scores

  • Games
For 2,656 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 22% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 79
Highest review score: 99 Baldur's Gate 3
Lowest review score: 30 Dino Dini's Kick Off Revival
Score distribution:
2658 game reviews
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Madden 22 is not a huge step forward in a series that needs to shift gears to return to its former glory. There is no shortage of interesting ideas, too bad that there are quite a few gameplay issues and that some game modes (Face to the Franchise, for example) are way too boring and uninteresting.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    As a collection, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy is pretty pointless. If you're a fan of Kishimoto's manga and for some reasons you didn't play Ultimate Ninja Storm 3: Full Burst when it was originally released, you can buy just this one game. In addition, the switch conversion is pretty sloppy.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    After 30 years, the original Fire Emblem gets a Western release, an English localization and some new features meant to smoothen the experience. It’s a neat history lesson, but gameplay wise Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light shows its age.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    This porting fails to address many aspects that required VR-focused re-work. In additions, content cuts like the absence of co-op mode essentially make this version of Borderlands 2 sub-par to the original game.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Like a lazy student, King's Quest reaches the end making it homework without any extra effort.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Master of Orion fails as a remake of the classic SimTex title, and as an attempt to renovate the 4X genre: the gameplay is too simple and limited to offer a real challenge to the player, and a variety of the old mechanics are missing. Despite all this, it can be a pretty good starting point for players who want to become familiar with the genre.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is like a 90’s game: good for short sessions of play, with only few modes, a cheating AI and a lot of pressing the same button over and over. Despite all that, it manages to be entertaining for a few hours, but you’ll soon get bored of fighting the same boxer but with a different skin. The strange, over the top narrative Arcade is enjoyable, but with just one more mode (Versus), there’s no way to get to the twelve round without getting tired of its basic mechanics.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Anthem is a hymn to laziness, where a great potential is held back by strong repetitiveness, the absence of some basic features and the artificially increased level of difficulty. Moreover, BioWare and Electronic Arts made an incomplete product, a mere idea of a full game with the promise that each patch will bring us closer to what we might call a final product. Still, is it possible to have fun with a group of friends and spend some pleasant time exploring or fighting? Sure, but the experience will quickly turn into an infinite loop devoid of any goal.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    WWE Battlegrounds is an excellent idea lost inside way too much repetitiveness. 2K wrestling games needed a fresh new style and approach, but Saber’s game got lost due to an oversimplified fighting system and an excessive use of microtransactions. You need hours to unlock everything, but your wrestling enthusiasm is doomed to expire after the first 2-3 hours of playing WWE Battlegrounds, just when you’re gonna realize its best moments are already gone. Too bad, because I feel the need of a good old arcade wrestling game, but I also would have liked it to focus on entertaining me and not try to strip me of all my money for a useless Undertaker skin.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Endless Ocean Luminous is not the dream sequel I always hoped for to Arika's beloved submarine series. The change of direction has favoured the co-operative component, but has mutilated the original experience of many interesting and distinctive features. The purely educational aspect remains, and the possibility of organising dives together with such a large number of friends is not to be underestimated, but I wouldn't recommend the game to those who are only interested in reliving the fascinating sensations of the original chapters on Wii.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    A video game that would have deserved more care and attention from a technical point of view. The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo could have been much more and with more content. Such a pity.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    This fifth installment of the Mario & Sonic series is a nice multi-event sports title, although a little too easy for an experienced gamer. It's pretty clear that the targeted audience is younger gamers, and they'll have a lot of fun, thanks to the eye-candy graphics, the local multiplayer (not online, though) and a roster of well-known and loved characters.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Diluvion is a wonderful-to-see boring-to-play game, which squanders the chance to emerge from the depths because of its repetition.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Tales of the Neon Sea makes the cyberpunk arguments of Blade Runner its own, embedding them in a valuable work in pixel art, and managing to give us back some of that sound old 1980s science fiction that, for one reason or another, continues to fascinate us. The gameplay, however, is plagued by repetitive mechanics and some puzzles suffer from a bad translation from Chinese into English.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is not a bad game but it is disappointing, a metroidvania all too anchored in the past that doesn't really add anything new to the genre that Koji Igarashi himself contributed. Beyond the bland execution and the continuous plagiarism of Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, Bloodstained is plagued by too many problems, especially in terms of combat and the hitbox system, preventing an enjoyable gaming experience. It hurts to say this, but there are too many better alternatives to Bloodstained on the market. We expected a lot more than this from Igarashi-san.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Accel World VS Sword Art Online has a decent and enjoyable combat system, but everything else is definitely sub-par: the graphics seems to be coming from the previous PlayStation, and the world is dull and pretty anonymous. Probably slightly more interesting if you're a fan of the series.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Yomawari: Midnight Shadows is a pretty basic horror title, with a creepy and disturbing atmosphere, and an interesting bestiary. The game is not too difficult, the super-deformed art direction is a little bit anticlimactic, but overall it's a good scary ride.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Collector difficult to recommend to all gamers. Excellent for nostalgics, less so for those approaching Yu-Gi-Oh for the first time.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Vader Immortal: a Star Wars VR Series is practically a video game amusement park attraction, and I mean that in terms of length as well. But it’s still an enjoyable experience that will delight every fan of Lucas' opera omnia for a couple of hours.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is not the best musou ever created, but if you're looking for something simple and fun, this new offering from Koei Tecmo might be a good choice. Unless, of course, you have a peculiar dislike for the genre.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Adventures of Mana is a low-budget title that will appease all the fans of vintage RPGs. For a game that should have celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mystic Quest (Game Boy), it could have been much, much better.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    The Last Hero of Nostalgaia is the Dark-Soulest of all Soulslikes. The idea of using lore as a game mechanic is interesting, but in the end maybe too easily applied on the experience. Overall Nostalgaia is a Dark Souls child with no regrets about it, but with some over-simplification and some battle-related issues.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    What a pity! Impact Winter could have been a great survival game, but it's affected by so many issues that it's impossible to reward Mojo Bones' work with more than a generous sixty-five. Anyhow, you should keep an eye on it: the future patches could fix at least the major bugs and transform a caterpillar in a wonderful butterfly.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    A lazy job. The game is quite fun, despite the obvious repetition of the genre, but the porting presents the same problems of the original version. Tons of content is not enough to let the game get more than a modest appreciation.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    No empathy and no rhythm are just two of the issues that prevent Before the Storm to reach our hearts in the same way Life is Strange did, two years ago. Let's wait for Episode 2 and let's hope for a deeper friendship between Rachel and Chloe, disconnected from sexual logic only.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Conan Exiles shows some flaws and missing contents that make it still weak and incomplete. The potential of the game, however, is still good.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    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.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Unto The End is able to build an entire universe using almost no words. Every gameplay element is part of its narrative of a wild, brutal and unfair world. Sadly, its combat system feels (and probably is) unfair, making the entire experience sometime unbearable.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is a double-edged sword. The setting and the characters are sure to appeal to an R. A. Salvatore fan, and there are hints of a fun, entertaining game here and there. But they are often overshadowed by the many issues, such as extremely poor enemy AI and questionable design choices.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Lost Soul Aside is one of those titles that, once you've played it, makes you realize the difference between knowing a video game series well and developing one. There are several elements worth saving, but they're not helped at all by the context in which they were inserted. And the idea of ​​launching everything at a premium price also lowers the appeal of the offering.

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