Today's Question: What is a game you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving?
My Answer: AI: The Somnium Files
This was a game I knew absolutely nothing about going into it, other than the fact that it was recommended to me by Julian and that it was kind of close to Danganronpa, but with how great Danganronpa was as a series, I was expecting to be blown out by Somnium. However, when I had first started playing it, honestly I almost put it down right away because I was just getting bored out of mind, but I ended up sticking it through to the end, and glad I did, as the more I played the game, the better I enjoyed it, and I would not have witnessed that great ending dance sequence if I did choose that one day to not continue Somnium Files.
Imma be honest here, I probably wouldn't have ever played this game if it wasn't free. I upgraded to Playstation+ Extra or whatever it's called that has a bunch of free games you can download and "try out" aka play through lmao, and I was bored one night/trying to find an RPG to dive into that I hadn't tried before, saw it was free, and said fuck it why not. I'd seen the trailer a few times but, in all honesty, wasn't TOO interested at first but, again, I was bored and knew I wanted an RPG. So I downloaded Ys IX: Monstrum Nox.
And then I started the game. And I broke out of Balduq Prison for the first time. And Adol was turned into a Monstrum. And then I got to see the city of Balduq. And I started meeting some of the characters. And I started getting engrossed in the gameplay. This game that I wasn't too interested in but was a "sure, fuck it" download turned into a game that I played ALL THE WAY THROUGH in a single 4 day weekend, because I was HOOKED.
The story is fantastic, first off. You start the game by breaking OUT of the prison, then spend the rest of the game finding multiple ways to break INTO the prison due to the way the story beats are progressing. The gameplay loop is awesome, I'm a huge fan of action RPG style combat (even if I do slightly prefer turn-based, action is good too) and traversing Balduq with some of the Monstrum gifts is... divine. Running up massive buildings, jumping off, and gliding across town is just so goddamn satisfying. And the CHARACTERS, holy hell the characters. I love each of the Monstrums as well as their leader Aprilis. Hell, one of the Monstrums is currently my Discord pic and likely will be for a while (not only do we basically have the same name, but very similar personalities and worldviews as well! Plus he's a mage, and yall know I love my mages.)
The endgame twist left me GAGGED, I won't spoil but thinking back it should've been more obvious given... a certain side story happening concurrently to the Monstrums' adventures (if you play the game, I think you'll understand what I mean by that.) Overall, I just really loved this game. A game I didn't expect to be much of anything besides a "fuck it, why not" download wound up becoming one of my newest obsessions. Who would've guessed? Anyway, if it wasn't obvious this one gets a HUGE recommend from me. Awesome game, check it out if you haven't!
Just what I expected from Falcom