Bang Bang Fire: Cannot intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could not solve the Kira case.
Fixer: Cannot intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could solve the Kira case.
Healer: Can intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could not solve the Kira case.
Knower: Can intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could solve the Kira case.
Watcher: Probably would be manipulated and killed by kira.
Fixer: Cannot intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could solve the Kira case.
Healer: Can intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could not solve the Kira case.
Knower: Can intuit the mechanics of the Death Note/Could solve the Kira case.
Watcher: Probably would be manipulated and killed by kira.
I’m going to have to accept that avoiding hyperbole here is probably not possible, because, man…this is just the kind of transcendent game that only comes every once in a while and reminds me why I love this medium so deeply. It’s easily one of the most powerful gaming experiences I’ve ever had, and I strongly suspect that it will eventually become one of my all time favorite games once it’s fully settled itself into my brain.
It’s astounding that this is the first game by the small team at Sunset Visitor. It’s a wildly ambitious project. A nearly 15-hour narrative focused adventure, thoughtfully written and fully voiced, with gorgeous art and genuine cinematography. It’s packed with inspired ideas - part high-concept sci-fi apocalypse story, part immigrant family drama, part psychological mystery, that spans many years and multiple main characters. The plot twists and reveals reshape and reinvent the narrative focus and scope multiple times over, multiplying the themes without managing to drop any of them.
Where to even begin in unraveling these themes? It’s obviously a post-pandemic story, offering reflections on what we’ve all gone through since 2020 by way of a fictional contagion that causes its victims to cry themselves to death. It also weaves in an alien invasion that asks us to grapple with understanding and communicating with unknown forms of life, and intention versus outcomes. Then there’s the story of Iris, an Asian-Canadian teenager, and her relationships with her parents - who left Hong Kong following the 2019 protests - and her friend Jiao, a recent Chinese immigrant, which integrates powerful ideas of generational and cultural conflict, both internal and external. The culture that develops following these events, which you witness through the eyes of Iris/Allmother, Watcher, Blue, and the dozens of other characters in the Orchard highlights how religions and cultural movements develop, our complicated relationships with faith and loyalty, and how we shape our worldviews. Then there are the more personal ideas of alienation, regret, mental and physical illness, bodies, identity, nature, nurture, memory, forgiveness…and it goes on.
Even making a brief list here of all of the disparate but interconnected subject matter is a bit of a task, let alone expounding on any of it to any meaningful degree, which is something I don’t have much interest in doing here, where I typically just like to give some cursory thoughts upon completing a game. In 2021, I was so awed and inspired by Disco Elysium that I made an hour-long YouTube analysis video, and this is the first game since then that has me even vaguely considering making another one. All I will say here is that Sunset Visitor has weaved so many ideas into a complex tapestry that somehow does service to all of them, and the result is supremely impressive.
I played this game on the heels of listening to the very enlightening conversation between Remap Radio’s Rob Zacny and Xalavier Nelson Jr. (of Strange Scaffold and lead on El Paso, Elsewhere, another one of the coolest and most memorable game narrative experiences in recent memory) for the most recent LudoNarraCon. They talked a lot about evolving perspectives on gameplay/interactivity vs linear storytelling, and I kept coming back to a point that both of them were making throughout the talk, which is that, regardless of the ratio between these two often competing design approaches, the potential of interactivity to elevate a story to harder-hitting levels when done right.
This is an interesting concept to consider for this game in particular, for a couple reasons. First, this game has some extremely strong writing, art, and direction, to the point that I think it COULD have still worked very well within another medium. It shares a lot of visual language with anime, for example, and takes clear inspiration from the psychological horror of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue, or the sci-fi worldbuilding and aesthetic stylings of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I feel fairly confident in saying that 1000xRESIST would be an absolute banger of an anime, even if I'd still argue it works better as a game. Additionally, while other strong narrative-heavy games from recent memory (Sleeper Citizen, Pentiment, the aforementioned Disco Elysium) incorporate clear and present elements from tabletop roleplaying games, like player choice, dice rolls, or even character stats, the “gamey” aspects of the game are fairly limited. Most of the interactive parts are spent just running around talking to people. The communion sequences make use of a mechanic where you can jump back and forth between different moments of time, and another where you move around abstract environments by zipping to various points in the area. The very last scene of the game asks you to make choices that will determine the ending, but until then, dialogue options are purely for added flavor, not steering the course of the story, as far as I could tell. And that’s about it.
