Tom's Hardware Italia

We didn't have very high expectations approaching Grand Mountain Adventure Wonderlands, but what was orchestrated by Toppluva AB and Microids pleasantly surprised us.

Review in Italian | Read full review

The Witch Queen is the expansion that all Destiny players have been waiting for, and the best of Bungie's expansions to date. The new location of Tronomondo is fascinating, full of mysteries and breathtaking for the majesty of the fortress of Savathun and the areas that will be accessed by looking beyond the illusions. Thematically it is a campaign that matures further, taking to new levels what it began to do with Beyond the Light. The length of the campaign is far greater than in the past, combined with higher difficulties and replayable weekly missions, Destiny 2 The Witch Queen offers a fully immersive experience that values the investment and dedication of its players. Destiny 2 is currently in its best shape: rich in content, activities that enhance the new void subclass and adds extensive customisation of firearms with the crafting system. Balancing issues and drop rates remain to be fixed as soon as the team collects enough data.

Review in Italian | Read full review

The Cruel King and the Great Hero is a very delicate game, a particular experience, which does not want to upset any such style and faces a fairytale tale with calmness and serenity.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Expeditions Rome is an excellent hybrid between a role-playing game and a turn-based strategy game, which manages to impress with its variety and breadth.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Babylon's Fall is simply a nonsensical title that conceptually could have worked and at times seems to, but then the predatory and currency-locked design comes into play and ruins the whole experience, if not completely nullifies it. This is literally a "Pay 2 Enjoy" title, meaning that in order to enjoy the best armour, aesthetics and rewards the only way is to either pay or agree not to do so and be fobbed off with armour recycled from Final Fantasy XIV (and at this point we'd recommend spending the money on that). We don't know how long Babylon's Fall will go on, but the only way to at least save the game will be to remove the premium shop completely and put its rewards in as drops for major tasks, then maybe Platinum's Games' tried-and-true rhythm will keep a loyal niche.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Assetto Corsa Competizione for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Seris X is the definitive form of the course simulation on consoles, finally incorporating in these platforms all the progress made on the PC version in these years of work and refinement.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Triangle Strategy is a surprising production from many points of view. A title able to revive the sensations of a videogame past that is becoming more and more distant, managing at the same time to be modern and accessible in many ways. The story is written in an excellent way, full of twists and turns and without any fear of daring in staging the cruelty of war. The strategic component works and manages not to disfigure against the historical exponents of the genre. Undoubtedly, Triangle Strategy's leisurely pace won't appeal to every gamer's taste, but hands down we're looking at one of the most important Nintendo Switch exclusives of 2022.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Chocobo GP is a very valid alternative to Mario Kart, designed for all Final Fantasy fans who own a Nintendo Switch. The real problem of Square-Enix's new production does not lie in any technical aspect of the title, but simply in simply carrying out the task of re-proposing a historical IP, leveraging on nostalgia rather than trying to propose a different formula from the usual.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Gran Turismo has always been an extremely special title, far removed from the racing games you normally play: a title with a soul and with so much attention to detail for what cars represent. From this point of view, evaluating a product like Gran Turismo 7 was extremely difficult, because on the one hand we have Yamauchi's love for cars, full of content, descriptions and customisations, but on the other hand we are faced with a game anchored to dated dogmas, which do not favour the playful part much, immersing us in a game context where the A.I. is not very far from that of nine years ago and damages are once again practically non-existent. To the rescue of the game, however, we have an online component that seems to be the true soul of the title, which together with a satisfying driving model, make Gran Turismo 7 a must have for those who have always loved the franchise Made in Japan. Polyphony Digital now has the task of supporting the title in the years to come, first of all trying to introduce the interesting A.I. Sophy and improving the game just like it did in the past with GT Sport. If it succeeds, we will be faced with one of the best sim/arcade ever, accessible to everyone and above all of enviable quality.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Elex II was a promise. The promise to take the good things that had been done previously and to re-propose them improved and purged of their defects. Honestly, the choice made, that is to re-present a huge product in its branches, is not a happy one. Piranha Bytes doesn't have the means to ape more expensive brands. But it does have the means and the ability to tell and describe stories and worlds that are pulsating with life, realistic and plausible. In all honesty, it would be enough to take a few steps backwards - simplifying the combat, renouncing a few hundred objects and environments - to offer a reduced but homogeneous videogame. The reasons for this grade, sufficient but nothing more, are therefore to be attributed to the lack of farsightedness of a production that, after years in this sense, cannot but realise its limits and should finally aim at its strong points, which are there and make Elex II at least playable.

