Recent reviews by Nausicaa

One of my favorite open-world games ever. Better than average setting that is applied consistently; at no point did I find the events or details implausible for Hong Kong. (I haven't been to Hong Kong but I've been to mainland China.) The city has so much character that I found it really fun to just wander around and take in the details.

The combat is really fun, relying more on martial-arts style brawls than on shootouts (though there are a fair amount of these, especially later in the game).

The story is definitely more engaging than typical open-world crime related games. It doesn't have open-world type decision trees, but the story is interesting enough that it feels like it works better as a linear story. I found the main story missions so fun that I replayed several of them. (you can access previously completed story missions in the Social tab in your menu).

If you get the DLC, Nightmare in North Point can be done spoiler-free about halfway through the game, and the Zodiac Tournament can be done at any time, though it's easier if you get more martial arts moves and level up your health more. Year of the Snake has to be done after the main story.

It's worth noting that there are about 3-4(ish?) plot-relevant characters who are women. A powerful mafia boss, a matriarchal head chef, a popstar, an American college grad, and a few minor ones. (i might be forgetting a couple?) Better than most video games, but I don't think it passes the Bechdel test.

Also, there's no option to play with a female character model. The main character is an Asian man.

The vast majority of the characters in the game are Asian, obviously. There are at least two white plot-relevant characters, and there is exactly one (1) black character in the game, who is a rapper. (-_- that's the ONLY way a black character could be written in? oh well....)

Overall I would say that the character writing is good, and I did feel sympathetic to many of the characters.

TLDR: If you like open-world exploration and/or martial arts, get this game.