eastward: topdown-zelda like. gameplay wise, though it’s quite easy. the story is charming, with all the quirkiness from earthbound, although the main plot is actually more akin to the last of us 1, for some reason, or at least it kinda felt like that to me. the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, as is the soundtrack.
phoenotopia awakening: an action rpg-metroidvania mishmash, and a surprisingly large one at that. if you’re into challenging and backtrack heavy games, this one does the job very well.
crosscode: this one’s been mentioned a bunch on this thread, and there’s also been a post here about it a day or two ago, but i’ll still mention it because it’s just that good. another topdown-zelda like, but keep in mind that i’ve seen it described as a puzzle game masquerading as an rpg, which may be a more apt description.
if i am not mistaken, the genoese colonies in the black sea were a mix of conquest and purchase following the fourth crusade and the consequent fall of eastern roman power in the region, with the purpose of dominating trade, going from the black sea to the aegean islands (such as mytilene, on the map) onwards to liguria
as for theodoro, it was a monarchical city state that popped up from the break up of the golden horde trying to put it in a simple manner, after the fourth crusade, theodoro exchanged hands a couple of times, but every time the hold over it was weaker and weaker, which led to the city mantaining eastern roman law and practices and, eventually, independence, kind of making it an eastern roman rump state theodoro was also notable for its large gothic population, which survived as a distinct ethnicity up until roughly the 18th century
pretty sure tana is not modern azov city, as google maps shows the ruins of the former several kilometers north of azov