The Games Machine

The Adventures of Elliot borrows heavily from the core gameplay mechanics of the classic 2D Zelda titles, channeling them into an enjoyable action RPG featuring a narrative with a distinctly Square Enix feel. While the plot starts off a bit flat, it picks up momentum and delivers quite a few surprises. The limited enemy variety and rather basic mission design are partially offset by a solid cast of characters, some interesting puzzles, and entertaining boss battles.

Gothic Remake has plenty of both good and bad aspects: the work by the team at Alkimia faithfully captures the spirit and brutality of the original game, immersing it in an incredible visual style, but just like 25 years ago, the title is plagued by technical issues and bugs of various kinds. That said, it’s a rediscovery of one of the best RPGs ever produced by the gaming industry, capable of captivating players with a brilliant story and a tangible, satisfying sense of progression. Perfect for longtime fans, and perhaps there are a few curious newcomers out there who will discover Gothic this way, through a generally solid remake.

eFootball Kick-Off! brings Konami's football to Nintendo with gameplay that's pleasantly reminiscent of the old PES games. There are several limitations and plenty of room for improvement, but it's a decent debut.

Solarpunk is a solid, cozy, low intensity game, but if you’re looking for an adventure that lasts more than a hundred hours, you should probably look somewhere else.

For the Nintendo Switch 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth represents more than just a simple port—it is a statement of intent. It serves as a concrete demonstration of what the platform is capable of hosting when a developer chooses to invest time and resources into an adaptation built specifically around the hardware, rather than merely scaling back graphics settings to the breaking point. The compromises are evident—at times even aggressive—yet almost invariably chosen with intelligence. The final result obviously does not attain the visual excellence of the PS5 version, let alone that of the PC release; nevertheless, it succeeds in preserving what truly matters: the scale, the atmosphere, and the sense of wonder that accompany every step of the journey undertaken by Cloud and his companions. And considering the complexity of the original work, that is no small feat.

The fact that the campaign so slavishly mirrors the original leaves me with more than a few doubts—as you may have gathered—especially considering that the opportunity was absolutely there to expand the stages, create new scenarios, and offer fresh incentives even for those deciding to replay *Star Fox* for the umpteenth time. The new additions are certainly welcome, though they will undoubtedly require more in-depth testing to fully gauge their depth. It has been a bittersweet experience for me—albeit one accompanied, naturally, by the hope that the "Switch effect" will finally propel the series out of its current loop and toward a future from which there is no turning back. [Hands-On Impressions]

Forza Horizon 6 is a superbly crafted game from a studio that knows its job perfectly: Japan works brilliantly as a setting, the driving physics are still the best in the genre within an open-world context, and there’s enough content to keep me busy until the next instalment. Yet there’s a ‘but’ that hangs over the whole experience. The Horizon series now has such a well-established formula that its instalments risk becoming indistinguishable from one another in the memory. In a few years’ time, will I remember the nights in Tokyo, the giant mech, the first time I lost control on ice in those picture-postcard landscapes? Or will I simply remember ‘the Japanese instalment’ as a generic title in a sequence of games that are all a bit the same? It’s a question every fan of the series should ask themselves honestly. Not to belittle what Playground has built — it’s a lot, and it’s done well — but to understand what we expect from a franchise that still has all the potential to surprise, and which here deliberately chooses not to do so.

Let's not mince words: 007 First Light is a genuine game-changer for the action-stealth genre. IO Interactive masterfully strikes a balance between a mature narrative and cinematic direction, all while delivering a level design that actively encourages player experimentation and creativity. The seamless transition between silent infiltration, clever gadgetry, and a dynamic combat system that fully leverages the environment showcases an extraordinary level of mastery and creative flair. The Danish studio has crafted an experience as robust as it is ambitious, perfectly honoring and celebrating the James Bond legacy.

Mina the Hollower possesses the allure of video games that are unafraid to ask something of the player: attention, memory, curiosity, and a certain tolerance for defeat. Yacht Club Games adopts the visual language of 8-bit classics and treats it as something living—eschewing nostalgia for its own sake to craft a surprisingly modern, fierce adventure brimming with personality. Between open-ended exploration, challenging combat, and level design that seems to conceal a secret around every corner, the Isle of Umbra achieves something rare: it restores an authentic sense of discovery, learning from the great masters of the past to write a story entirely its own.

Forefront takes the concept of large-scale military sandbox shooters and transports it into VR with rare ambition. The 16v16 battles work brilliantly, the vehicles deliver spectacular moments, and the gunplay strikes an excellent balance between immediacy and realism. On the Meta Quest 3, it inevitably makes some technical compromises—and the balancing isn't quite perfect yet, with other rough edges still needing to be smoothed out—but the sum of its parts delivers a rare sense of enjoyment, alongside some of the most immersive and thrilling multiplayer experiences seen in virtual reality to date.