There are games that do not necessarily have to innovate or dare to propose new mechanics because they are simply already perfect as they are. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble fits into this category by offering the classic Super Monkey Ball gameplay while introducing nothing more than the spin dash to add further speed to an already frenetic racing. This seems to be the franchise's fate: to occasionally offer hundreds of new levels until gradually interest fades, but so far we have a fun racing game that is easy to complete yet requires a lot of practice to find optimal paths and trajectories. Good.
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Fields of Glory: Kingdoms is the Sword in the Stone of strategy games, Thor's Hammer of 4X games. To use it properly you have to be worthy, you have to be the Chosen One. How much time are you willing to invest in learning the mechanics of the gameplay? If the answer is "everything you need", you have on your hands the most complex and complete grand strategy game around, capable of captivating you for months, if not years, thanks to a painstaking simulation of all aspects of running a kingdom, from politics to religion, from descent to war. If you don't feel like giving your full attention to the game, it's not for you.
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Developing a Battle Royale in step with the times starting from the gameplay of Pac-Man, released in 1980, without distorting its nature, must have been really difficult. PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle Chomp Champs partially succeeds, offering a very interesting formula in the first game sessions, which little by little reveals all the limits, without additional modes to keep the enthusiasm alive. In a couple of hours you can see everything the video game offers, after which it is only a matter of time before the fun starts to wane. If you're looking for fast-paced and colorful competitive multiplayer, however, it might be for you.
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The Land Beneath Us looks like a classic turn-based roguelite with pleasing pixel art and very tiny levels full of dangers, in which every move must be carefully weighted. The weapon equipment system, however, grants a great variety of scenarios, making our hero sometimes very powerful only when moving upward, sometimes stronger in lateral movements, forcing us to adjust our strategy according to his position and the direction in which it would be most appropriate to engage enemies. A good variety of monsters, bosses and power-ups should keep roguelite lovers entertained for quite a while.
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It's really not easy to recommend a roguelite with classic gameplay at this precise moment in history, yet Shadow of the Depth manages to entertain and offer a good level of challenge, so why shouldn't we consider it? The various classes offer distinct gameplay, and the ability to equip a warrior with a mage's items and successfully field test them opens the door to different builds to explore. Skill trees are lacking, and perks are not as crucial, but the growth of heroes run after run is evident and invites one to throw in the classic "last try." Nothing new, but all well implemented.
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Generally, the fun curve of managerial games starts to go downhill when we have learned to gather resources, build facilities, and research technologies in the right sequence. At that point everything becomes routine and we are no longer surprised by anything. Undead Inc. manages to keep the interest a little longer thanks to various unlockable content but mostly because it touches on a hot topic in recent times, and earning billions on the lives of patients proves sadistically fascinating. Those who enjoyed Fallout Shelter will love this variation set in the cruel world of speculative medicine.
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Let's be frank: an evolution of Lunar Lander must do Lunar Lander's job, and Lunar Lander Beyond fulfills its task. Do you find the gameplay too simple and repetitive? This is a 1979 game repurposed in a deliberately faithful manner, for better or worse, adding some features typical of modern productions but aiming above all to preserve the spirit of the original. Nothing to object to in this respect then, but more effort could have been made in terms of aesthetics, with some elements looking too amateurish that almost makes you regret the vector graphics of the old arcade.
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One could easily define Lotus Lantern: Rescue Mother as a reskin of Hades set in Chinese mythology, and trash it upon seeing that it does not touch the qualitative heights reached by Supergiant Games' work. The gameplay, however, is captivating, and the roguelite structure coupled with a good handling of the difficulty curve entices you to jump into another run to field test the newly achieved perks and the new character build. Each enemy has its own movement and attack pattern to learn, and the bosses are challenging enough. It doesn't innovate the genre, but it gets the job done.
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Turbo Kid could have played dirty and stuffed in an endless barrage of citations for their own sake without caring too much about the content, sure to win over a large audience of nostalgic gamers anyway. Instead, it has been created with a genuine love for the metroidvania genre, adding to the typical skills such as jumping, crouching and climbing, also a large set of stunts typical of the BMX world, with a level design that takes full advantage of them. The result is interesting and successfully distracts from a look that has been seen many times before and from a main quest that adds nothing new.
