Not Tonight

This game is ok. It definitely has taken inspiration from papers please, and tried to place it in a more contemporary setting. The design of the graphics, sound and music is very good. The design of the game and it's UI is less good. Many parts of it are a bit difficult to figure out, which is maybe kind of the point, but it still feels awkward. And some parts are just plain nonsensical, like the save slot management system.

A cool little Papers, Please!-em up. It has plenty of shortcomings, but makes up for it in style, music and decent gameplay. It goes without saying that if you haven't played Papers, Please! first, you should do that instead, as that is the game this is trying to imitate, and Not Tonight doesn't quite hit the mark of that one (but comes pretty close).
For a game that makes you focus and find the small errors, the game itself has some errors that seemingly never got addressed. Such as the bosses telling you one thing, but the actuality of the stage checks being the polar opposite. For example, at one point, a boss told me that he doesn't care about income checks and I shouldn't bother with them, but my handbook of rules for the current day specifically says that I should, and the handbook is correct. Similar issues cropped up 2 or 3 times during the playthrough.. The game always refers to the people you inspect as 'clubbers', even when that is not appropriate. The game tells you that you can do a thing, but you actually cannot - when you first get drugs, it says you can flush them in the toilet, but there is no such functionality. There is a bunch of erroneous triggers for determining the 'good ending' that specifically say you did a thing during your playthrough when you most certainly didn't. The starting barks from the boss for the day will mention stuff like "Check tickets!" even if the venue in question doesn't have tickets. The rejection barks from the queuers can be complete nonsense, not matching the situation that happens at all.
It could have so many more things to check on the documents, but it just doesn't. The list of things to check stays fairly trivial till the end, and the only document cross-check you have to do is the photos, while it could have been more - names, ids, supplemental info. The additional documents also could have expiry dates, but they don't. The holograms/stamps for the documents could have fake versions, but they don't. The form/paper the documents are printed on could have fake versions, but they don't. There's many more potential details like these, but they were not implemented, I believe, to make the queue move faster, as it is a timed game, much more so than Papers, Please!. At later levels you have to keep breakneck pace to reach bonus objectives, and on some I never achieved bonus 2 due to running out of time, but that's not a big deal. The names of the queuers could have mattered more than just for the guestlist, there could have been a ban on polish-sounding names, there could have been a manhunt for some specific person to look out for, there could have been errors in name spellings in supplemental documents, but there's none of that.
It could have leaned further into racism. Now sure, the game touches on a similar theme heavily, but the point of the game is to make you uncomfortable, and it never quite goes "black people not allowed", and I think it should have by the end to show how fucked up things have become.
It could have leaned further into geography. It tickles it slightly with the flags, but it could have gone for cities, too. Ensuring that Milan is in Italy could have been an interesting mechanic with an additional bonus of teaching people some basic geography facts.
The game also just kinda... gives up by the very end, removing basically all difficulty from the strategic layer, and the ending of the game is very abrupt and underwhelming. I ended the game having bought all upgrades, paid for everything and with around 16k quid in my account with nothing to spend it on, having never sold a single thing or taken a bribe.
I should also mention that including a requirement to match the headwear and a hairstyle to the same types on the document photo is certainly a choice. Wore a different hat today? You're not allowed on the premises. I get that since the humans don't have facial features due to the artstyle, that's sort of your go-to, but it could have been explained in-game, like a mention of the wacky document photo ID laws or somesuch.
I kept waiting the whole game when will it force me to point out the errors to the queuers, but it never does, despite actually having that functionality. You can always just instantly reject if you spot something wrong without explaining, which is a missed opportunity in terms of additional difficulty. The game overall lacks the kind of bureaucracy that was charming in Papers, Please! and just kinda speeds it all along without realising that it is that sort of annoying attention to detail that was fun to explore in this kind of game.
Regardless of all that, it is still a quite fun game to play and I enjoyed playing it, I just wanted to vent my frustrations with it. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoyed playing Papers, Please! and wants more, but in a slightly different form-factor.

