The Games Machine

MLB The Show 21 lands on the new generation of consoles with a limited amount of changes compared to last season. Those who expected a revolution spearheaded by the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will be partially disappointed. That said, MLB The Show 21 is also an extremely refined title, full of options and fun, able to entertain those who want to face a few innings in total relax and also those who are looking for high-level competition.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Returnal is an amazing game. Metroidvania, roguelite and bullet hell mixed perfectly, and the result is fluid, rich and incredibly addictive action. The loop becomes the cornerstone of a mysterious, allegorical, at times terrifying narrative, capable of keeping you glued to DualSense from start to finish.

Review in Italian | Read full review

R-Type Final 2 is an aesthetically brilliant 'reboot' of the classic arcade game by Irem Corporation. Old players will feel at home, either when approaching the game with the strategies of the past, or when they try to change habits by exploring the new possibilities offered by the game.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Excellent throwback to memories of our younger selves, Total War: Rome Remastered reminds us how good the basics of this series were and how far it has travelled in the last seventeen years.

Review in Italian | Read full review

The Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack collects three chapters of the Atelier series released between 2016 and 2018. It also includes all DLCs and some additional content, making it a good choice for people who would like an introduction to the series – but if you come from the recent Ryza games, keep in mind that the Mysterious Trilogy is not as detailed or refined. Finally, the price point seems pretty steep, especially on PC.

Review in Italian | Read full review

MotoGP 21 is the best MotoGP simulator you could wish for and on PS5 it's even better. There are some technical imperfections, but none of them can ruin a rewarding, fun and addicting gameplay.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139 is not a remake but neither a simple remastered. It's an enhanced version that fixes some of the original game's issues and delivers a bunch of new content, but does nothing to refresh its dated approach to world and quest design.

Review in Italian | Read full review

SaGa Frontier Remastered is a 25 years old role-playing game that was never released in Europe. While this remastered doesn't do much in terms of graphics, it adds a fair amount of content that will certainly make it intriguing for returning players. Novices, on the other hand, might have a harder time adapting to some of its more dated mechanics.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Say No! More is such a strange game it can barely be considered one: you just need to press the spacebar to get to the end (even if there's a moment when you need to *not* press it and I almost got stuck). Despite this, it is indeed a funny game that smashes the "yes man" workaholic culture, and it does it under a beautiful SEGA-blue sky. Perfect if played after eight hours in the office.

Review in Italian | Read full review

To enjoy The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV you must at least have finished the previous chapter: it's simply imperative. Recommendations aside, this is an excellent role-playing game, technically not up to date but demonstrating Nihon Falcon's mastery of the genre.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Oddworld: Soulstorm is an imperfect game, like many other, but unlinke most of them it accepts the idea of taking risks to achieve something different. Unfortunately, it only sometimes happens, but it was worth trying. As Abe knows well, there's no way other than fighting (or jumping, or chanting…) to achieve what you want.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Poison Control has some good ideas, but executed very superficially. An appealing but extremely simple game, its best merits are a good art direction and the hilarious writing. The rest is quite forgettable.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Sometimes, less is more. Chronicle of Innsmouth: Mountains of Madness is a game that knows its limits and strives to do its best with the resources it has. The story is short, but well written and fascinating, the English acting is good and background illustrations are often inspiring. Considering that the team is small and so was the budget, their work deserves to be praised.

Review in Italian | Read full review

With the launch of Yakuza 6: Song of Life, the saga of Kazuma Kiryu reaches its conclusion on PC and Xbox as well. The two years that passed since its launch on Sony consoles have provided it with technical improvements that, especially on PC, made the game's visuals more in line with the times. Compared to Yakuza 0, the combat is a bit on the stiffier side, but still satysfying, and Yakuza 6 is a worthy final chapter in a fifteen-year long narrative arc.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Between ups and downs Forged in the Barrens is not completely convincing, but it's still an expansion useful for Hearthstone's growth. The meta must be fixed quickly to allow new mechanics and archetypes to come forward without fear.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Giving Outriders a score is a tougher challenge than I thought. The core gameplay loop is fun, incredibly so when it clicks, the loot system is well thought out and wielding the powers of the Anomaly is power-tripping. But the game is also a slow burner, enemy variety is disappointingly poor, there is no scaling of content for party members of lower levels, and audio and animations aren't always that great. But the core is good, and we have faith that People Can Fly will polish those rough edges.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Hammer & Ravens developers have been brave and they got several good intuitions, even if the balance problems make the management component less engaging and the graphic style makes the tower defence not too sexy. The main character is a blast though.

Review in Italian | Read full review

I had so much fun playing Kaze and the Wild Makes. Fast, colorful, easy to play if you just want to see the end, and absolutely challenging if you try to fully complete it unlocking every secret. The gameplay is not that innovative, and sometimes borrows heavily from the classics, but the result is an undeniably competent game. If you like platformers, there is no reason in the world not to try it. Highly recommended.

Review in Italian | Read full review

There's no doubt Arboria is an interesting rogue lite, but perhaps it was been published at the wrong time, in a market really overcrowded by games of the same type. The game offers captivating graphics, the original setting and the robust combat system, as well as the interesting character skill tree have but also lacks variety, which combined with the abscence of side quests tends to make every run look the same. I still enjoyed, although the long waiting times between one run and the next are a poor fit for the genre.

Review in Italian | Read full review

DOOM 3 is the ideal choice for virtual reality and its environments have never felt so vivid. The game remains an old school shooter, however the main campaign and the two expansions will give you a great reason to dust off your Aim controller. This adaptation is not perfect, but we should count our blessings.

Review in Italian | Read full review