The Games Machine's Scores

  • Games
For 2,650 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:
2652 game reviews
    • 81 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Ni no Kuni II is a good game, rather on the easy side but blessed with a unique charm. This Switch version comes across as the least performant of the bunch, but the inclusion of DLC and portability are good reasons to consider it if you really don't have any other platforms to play on.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rustler has some obvious technical and structural limitations but it is the first to laugh at them because it knows you should never take yourself too seriously. That's what it does and that's how it goes for the player too, who cannot avoid to be captivated by the absurd medieval setting, by the old style gameplay and by mountains of elegant vulgarity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Gamedec was a nice surprise: a cyberpunk detective story with a progression system that rewards intuition and perseverance without holding the player's hand. The dense network of questions and answers, together with the different endings available, guarantees robust replayability.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Tormented Souls tries to capture the magic of the good, old Resident Evil titles. The game delivers a genuine scary atmosphere and decent storytelling, sometimes overwhelmed by poor graphics and some technical issues.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Lost Judgment is a high quality sequel. It’s fun to play, despite the few gameplay changes compared to its predecessor, and has a very engaging and well-acted story. There is never a moment of boredom when playing in the role of Takayuka Yagami, moving between Kamarucho and Yokohama in search of the truth, with a thousand doubts in mind, a thousand enemies to defeat and a thousand extra activities to try.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Encased is an old school RPG with lots of content and an exciting story. However, it is perhaps a little bit too faithful to the classics.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    WarioWare: Get it Together is a clever game: true to itself but incredibly fresh thanks to a simple yet ingenious intuition that revolutionises the axioms of the series without distorting it. It won't last long for lone players aiming solely for the end credits, but those with friends to challenge or collaborate with will find it a great party game.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Deathloop is an unusual but fascinating game to be experienced in one breath as a superb noir thriller in which, however, we are the killer. The AI is out of place compared to the rest of the game and it's not a perfect game, but it's not afraid to dare, it has style in spades, shows the creative team’s burning passion in every corner and when finally get that perfect loop, the satisfaction is immeasurable.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Artful Escape is a hard to define game. Light platform and rhythm’n’game elements are diluted inside a narrative driven gameplay that tasks the player with life and artistic choices. While the gameplay is bent to the main thematic of the game, visual and music take the mind of the player through an epic, psychedelic journey in a rock, sci-fi, over the top space opera.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Lost in Random would have been an interesting game even with a normal combat system, but developers were brave enough to dare and innovate, definitively not an easy task in late 2021. Maybe the effort spent on combining dice and cards has caused other features to be overlooked, and the game is sometimes a bit slow and with little interaction, but this does not impair the experience of playing an artistically very well done game, with a great story and the right amount of humor like I haven't seen in a long time.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Life is Strange: True Colors catches up with the original Life is Strange on a narrative level and, unsurprisingly, improves the experience with superior graphics quality, remarkable voice acting, and a beautiful soundtrack. Once stepped out of the bus, it will be easy to totally identify with Alex and be carried away not only by her search for truth but also, more simply, by the everyday life and warmth that only a place like Haven Springs can offer.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dice Legacy is a competent strategy/survival game with some neat and well-implemented ideas; the random element is there, but generally easy to handle, and good planning trumps sheer luck. However, it isn’t particularly rich in content, and it might get grindy if you’re aiming for the hardest difficulties.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    Tales of Arise is a great game and a significant step forward from its predecessor, a wonderful mix of bright narrative and excellent gameplay.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Golf Club: Wasteland is a masterpiece in the art of telling a big story in a tiny game. Ruins of our Earth, devastated by climate change, speak to the player through the music and the chats of the great Radio Nostalgia and the ironic neon signs of Alphaville. In the meanwhile, the silent Charlie from Mars plays an intense and challenging arcade golf game, where you can never tell what happens next. It’s rare to find so much greatness in a small indie game.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    The Medium on PS5 is pretty much as good as it was on Xbox Series X, despite some graphic flaws and loading issues. Luckily, the DualSense features manage to fill the gap.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The franchise doesn’t make the hoped-for leap in quality, it just takes a step in the right direction: this will hardly be enough to satisfy the most demanding drivers or those who already own WRC 9, but several off-road enthusiasts may still consider it more than enough to have fun.
    • 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.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    A complex, amazing Zelda-style action adventure set in a beautifully crafted world with plenty of towns, creatures, buildings, shops and NPCs. There’s a lot to discover and a lot to play, although some mechanics might feel dated to younger players. The game suffers from some still-to-be-fixed bugs which can be annoying. Overall, NAPS Team did a great job, and brought us a game that Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli could have done themselves.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    In a crowded roguelike landscape, Dreamscaper tries to stand out by adding a narrative, advendure-like mini section, which is so well-crafted and interesting that it almost overshadows the action segments. The game offers good graphics and a cool soundtrack, but also repetitive puzzles and unconvincing enemy design. Luckily, the combat system is excellent, which makes a great pick for any action roguelike fan.
    • 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
    • 90 Critic Score
    Lake is a truly beautiful narrative adventure. The sound design is excellent and the story progresses in a delicate way, with feeling. An oasis of relaxation in a chaotic world that is always in a hurry.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Sonic Colours: Ultimate improves on the fine game released many years ago on Wii, but after all this time it was fair to expect something more, especially for the hedgehog's 30th birthday.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    No More Heroes 3 is a glorious sequence of boss fights, spectacular, fun and crazy, but surrounded by a really bland open world. If you're a fan of Travis it remains a recommended game, especially considering the previous games adopted a very similar structure, but everyone else would do well to wait for a price drop.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Twelve Minutes takes advantage of a time loop to tell us an intricate story, managing to motivate player's creativity in trying to prevent seemingly unavoidable situations. Featuring a breathtaking voiceover, it lacks in credibility when it tries to amaze and horrify at any cost, while successfully managing to blow the audience away. It will give you a fulfilling afternoon, and if you love point and click adventures you shouldn't miss it. You can easily see the first two or three endings, but unlocking them all needs quite an effort.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    A remarkable sequel to one of the best Metroidvania ever made. Despite some minor flaws, Axiom Verge 2 represents a new building block in the fascinating and growing universe crafted by Thomas Happ. Can't wait for the next chapter.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Incredible attention to detail, an impressive physics model and a focus on the bike maintenance make RIMS Racing a strong first entry for a new IP; however, the erratic AI and self-harming design choices reduce the overall enjoyment of the game. Also, day one DLCs are never a good look.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 94 Critic Score
    The very existence of Psychonauts 2 demonstrates that good ideas have to overcome a thousand difficulties before being realized, but in the end they somehow impose themselves. It took years for the first chapter to overcome people’s skepticism but, day after day, it has built up a fan base so large that we were finally able to play with a full-fledged, high budget sequel. And it's beautiful. Pleasant, original, colorful, compelling. Do you need more adjectives to be convinced?
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    King’s Bounty II is a decent turn-based RPG, but it’s also one of the most derivative games out there.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a valid cooperative shooter, one where you can just drop in and shoot stuff with glee, or put your coordination and teamplay to the test if you’re looking for a challenge. There are friendly AIs, but they aren’t great and solo play only works at the lower difficulties. Finally, while the game is competent and fun, it also shows its low budget.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    A year later, Ghost of Tsushima is still a great game, and this Director's Cut is the definitive version, especially if you own a PlayStation 5. It's a great experience, but it's mainly for newcomers: the improvements are welcome, but hardly enough to tempt veterans of the original.

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