The Games Machine

There are games that do not necessarily have to innovate or dare to propose new mechanics because they are simply already perfect as they are. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble fits into this category by offering the classic Super Monkey Ball gameplay while introducing nothing more than the spin dash to add further speed to an already frenetic racing. This seems to be the franchise's fate: to occasionally offer hundreds of new levels until gradually interest fades, but so far we have a fun racing game that is easy to complete yet requires a lot of practice to find optimal paths and trajectories. Good.

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Chornobyl Liquidators offers a poignant and intimate story, presenting a real playful structure. It entertains and engages for the entire five hours it takes to get to the end credits, also reinforced by brilliant writing and memorable dialogues capable of transporting you to another brutal reality. It could move those who, impressed by the television series, have left their hearts in the story of the most tragic nuclear power plant in the world.

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An exciting and enjoyable multiplayer video game, which knows how to give lightheartedness and beauty to its interior, while maintaining a bright and crackling appeal. Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game is a title that can offer several hours of gameplay in total harmony. It presents itself and is managed well, net of a certain repetition of events, which, however, do not weigh down the experience too much. In short, a good test.

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Three new stories set in the Alan Wake multiverse, starring alternative versions of familiar faces. Survival horror, unlikely love stories, caffeinated zombie-cultists and meta-humour condensed into three hours of multiverse gameplay, a condensed distillation of Remedy's signature madness.

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An horror adventure with a strong 'Carpenterian' flavour that delivers some interesting ideas and awakens ancestral fears, but in the end leaves the taste of a missed opportunity. An excessively linear gameplay, limited longevity and some technical issues prevent it from reaching the level of The Chinese Room's best productions.

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You will never look at ants the same way! The small team at Slug Disco has not revolutionised the RTS genre, but they offer us a unique perspective on it, where the quality of world-building plays a huge role in how fascinating this game is. It almost make me forget there is no multiplayer.

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Fields of Glory: Kingdoms is the Sword in the Stone of strategy games, Thor's Hammer of 4X games. To use it properly you have to be worthy, you have to be the Chosen One. How much time are you willing to invest in learning the mechanics of the gameplay? If the answer is "everything you need", you have on your hands the most complex and complete grand strategy game around, capable of captivating you for months, if not years, thanks to a painstaking simulation of all aspects of running a kingdom, from politics to religion, from descent to war. If you don't feel like giving your full attention to the game, it's not for you.

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Shadow of the Erdtree might have some flaws – reusing certain enemies, inconsistent boss balance, patchwork world design – but even so, it's still Elden Ring at its core and it's still leagues ahead of most other high-profile open world games. Definitely a worthwhile addition, and for a fair price, for any fan of the base game. Just make sure you look up how to get to Mohg first.

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The Final Shape is one of Destiny 2's best expansions and a worthy conclusion to the Light and Darkness saga. Lots of content, all beautifully crafted, including an outstanding campaign and exciting endgame activities, are matched by a new subclass and the introduction of some brand new enemies. The latter are not very inspired, to be honest, but in some specific situations they require changing approaches to confrontations to get the upper hand. All in all, a big yes for The Final Shape and for Bungie, which can thus redeem itself after the débâcle of Lightfall.

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Monster Hunter Stories 1+2 is a very welcome package for lovers of the franchise dedicated to Monster Hunter. Now more polished, adjusted and graphically cleaned, it makes its dirty impression especially on PC, where the sixty frames per second fill the screen and color it. Two video games that come at the hottest time for Capcom and the entire franchise

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Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance breaks the shackles that initially bound it to a far too modest hardware to finally shine on a range of systems capable of enhancing its visionary beauty. On top of that, a resounding series of additions makes the handling of demons even deeper, while an alternative story line will keep even those who lost sleep over the Switch version happy.

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Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is yet another masterstroke from Digital Eclipse, a developer capable of breathing new life into classics with incredible talent. Apart from its fundamental historical value, however, Wizardry is a game that is now rather limited in its mechanics and cadence, classifying itself as an artefact suitable mainly for digital archaeologists eager to rediscover it. It would have been great if it had been accompanied by the wealth of historical notions to which Digital Eclipse has now accustomed us.

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F1 24 is a definite step backward for the Codemasters and Electronic Arts series. Many of the new features introduced in this new iteration are not only unconvincing, but in fact go to the detriment of a game formula that is admittedly old but at least works. With less content than last year and an outdated graphics compartment, the 2024 edition of the official Formula 1 video game is nothing more than a homework assignment. While waiting for a revolution that may never come, unfortunately this remains the only alternative for fans of the top motorsport championship.

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On the streets of Heading Out, there is some confusion. Serious Sim's game tries to combine racing and storytelling through some micro-management mechanics, but the balance between the parts does not hold for the entire game, and every now and then the narrative path seems inexorably shaped by the availability of resources. Heading Out, however, shows his best to eyes and ears, as the gray roads of North America flow beneath the wheels and the cassette tape in the stereo blasts a perfect travel soundtrack into the speakers.

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Astor: Blade of the Monolith is an action game with a nice combat system, but unfortunately it tends to repeat game situations a little too often during the approximately 15 hours needed to reach the end credits.

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Apart from the "30 fps" issue, which in no way detracts from the overall quality of the experience, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is, today as yesterday, an extremely enjoyable, fun, perfectly calibrated and absolutely unmissable title. Whether or not it's right to entrust a remake with Nintendo Switch's swan song is not our concern, play it without asking too many questions and you won't regret it.

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Dread Delusion is an homage to the open world RPGs of the past, in which many times intuition and correct interpretation of texts were worth as much as skill with swords, bows and fireballs. A question arises, however: does this still apply today? Certainly not for everyone. Low-resolution textures and models with very few polygons certainly work well in boomer shooters, slightly less in games in which the environments are key components of the experience. Still, the story is very interesting to follow, and if you get past the overly basic combat system it can engage you for a fair amount of hours.

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An action-adventure that repeatedly quotes the old Resident Evil games and uses their mechanics to offer the more nostalgic audience an experience very close to the survival horror of the PS1-N64 era. A hint of modernity in the controls makes it palatable even to less veteran gamers, but a few balancing problems and a fairly short longevity take it away from the pinnacle of the genre.

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This new revival, in addition to engaging and exciting, details the talent of Tekla and Jonathan Blow. It is a new look that, in addition to involving and impressing, embellishes the journey, making it pleasant and much higher than it appears. The work is absolutely valuable, so much so that the vote below, exactly in line with the value of the work and the past, remains unchanged or almost unchanged.

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Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is one of the masterpieces of the year, a title that stands out in the already large Annapurna stable and the umpteenth confirmation of Simogo as one of the most talented teams around. A puzzle game, a graphic adventure, an investigative game, even a simple dungeon crawler, chameleonic and always surprising, but above all a cursed, engaging, disturbing story, which starts from the psychological thriller to end up thinking about art in the broadest sense of the term. Maniacal level design, extraordinary atmosphere, incredible moments for a work that I am under no illusion can have commercial success but which, perhaps, like certain auteur films, can become cult.

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