And yet, there’s undeniable power in these interactive aspects. Getting to explore the Orchard, becoming familiar with its many interconnected pathways, then feeling like a stranger to it again as it changes - that’s important. Coming to know all the side characters and recognizing them later on is important. Controlling the time period and perspective to unravel mysteries in the Allmother’s psyche is important. There are multiple communion sequences so engrossing that I nearly stopped noticing the fact that I was controlling all of it, the interactivity becoming an automatic impulse equivalent with my desire to learn what happened next, yet key to my absolute immersion in embodying the character(s). It’s a sublime synthesis, and the game does it over and over again.
This is kind of a hard review to write. There’s so much more I can dive into thematically and/or emotionally, not to mention things like just how damn good looking it is (I am once again on my soapbox about how graphics never needed to surpass the PS2 era, with this game’s Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne-esque stark beauty as my prime example), or how well the voice actors embody a cast of characters who are largely all clones of the same person with their own unique personalities. Each of the game’s many aspects could warrant a few thousand words, so I’ll just end my rambling here. I know that I’m going to be thinking about this game every day for the foreseeable future anyway. I can’t wait to see what more revelations I come to as I do, and to finally start to read and listen to what other people have to say about it.
It’s astounding that this is the first game by the small team at Sunset Visitor. It’s a wildly ambitious project. A nearly 15-hour narrative focused adventure, thoughtfully written and fully voiced, with gorgeous art and genuine cinematography. It’s packed with inspired ideas - part high-concept sci-fi apocalypse story, part immigrant family drama, part psychological mystery, that spans many years and multiple main characters. The plot twists and reveals reshape and reinvent the narrative focus and scope multiple times over, multiplying the themes without managing to drop any of them.
Where to even begin in unraveling these themes? It’s obviously a post-pandemic story, offering reflections on what we’ve all gone through since 2020 by way of a fictional contagion that causes its victims to cry themselves to death. It also weaves in an alien invasion that asks us to grapple with understanding and communicating with unknown forms of life, and intention versus outcomes. Then there’s the story of Iris, an Asian-Canadian teenager, and her relationships with her parents - who left Hong Kong following the 2019 protests - and her friend Jiao, a recent Chinese immigrant, which integrates powerful ideas of generational and cultural conflict, both internal and external. The culture that develops following these events, which you witness through the eyes of Iris/Allmother, Watcher, Blue, and the dozens of other characters in the Orchard highlights how religions and cultural movements develop, our complicated relationships with faith and loyalty, and how we shape our worldviews. Then there are the more personal ideas of alienation, regret, mental and physical illness, bodies, identity, nature, nurture, memory, forgiveness…and it goes on.
Even making a brief list here of all of the disparate but interconnected subject matter is a bit of a task, let alone expounding on any of it to any meaningful degree, which is something I don’t have much interest in doing here, where I typically just like to give some cursory thoughts upon completing a game. In 2021, I was so awed and inspired by Disco Elysium that I made an hour-long YouTube analysis video, and this is the first game since then that has me even vaguely considering making another one. All I will say here is that Sunset Visitor has weaved so many ideas into a complex tapestry that somehow does service to all of them, and the result is supremely impressive.
I played this game on the heels of listening to the very enlightening conversation between Remap Radio’s Rob Zacny and Xalavier Nelson Jr. (of Strange Scaffold and lead on El Paso, Elsewhere, another one of the coolest and most memorable game narrative experiences in recent memory) for the most recent LudoNarraCon. They talked a lot about evolving perspectives on gameplay/interactivity vs linear storytelling, and I kept coming back to a point that both of them were making throughout the talk, which is that, regardless of the ratio between these two often competing design approaches, the potential of interactivity to elevate a story to harder-hitting levels when done right.
This is an interesting concept to consider for this game in particular, for a couple reasons. First, this game has some extremely strong writing, art, and direction, to the point that I think it COULD have still worked very well within another medium. It shares a lot of visual language with anime, for example, and takes clear inspiration from the psychological horror of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue, or the sci-fi worldbuilding and aesthetic stylings of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I feel fairly confident in saying that 1000xRESIST would be an absolute banger of an anime, even if I'd still argue it works better as a game. Additionally, while other strong narrative-heavy games from recent memory (Sleeper Citizen, Pentiment, the aforementioned Disco Elysium) incorporate clear and present elements from tabletop roleplaying games, like player choice, dice rolls, or even character stats, the “gamey” aspects of the game are fairly limited. Most of the interactive parts are spent just running around talking to people. The communion sequences make use of a mechanic where you can jump back and forth between different moments of time, and another where you move around abstract environments by zipping to various points in the area. The very last scene of the game asks you to make choices that will determine the ending, but until then, dialogue options are purely for added flavor, not steering the course of the story, as far as I could tell. And that’s about it.