There's nothing that special about this game other than it's a Paper's Please knockoff, which is why most reviews will just say that. If you want more of that gameplay (which I did coming into this), then I would recommend this game. Otherwise, in every other area, this game is a step down from Paper's Please. The mechanics don't really inform the story in the brilliant way Paper's Please does, the story itself is quite boring, and the politics are immature.

The game has the vague stance that Brexit and strict immigration policies are bad. These are things I agree with, but the execution within the game is just so surface level that I wish they hadn't included it in the first place. This game commits the cardinal sin: asking the question "What if white people were oppressed?" without any insight. In a game that explicitly references real political happenstances, it makes the cowardly decision to refuse to confront racism against non-white people by switching the target to other European countries. Although I don't entire align myself with Paper's Please's politics, it does make the observation that immigration checkpoints are incredibly unfair and dehumanizing. It question's one's purpose, appearance, origin, gender, and job, and subjects them to invasive searches from armed individuals. This is softened up in Not Tonight by either removing these aspects (no invasive search, no gender questioning) or by playing them up as jokey strawmen (haha no writers, reporters, or journalists allowed. isn't that fucked up?).

It's weaksauce. It's plain white toast. But if you like checking items off a list and peering through digital documents (as I do), then go ahead. It's mind numbing enough.

Great game. The winning formula. Start small and simple and get more and more complex. I laughed at several points. Art style is great.
The politics message can be a little on the nose at times and some levels where absolutely crazy frustrating, but I kept coming back for more punishment.

I decided to try Not Today because I'm being a big fan of Lucas Pope's game "Papers Please".The game turned out to be a pleasant surprise. At first glance, it’s familiar territory: checking documents, matching faces, spotting inconsistencies. But the mechanics are so engaging that it’s genuinely hard to stop — every new day on the checkpoint feels like a mini-puzzle. The game keeps things fresh by constantly introducing new twists: updated forms, shady characters with fake visas, you name it.
The soundtrack is quite catchy and atmospheric and perfectly matches for the visual tone.Speaking of visuals... this game oozes style. That retro bureaucratic dystopia vibe is absolutely nailed, with just the right amount of bleak charm.
Oh, and the xenophobia! Where else can you take border security so seriously that you start questioning your own reflection? Thankfully, it’s all served with a hefty dose of irony — and it works brilliantly. The game pokes fun at paranoia and bureaucratic absurdity in the best way possible.
If you enjoy games inspired by Papers Please,clever satire, and the raw power of deciding who gets in and who gets rejected - this game is for you.

A Bouncer Working In A Country That Hates You
The Positive's
+ Fun Document Checking Mechanics
+ Great Soundtrack
+ Amazing Aesthetics
The Negative's Were Deported
The Aspect Of The Game
You are a citizen of in the UK who has lost there citizenship and is now forced to work doing bouncer gigs to get by in a ever changing government that does not want you there.
My Two Cent Review
I first played this game when it came out and thought it was pretty cool but was caught up in high school at the time and had completely forgotten this game until recently when the second game came out. The story of the game is very dystopian with the way the government treats it's immigrant problem which actually reminds of a real life country at the time of writing this review... For each place you work at has it's own playlist of songs that represent the location well. The visuals as very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The more you progress through the game the more and more they add layers to your job which of course gives you more pay with the greater risk of having discrepancy's pass through. With the money you earn you can customize your apartment and person adding buffs to the work you do.
The Value Of The Game
It's a really good document checking for the game that is constantly on sale. If you loved the game Papers Please you will certainly love this game.
Final Score 90/100 Ranking A- Tier

This is a good game, the story is cool, but I was a bit disappointed with the final chapter for being short and a little off, after investing some hours in it. The side jobs and the different dialogues and characters make the game less repetitive.