I played the demo for Cris Tales that is on GOG right now. I wasn't a fan of it, but I can see it being really appealing to some people. It's an indie turn-based RPG with a very fairy tale/storybook aesthetic to it, and a time travel conceit to it. The art is very nice, with a sort of pop-up book look to it, and I can see some potential in the time control mechanics, where you move between the past, present, and future to alter things to solve problems, or for certain effects in combat too. I didn't like that combat however. Going in, I didn't know this game was JRPG-like, despite having vaguely recognised seeing the game somewhere before. I don't tend to like these systems, and this was no exception. It has some timing mechanics where if you press a button at the right time while attacking/defending you can add an extra hit or deflect attacks. But the window for defending didn't feel right. There was also a moment when they were explaining how the time control mechanics work in battle during a boss fight, where you have to use a water spell in the present to rust their shield in the future. I worked out what it wanted me to do before it explicitly told me, but it wouldn't work until it ran through the tutorial for it. Then after that point the battle dragged on for way more turns than it needed to, where you're doing nothing more than basic attacks and blocks. But despite all that, I can see this game being right up the alley for some people. The art really is nice, and it has a distinctive look to it, and those time mechanics have potential. So if you're in to this sort of RPG, and can deal with some potentially grating voice acting, it might be worth trying out.
Also started playing Yakuza 5 Remastered. I was unsure about starting this, as I sort of wanted to leave more time after beating 4 not too long ago, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's helpful that it feels like you start off at a way higher baseline when it comes to combat mechanics than you do in the previous games, and most of the later games too come to think of it. Movement feel quicker, and you have way more options than the small array of light and heavy attacks that make up 90% of what you do in the early combat hours of these games usually. Also I'm trying to take it easy when I play it for a session, quitting before I feel like I've pushed too far for the sake of getting through more of the game in a sitting.
And I also played Feather for a bit, thanks to RiffRaff yet again. This is more of an interactive toy/experience thing than anything else really. You control a bird and fly around a small island, where you can explore all the little points of interest dotted around, and can change your bird or the music that is playing by flying through some magic hoops. It also has Journey-esque drop-in multiplayer where other people can join you in your game randomly, but the only form of interaction you have it the ability to screech at them. I saw pretty much everything it had to offer in about 45 minutes, but it was a good time. Just flying around aimlessly, seeing what there was to see, taking in the atmosphere. It created a number of very pretty and even somewhat moving scenes. Coming in to contact with other players has a very organic feeling to it as well, like Journey did.