And yet, there’s undeniable power in these interactive aspects. Getting to explore the Orchard, becoming familiar with its many interconnected pathways, then feeling like a stranger to it again as it changes - that’s important. Coming to know all the side characters and recognizing them later on is important. Controlling the time period and perspective to unravel mysteries in the Allmother’s psyche is important. There are multiple communion sequences so engrossing that I nearly stopped noticing the fact that I was controlling all of it, the interactivity becoming an automatic impulse equivalent with my desire to learn what happened next, yet key to my absolute immersion in embodying the character(s). It’s a sublime synthesis, and the game does it over and over again.
This is kind of a hard review to write. There’s so much more I can dive into thematically and/or emotionally, not to mention things like just how damn good looking it is (I am once again on my soapbox about how graphics never needed to surpass the PS2 era, with this game’s Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne-esque stark beauty as my prime example), or how well the voice actors embody a cast of characters who are largely all clones of the same person with their own unique personalities. Each of the game’s many aspects could warrant a few thousand words, so I’ll just end my rambling here. I know that I’m going to be thinking about this game every day for the foreseeable future anyway. I can’t wait to see what more revelations I come to as I do, and to finally start to read and listen to what other people have to say about it.
hekki great
i'm not exaggerating when i say this is one of the most incredible games i've had the pleasure of playing. everything about this game is so carefully crafted and unapologetic about its style and sentimentality. the cinematic shot compositions and camera work are peak -- every cutscene frame could be a painting made for a wong kar-wai animated sci-fi film.
without digging into spoilers, the wide breadth of themes present in the narrative (anti-asian racism, experience of the asian diaspora , historical revisionism, intergenerational trauma, cycles of abuse and violence, motherhood and girlhood, etc etc) are covered with such thought-provoking depth and care. the writing is so succinct and sharp -- cutting straight to the emotional core that perfectly balances tragedy and the grief that follows with hope and levity in the connections we make within our relationships. it never feels pretentious or preachy -- it's honest. it perfectly captures both the beauty and cruelty of what it means to be alive.
genuinely a game i will think about forever... i never write reviews and i don't think i'll make a habit of doing so, but i felt the need to write something short because i genuinely think this is a masterful portrayal of storytelling in games....thank you to the devs who worked on this game <3
without digging into spoilers, the wide breadth of themes present in the narrative (anti-asian racism, experience of the asian diaspora , historical revisionism, intergenerational trauma, cycles of abuse and violence, motherhood and girlhood, etc etc) are covered with such thought-provoking depth and care. the writing is so succinct and sharp -- cutting straight to the emotional core that perfectly balances tragedy and the grief that follows with hope and levity in the connections we make within our relationships. it never feels pretentious or preachy -- it's honest. it perfectly captures both the beauty and cruelty of what it means to be alive.
genuinely a game i will think about forever... i never write reviews and i don't think i'll make a habit of doing so, but i felt the need to write something short because i genuinely think this is a masterful portrayal of storytelling in games....thank you to the devs who worked on this game <3
Interesting but did not captivate me. Shitty assets dont usually bother me but this was a little too glitchy and unity asset store driven for me. Really cool story but I dont think i want to commit to it.
at some point you gotta stop saying vaguely evocative shit and making me rorschach test it into something of value
and actually show me something of value
barring a few sleights of hand in the presentation, this is a borderline waste of time. and if you're interested in said sleights of hand, you would probably be better off making ur way through satoshi kon's actual oeuvre. or anything by yuasa. the only thing this gains out of being a videogame is... weirdly long chunks of time getting lost in a huge archvis greybox doing random fetch quests with minimally helpful markers and no map?
and actually show me something of value
barring a few sleights of hand in the presentation, this is a borderline waste of time. and if you're interested in said sleights of hand, you would probably be better off making ur way through satoshi kon's actual oeuvre. or anything by yuasa. the only thing this gains out of being a videogame is... weirdly long chunks of time getting lost in a huge archvis greybox doing random fetch quests with minimally helpful markers and no map?
