I think people really enjoy the base building aspect, like all of my friends treated building bases on some level as being like Sim City.

Actually true
When I first tried out StarCraft as a kid, I didn’t even care about all that battle thing; I just liked seeing buildings go up

Gunlance moment

Post-Wii Nintendo seems to be allergic to 2d and pixel art stylez

Reaction wheels just don’t cut it anymore

While I’ve never had the exact same experience, I do somewhat understand what he’s talking about.

Sometimes I detect this particular metallic smell out of nowhere; this seems to happen randomly, but I believe that it mostly happens when I either get strong headaches/migraines or I physically strain my body in some way. Other times I get a weird taste/smell that reminds me of old oil or something.

While I don’t eat a lot of seafood, I can imagine some of it having those tastes or smells to it

It lacks the piss filter

I’ve played Wildfrost, but I don’t feel confident in recommending it, because it’s quite hard and very RNG-based. But, maybe that’s your thing. Honestly, I played it just for the art style lol

That’s pretty sick(le)

Oh yeah, I remember that

Can’t wait to get my ass handed to me by an early-stage boss once again, but now on mobile

Vinesauce Joel’s playthrough of it is also very iconic

I remember playing a very early version of this; at the time, it looked very cool, even if somewhat basic

Wildfrost mention, hell yeah

I’m not too into deckbuilders, so I played it just for that gorgeous presentation lol. The art style falls under an unusual category of “cute, but I’m pretty sure that the artist also draws naughty stuff on the side”

da froot! tasty!

Helldivers is a game where you play in a squad of 1-4 (solo, friends, or it’ll pair you with randoms) to drop down to planets and try to survive against bugs or automatons while completing some objectives.

Wait… that’s just Deep Rock Galactic!

I really wanted to suggest Nier Replicant, but, seeing as you didn’t like Automata, I guess there’s no point. I enjoyed both, though, since I kind of was in a specific headspace the time I played them. I also took both at face value initially, which has helped

Other than that, may I suggest Beacon Pines? It’s all about the story, so I think you’ll love it. The way you discover different branching paths the story takes is also quite novel.

I also loved FAR: Lone Sails. It’s more of a “show, don’t tell” kinda story

There’s also this itchio game I found once – Under a star called Sun. It’s super short, though

Honestly, I also replay the trilogy from time to time lol

Yeah, I’ve yet to check it out

I love Etrian Odyssey V (especially the music), but I suck at it lol

Out of all that I could’ve suggested, Ace Attorney series probably fits the bill the most

EDIT: Also, Lunacid! Finished it recently; what a beautiful experience it has been

EDIT2: Also, Beacon Pines! For the love of all that is holy on this bitch of a planet, please play it