Dex is a side-scrolling RPG where you play as a woman named Dex, who one day is mysteriously hunted. You can free-roam in the city and do sidequests, as well as setting up your skills and implants to make yourself more formidable in combat, hacking, or a better talker. But personally, I prefer to play this game stealthily, as you can perform instant takedown on most enemies. While I love cyberpunk games, Dex strangely flew under my radar until I decided to try it recently. And it was surprisingly great, the 2D artstyle, the atmosphere, gameplay, and story. This version already came integrated with the Extra Outfits DLC, which makes the game considerably easier and more fun with their unique looks and buffs. Especially as a stealth player, as one outfit allows unlimited cloaking until you decide to do some action. When a mission asks you to go to an enemy hideout or take you off-city... you know what outfit to wear. My biggest complaint about this game is how the protagonist almost never speaks, despite the game being fully-voiced. She only speaks on several cutscenes, and normally her dialogue is only through text. Kind of a weird choice honestly, especially since she doesn't have that much dialogue compared to other NPCs. There are also some minor bugs like health suddenly dropping after loading new areas, but the regeneration implant makes that no big deal. If you're a fan of futuristic RPGs and cyberpunk aesthetics, especially ones inspired by Blade Runner, you should give Dex a try. For me, it's like playing Deus Ex but 2D, so if you like that seemingly discontinued franchise, this game will kinda fill that hole in your heart.
Blood West is a stealth horror FPS where you play as an undead cowboy with a job to clean up the land from an evil corruption. Most of the main quest involves a scavenger hunt, where you must find items before you can fight the boss. There are also sidequests where you can help other characters, mostly scavenger hunts as well. But it doesn't feel tedious as exploring the corrupted version of the usual Wild West setting is something I find interesting. For combat, the game has a major emphasis on stealth, in which stealth kills can take down an enemy in just 1 hit. But it's not as easy as it seems, being mostly set outdoors, there aren't many places to hide. Luckily, you have an infinite ammo throwable rock to distract enemies. And what I mean by this game being hard, is that enemies are very strong, and can kill you in a few hits. What's worse is that if you die, you'll get a curse, basically a debuff that makes your character even weaker. To top it off, there's only 1 save per playthrough, so don't even think about quicksave/quickload. I think Blood West would be more enjoyable if it was easier. Like having an easy difficulty option, multiple save slots, or making time freeze whenever you open inventory by default instead of having to find an easily missable artifact to do so. But if you like open-world Western games or horror ones, you'd probably have fun playing this title.
Lamentum is a horror game where you play as a man named Victor, who traveled to a mansion owned by a mysterious billionaire who claims he can cure his dying wife. Naturally, it doesn't go smooth, and he must rescue his wife (and optionally, other people) from this house of horrors. It's inspired by Resident Evil, so you will be walking around the mansion, finding items to progress while fighting otherworldly creatures and managing your inventory. And you can only save in save rooms. It's also inspired by Lovecraft mythos, so the creatures are not mere zombies but can look very weird. It adds to the scariness, plus there are many unsettling paintings and statues throughout. The enemies have a pretty large variation, and there are boss fights as well. The game has 4 endings, 1 premature, and 3 optional. To get other endings you'll have to talk to people, pick the correct dialogue options, and find collectibles in the shape of teeth and coins. While the gameplay is similar to RE, they lack some important features, like the ability to drop or discard items, and marking if a key item is no longer needed. It's especially bad since some areas (usually hallucination ones) you cannot return to, and they may contain collectibles. But it can be mitigated by not carrying too many items around, and store the ones you haven't used in a while. I think Lamentum is a decent game that survival horror fans will enjoy, especially if you like titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or Lovecraftian horror. There are multiple difficulty levels, and you can switch on unlimited saves mode so you don't have to find and carry inks around, just one.