This review contains spoilers
hair to hair
It would be unfair, reductive and inaccurate to categorize "1000xRESIST" as a walking simulator. The experience of playing it is more akin to having a person's thoughts and feelings laid bare for you to voyeuristically pick through then subsequently clasping their hand and leaping into the unknown. I won't pretend to understand the full intent or meaning that "1000xRESIST" presents, but that's okay. The backpack can't fit everything. But it spoke to me and it has a lot to say. This game feels like it is made for everyone but more intently for those like Iris or her parents.
"To be alertly on the lookout, look attentively, or observe, as to see what comes, is done, or happens."
The amount of consideration placed in the construction of the world, its inhabitants and how it relates both presently and as a cautionary future to our modern time is staggering. Gentle pleasantries are appropriated or twisted to become ammo for fascist powers. Good natures are exploited to further the agendas of those that would stop at nothing to get what they desire. Even your own actions and understandings are rewritten through farcical performances that distort the truth into something you can't even recognize, despite having seen it happen.
Expressive lighting, posing and framing convey so much more than traditional animated performances might permit. There is so much implied and inferred through the minimalism on screen, that it would detract to have more articulated motions occurring while the weight of the story is delivered. This minimal approach also means that the world quickly imprints itself on you and more readily presents its changes as events progress. Easier to appreciate the subtle and sweeping ways the world has altered when you can observe it.
The subway system design and the ever-changing appearance of the Orchard beautifully weave together with the various eras of the story threads. The sterile, far-future look juxtaposed with the familiar contemporary school and home life of Iris feels like traveling back to a forgotten time. How long has life been this way? What have we lost along the way that we don't even remember having? This is most powerfully felt during the more active parts of the game when Watcher is soaring through the exploded dioramas of Iris' world, being flung from one vignette to another in rapid succession. A life disrupted by catastrophic events that we can only see reach their inevitable conclusions.
"To converse or talk together, usually with profound intensity, intimacy, etc.; interchange thoughts or feelings."
From the very beginning, you are invited to participate in this world through words that you don't appreciate or understand. They are familiar but ethereal. Lacking context to put them into perspective. You latch onto their ideas and soon find them repeated back at you. The selected words stayed with Watcher. And myself. Never choosing to deviate, despite given ample opportunity. The world just impresses upon you so confidently its pieces and your place that it is easy to become these characters and feel the words evolve despite never changing.
You are not simply walking or reading or watching. You are building. Watcher and yourself are building a frame of reference, an understanding or this world. How did this place come to be and why are the people and ideas in it as they are? You are building a point of view. Speaking with the inhabitants is enthralling because of how narrow a space they exist within, boiling their lives down to a function, but how broad they are within that sliver through such rich shades of performance and personality. Building an outcome through choices that feel like your own, but upon reflection, were unavoidable steps in the progress of its story. It certainly doesn't feel that way in the moment, and that is one of its greatest accomplishments in making you want those actions.
And those actions are radical change to upend the status quo and create a better world that protects and values the lives of the people. To choose forgiveness and give it, despite being incredibly difficult. To right the wrongs by your own hand and those that were inherited from those long before you in the world.
The function of all sisters appears straight forward, but the function of Watcher is out of place. Were the intended purpose of Watcher at face value to simply observe Iris/ALLMOTHER's past, that could suffice through Knower. The crucial difference between knowing and watching is the experience. Knowing something and being there to live it are vastly different, and this experience is what pushes Watcher and us to need things to change. It is all too easy to passively hear statistics of atrocities or read a headline of suffering in the world, but when faced with the inescapable truth of pain, you should no longer be able to compartmentalize it.
We're all thankful to have been Watcher, but we all wish to be Blue.
"To cause to combine or coalesce; unite."
Trauma has devastated the world in so many ways. It has shaped the behaviors of those we hold dear, removing so much from them. Deleted cultures, foods, identities. We should not allow these to continue unabated. We can and should try to do better, for those directly affected and future generations. Like Iris' parents conclude- better to have failed and history show that we tried than to have idly allow it to happen.
Empathy builds action, and action builds empathy.
It is truly incredible how the buried memories of Hong Kong land. Nothing of true significance, just daily life and textures. A car ride, watching lights roll by from a window. It pierces deeply how fragile and fleeting it all can be. There is a reason the final object we leave behind is that of an image. We can't just watch and not be affected.
