4News.it's Reviews
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a metroidvania that is aware of its influences and does not seek to reinvent the genre, but rather works with great care on all its key aspects. The traversal is extraordinary, the level design is inspired, and the art direction is top-notch. It is a work that demands attention, curiosity, and dedication, but it rewards you with moments of genuine beauty. Douze Dixièmes, with a small team and a clear vision, has managed to craft a title that demonstrates how much passion can make a difference. It is a journey between decadence and hope that deserves to be experienced to the fullest.
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Code Violet presents itself as a title with interesting ideas and multiple aspirations: a sci-fi horror plot mixed with action and survival, and technical execution geared towards exploiting the features of PS5. Elements that - at least on the surface - make it potentially appealing to fans of the genre and those looking for an experience reminiscent of classic dinosaur survival games such as Capcom's historic Dino Crisis. At the same time, when playing it, there is a clear inconsistency between ambition and execution, with obvious structural problems in the gameplay (particularly poor combat and tedious exploration) and narrative and technical choices that are far from satisfactory. The result is a disjointed experience that can only be enjoyable in a few brief moments but struggles to shine, except for its attractive protagonist, at least aesthetically speaking. In a word: Not recommended!
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From the Ashes represents the moment when Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora finally finds a clearer direction. It doesn't erase the uncertainties of the past, but it confronts them, transforming them into an opportunity for growth. Thanks to a more personal narrative, refined gameplay, and structural changes that improve pacing and immersion, Pandora manages to rise from its ashes, offering a more mature, more coherent, and decidedly more compelling experience.
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Skate Story is a unique experience. It is a video game that accepts the risk of being misunderstood in order to remain faithful to its vision. It requires the player to tune into its language and not vice versa. But once this small obstacle has been overcome (with a simple Ollie), Sam Eng's work manages to engage with surprising naturalness, revealing a rare coherence between the author's intention and the sensory response. More than a game to be “finished,” Skate Story is an experience to be tried. It is a work that speaks of movement, fragility, and silent resistance. And it is here that Skate Story fully reveals its nature as a lesson in resilience. Not heroic or decisive resilience, but one made up of attempts, falls, and imperfect restarts. A resilience that does not eliminate pain, but teaches us to live with it, to adapt to it, to keep moving despite the constant possibility of breaking. A title that teaches that the journey is important, not just the destination. That you have to grit your teeth and keep going with tenacity, even when the ground seems to be falling away beneath your feet. And it is precisely in this precarious balance between form and feeling that Skate Story finds its most authentic strength.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Octopath Traveler 0 is a small miracle that does justice to the insights of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. An adaptation that shows all the hidden potential of an epic and immersive narrative, rich and varied gameplay, and genuinely overflowing longevity. There are still a few minor issues related to a technical conversion that is less performant than expected, some gameplay elements that are less refined than others, and the absence of Italian localization. For those who can accept these flaws, they will find themselves with another great RPG from 2025.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons attempts to innovate the formula, but the execution doesn't live up to the ambition. The superficial level design, mobile game progression, minimalist presentation, and lack of co-op severely limit the experience. The only real point of interest is the Bubble Symphony extra, which reminds us how solid and fun the series could be. Otherwise, the initial runs may be briefly entertaining, but the underlying repetitiveness makes the title overall unsatisfying.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Two Point Museum: Zooseum is an excellent and substantial expansion for one of the most popular management games of 2025. It is a varied and comprehensive content pack that not only offers extra longevity, but also, and above all, a concept that is pleasantly different from that explored in the base game. Whether it's building your nature reserve or taking care of all the wildlife species present, there is always something to do and a goal to achieve. If you loved the latest chapter in this saga, this is a DLC you won't want to miss.
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Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the kind of comeback the series deserved: not just a simple “nostalgic revival”, but a chapter that accepts the weight of the Prime legacy and tries, with measured courage, to take it a step further. The intertwining of stunning art direction, level design, psychic powers and more technical combat with fierce new bosses creates an adventure that still demands attention, map memory and the ability to read spaces, but in return gives you that rare feeling of being truly alone on an unknown planet, armed only with your curiosity and Samus' armour. Not everything is perfect: a few lulls in pace, some less inspired areas and structural choices that might disappoint those hoping for a “pure” clone of the first three Prime games clearly show that Beyond is a compromise between tradition and modernity. But it is precisely in this balance, at times delicate, that the game finds its identity: an experience capable of speaking to veterans, while offering a more accessible entry point for those who are now discovering the exploratory soul of the saga. Ultimately, the long wait of almost two decades has been amply rewarded with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond; in what we might call a “welcome home” that doesn't just open the door and let you in, but invites you to look beyond, out the window towards new possibilities for Samus, for Viewros and for the very future of the series and the genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Terminator 2D: NO FATE achieves no small feat: it does full justice to James Cameron's iconic 1991 movie. Developed by Bitmap Bureau, the title embraces pixel art and two-dimensional arcade action to reproduce not only the most famous scenes from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but also new scenarios with multiple endings. An excellent result in terms of the quality and quantity of the gameplay, which nevertheless has to contend with a not insignificant circumstance. NO FATE recalls not only the aesthetics but also the challenging difficulty of the scrolling shooters of the 1990s, with some significant peaks that will put players' skills and patience to the test. If you can't get past that, look elsewhere... for everyone else, well... “no hay problema.”