The First Templar is an adventure game with hack-and-slash combat, where you mainly play as Celian d'Arestide, a Knight Templar on the quest to find the Holy Grail. He is accompanied mostly by Marie d'Ibelin, a disgraced noblewoman, and sometimes Roland, a fellow Templar. You can switch between the 2 characters anytime, even mid-combat. It can be played on local co-op, but if you prefer not to, AI will control the other character. The levels are linear, but you might find sidequests along the way. They are pretty simple, like saving people or fighting an extra group of enemies. There's also treasures which give XP, a buff that stays until the level's end, or alternate weapons and costumes, but they are simply cosmetic. With the XP you can build your skill tree, I recommend unlocking the ones that heal you on critical hits. Most levels are the usual exploring and fighting ones, but some are trap gauntlets. In case you're worried, the AI is surprisingly smart at avoiding damage for most parts. But it also seems to be prone to crashing, as in the trap-heavy final level my laptop froze 2 times. Lowering the graphics might help lessen these. The label "Special Edition" adds an additional level to this game, the Arena level selected from the additional content menu. It seems to takes place a while after the main story's ending, and you should finish it last. The reason is because the skills you unlock will carry over, and greatly help. Kinda pleased this isn't the typical endless survival level, but a story one. If you like games where you can control 2 characters like Of Orcs and Men or Hunted: The Demon's Forge, The First Templar is another title right up your alley. Though unfortunately, unlike those games, the 3 protagonists' fighting styles aren't really distinct. Especially since in the poster, Marie has a crossbow, but the only ranged attack you have is her dagger throw.
SAMUDRA is a side-scrolling adventure game, made by Indonesian developers. It's title which means "ocean" in their native language, is the setting of this game. You play as a little boy in a diving helmet as he explores a heavily polluted ocean floor. Mainly, the game is puzzle, you solve simple ones to progress. There are also stealth and chase sections where you run and hide from enemies. It's not very hard, although some puzzles and chase scenes can be a bit difficult. I love the 2D artstyle as well as the important message this game seems to tell, how we produce so much waste that it pollutes our oceans, and can cause major disasters in the future such as extinction of marine animals or the flooding/sinking of cities. But I'm not really a fan of how some areas are so easily missable, like you can accidentally travel to the correct area and cannot backtrack to save a pufferfish in an optional puzzle. Some areas should be able to be revisited. I think this game is comparable to titles such as Limbo and Little Nightmares, due to being adventure games with environmental puzzles and chasing enemies. If you like those titles SAMUDRA is definitely a game you should try.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to the Deus Ex games, where you play as augmented security guard Adam Jensen hunting the people who kidnapped his girlfriend. These augmentations provide unique ways to progress, like you can convince people easier, fight multiple enemies, or find alternate pathways by jumping and stacking boxes. Like many of its kind, stealth and nonlethal is the recommended way, as firefights can get intense very fast, and will raise alarms. While many parts of the game are quite linear, there are city hubs that has side quests, and are no less interesting than the main ones. Sadly, you'll only visit about 2 of those hubs, Detroit and Hengsha. They are revisited again later in the story. New areas in those became explorable though, and there are also changes and obviously new sidequests. But honestly I do think the areas feel a bit cramped, not too open. Despite mainly being a stealth game, there are unavoidable boss battles where you must kill them. Because of that, it is recommended to augment the damage you take and carry at least 1 lethal weapon. Heavy rifle, laser rifle, and revolver are good ideas. There are alternate strategies such as tossing explosive barrels or hacking the security system, but these are not easy either. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a very good stealth game, if you like the genre and/or cyberpunk aesthetics you should play this game, and every other in the Deus Ex franchise.
