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There's a Shakespearean love story that has cursed a village, a wayward king waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of the crown, a fantasy world modelled on our own, and a story that has decisively influenced Japanese fiction: Dragon Quest III is an invaluable piece of history, and this remake is the best way to play it. Provided you are able to stomach a dose of antiquated mechanics.
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Not very different from other GIANTS Software productions, Farming Simulator 2025 certainly brings some interesting news, implementing three new biomes and as many different methods to deal with the experience. Recommended for anyone who needs to get their hands dirty with mud and for those looking for a quiet experience.
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Providing an environment where you can shoot dozens, hundreds of enemies with glee is one of the most surefire ways in which you can keep gamers entertained. However, that's also all that Viscera has going for it – weapons are shoddily balanced, the graphics are chaotic and messy, and the game's poorly optimized. Still moderately fun, but not the kind of game you'd enthusiastically recommend.
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[REDACTED] is a great Hades-inspired roguelite that wants to introduce new elements to stand out from the crowd and ends up throwing a spanner in the works on its own. Forget the race for freedom against rivals, and we will have an excellent dungeon crawler on our hands with a bunch of weapons and uniforms to unlock to tear zombies, monsters and bosses apart in an increasingly brutal way. Let's try to rely on the clashes with the other fugitives, and we will be disappointed. The gameplay formula is still relatively fresh, the artistic sector is excellent, so let's launch into this new ordeal without caring too much about originality.
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While We Wait Here tells a very pleasant story. Despite the absence of a trial and error that I would have found very apt within the title, the parts dedicated to the preparation of dishes are also well integrated. The absolute pro goes to dubbing and atmospheres. I've always dreamed of making puncakes while the world is disintegrating out there.
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Finally, after fourteen years, Red Dead Redemption also arrives on PC. The title has aged very well, unfortunately this conversion brings with it countless technical problems.
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The atmosphere of Metro Awakening is extraordinary, skilfully realised thanks to an absolutely fine setting and great care for tension. The linearity of the path and a certain repetitiveness of generally already seen mechanics risk trivialising the whole thing, also in the light of the not exactly low price. If you are able to turn a blind eye, however, you will be rewarded by a plot worth experiencing, especially if you love the dystopia created by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
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Dotemu keeps delivering great re-imagining of classic games, and this time in a completely new genre. It's almost surprising how good Metal Slug is in its turn-tactic version, and I'm just glad there's a lot of strategic depth, with the icing of a bit of nostalgia effect. I'd wish for a few more boss fights, but the ones that are there are very good.
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Thanks to a magical level design and a gameplay that comes out strengthened by the tweaks and the Doom skill, SEGA and Sonic, with the precious contribution of Shadow, remind us that the timeless adventures of the blue hedgehog are special.
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Empire of the Ants bends the boundaries between videogame and science communication. The use of the Ureal Engine 5 is critical to achieve an unbelievable level of photorealism that leads to full immersion into the huge tiny universe of ants. The light gameplay mechanics designed to be accessible to as many people as possible may alienate the hardcore players of strategy games though.
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Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a game geared towards youngsters, but that doesn't mean that hardcore RPG lovers should necessarily ignore it: with a volcanic dose of gimmickry that will get more than a few laughs and an enchanting art direction, the game is the ideal bedtime story to end the Switch's extraordinary career with a bang.
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Building on a rock-solid foundation, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 manages to sustain the world's oppressive expectations with disarming ease. Solid gunplay combined with gameplay refreshed with new features and many tweaks aimed at optimizing the user experience give us one of the most entertaining CoDs in recent years. And that's just the beginning.
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Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, aka the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, are back on track. Mutant Unleashed is a game that remains in the comfort zone of third-person action, trying to offer a minimum of depth in the off-stage phases but falling into repetitiveness when it comes to taking the field, play the hard way and above all entertaining.
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As good to play as the first Horizon Zero Dawn, as beautiful to look at as the last Horizon Forbidden West. This is how this Remastered can be summarized, which keeps the gamplay of the original intact by increasing the graphic rendering thanks to the greater hardware resources available. In particular, Aloy and the other characters are now much more expressive and move in a world in which nature is lush and anthropic structures stand solemnly in the midst of volumetric effects with a realistic day / night cycle. Those who have recently played the original may not want to spend another forty hours on the Remastered, for new recruits it is one of the best ARPGs around.
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ZERO Sievert's clear inspirations are Escape from Tarkov and STALKER, and it succeds in providing a decent mix of the two game, with a good atmosphere and solid weapon mechanics. However, the crafting system (and its resource requirement) feel a little grindy and less milsim-oriented folks might find some mechanics a little frustrating.
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a work that arrives after ten years at the proverbial litmus test. It is immediately clear how complex the project has been and how the gaming world has changed over time. Strong of a nice combat system, a convincing narrative and a good development of relationships with the other characters, on some points it does not fully succeed in reaching the goal. I admit that so many words are actually too many, and I actually hope that someone has made it to the end... But there could really be no other analysis for such a delicate work. It will be the sales that will decide if it will be the actual relaunch of the series. In addition, of course, to us players of the franchise.
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Life is Strange: Double Exposure is one of the best stories ever told by a video game, with a skilful interweaving of mystery and science fiction. All the characters are believable although stereotyped, and the twists chase each other unpredictably while maintaining consistency with the narrative. Excellent technical realization, editing worthy of a television series and good acting support the plot which requires important decisions capable of influencing future events and personal relationships. The excessive ease in progression could discourage those looking for a challenging game, but perhaps it is time to turn the page and embrace the new generation adventures.
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After the bizarre variations of Night Springs, The Lake House brings us back to the survival horror genre along with another of the endless faces of the Wakeverse. In less than three hours, the essences of Control and AW2 are condensed, distilled and set aside for the future... which promises to be extremely exciting. However an extra hour or two to give the events more breathing space would not have hurt.
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Some extra content for the most avid Garcia Hotspur fans wouldn't have hurt, in addition to 4K, 60fps and New Game+, features that are welcome and that, after all these years, allow us to enjoy at its best a game with such an exaggerated and unique style that it has become a cult.
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I like to think that Phoenix Springs is what happens when talented people who don't work in the video game industry decide to create a video game, without knowing or following patterns and rules that we now consider axioms. Maybe it is not so, but it seems so, and it is still a good thing.
Review in Italian | Read full review