Review in Italian | Read full review

GRID Legends is a solid and fun arcade racing game, not revolutionary but certainly not dull either. Codemasters has worked to improve on the critical aspects of the 2019 reboot, creating a title with enviable content and a revised (though not perfect) artificial intelligence. It's a pity that the story mode is a bit jumbled and customisation is reduced, but overall we're looking at a game that's highly accessible for those who aren't used to the genre, but also potentially satisfying for motorsport fans, assuming you're aware of a distinctly arcade driving model that's intentionally light and without any particular frills.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream has maintained the atmospheres that so convince fans of the genre and of gust RPGs and has managed to raise the quality of the gameplay by a step, adding some interesting elements both in combat and in exploration and in the game world, starting from the lack of loads in the fights, up to the possibility of drastically changing the weather in the map.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Elden Ring is the point of arrival, and departure, of all Miyazaki's productions prior to Sekiro. Where Sekiro was that butterfly born from a chrysalis called Bloodborne, Elden Ring picks up the important gaming heritage of Demon's Souls, matured over the years, to transplant it in a context at the same time new and familiar to fans of the genre. Elden Ring is not the classic open world but a Soulsborne that violently bends the rules of open world games to its will, defining new standards for the genre that cannot be ignored in the years to come...neither by future open world titles nor by the next Souls-Like productions. You can undoubtedly question the choice to reuse assets already seen, and overdone, in the past, as well as it is obvious that the general performance of Elden Ring are not among the best currently in circulation, but in practice, when you immerse yourself in the vastness of the Interregno, the only truth that comes out is that From Software, as it did in 2009, has once again overturned the rules of the game.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection, despite the obvious signs of seniority, is confirmed as a very valid package, to be discovered or rediscovered.

Review in Italian | Read full review

In our intent to devote the right attention even to the less noble projects, we would have really liked to give Monark a higher grade, especially to reward the ideas and efforts of a certainly talented team that is looking for its space in the market. However, there are still limits to overcome for a real leap in quality, and we are not just talking about budget.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Net of some technical compromise, perhaps unacceptable for many, but justified by the budget of an evidently limited production, Beyond a Steel Sky is an appreciable title, and a worthy heir to that timeless classic that was Beneath a Steel Sky.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Horizon Forbidden West succeeds in maintaining the high premise that teased us in the first chapter, while reformulating and strengthening some of the weak points. The retro engineering of the machines, as well as the AI that made them so fearsome, remains sublime on both the technical and design sides, expanding the catalogue of enemies. The human AI isn't quite up to the task, but the exploration is one of the most rewarding to experience on Sony's console. The open world, with its ingenious puzzles and meticulously painted regions with colourful microclimates, is one of the best in recent years. There are no vacuous areas of meaninglessness; everything is condensed to offer an experience that is never monotonous, that respects the player's time, and never wanes interest. The story experiences a swinging situation. While on the one hand there are palpable flashes of brilliance, which almost eclipse the narrative quality problems highlighted in the first chapter, on the other hand you arrive towards the finale with breathlessness and many questions. Although there are some technical glitches, which never undermined the experience, eighty hours of gameplay flow pleasantly in one of the most evocative and inspired worlds ever created in the PlayStation forges. It's all enhanced by a sophisticated formula that brings out all the combat styles and lively nature of Horizon. Water, land and air are teeming with life, while among the moss and climbing plants we can explore rust giants of the past, seeing our reality from a new perspective. The aesthetics presented by the development team manage to excel and shine in every aspect throughout the experience, providing moments of pure visual enjoyment. Embedded beneath the programming codes, however, is a message that should be read with the heart, before the mind. I hope that the moral shock raised in the work will reach all fans, trusting that the social criticism made by Aloy will be useful to inspire our generation as well. All in all, this is a must-have for those who love the genre and who own a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, but it could have been more daring to break through the threshold of memorability.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a title that will most likely only admirers of the particular combination of musou and management that has always distinguished this strand of the famous saga.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Sifu is a rare gem that deserves to be discovered, tried out and evaluated subjectively by the widest possible pool of users. Just like our experience with Returnal, we find ourselves in front of a product that, besides marking the maturity of its development team, departs from all those clichés indispensable to grab the largest number of users and stands only on its originality and on the skill of its creators in packaging a title that does not give discounts and does not compromise. Sifu is a collection of genres that come together in a satisfying game, punishing in some ways but never unfair. It's a celebration of beat 'em ups, and martial arts cinema, adorned with a distinctive and inspired artwork that exudes style from every pixel. We're sure it won't appeal to everyone who tries it, but it's only right that it should, to avoid a general flattening of the experience that titles like Sifu want to keep varied and, above all, original. For all these reasons we have decided to give Sifu our Award.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Far Cry 6 Joseph Collapse is the last DLC of the sixth episode of the successful saga that puts us in the shoes of Joseph Seed, charismatic antagonist of Far Cry 5.

Review in Italian | Read full review