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Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator simulates the life of a novice alchemist trying to pave his way to fame and glory discovery after discovery. As in real life, it requires dedication and perseverance, which do not always go hand in hand with casual game philosophy. The system of moving along the alchemical map will entice you to experiment for a few hours in search of the ultimate formula, but an uninspired endgame relying on grinding might turn away even the most ambitious alchemists. If you're looking for an original sandbox puzzler and aren't afraid of repetitive gameplay, it's definite-ly an interesting game.
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A game written and directed by one of the creators of Rick and Morty could have been a masterpiece, instead turned out to be an interesting and hilarious product only in parts. The gameplay holds up for a few hours but in the long run becomes quite repetitive, fortunately the dark humor that characterizes the entire production manages to lift it up in no small part.
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Those who love the traditional WoW modus operandi will be well rewarded by Dragonflight, but the expansion could have aspired to other goals with a little more courage in terms of creativity and design.
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Swordship is a great example of contemporary arcade. It does one thing, it does it well, and it's incredibly fulfilling, challenging, and exhilarating. Smugglers of the post-climate change future against corporations, pirates at the service of the least, always ready to take risks and with a great sense of entertainment. Great management of the risk / benefit component, precise controls, audiovisual remarkable, with each game over generating more sense of revenge than frustration. A truly remarkable work in its compactness.
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If I had to define Crossfire: Legion in one word, I'd use "competent". If I could use more than one word, I'd say "competent, but overall lacking in personality." While it's not a bad game by any means, it also never really shines, it never surprises, and it doesn't leave a mark. It doesn't help that, despite a good variety of multiplayer game modes, the population has already dropped to a few dozen players. Still a decent choice if you're itching for more RTS gameplay, but don't expect to be blown away.
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Hell is Others is a mix of genres among which survival horror looter shooter stands out, but once you have acquired the right equipment, the Free for All mode also comes into play. Inventory slots reduced to the bone, permanent loss of loot and a rather high difficulty especially at the beginning make us move with circumspection, becoming more and more bold as our character grows. But it is a moment to find yourself back at the beginning, and the feeling of perpetual vulnerability guarantees a constant tension. As in all PvP the future will also be decided by the amount of updates and events entered by the developers, but for the first dozen hours fun is guaranteed.
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The Master of Magic remake is an ambitious project which, however, has never decided whether to be just a graphic restoration or a complete makeover of the original. It's still a decent 4X video game, but nothing more. Ultimately, if I had to choose between the remake and the original one, I would opt for the latter without hesitation.
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Togges makes no secret of his sources of inspiration: Super Mario Galaxy above all, but also Katamari Damacy and Pikmin. While Togges does not have all the qualities of its benchmarks (particularly in controls and cleanliness in design), it knows its strength points and focuses on those: smooth, colourful graphics on which rests a relaxing, carefree gameplay. All in all, Togges is an average-value game that nevertheless took on a huge challenge, confronting himself with the masterpieces of the genre, without being destroyed by the comparison. But ambition and bravery should be appreciated, and rewarded too.
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Need for Speed: Unbound is a particular work, capable of forcefully bringing back street culture, the contemporary one of generation Z, but unable to create new spaces of playful expression. Everything that revolves around the characters of the story and our avatar works like god, from the style chosen to describe them to the driving system, from the soundtrack to the special effects in graffiti style, in contrast with a Lakeshore that, despite its vibrant technical realization, remains an ordinary and almost anonymous city, a hub with some collectibles scattered around that acts as a glue to a rather lazy playful structure.
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A treasure hunt in the world of Dragon Quest turns out to be a pleasant RPG with simple and affordable mechanics suitable for young and old, especially aimed at those who like to have fun without bothering with overly complex plots. The collecting aspect takes over from a basic combat system, but it remains a very enjoyable game.
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Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is a hybrid between a remake and a remastered. Aesthetically enhanced, with revised polygonal models and an optimized combat system, having fun is guaranteed even if you will collide with the inevitable defects, the same of 2007.
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Darktide would have deserved a better score, because the game itself is good, real good. But poor optimization (not entirely justified by the game's looks), far too common game crashes, and a loot economy that cannot help but raise some eyebrows end up impacting the user experience. It's still a great 40k game, but you might want to wait for some patches if you're on the fence.
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Glen Schofield and Striking Distance Studios deliver exactly what their audience want: a new horror sci-fi epic with intense combat and cinematic elements that will make you sit on the edge of your couch from the first to the last minute. Worst or better than Dead Space? You decide!
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Complex beast, Marvel's Midnight Suns. Overall, I have enjoyed it a lot; so much that I found its defects even more annoying, especially considering they are related to design choices around combat missions. Still, this game is an epic adventure, truly worth of Marvel's lore.
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Soccer Story is an adventure capable of entertaining those who love football thanks to many fun challenges, a light atmosphere and the constant promise of new things to come. Some technical problems, easily circumvented AI and an RPG soul only hinted are its limits, but it remains a love letter to football for football lovers.
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The Knight Witch is a solid shoot'em up with a metroidvania progression where exploration of beau-tifully designed levels is mixed with frantic shooter action, which sometimes turns into a bullet hell. The card system for managing special abilities invites us to experiment trying to sort out the most appropriate build for each type of situation, and the character build, although quite simple, requires tactical choices that influence the gameplay. The narration is maybe too trivial, often tempting you to skip some dialogues, but the shootervania formula works and the game is challenging and a lot of fun.
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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet jump between future and past, like their cover monsters. A freely explorable Open World but unable to performing well and killing all the new good ideas. It's a classic from Game Freak, a place where every step forward is followed by some steps backward. And maybe is not enough anymore, it's time to force the best-selling franchise in the world to grow up.
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A promising debut for Jumpship, with a perfect Game Pass title that can easily be finished in one evening but that would have deserved some extra polish. I want to believe.
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Cunningly exploiting its own limitations among which the technical ones stand out, Goat Simulator 3 is perfect for single player or even better in co-op fooling around, has a lot of crazy customizations and proves that the devs have truly given their best - or the worst, it depends on the point of view - of themselves.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A gothic and bloody old-style TPS with massive explosions and BIG guns. It doesn't have the charisma of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, and its gameplay is partially flawed by some annoying issues... but you won't regret the time you'll spend with it.
Review in Italian | Read full review