You don't need to have played an earlier game in the series to appreciate the well-written, standalone storyline.
The story for Trauma Center: Second Opinion begins with our protagonist, a young doctor, often facing ridicule from his peers for being a rookie, performing surgery on the things we're used to seeing in an emergency room.
One day, a patient with an unusual disease will change the course of his entire life, forcing him into a field specializing in G.U.I.L.T, a disease whose origins I won't go into for spoiler reasons.
A female protagonist's chapters are progressively unlocked along the way, and tell the game's immersive story from a different perspective.
The two characters share a common ability- "The Healing Touch".
Though some operations require its usage, others can be performed without it, and in those cases bonus points can be earned toward your ranking (issued at the end of each procedure, your ranking (based on a letter basis, D, C, B, A, and a special rank for those perfect surgeons)
Surgical procedures, depending on their complexity, are easy to learn. Apply a gel to cleanse the area, make an incision along the area indicated on the screen, and the camera will zoom in, allowing you to better see the organ(s) you're operating on.
Smaller cuts can be easily treated with a gel.
Large cuts are sutured (as simple as sowing, by the time you complete this game's story you should be able to suture three cuts in three seconds, even if it's sloppy there are some chapters where you can't afford to waste any time) bloody openings require drainage before suturing.
Part of being a good surgeon is always keeping an eye on your patient's vitals (their heartrate) once it drops below 20, you're in extreme danger of losing your patient.
Luckily, a green serum can be used to raise their vitals at any time.
Surgeries have a time limit, between five and ten minutes.
The ten minute ones require you to operate on more than one patient, and, with time, you will learn which patient, and at what time during the procedure, that the Healing Touch needs to be used, and things will all fall into place.
After you've finished your surgery, suture your initial incision back up, and apply tape across the stitches to complete the finish the procedure, and see your rank (as well as the various bonuses that you earned, some specific to the type of operation performed)
Once you're operating on GUILT patients, you're required to have some quick reflexes (even the best of doctors should take the time to PAUSE every once in a while, especially if their hands are shaky) and, one strain of the virus in particular, requires either complex puzzle-solving, or quick use of the healing touch, because otherwise if you don't remove the virus in the right order it spreads, and there's really no choice at that point but to restart the operation.
The viruses each have their own treatment, which, since the doctors are learning as they go, it would be a major spoiler to reveal the actual procedures here.
After completing the game's main storyline, you unlock the EXTREME difficulty missions.
I'm gonna be honest with 'ya, tried the first one a few times and said forget it, that's way too hard for my patience.
The extreme missions are, however, very intriguing as it relates to their part in the story, but I wouldn't recommend spending hours trying to complete them lest you want to add a new window to your house (by punching a hole in your wall)
The game's story takes so many turns- sometimes there's a little comedy, others there's drama, suspense/horror, and consistent action along the way; it's a can't-miss thrill-ride, and while some of the missions in the main story can seem tedious, and may require you to check your nearest walkthrough, the end result is worth all the effort, and sometimes what seems like an impossible chapter could simply require that you figure out the virus' weak point, and on your next attempt you'll not only complete it, but do so with plenty of time to spare.
Bottom line, whether you're into medical drama, sci-fi, anime, or all of the above, you'll be more than satisfied with what Trauma Center: Second Opinion brings to the table.
Blessed Be