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Children of the Sun is a puzzle game disguised as a first person shooter, in which it seems that the protagonist is The Girl when in fact it is The Bullet. The difficulty of the levels increases gently, without putting insurmountable barriers for players, but it is unfair not to have a complete overview of the situation from the beginning, which usually happens in this genre of games. Blowing up the heads of enemies in super slow motion guarantees double satisfaction, first because a kill is always a kill, then because it is the proof that our strategy works. The pulp atmosphere and tragic story greatly add to the game's appeal.
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What if during the jump from mobile to PC you lose some attractiveness and do not try to remedy it in any way? Slice & Dice's formula, perfect on smartphones, is a bit poor on the desktop, and there is nothing to do but decide which dice to roll and which enemy to attack, hoping for an interesting drop or the arrival of a stronger character. The strategic component would be interesting, thanks to gameplay that allows us to know the moves of monsters in advance, but it is all too simple and too tied to luck. The multiple options and situations make it a good game, but not the expected masterpiece.
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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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Empty Shell is a twin stick shooter with a horror-themed top-down view, similar in gameplay to Hotline Miami but with a less frenetic pace and a completely different look, here entirely in grayscale with various filters to simulate the now ancient CRT monitors. The variety of weapons and enemies is quite good, and when life points start to run low, there is a certain anxiety about opening the next door without knowing what we will be fighting. The gameplay is simple and the story picks up the classic experiment where everything went wrong, however the dark and claustrophobic atmosphere will manage to capture even the most demanding players.
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Last Epoch is a hack and slash isometric RPG that is graphically well made but above all accessible to a non-hardcore audience. You progress without great difficulty and dying does not involve any particular penalties as seen in soulslikes. The few and trivial starting classes can generate thousands of different builds thanks to specializations, crafting, perks and talents to be assigned in the skill tree. History, as always, plays a marginal role, but the introduction of time travel makes it interesting to wander through the same regions in various eras. Handling the Endgame will determine long-term success, but at the moment it's an RPG worth checking out.
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King Quake is alive, and WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is here to prove it to us. Credit to KillPixel who has been able to create very labyrinthine maps full of secret rooms, hordes of enemies that not only count on numerical superiority but also have an intelligence that guides them to surround us and take us from behind, and a series of weapons that really give the impression of doing harm. The only drawback is a certain woodiness in the controls, especially when using the dash in the air to jump farther. Know that it's a very difficult game, and advancing will be a challenge, but isn't that exactly how boomer shooters should be?
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How might Contra: Operation Galuga disappoint fans of the series? Nobody. How could it bring in new players who don't know the arcade? With adrenaline-pumping action through challenging levels where you can fight your way through with a devastating arsenal, advancing meter after meter until the boss challenge. We are faced with a bare and raw run and gun platformer, in which the few extra contents are a real added value and not a formality because nowadays everyone must have them. These are Bill and Lance's best adventures, and the two new characters are also very charismatic. Do you just want to shoot like crazy? You'll 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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Courage should be rewarded, always. And Pacific Drive is a brave game, offering unique gameplay focused on the exploration of the Zone and the relationship between man and vehicle. We will feel helpless and powerless most of the time, banking on car upgrades to have any hope of surviving in this bleak and hostile environment. The action is slow paced as the protagonist is not an Invincible Super Soldier but an ordinary man in his beat-up car, and this may turn away some fans of driving games, but the high point of this production is the story.
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Survive the Wilds is an open-world survival game that puts us in the shoes of an insect-sized creature struggling with a wild world teeming with dangers, managing to instil a certain sense of discomfort when fighting with ants, cockroaches and various beetles. Basic resources are fairly common, but to get the most valuable ones you have to grind a little and fight, with an overall difficulty above average. The tiny character is charismatic, and the same can be said for the NPCs, and the story holds some surprises, to be discovered little by little as you progress through the game, alone or in company.
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Solium Infernum is a turn-based strategy game dedicated to board game lovers, with a very evocative setting that opens the door to epic battles between hordes of demons. Although there is no shortage of clashes, the lion's share goes to the managerial component, with a very careful management of diplomatic aspects. Difficulty and duration of the matches are widely customizable, but always taking into account a specific target of players, which is certainly not the casual audience. One of the best representatives of its kind, whose only obvious flaw is the miniatures of the Archdemons, which are really too amateurish.
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