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The Adventures of Elliot holds so much untapped potential that even discussing it becomes frustrating: every single aspect of the game seems to have been designed without regard for the others, yet somehow the whole package manages to be incredibly consistent. Ultimately, it was an enjoyable experience—never dull—that left us feeling satisfied despite the aforementioned flaws, though largely because we love the genre and the HD-2D style. And because we have an obsessive-compulsive need to deal with locked treasure chests and kittens in distress.

There is little to complain about regarding the purely aesthetic and technical aspects. The game employs a comic-book art style; while the athlete models may not boast an immense level of detail, they closely resemble their real-life counterparts and feature convincing animations that—despite the expected stylistic exaggerations—faithfully capture the players' actual movements. The environments are varied and detailed, alternating between real-world courts, such as the one at Venice Beach, and entirely fictional ones. The frame rate is solid, as is the netcode; out of the dozens of matches played, there was only a single instance of a total connection failure.

The online component is admittedly secondary: there are only Quick Match, Ranked, and Friendly Match modes, and the game's status as an exclusive significantly limits the pool of potential opponents. Matters are made worse by the usual shortcomings of Konami's infrastructure—including clunky menus and questionable matchmaking logic—resulting in extremely long wait times and forcing players to make certain choices after being matched rather than before, which further drags out the breaks between games. Anyone buying eFootball Kick-Off! should do so knowing that the main course is, and remains, the offline experience.

As a roguelike, the game is naturally not designed to be completed just once. It will take hours of attempts and upgrades to reach the end, but even after finishing it, replayability remains high—not only due to the experimentation with various builds and the addictive quality typical of the best roguelikes, but also because the levels become more complex and a "true ending" can be unlocked by completing the game a second time.

There is still plenty of room for improvement regarding character models, basic animations, and—above all—the voice acting and dialogue in cutscenes. It would be fantastic if, for the next Forza Horizon, Playground Games applied the lessons learned while developing the new *Fable* to address these shortcomings. They could also take the opportunity to meaningfully revamp the concept of the automotive festival—which, in my view, remains a winning formula—as the project's driving force. After all, the festival explains everything: why there are few pedestrians and no one crossing the streets, why the place is teeming with maniacs drifting around you, and how you ended up in the middle of it all so quickly. As for those who complain that it bears too strong a resemblance to previous titles, let us point out that only a madman would alter a formula that no other development team has managed to replicate, and one that sees its audience grow with every new release.

There aren't very many options for customizing your team at the moment. You can purchase kits and celebrations from the store, but the initial selection is rather limited. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, there is currently a lack of any real licensing, save for a few scattered collaborations like the one with KSI.

Mina The Hollower inhabits the confines of a parallel universe; it moves along a track entirely its own, imposing upon itself limitations that, on one hand, grant it an undue advantage—offering the opportunity to resurrect the very best of past classics armed with all the knowledge of the future—yet, on the other, keep it confined within its own small niche. Yacht Club Games has transformed that niche into a cozy den; specializing in the 8-bit aesthetic, they craft extraordinarily challenging video games that are certainly not intended for everyone—yet they do so with an exceptional level of care, leaving absolutely nothing to chance, not a single pixel nor a solitary note of the soundtrack. If you still find yourself longing for those moments when you powered up your Game Boy Color and hours suddenly seemed to slip by like minutes—flinging open windows onto worlds teeming with secrets waiting to be uncovered—then the Isle of Mystery will make you feel right at home; it will put your skills to the test and will undoubtedly find a way to surprise you.

For the moment, we can say "Mission Complete," but for "Mission Accomplished," we will have to wait a little longer. Star Fox for the Nintendo Switch 2 was conceived with a very clear objective in mind: to transplant the foundations of Lylat Wars (Nintendo 64) into the future, crafting a highly cinematic space opera that serves as the definitive origin story for this band of space mercenaries. The graphics, direction, voice acting, script, and orchestral soundtrack—everything seems to align to bring to life what, in the 90s, was merely the stuff of imagination, casting the Lylat System—with its stunning environments and, above all, its vehicle designs—in a brand-new light. And yet, despite improvements to the control scheme and the introduction of original new modes, one gets the sense that the core gameplay formula remains firmly rooted in the past; it offers a flight on the wings of nostalgia that will surely bring a smile to veterans' faces, but which newcomers might find hard to swallow. To make any definitive judgments, we will have to wait for the complete package to arrive, so that we may discover the strategies Nintendo has employed to add some spice to this very traditional recipe. [Hands-On Impressions]

Quotation forthcoming.

Unfortunately—particularly during certain boss battles—progress is made more through trial and error than through informed strategy. After a while, you realize that striking a specific arm yields no effect, that an enemy attack lands slightly sooner than visual cues would suggest, and that your own offensive has actually connected even in the absence of clear on-screen indicators. With a dash of practice and a bit of patience, it is possible to partially mitigate these two issues; however, they inevitably—and significantly—mar the overall enjoyment of the experience.