System Shock 2 is the sequel to System Shock, taking place 4 decades later. You play as a soldier assigned to a military starship, which during its flight, is infected by a sentient, hivemind biomass and its army of assimilated creatures. Compared to the first game, the gameplay is similar but improved, feeling more like a modern game with smoother controls. Inventory is shown in a grid rather than text. The puzzles are simpler, you only need to connect 3 nodes. Enemy respawn is not as common as the first game, except during the final part of the penultimate level. But the biggest change is the addition of a skill tree system. This can be both a blessing and a curse. Good if you like character building, but the downside is that it prevents the use of some weapons. Wanna use that cool fusion cannon, or that disgusting organic gun? Better max out their required skills! But remember to keep your repair and maintenance skills as well to be able to fix them. There's also a psionic amplifier, allowing you to use powers. These use the same resources as the skill upgrades, so be wise. The levels are better-designed as well, looking more detailed and functional rather than the simple "hallways with electronic stuff" in the first game. But ironically the levels look less distinct, despite its simple design the levels in the first game looks more unique and colorful. To be honest, the early levels of this game are boring, and somewhat still mazelike. It gets better though, but I still wish the levels have more color. And a flashlight would be nice, since some areas are kinda dark. Many people say System Shock 2 is a major improvement over the first game, but to me both games are equally great, with strong and weak points unique to each. You can play SS2 as a stand-alone since its not too strongly attached to the first game, and some events are retold, but I would advise you to finish the first one.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a story-based game where you play as Amicia de Rune, a teenage girl trying to save her brother from being hunted by Inquisition knights during the time of the Black Plague in France. Of course there will be lots of rats, which may help or hinder you. The graphics are beautiful, and while the gameplay might seem sorta simple, it's a lot of fun. Being kids, obviously they won't stand a chance in direct combat. So for most of the time, the game plays like a stealth game. Enemies must be silently killed, slip past, or fought one-on-one, for they will kill you in 1 hit. It also has puzzle elements, like how you can either use the rat horde to kill enemies, or find a way to get past unharmed. There's also a crafting mechanic where you can find stuff to create ammo or upgrade equipment. What's unique to me is how the enemies serve more as obstacles or puzzles instead of, well, enemies. The rats for example, you can use the fire to scare them away or throw alchemy objects that lead them away. And for the stealth sections, enemies must be taken out strategically, as like I said before, direct combat with multiple enemies usually means death. If you like story-based, third-person games like The Last Of Us, then A Plague Tale: Innocence is definitely up your alley. True, like many said its a bit too linear, but you'd be having a lot of fun along that path.
The Town of Light is a walking sim game, and while it might look like a horror game, it's not. There are no monsters or ghosts, but the overall atmosphere and some flashback scenes can be disturbing. You play as a woman named Renée, who travels into an abandoned mental asylum, trying to remember what happened. The scary part is the true story of abuse patients there, and Renée herself, endured when she stayed there. This game is... honestly kinda boring. I know what to expect since I played many walking sims, but the plot here is just too slow. Basically just like walking from room to room, reading notes, see some flashbacks, and that's it. There isn't really much to explore, and my favorite parts of the game are the ones where you're finally able to explore the asylum grounds, like the graveyard, gardens, and all that. There's also no option to pause the game during some flashbacks, which can be annoying if you have to go during the scene. This game also causes me nausea for some reason. However The Town of Light isn't all bad. It has great level design, the asylum and the details looks realistic. There's also some "choices matter" scenario that makes the next chapter have a bit different dialogue. The central theme is also an important one, since it's about patient abuse by doctors in the not-so-ancient 20th century. I think this game would be better if the flashbacks were explored in more detail. I'd honestly give this game a mixed rating, it's not a bad game by any means, but not a great one as well.
BioShock 2 Remastered is a stand-alone sequel where we play as Subject Delta, a Big Daddy bonded to Eleanor Lamb, the daughter of Rapture's new ruler Sofia Lamb. In this game we travel the ruined city of Rapture again in search of her, meeting friends and enemies along the way. Gameplay is mostly the same, its an FPS with powers. One notable difference is we can dual wield, weapon in one hand, Plasmid power in another. Since Big Daddies are like one of the most iconic characters in the franchise and even gaming in general, it's a nice change that we get to control one of these giants in diving suits. One thing that I find weird however is the fact that Delta seems to take more damage and deal less melee damage than Jack, the first game's protagonist despite him being only a human. But maybe it creates a better difficulty balance, and kinda makes fights more tense. Sadly, for mouse and keyboard players, this game has a pretty big disadvantage: the lack of weapon/Plasmid selection screen. That means you'll have to switch them in real-time, which may be difficult during fights. Luckily, using a controller allows this feature, but for people who aren't used to controllers in FPS games will have to adapt. It's also more unstable than the first game, I experienced quite some random crashes so don't forget to quicksave often. Other than the main story, there's also 2 extra content: Protector Trials and Minerva's Den. The first is a challenge room where you must protect your Little Sister, and the other is a story DLC where you play as Subject Sigma, tasked by genius Charles Milton Porter to retrieve his supercomputer's programming. If you like the BioShock franchise you definitely should play BioShock 2, and especially Minerva's Den which is considered one of their best. The difference between the remastered version and the original is very minor, only the removal of multiplayer and higher textures. Play either one, but I recommend the remaster slightly more.
