My review of 2023 games as a Steam-discount RPG connoisseur
Hello all : ) I'm new to this sub but like many of you I wait months and months for a good deal on Steam to purchase a game. I'm also predominantly a RPG gamer, thanks to being raised by Skyrim.
Here are 8 games I played in 2023-new year, with a number rating and a short review:
- GTA V - 5/5
Suuuper late to the party. Didn't care much for any side hustles like biking, paragliding or jet stealing, but the campaign was brilliant. Loved all three characters; related to Franklin the most, thought Trevor was a great ally, and Michael was hella based.
- VtM: Shadows over New York - 5/5
The best philosophical novel/decision making game I've played in my 25 years of life. A great dive into how far one will go to achieve power in the corporate hierarchy. Never felt like a true villain in video games until I played this one.
- Call of the Sea - 5/5
The game advertises itself so differenty to how it truly is. What I thought would be a chill, aesthetic story game with a few puzzles turned into a Cthulian thriller with dramatic twists and turns. Felt like I was in M.Night Shamalan movie.
- The Sinking City - 3/4
Cthululian mystery game set in Inssmouth- ticks all my boxes. Side quests weren't very interesting but the main storyline is worth a playthrough. Loved the protagonist, Charles. This game is currently set to be overhauled by the company who originally developed it, so I would save it on your wishlist for later.
- Road 96 - 3/5
Unique road trip game- never played anything like it before. You meet so many characters but they're all uniquely interesting and I liked all their conflicting stories. Don't. Play. This. Game. More. Than. Once. It tries to push you into thinking it's repayable- it's not a fun experience. Replaying it honestly ruined a lot of my original feelings about the game and took away its fantastical allure. Play it once and be done with your life.
- Kingdoms of Amalur - 1/5
I juusssttt don't know. I've played so many fantasy RPG's, from the Elder Scrolls franchise, to Dragon Age, to Witcher, to Greedfall, Divinity and Dragon's Dogma- and this game, just isn't it. The combat animations are breath-taking, but that's sadly all I felt was good about the game. Sorry long-term Amalur fans.
- Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One - 5/5
I had never heard of this franchise before, but by God is it now one of my most beloved. This game is amazing. It has such in-depth crime solving techniques, very reminiscent of the original Sherlock books or BBC's Sherlock. Brilliant protagonist, loved the twist of Sherlock and John dynamic. Has an ACTUALLY good, very in-depth representation of mental health and Schizophrenia.
- Twin Mirror - 4/5
Made by the Gods of Life is Strange, Twin Mirror is a short 7-hour small-town moider mystery game with very similar schizophrenic aspects to the Sherlock Holmes game mentioned above. Nice cyberpunk-esq soundtrack and had some very artistic scenes/camera angles that you wouldn't see in a run-of-the-mill mystery game.
I enjoyed the mystery, it reminded me of those one-off Bri'ish mysteries you see late at night on BBC or ITV. Could easily pass as an episode of Shetland ; )
Aaaaand that's it folks! These are all RPG's, so if you're an RPG lover like myself, definitely have a go at them. Honestly if you had to miss out on some, I would say Kingdoms of Amalur was a bit of a miss, but every other game on here I recommend highly (maybe leave GTA V to last as it's the big-boy triple-A game and costs the most). Thanks for listening everyone!