Daniele Dolce

“With Renegades, Bungie tries an ambitious crossover, but it ends up making Destiny 2 lose its uniqueness. The inspiration from the Star Wars saga feels forced, with a weak story, unconvincing characters, and a universe that ends up being corrupted by alien elements. The campaign is short, the activities are repetitive, and new features are virtually nonexistent. It's only saved from complete disaster by its solid gameplay and a few flashes of brilliance here and there. Definitely not enough to revitalize a struggling live service suffering from an obvious identity crisis.”

“Earth vs Mars is a turn-based strategy game that doesn't aim to revolutionize the genre, but rather sticks to the tried-and-true formula of Advance Wars with a small twist: hybrid units infused with animal DNA. The storyline is simple and the retro-inspired art direction is intentional, yet the missions are well-designed and offer a gentle difficulty curve. The hybridization mechanic adds a layer of tactical depth, though it remains the only truly innovative feature. A conservative product, but a solid choice for those looking to explore the genre without too much complexity.”

“The Rogue Prince of Persia presents itself as a solid and engaging roguelite-style action platformer which, despite strongly echoing Dead Cells, manages to carve out its own identity thanks to the protagonist's agility and a fluid, rewarding gameplay experience. The variety of equipment, meta-progression, and procedurally generated levels offer notable depth, although the relatively low difficulty and limited content might disappoint more demanding players.”

“Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition is an extremely disappointing "definitive" collection: a superficial remaster that fails to honor the iconic first chapter of the RTS saga. The four titles remain solid in terms of content and replayability, but the remaster is minimal and incomplete. Given the steep price, the release feels sloppy and unjustified. Yet another missed opportunity from Relic Entertainment.”

“Despite the introduction of a well-written new character like Lodi and the presence of the Nine, the gameplay in The Edge of Fate proves to be extremely repetitive, with dull puzzles and fetch quests that slow down the action. The Desert Perpetual raid offers a few interesting ideas, but the campaign feels shallow and lacking in narrative momentum, leaving the impression of filler content.”

“Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is a respectful and functional remaster of the RPG originally developed by Obsidian Entertainment. The visuals and overall performance have been improved, though the aesthetics remain dated. Modern accessibility options are lacking, and companion AI still shows its limitations. Nevertheless, most of the content – especially Mask of the Betrayer – shines for its narrative depth. It's a faithful remaster that aims to preserve the original's magic, and largely succeeds in doing so.”

“FBC: Firebreak is a cooperative spin-off that seems intriguing on paper but unfortunately lacks substantial content. With only five missions-rather simplistic ones at that-unremarkable classes, a limited variety of enemies, and uninspired weapons, the investment of time and money may not be justified. On top of that, the artificially slow progression system is reminiscent of the worst live-service practices. It might have some appeal if played with a close-knit group of friends, but engagement risks being short-lived.”

“Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition is a superfluous remaster. While it features slightly sharper textures, revamped audio, and updated 3D models, the changes are marginal compared to the original game, which is already playable in 4K and enhanced by the 2021 Anniversary Edition. Furthermore, the renewed UI partially undermines the user experience, while the changes to the control scheme make it less flexible. Despite all that, the qualities of the original game are still there.”

“F1 25 marks an improvement over the previous installment, featuring new content and a more in-depth My Team mode. The LIDAR scanning has made some tracks much more realistic, though the disparity with those that haven't been updated is noticeable. As for Braking Point, once again, the developers have opted for a highly dramatized approach to Formula 1, resulting in a simplistic and somewhat unrealistic narrative. The driving model remains largely unchanged, offering a good balance between arcade and simulation.”

“Monster Train 2 builds upon the winning formula of its predecessor, enriching it with new factions, mechanics, and game modes that expand the content of the original title. Without radically changing anything, it delivers a deep and highly replayable experience, featuring a rewarding progression system and a steadily increasing difficulty curve that encourages dedication, learning, and experimentation. Unfortunately, the random element plays a significant role in high-difficulty matches, but that's both the charm and the challenge of roguelite deckbuilders.”

“The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered updates the technical aspects of the renowned RPG through the use of Unreal Engine 5, enhancing lighting, animations, and sound. However, it suffers from instability, with frequent crashes and significant drops in frame rate, particularly in open environments. The original issues persist, including the notorious auto-leveling system and an outdated combat system. Additionally, some changes made to the character progression risk amplifying the problems already present in the original version.”

“Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered is like the coin dilemma. On the one hand we have two video games that are real milestones of videogame entertainment, until now impossible to enjoy in an acceptable way. If the coin had fallen on this side, the Soul Reavers would have been condemned to oblivion. On the other hand, we have a remaster that limits itself to making only the changes essential to use on modern platforms: the bare essentials, the homework. In any case, heads or tails, the game is rigged and no one wins. I'd like to think that there might be a third option, a monumental secret hidden somewhere, but the truth is that we can only settle for this double remaster and hope that the series continues.”

“Rogue Flight is a fast-paced and adrenaline-filled rail shooter. The plot and structure of the campaign are good, the latter with five difficulty levels to allow anyone to enjoy it, regardless of their skills. The only let downs is that the roguelite mode is only sketched out and that there is an exaggerated presence of visual effects that are too shiny and annoying.”

“Dystopika is a relaxing city builder without any of the ambitions typical of management video games. It's a pure sandbox game with which to unleash your creativity and build your dream cyberpunk megalopolis.”

“The Final Shape is one of Destiny 2's best expansions and a worthy conclusion to the Light and Darkness saga. Lots of content, all beautifully crafted, including an outstanding campaign and exciting endgame activities, are matched by a new subclass and the introduction of some brand new enemies. The latter are not very inspired, to be honest, but in some specific situations they require changing approaches to confrontations to get the upper hand. All in all, a big yes for The Final Shape and for Bungie, which can thus redeem itself after the débâcle of Lightfall.”

“F1 24 is a definite step backward for the Codemasters and Electronic Arts series. Many of the new features introduced in this new iteration are not only unconvincing, but in fact go to the detriment of a game formula that is admittedly old but at least works. With less content than last year and an outdated graphics compartment, the 2024 edition of the official Formula 1 video game is nothing more than a homework assignment. While waiting for a revolution that may never come, unfortunately this remains the only alternative for fans of the top motorsport championship.”

“Astor: Blade of the Monolith is an action game with a nice combat system, but unfortunately it tends to repeat game situations a little too often during the approximately 15 hours needed to reach the end credits.”

“Songs of Conquest is a turn-based strategy game that fits into the mold of Heroes of Might and Magic, trying to fill the void left by the latter, now missing from our screens for almost a decade. Despite a few flaws in the single-player campaign, Lavapotion's video game features a near-perfect balance of the four playable factions, all of which are well characterized, as well as a huge amount of content, including full support for community-made stuff.”

“INDIKA's gameplay is at the service of its narrative, so as to tell an allegorical and satirical story about religious institutions and the power they have over people. It is a story that deals with existential themes in an often surreal way, taking advantage of a staging that thrives on contrasts and dissonances, managing to convey a message while always keeping the balance between the serious and the irreverent (and at times even blasphemous) irony.”

“Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is still an excellent FPS today, almost thirty years after its first publication. The many improvements introduced by the developers, both on the graphics and gameplay side, manage to modernize the original to make it enjoyable both by the older ones and by those who have never had the opportunity to experience the adventures of Kyle Katarn.”