The Games Machine

Minute of Islands is an adventure where the story and its themes get the main stage, while the gameplay is mostly there to get the story going, but it stands among other games thanks to the depth of its narrative. The added value are the outstanding illustrations, sort of a mix between Attack on Titan and Adventure Time, that manage to create a fresh, colourful, intriguing, but at the same time disturbing world, just like Mo's adventure.

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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.

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Super Soccer Blast: America vs Europe is a small, arcade soccer game that is super entertaining to play, at least for the first hours. As almost every other arcade sport game, when you learn to master all of its mechanics it gets a little less entertaining, but you can always use it as an old-style 1vs1 couch game with friends. Few rules, a fast pace and hilarious names are everything the Euro (or Copa America) summer needs.

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Mario Golf: Super Rush transforms the most relaxing sport into a frantic race across the courses of the Mushroom Kingdom! Many modes, many ways to play golf, between battles and classic matches, adventures and boss fights, all relying on a great control system.

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Scarlet Nexus offers an excellent combat system, paired with creative visual designs and with the courageous choice of having two different (but intertwined) storylines. Unfortunately, a general lack of attention to detail and less-than-impressive environments prevent it from excelling, but it's definitely a safe choice if you're into japanese action RPGs.

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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games fails to revive the glories of the multi-event classics of the past. The development team's surprising choice in disciplines didn't pay off, with so many events lacking in appeal and quickly becoming boring. There are definitely successful moments (athletics, swimming) and with friends you can spend some pleasant hours, but in the long run there are no real reasons to keep playing and winning gold medals.

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Legend of Mana is back on modern consoles after more than 20 years, and it's still quite enjoyable despite some gameplay wrinkles.

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Although I am convinced Red Solstice 2: Survivors will find its niche fanbase, I can't really say the hybrid action/strategy gameplay impressed me. The single-player campaign is nice to have but it doesn't stand outM the core experience here is definitely the multiplayer co-op.

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood feels like an expansion developed with a different degree of maturity. Rather than adding new classes or skill lines, it focuses on improving the new player experience, while also adding intriguing new story content and world events. The addition of AI companions also makes the solo experience much more appealing, although obviously you'll still have to look for flesh-and-bone teammates if you want to tackle tougher trials and events. Overall, a solid expansion pack, although we wish we could have had a better look at the Seal of Endeavors system.

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is an excellent revision that turns a great game into a true next gen experience. Don't miss Episode INTERmission, a short but intense DLC.

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A brave outdoor life simulator in which you have to explore, hunt, and carry out repetitive tasks and missions completely devoid of appeal. The result is a game that is beautiful to look at (for its price) but rather boring to play; only recommended to the most motivated players.

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While they might share the same genre, We Are Football isn't trying to be the new Football Manager. Winning Streak's game offers a lighter formula, with some quirks here and there like sabotaging the field lights, but the logic that dictates the outcome of matches feels to unstable, and the lack of official licenses might not be welcome by some.

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Virtua Fighter is still a great game, no doubt about it. And Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown fully re-proposes the old-but-gold original combat system, enhanced by a Training mode that explains in depth everything there is to know about it. What's inexplicable in this operation is the poor care paid to the multiplayer, penalized by an old and poorly performing netcode, which heavily limits a game designed to be SEGA's first step towards esports.

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As demanding as it is satisfying, Chivalry 2 pushes you to to keep an eye on mission objectives while managing its easy-to-learn-difficult-to-master fighting system. Unfortunately there is no single player campaign, but the missions are as varied as the maps are beautiful.

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Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection offers three high-adrenaline action games that are still splendid today. This is the only, partial redemption for a collection incapable of convincing, lazy in implementation and technically inconsistent, especially on Switch.

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Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a title that continues the path started by its predecessor, placing the thrill of a mercenary sniper's life in a simple, linear and somewhat bland story. A rather predictable but all in all enjoyable experience, with some limitations (and some oddities) in artificial intelligence and an average graphics/sound department.

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Game Garage Builder is wonderful. Nintendo has come up with a new programming language made up of hilarious characters, tasking the player with having them interact with each other to code their games. A real video game laboratory, where you can experiment and learn with a smile on your face.

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Guilty Gear Strive is arguably the best 2D competitive fighting game available, but the content at launch is likely to be divisive. Online gamers will love the highly acclaimed Rollback, while solo players might find the singleplayer offer to be inadequate.

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I'd like to fill the box with "buy it, it's beautiful!" as Jack Torrance with "morning has gold in his mouth." There would be nothing more to add but it would not be professional. So I'm going to talk about fast-paced and fun action, tons of enemies to eliminate in the most creative ways, intriguing story, no uploads, intuitive and responsive controls, properly exploited PS5 hardware, puzzles to solve, last hitpoint battles, planets to explore, mounts to ride, secrets to discover, weapons to upgrade, armor to collect, damn I ran out of space, then buy it, it's beautiful!

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Griftlands is an atypical deckbuilding roguelite with an addictive gameplay formula and a top notch narrative. I can see myself playing this game for a very long time while trying to master everyone of its aspects.

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