Emanuele Feronato
The Last of Us Part I is a masterpiece of gameplay with a story worthy of Hollywood. Definitely the best transposition of Joel and Ellie's adventures, with some technical inconveniences on day one that are being quickly resolved.
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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart finds its fullest expression on the mid-end to high-end PC, delivering unmatched graphics quality that PS5 just couldn't achieve. It guarantees lot of fun thanks to fast-paced action, tons of enemies to eliminate in the most creative ways, intriguing story, intuitive and responsive controls, puzzles to solve, battles to the last hitpoint, planets to explore, mounts to ride, secrets to discover and weapons to upgrade. The Steam Deck version is a little miracle, properly handling such a hardware challenging game.
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Awesome. A game that basically does not add anything to the platform genre, and still manages to be original and innovative by mixing all the ingredients with mastery. Despite the extreme difficulty it is never frustrating, keeping you in front of the screen for another run, and then another one and one more, while you promise yourself the next run will be the last. Recommended for both hardcore gamers aiming for the best score, and a more casual audience looking to have fun, and who don't mind if they will only see a small part of the game. After all, how many of us have ever finished Bubble Bobble?
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Horizon Forbidden West for PC is the best adventure starring Aloy, even on not the most powerful configurations. All the magic of Guerrilla Games' game has been delivered uncompromisingly and will engage you for several hours as you explore, fight and experience a beautifully narrated and wonderfully portrayed story, accompanied by a soundtrack worthy of a top-notch film production.
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Amnesia: Rebirth is a survival horror where the "survival" component is guaranteed, as there isn't any event that can lead to the death of the protagonist, steering the experience towards the "horror" component and making the most of the fear of the dark and a particularly distressing story made unpredictable by various plot twists. Three different endings and the ability to scare without splatter effects, but relying on the feeling of vulnerability, make this game a must play even for those used to more frenetic gameplay.
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Dead Island 2 is a first person slasher that goes all-in for gore, and it wins. The FLESH engine takes fighting fun to a level never seen before, with an extremely realistic aesthetic that also impacts the zombies' ability to move. Maps are not particularly large and the story flows along rigid tracks, but everything is functional and works well for a classic action adventure offering. A B-Movie that will delight those who love to kill (again) zombies in smashing ways, with old school gameplay enhanced by new technologies.
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All in all, Voidigo is just another twin stick shooter with roguelite dynamics, but it ranks among the best of all time in its genre. What does this mean? That if you love this type of game, it's a must-have that will keep you hooked for a long time. If, on the other hand, you are used to a more lukewarm reception to roguelites, then this could be your chance to try a video game that represents excellence. Finally, if you are fed enough with this type of gameplay, try to have it as a dessert, and you won't regret it.
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The fantasy setting of Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew plays a decisive role in breathing new life into the Commandos-like genre, providing a series of new skills that will surprise newbies and fascinate veterans. The complete freedom of approach to the missions and the possibility to decide almost immediately with which character to face them makes this game unique, certainly the best of its kind and among the most interesting real-time strategy video games appeared lately. Charismatic protagonists and a superb level design complete the offer making it unmissable for those who want to be quick of mouse and quick of mind.
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Those who expected major innovations in Sonic Superstars should not have expected major innovations in Sonic Superstars. Sonic always remains Sonic, precisely because he is Sonic. New heights have been reached in this particular type of level design, which alternates sections in which the hedgehog splashes like a pinball ball, apparently without any possibility of control on our part, to almost pixel-perfect movements in which excellent timing is also required. Bosses, as always, require careful analysis of movement patterns. Everything else is a pleasant side dish, but at the base there is always the old but superlative gameplay of Sonic.
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When you're not going all-in on fast-paced action, focusing on story and atmosphere, you definitely need to capture the player's attention to avoid falling into the walking sim trap. The Invincible succeeds from the very first minutes, plunging us into a situation in which the last thing we want is to run like crazy into the unknown, preferring to move cautiously aware that every step could be the last. This is thanks to a superlative narrative technique combined with a perfect graphic representation. It's not a survival horror but a novel written in the form of an adventure, and lovers of the genre will love it.
