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Game has a bad rep for "Not being Bioshock". Mostly do to the cult status the first game managed to get over time. Though I have to admit it feels more like a side story rather than an actual continuation of the previous title. Still the gameplay is clealry more polished and the visual department got a very nice face lift. Go in expecting an evolution rather then revolution.
After Celceta and Lacrimosa we enter Monstrum Nox. The 9th game in the Y's series (minus all the remakes and remasters). In short? It's a good game though I unserstand people who are not into JRPG style games might bounce off of it. The game takes the systems from the previous two titles which got a good ol polish to smooden the rough edges. The game has three main gameplay element. Exploring the city of Balduq while doing side quests. Doungeon crawling with up to twoother characters making it a party of three. And lastly, returning from Lacrimosa are the hord defence missions that seamd to become the series new standard mode. The story is plesant, nothing groundbraking and has that early 2000's anime style of naration. Very much recomended and a must have for the fans.
Yakuza 3 is the series growing into it's teen years with exactly all the grace of an akward teenager. Some gameplay elements lack refindment. The story is clearly an intro to a bigger saga and we are basically just going through the prologue. Stillif you know what you are getting into you will definetly find allot of fun in playing the game. Just rememmber that 4 and 5 are must afterward.
Years of refindment and ballancing made this game as close to perfections as possible. Trully a labour of love from the developers.
Take a turn based jRPG, deck building card game and visual novel, put them in a blender and turn it on puree. The game is an amalgamation of all these mechanics and it actually manages to blend them quite organically. Allot of people seams to boil it down to comparing it to Persona 5, which I admit was clearly an inspiration for the devs. The game is a detective story, where our protagonists investigate the futuristic city of Mato (clearly inspired by Shanghai). You will explore the city and demonic planes fighting enemies (jRPG part), talk to NPC and your party members to grasp the plot (Visual Novel part) and interrogate suspects to discover the cities secrets (card game part). The one problem is that the game is clearly a budget tittle so you might find it's presentation "cheap" at some points. Still, if you like detective stories you should consider giving it a try.
The Metro series is truly something special. A bit janky in the first entry but only rising in quality with each new title. Totally worth your money! It goes on sale regularly so don't miss out on it!
I had no high expectations and maybe because of this I had such a good experience. The devs where clearly taking inspiration from the Resident Evil Remakes, mostly Resident Evil 2 as the new Alone in The Dark main gameplay loop is exploration and puzzle solving with some combat in between. The 1920 setting is a delight to experience. Fans of the original will recognize remade elements from the first game. There is a few technical issues but nothing game braking or annoying to the point of not wanting to play. Also if you are planning to play, it is best to not approach the game as a shooter as you might find the combat a bit lacking. It's not bad but the playable characters are not trained soldiers, so the combat is much slower and methodic and not action packed adrenalin.
So, this game came out a while ago on consoles and is basically a love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre. I kid you not. If you played those game you will instantly recognize all the mechanics. Leveling classes, then switching them to unlock more advanced ones. Equipping your squad and micromanaging them to create the best set up to steam roll the opposition. Though the devs did introduce some quality of life improvements so to avoid annoying grind moments. Though you will most likely restart a few missions to set up your squad with some better enemy counters. You enjoyment from the game really depends on if you are into the Japanese style tactical strategies like the mentioned Final Fantasy Tactics. If you are, than this game will give you at least 20 hours for each campaign (unless you are some tactical genius ;)).
Just like the title states. The game is a story driven "experience". All the gameplay is simple drag and drop interactions with some simple "puzzles". However, the setting is so comfy and calm that I think it only ads to the experience. The general idea is that you are a artist living in a small town that does work for the local community. What's interesting is that you go through the MC whole day, not just the painting. You have to make your self something to eat, maybe a cup of coffee, take care of your cat etc. The painting is very simple and is mostly filling out spaces like in a coloring book. Again, if you are not into these kind of narrative driven games you might bounce of of it. if you are though, you will get a very charming experience of going through life while appreciating the little things.