Review in Italian | Read full review
Total Chaos is a rough, visceral survival horror game aimed squarely at fans of the genre, preferring to be edgy and punishing rather than watering down the tension in the name of accessibility. The writing doesn't revolutionize the genre, and some interface and structure choices can be frustrating, but the combination of atmosphere, level design, and sound design creates an experience that leaves a lasting impression, especially for those who love old-school horror. Considering its origins as a mod and the scope of the project, the result is a more than successful title that carves out its own space in the horror landscape of 2025. In essence, compared to other recent examples, it represents the most “old school” and brutal link in the chain: less polished, less narratively ambitious, but valuable for those looking for a survival game that truly brings back the “pure fear” of limited resources, heavy blows, hostile maps, and enemies.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The task facing Terrifier: The ARTcade Game was not exactly straightforward. Adapting a franchise like the one created by Damien Leone to the world of video games presented many pitfalls and challenges. Relevo tried its hand at a side-scrolling beat 'em up, immersing it in the unhinged bloody madness of Art the Clown while giving a nod to the gaming tradition of the 80s and 90s. The arcade cabinet atmosphere is present and reworks the carnage of the feature films with an original twist. However, from a strictly gaming point of view, we are faced with a title that is too simple, lacking the necessary bite to make up for its lack of originality. If you are among the most die-hard fans of the unstoppable clown, give it a try: it could become a little guilty pleasure.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Sakurai-san fully realizes the vision he sketched out over twenty years ago in the previous chapter for GameCube. Part kart game and part action game, Kirby Air Riders manages to stand out from easy genre comparisons and shine with its overflowing originality. A content-rich package offering countless hours of fun, further enhanced by impeccable technical execution. An unmissable title for many, provided you accept two strict conditions: the chaotic nature (at times truly significant) and the depth scattered among the many (perhaps too many?) facets of gameplay.
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MARVEL Cosmic Invasion has proven to be an incredible love letter to the Marvel Universe. A side-scrolling beat 'em up packed with references, characters, and settings that appeals to both long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. With a generous cast of playable characters (a truly imaginative selection) and a combat system that rewards creativity, the award-winning team of Tribute Games and DotEmu hits the mark once again. There is a slight bitter aftertaste for a game that deserved a longer runtime, as well as for technical optimization that surprisingly highlighted a few too many flaws in our test. If you are a fan of the genre and can't wait to beat up the horrors of the Annihilation Wave with Cosmic Ghost Rider, well, your moment has come.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition fails to truly be the “definitive” version. On a purely technical level, it does an excellent job, and overall it is probably the most stable version. However, it is unacceptable that the developers have failed to “confirm” the purely graphical aspect of a work that was released nine years ago. That aside, Lara Croft remains a magnetic protagonist, the adventure retains its charm, and the portability option adds real value to the package, making the experience accessible anywhere.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has turned out to be the Mr. Hyde to the Dr. Jekyll represented by the previous installment of Activision's long-running series. Whereas last year we enjoyed a surprising campaign and a solid multiplayer mode, albeit lacking in particularly inspired launch content, Black Ops 7 does the exact opposite. The campaign disappoints resoundingly and without appeal, ending up evoking the ghosts of the controversial Modern Warfare III, while the multiplayer is more vast and rich than ever this year. But the biggest problem, at the end of the day, is that the series seems to have reached a critical point, likely crushed by a formula of annual releases that prevent it from delivering a complete package. Above all, Black Ops 7 highlights another element: the static nature of a gameplay formula that is increasingly feeling the weight of the years. And in a 2025 where the series has been overshadowed by hungry competition, reflection on the future of the franchise becomes inevitable and unavoidable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Lumines Arise is yet another brilliant work bearing the signature of Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Magnetic and addictive, the return of the puzzle game that debuted twenty years ago on PSP is another cherry on top of a stratospheric 2025. Aesthetically hypnotic and with a practically perfect soundtrack, Arise also offers incredibly generous content ranging from single-player modes to a robust online component. Today, as then, the saga continues to be an experience not for everyone due to its unique gameplay and steep learning curve. For lovers of the genre, but also for anyone who wants to try something truly different and original, this is a precious little gem not to be missed.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Possessor(s) is an enjoyable, smooth-running, well-presented title with a fun combat system and polished art direction. It's a product that works and that knows how to entertain anyone familiar with the genre. However, it cannot escape what we might call the comfort zone trap: a safe, reassuring place where everything is done well, but without that proverbial spark. And in a landscape full of innovative, bold, and experimental Metroidvania games, staying in the comfort zone means risking remaining a good product that will never leave its mark.
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Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster is a collection that deserves credit for re-releasing two unique titles in the most solid and consistent way possible. It does not attempt to modernize the formula or reinvent it, but aims to provide a more stable experience that is less prone to the original technical issues. The two narrative perspectives contained in a single package emerge today with greater clarity and continuity, representing the true added value of this new edition. It is a recommended collection for those who have never played the series, and a useful opportunity for those who wanted to replay it without the limitations of the past.
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Whispers in the Woods proved to be a good expansion for returning to the Exclusion Zone described in Pacific Drive. It is a long-lasting and pleasantly disturbing adventure, with some quality of life improvements that make the original experience less rough around the edges. At the same time, the DLC reconfirms all the strengths and weaknesses of the title, which continues to be a production for many but not for everyone, mainly due to its underlying repetitiveness accompanied by a rather steep learning curve. If you loved the title, jump in the station wagon and watch out for the whispers coming from the woods.
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The Berlin Apartment is an intimate and delicate experience, capable of telling small but significant stories through a “simple” apartment in the city of Berlin and a narrative arc spanning almost 120 years. Although it does not shine in terms of originality in its gameplay mechanics (not fully exploiting their potential), the title impresses with its narrative effectiveness, the emotional power of the stories it tells, and its artistic attention to detail, making it particularly recommended for fans of historical narratives and lovers of contemplative experiences.
Review in Italian | Read full review