Already halfway through my adventure in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth I understood that this game is a true JRPG, a true 100+ hours colossal game, a true Final Fantasy.

The supporting structure is that of an open-map full of collectibles, enemies to defeat and secondary quests.
Although towards the end of the main campaign it starts to feel repetitive, I must say that the exploration was well balanced, and never becomes too heavy. The level design is always good or excellent, without ever becoming frustrating except for a few exceptions (chapter 1 is so messed-up).
There is no point in dwelling on the combat system: perfect, as in the previous game, perhaps my favorite combat system of recent years; all enemies, from common ones to bosses, prevent you from smashing buttons at random: you have to analyze them, understand their weaknesses and make the most of the combat mechanics.
And one of the most wonderful things of all is precisely the quantity of secondary activities, including minigames and quests, which allow, as in a true respectable JRPG, to obtain unique bonuses, weapons and set-ups. Obviously the levels of the past are not reached, but the equipment system is so eclectic that the request for strategy from the player is decidedly satisfying.

The narrative, just like in its predecessor, is the ambiguous point of the title. Starting from the aspects that I didn't like, in my opinion the biggest problem is the authors' need to complicate rather simple underlying concepts more than necessary: I don't criticize the choice to change the plot compared to the original, but I criticize the staging, which i think is too tacky and exaggerated, and builds to a final climax that is not at all engaging. But, as in Remake, these problems only affect the last chapter of the story, which is strange: it's as if the director suddenly changed.
I say this because for 95% of the main campaign the direction, the staging, the dialogues, the animations, the cutscene models are nothing short of excellent. To say that there is high level film direction is an understatement. Each cutscene is beautiful to follow and admire, and obviously this leads to top-notch storytelling.

The final point I would like to talk about is the music: the best soundtrack of recent years. There are hundreds and hundreds of different songs, many different musical genres, many new entries and not just rearrangements: a true masterpiece.

There's a strong possibility we've just witnessed this year's goty.

This second reboot of the franchise was my first approach to Tomb Raider. I haven't played any other game in the saga, at least for now.
I must say that I was expecting a plot and a protagonist more focused on archaeology, on the exploration of ancient sites, and instead for 90% of the game you find yourself shooting soldiers. The archeology is there, but it seems to be put there only as a sop and to use the "Tomb Raider" brand without feeling guilty. So yes, I don't know if this is also the spirit of the original saga, but it didn't involve me very much, in fact the plot didn't arouse any emotion in me at all: I found the events uninspired and the characters uninteresting.
Also, i didn't like this Lara Croft, not only because she goes from being a poor scared girl to an absolute monster in a day, but also because (and this is for every character in the main crew) she seemed very dumb, very slow in realizing things: she didn't actually read every document containing a piece of lore that i found during the game, and the result is that in the final missions i had to sit and watch these people realize things and talk about stuff that i learned basically in the first hours. Very frustrating.

However, I had a lot of fun: this Tomb Raider by Crystal Dynamics is a formidable, very fluid and fun action game. The fluidity with which you can move around the environments, do platforming, and at the same time fight enemies in always functional maps is really to be rewarded. Also, there are a lot of cinematic action scenes which are a feast for the eyes, with beautiful choreography and nice gameplay.
So yes, it's 10 hours of wonderful and fun action shooting and platforming, but you can very well skip all the cutscenes and the experience remains unchanged.

It's impossible to say anything that hasn't already been said about Cuphead. Everyone knows how aesthetically wonderful it is, with animations that move you by how much passion has been put into it. I had never played it, and obviously I fell in love with it.
Yes it's very, very difficult, but almost all of the bossfights are designed with so much care, talent and craftsmanship that it's impossible not to be amazed at how well they work and are almost never unfair.
A cult of the medium, a work famous throughout the world and not by chance.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a great game, but with many reservations.
The supporting structure, based on the exploration of open maps full of collectibles, is valid and works: it's not innovative, it has the same gameplay depth as a game from 10 years ago, but it works all the same. And above all it entertains. You won't find difficult puzzles or who knows what gems, but there is no shortage of crossroads and the level design is quite complex.
The other pillar of the title is the combat system, which takes inspiration from From Software's masterpieces, to be adapted with some new elements. The action system does the bare minimum: it makes the fights playable. However, I found it boring and very slow, as did the enemies: the simple grunts are far too stupid, while the bosses are often unnecessarily frustrating and tough. There is a big imbalance in difficulty from this point of view.

The balance of the gameplay loop given by exploration, collectibles, and combat is unfortunately negative. Apart from a few new abilities, the flow of the game remains identical until the end, already starting to get boring after a couple of hours. There is no evolution in exploration, there is no variation in combat, nothing at all. Of course, my taste as a completionist has still made me appreciate collecting, but perhaps this is not enough.

The game also aims to be story-driven, but the story itself is very banal, albeit with an interesting underlying idea. I have to say that it didn't interest me in the slightest, in fact I was often almost tempted to skip the cutscenes. It didn't convey anything to me from this point of view. Note of demerit for the terrible English dubbing.

The absolute strong point of Kena, the only thing that struck everyone who saw the first trailer, is obviously the graphic aspect: the game world is beautiful, although there is very little variety between the areas, and the game is always a beauty for the eyes. The character design only works for the protagonist, while unfortunately the other characters have the same charismatic depth as a common background character from a Disney film.
One last word for the music: great.

I can't say I'll remember the game fondly, but it certainly didn't give me any unpleasant hours.