Nicolò Paschetto

“Ride 6 is a lovely simcade that builds on its predecessors thanks to some new features that won't revolutionise the franchise. The good news is that the riding bit is as exciting as ever.”

“Anno 117: Pax Romana is the city builder comfort food: you love it the way it is and you don't want surprises in it. The user interface should be thought at design masterclass as a case study, while the campaign should be brought as an example of what not to do with a story.”

“I can't stop playing this game! Great as a beat'em up, great as a roguelite, Absolum is just wonderful as a combination of the two genres. The cherry on top – but maybe is the foundation below – is a glorious lore and a brilliant narration that will keep you wanting more.”

“The Wandering Village offers us Onbu, which is great. It's great to shape our relationship with him and care for him; however, as a city builder, the game rhythm is pretty flat and lacks memorable moments. It all runs pretty smooth – maybe too smooth.”

“PEAK is as good as the group of friends you will play it with. It provides you an excellent platform for a co-op experience with potential of many hilarious moment. The rogulike nature of it may drive some people away though.”

“TRON: Catalyst is sitting in a grey area: Bithell Games are competent in telling us a story, but it's not enough to be a narrative-driven game, and the combat system is way too poor to make their latest creation a combat game.”

“Let's party like it's 1998! Tempest Rising brings us back all the right memories of Command & Conquer, and it's a lot of fun at an adrenaline-filled pace.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Daring missions with all odds stacked against us, that's the exciting essence of Sumerian Six. The deveolper Artificer is not quite yet at the level of quality Mimimi Games got us used to, but I can already see a lot of good in this game.”

“Sins of a Solar Empire 2 burrows a few aspects from the 4X genre, but it's mostly a very focused strategic game where war is all that matters. It's very good at it and it's also great at putting on our screens dozens of very cool spachips on blowing each other up to bits. If only it also had a campaign mode.”

“Creative Assembly has been working hard in these months and results are pretty clear: the innovations in Dynasties bring well implemented improvements that help modernise the campaign.”

“SteamWorld Heist 2 immediately captivated me for its light-hearted tone and for the fact that it offers considerable tactical depth without being punishing in its approach. On the contrary, the developers seem to say "Come on, try this thing too, you have nothing to lose anyway!". The management of the difficulty level and the structures of the missions do the rest, while it is only a partial lack of variety of enemies that prevents Thunderful Development's game from achieving excellence.”

“Since no one else can take advantage of the official license, it's not like Frontier Development has to make its way through a thousand competitors, but nevertheless the developer has been busy again this year. The new features introduced in F1 Manager 2024 improve the gaming experience substantially, offering significant innovations both during the actual races and in the more strictly managerial phases. Now that we know that the level of this management system is at high quality levels, it would be appropriate to also focus on presence, to make it less aseptic and more in line with the motorsport it simulates.”

“Kaku: Ancient Seal is sub-par in every aspect of the action-adventure genre. Stay clear.”

“You will never look at ants the same way! The small team at Slug Disco has not revolutionised the RTS genre, but they offer us a unique perspective on it, where the quality of world-building plays a huge role in how fascinating this game is. It almost make me forget there is no multiplayer.”

“Truly, a game of paradox (pun intended). The concept of Ages is exciting but the way it is implemented forces players into science-focused gameplay. The system of resources is meant for hardcore player, but others like diplomacy and international economy are half-baked to say the least. This game wasn't ready for release.”

“Not bad, not great: Welcome to ParadiZe is a fun passtime that made me want to play more Diablo IV.”

“Brilliant idea that is not developed to its fullest potential. Still, if you are not necessarily looking for the next Portal, it will be good fun for some hours.”

“Genotype doesn't do anything particularly wrong, but it definitely doesn't do anything particularly well. The open-ended approach to exploration is quite immersive, but combat quickly becomes dull and repetitive.”