Cristian M. Villa

“Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is not the vampire adventure you were hoping for, but it also isn't the massive disappointment you might have expected given its troubled development process. Even though the game clearly needs more development time, especially since the ending feels particularly rushed, there is some charm to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The gameplay can be truly engaging, thanks to the vampiric powers and dynamic traversal... as long as you don't spend too much time in its melee combat.”

“Little Nightmares III will make you fall in love with its twisted world. Through nightmarish villains, Supermassive Games delivers another great entry for a franchise with a very distinct visual identity. While there is room for improvement in certain ally AI situations and environmental exploration, Little Nightmares III more than accomplishes its goal: to provide a nightmare you’ll want to dream about.”

“Digimon Story Time Stranger is not a turning point for JRPGs by any means. However, as a Digimon game, it excels with its ambitious storytelling. That which truly shines though is its Digivolution system, which is deep, engaging, and will keep you hooked for dozens of hours. Whether you're a longtime fan of the franchise or looking to reconnect with it, Digimon Story Time Stranger won't disappoint.”

“Dragon Ball: Gekishin Squadra is a great free-to-play experience especially for Dragon Ball fans, but even those that are not followers of Goku will find quite an enjoyable multiplayer alternative. The game is pretty simple, but it capitalizes on its core strengths: fun gameplay, good customization, very solid character design and a ton of potential for further character releases.”

“As a basketball game, NBA 2K26 is a spectacular title that couldn't be more: realism, many game modes, endless options to customize your experience... but it still has the same problem as always: microtransactions.”

“Cronos: The New Dawn is a game that survival horror fans will love. It's a title that builds on the classic foundations of the genre while also bringing its own creative vision to deliver a truly worthwhile experience.”

“Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a competent game, especially for fans of the series. There are some cool additions, like dual ultimates which will let you create some dream teams and perform beuatiful cinematic finishing moves. The story mode is also pretty solid, allowing you to navigate through the latest story arcs from the anime, but also including interesting features that turn this into a slightly more ambitious project than your run-of-the-mill anime videogame. Definitely give it a try.”

“Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an innovative souls-like with deep combat and dynamic systems that add a lot of the depth to the overall experience. The 'Madness Gauge' and the Inner Demon manifestation is quite a groundbreaking way to transform death into a powerful gameplay mechanic. If you are looking for a new souls-like with fun, fast-paced combat, then Wuchang: Fallen Feathers will definitely check all of your boxes.”

“Elden Ring Nightreign is a tremendously unusual venture for a challenge giant like FromSoftware. As a sort of hybrid of a battle royale, a hero shooter, and the Souls-like genre itself, Elden Ring Nightreign stands out as a very solid experience in FromSoftware's catalog that could offer the developer a lot of potential.”

“Suikoden I & II HD Remaster does a nice job at remastering two classic entries that were once absolute references in the JRPG genre. There are a bunch of improvements, such as the noticeable increase in battle speed as well as the ability to easily enable the auto-battle mode. However, the UI still lacks elements to actually make this feel like a revolutionary step-up when it comes to user experience.”

“Fairy Tail 2 is a complex project; on the one hand, it encompasses the end of the anime while on the other hand it leaves multiple story arcs untouched. Nevertheless, it also provides original content through character interactions as well as a never before seen original storyline. Gameplay-wise, the reworked battle system helps, but in the end it becomes kind of repetitive after not that many hours. Overall, it is a videogame that will be appreciated specially by fans of the anime.”

“Dragon Ball: SPARKING! Zero is the video game that all Budokai Tenkaichi fans wished for. Visually its battles are stunning, and it plays at a pace that can be as frantic as a Dragon Ball battle from the anime. There's also a bunch of characters and game modes that will keep it alive for quite some time, especially the Custom Battle mode. Sadly, the Story Mode is quite lacking. It has some good ideas but they are executed pretty badly. There's clearly some unfulfilled potential there.”

“NBA 2K25 offers a very complete experience that comes from presenting an overwhelming amount of content that is fused with truly advanced RPG elements for a basketball simulator. Essentially, it is a very good video game that is limited by a recurring problem: the weight of microtransactions.”

“Infinite Wealth improves on everything over Ichiban Kasuga's first entry. The RPG elements are well polished and expanded and the secondary content such as Dondoko Island or the Sujimon hunt is hilarious, absorbing and well worth your time. Overall, Kasuga is just a great new main character, and the main story manages to strike a proper balance between a ton of comedy... and drama.”

“Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is not simply a short story to contextualize the presence and appearance of Kazuma Kiryu in the chronology and history of Ichiban Kasuga. In the same way that Yakuza 0 ended up representing a magnificent 'separate' installment, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name also manages to maintain itself by pulling nostalgia and some other curious novelty.”

“Armored Core VI is a revolution in the mecha genre, a video game that manages to drink from everything FromSoftware has learned over this last decade of success strongly linked to Souls-like. This installment has truly challenging peaks at the level of difficulty, and that precisely enhances its great strength: the player's imagination to build a mecha that adapts to the circumstances.”

“Like A Dragon: Ishin! it's like all Yakuza in a sense: it will blow you away for knowing how to combine a serious and solid narrative with completely absurd moments. On the other hand, it differs a LOT from other installments of the franchise, to the point that it becomes a video game that can be a great wink for the most familiar, or a very curious entry point for those who dive for the first time.”

“Dragon Ball: The Breakers aims to offer a different experience that simply does not just curdle. Not so much because of the concept, which surely already throws back more than one Dragon Ball fan, but because the execution itself leaves something to be desired. Both at the level of game balance and even something as basic as player matchmaking, this bet simply falls very short.”

“‎Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is, in short, an interesting proposition for both Monster Hunter and Pokémon players. Capcom seamlessly fuses both concepts into a product with a greater emphasis on the story not so prominent in both franchises, and in which some details deprive it of being one of the most outstanding games of all of 2021.‎”

“‎Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection allows us to relive Ryu Hayabusa's story like never before, with a number of better techniques than the genre in which it is located are greatly appreciated. However, the scarcity of novelties in terms of controls cause the return of 'the ninja' not to occur as spectacularly as the figure would claim.‎”