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The Outlast Trials is first and foremost an excellent stealth game in which you have to avoid enemies by hiding in the shade, under the bed or inside a closet, taking care not to make noise. After that, it's an extremely brutal survival horror, in which we have to carry out heinous acts without becoming victims of psychopathic madmen ready to tear us apart in the most gory ways. The atmosphere of the Cold War prison camps with no way out has been recreated to perfection, and it's easy to empathize with the protagonist as he tries to survive, accompanied only by the mad beat of his own heart. Co-op multiplayer with three other friends completes the offering.
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Jagged Alliance 3 represents the comeback in a big way of turn-based combat strategy games, and it is so compelling that it may revive a genre lately dedicated only to a few hardcore fans. The reckless choice of not showing the probability of hitting turns out to be successful, as it makes each firefight unpredictable, forcing us to risk it all on several occasions. The only flaw in this excellent production is the artificial intelligence of the enemies, who sometimes spare us with no reason or seem prone to suicide. Anyway, it still remains a must have.
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Monster Sanctuary merges a complex turn-based combat RPG we are used to see in big JRPG productions with metroidvania-style exploration and succeeds in both genres. Pixel perfect jumps alternate with tactical battles down to the last hitpoint, and we'll need the help of our monsters to overcome difficult areas and solve puzzles. Meanwhile, an interesting storyline compels us as we catch enemy eggs, Pokémon style. So many genres mixed in one game, and such a pretty one to boot! Highly recommended.
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I don't know whether to recommend Ruined King: A League of Legends Story for the interesting story set in the League of Legends universe or because it's one of the best turn-based RPGs I played since quite a while. I'd stick towards the second reason, leaving the first one as the icing on the cake. An engaging storyline, beautifully characterized and customizable characters, and a combat system that will test your tactical skills await you, especially if you dare to play at higher difficulty levels. Will Runeterra's champions become the new Avengers?
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Nobody Saves the World is a hack n' slash that starts from a quite casual approach, due to the lack of both inventory and skill points distribution, but shows its real depth after a few hours of play, when we are called to experiment with thousands of different builds to to better tear all enemies to pieces. The repetitiveness that generally plagues this kind of games is kept under control thanks to fun quests and a plot that takes us on a tour around a crazy world. Absolutely recommended both for hack n' slash lovers and for those who want to approach to this genre of games without taking them too seriously.
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Those who have been enthusiastic about Slay the Spire should also jump on Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles without delay. Everyone else will find a complete deck builder in which instead of cards there are dice, with which to build chains of combos playing on the dualism Purification and Corruption. The huge amount of Oracles, dice and Blessings to unlock, Sentinels to upgrade and enemies to defeat guarantees excellent replayability even if the too many combinations available favor luck a little too much at the expense of strategy. The graphics are inspired even if the colors chosen, light blue and crimson, do not enjoy a good contrast.
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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a huge game in which exploration plays a very important role, as every corner of the Western Frontier is full of plants to catalog, ingredients to collect and materials to use to improve our equipment. The fights are very addictive and it is essential to combine stealth actions with raids based on the surprise effect. The proprietary Snowdrop engine offers us a beautiful graphic representation, which combined with a quality soundtrack guarantee an almost cinematic experience. Those looking for non-stop action might find a few too many dead moments, but it remains an open world shooter adventure of extreme quality despite never trying to introduce any novelty to the genre.
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Anomaly Agent is a debut with a bang for Phew Phew Games, which arrives on our monitors with a beat'em up with Canabalt-style endless runner elements, a charismatic and crazy protagonist, plus music to shoot at full volume that accompanies the action in beautiful pixel art. The attack and dodge combination starts with the simple press of two buttons and gradually becomes more and more complex with combos and special weapons. Sudden gameplay changes and gigantic bosses each one with its own fighting style make this game unmissable for those who love action.
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Vesper at first glance might seem like a Limbo with robots, it's actually a platformer puzzler with a really successful splash of stealth. Equipped with an artistic sector of great personality, thanks to the numerous checkpoints it can be faced in a casual way, a couple of screens at a time, or all in one breath in speed run mode, thanks also to the official stopwatch ready to witness your feat without the need for editing.
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Astral Ascent offers the usual roguelite gameplay where you have to die a ton of times before you have a decent build to progress, with a somewhat nebulous system of spells and power-ups at first. After the first couple of hours without any particular emotions, however, the game explodes showing all its potential, especially once all four heroes are unlocked. At that point it becomes one of the best video games of this genre, despite the fact that not much attention has been given to the platformer component. If you love characters to grow with thousands of combinations, you've come to the right place.
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