IGN Italia

Beast of Reincarnation impresses with its atmosphere and combat system, but a few shortcomings keep it from standing among the best action RPGs.

The Relic: First Guardian is a game of stark contrasts, where immense developer passion clashes with severe technical shortcomings. While the anachronistic PS3-era graphics and early framerate drops make for a frustrating start, the game redeems itself through a magnetic exploration loop, a surprisingly deep RPG progression without inventory clutter, and a staggering roster of over ninety unique bosses. Once the technical performance miraculously stabilizes in the latter half of the adventure, a genuinely solid and rewarding action-RPG emerges from the rubble. It’s a heavily flawed journey, but one crafted with enough heart and solid mechanics to earn a passing grade.

EA Orlando has delivered the best college football game ever seen on consoles and PC, even though it nearly ruined the party for itself. The gameplay is simply fantastic; the atmosphere is so authentic that you’ll find yourself rooting for a college team that, until yesterday, you might not have even been able to locate on a map of the United States, while Dynasty Mode is a time sink disguised as a video game. This is the standard, and the bar is set incredibly high. The only thing that really threatened to break the spell was EA itself, but fortunately, the community reminded it of a golden rule that applies to college football just as much as it does to video games: games are won on the field, not with a credit card.

A smart remake that modernizes a classic without losing its identity. Despite a few inherited flaws, Halo: Campaign Evolved remains one of the most enjoyable and engaging FPS games in recent years.

Splatoon Raiders is an excellent spin-off that centers the experience around a fun gameplay loop and a high level of challenge, all enhanced by excellent performance.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu starts with an intriguing Lovecraftian premise and a solid monster design, but it quickly collapses under the weight of severe technical flaws and frustrating design choices. Between a clunky combat system plagued by bugs, an unnecessarily restrictive inventory, and severe balancing issues that heavily penalize solo players, the game entirely squanders its potential. Instead of an engaging descent into cosmic madness, the experience becomes a tedious and agonizing test of patience.

Thirteen years later, Black Flag still proves what was already clear back in 2013: it's a far better pirate adventure than it is a traditional Assassin's Creed, and that's arguably its greatest strength. Resynced improves almost every aspect of the original, adds a fair amount of new content, and makes exploring the Caribbean more immersive than ever. Technical issues and a handful of questionable design decisions keep it from reaching true greatness, but it's still an solid remake and one of Ubisoft's strongest releases in recent years, delivering dozens of engaging hours on the high seas.

Echoes of Aincrad manages the unenviable task of completely squandering the immense potential of its iconic setting. What could have been a thrilling alternate perspective on the classic death game instead devolves into a tedious and frustrating chore. The narrative is poorly paced and abruptly resolved, while exploration is actively discouraged by a disastrous map system and monotonously flat environments. Coupled with a repetitive, unfairly balanced combat system plagued by infinite enemy aggro and poorly designed boss fights, the gameplay loop quickly becomes an exercise in sheer endurance. Despite decent character models, the game is a massive misstep that will make you wish for a forced log-out long before the credits roll.

Rhythm Paradise Groove confirm all the series' long-standing strengths, translating the concept of rhythm into a collection of distinctly Japanese minigames that are irresistibly absurd. While its nature doesn't lend itself to long sessions, it is perfect for the quick, casual bursts of play that often define a gamer's summer, thanks to its simplicity without, however, being trivial in its game design. Nintendo has decided to remain faithful to the established formula of the series - with "Beatspell" serving as the new addition here - but then again, why go to the trouble of changing something that has proved to work so well?

Beehive Studios has created a monster-collecting game that, while clearly inspired by Pokémon, manages to forge its own identity thanks to an excellent combat system, a more mature narrative, and a well-developed game world. Despite a few flaws likely due to the team’s inexperience, LumenTale: Memories of Trey is an engaging title and offers a solid alternative for anyone looking for something different from Game Freak’s games.