"1000xRESIST" is a call to action to never stop building our perspectives through the people and world around us and to never stop building toward a better tomorrow. Here is hoping that I and we can live up to that challenge.
hair to hair
It would be unfair, reductive and inaccurate to categorize "1000xRESIST" as a walking simulator. The experience of playing it is more akin to having a person's thoughts and feelings laid bare for you to voyeuristically pick through then subsequently clasping their hand and leaping into the unknown. I won't pretend to understand the full intent or meaning that "1000xRESIST" presents, but that's okay. The backpack can't fit everything. But it spoke to me and it has a lot to say. This game feels like it is made for everyone but more intently for those like Iris or her parents.
"To be alertly on the lookout, look attentively, or observe, as to see what comes, is done, or happens."
The amount of consideration placed in the construction of the world, its inhabitants and how it relates both presently and as a cautionary future to our modern time is staggering. Gentle pleasantries are appropriated or twisted to become ammo for fascist powers. Good natures are exploited to further the agendas of those that would stop at nothing to get what they desire. Even your own actions and understandings are rewritten through farcical performances that distort the truth into something you can't even recognize, despite having seen it happen.
Expressive lighting, posing and framing convey so much more than traditional animated performances might permit. There is so much implied and inferred through the minimalism on screen, that it would detract to have more articulated motions occurring while the weight of the story is delivered. This minimal approach also means that the world quickly imprints itself on you and more readily presents its changes as events progress. Easier to appreciate the subtle and sweeping ways the world has altered when you can observe it.
The subway system design and the ever-changing appearance of the Orchard beautifully weave together with the various eras of the story threads. The sterile, far-future look juxtaposed with the familiar contemporary school and home life of Iris feels like traveling back to a forgotten time. How long has life been this way? What have we lost along the way that we don't even remember having? This is most powerfully felt during the more active parts of the game when Watcher is soaring through the exploded dioramas of Iris' world, being flung from one vignette to another in rapid succession. A life disrupted by catastrophic events that we can only see reach their inevitable conclusions.
"To converse or talk together, usually with profound intensity, intimacy, etc.; interchange thoughts or feelings."
From the very beginning, you are invited to participate in this world through words that you don't appreciate or understand. They are familiar but ethereal. Lacking context to put them into perspective. You latch onto their ideas and soon find them repeated back at you. The selected words stayed with Watcher. And myself. Never choosing to deviate, despite given ample opportunity. The world just impresses upon you so confidently its pieces and your place that it is easy to become these characters and feel the words evolve despite never changing.
You are not simply walking or reading or watching. You are building. Watcher and yourself are building a frame of reference, an understanding or this world. How did this place come to be and why are the people and ideas in it as they are? You are building a point of view. Speaking with the inhabitants is enthralling because of how narrow a space they exist within, boiling their lives down to a function, but how broad they are within that sliver through such rich shades of performance and personality. Building an outcome through choices that feel like your own, but upon reflection, were unavoidable steps in the progress of its story. It certainly doesn't feel that way in the moment, and that is one of its greatest accomplishments in making you want those actions.
And those actions are radical change to upend the status quo and create a better world that protects and values the lives of the people. To choose forgiveness and give it, despite being incredibly difficult. To right the wrongs by your own hand and those that were inherited from those long before you in the world.
The function of all sisters appears straight forward, but the function of Watcher is out of place. Were the intended purpose of Watcher at face value to simply observe Iris/ALLMOTHER's past, that could suffice through Knower. The crucial difference between knowing and watching is the experience. Knowing something and being there to live it are vastly different, and this experience is what pushes Watcher and us to need things to change. It is all too easy to passively hear statistics of atrocities or read a headline of suffering in the world, but when faced with the inescapable truth of pain, you should no longer be able to compartmentalize it.
We're all thankful to have been Watcher, but we all wish to be Blue.
"To cause to combine or coalesce; unite."
Trauma has devastated the world in so many ways. It has shaped the behaviors of those we hold dear, removing so much from them. Deleted cultures, foods, identities. We should not allow these to continue unabated. We can and should try to do better, for those directly affected and future generations. Like Iris' parents conclude- better to have failed and history show that we tried than to have idly allow it to happen.
Empathy builds action, and action builds empathy.
It is truly incredible how the buried memories of Hong Kong land. Nothing of true significance, just daily life and textures. A car ride, watching lights roll by from a window. It pierces deeply how fragile and fleeting it all can be. There is a reason the final object we leave behind is that of an image. We can't just watch and not be affected.
"1000xRESIST" is a call to action to never stop building our perspectives through the people and world around us and to never stop building toward a better tomorrow. Here is hoping that I and we can live up to that challenge.
hair to hair
I was engrossed in this one sisters! Hekki ALLMO 🙏
Very interesting walking sim with a tight narrative full of themes that are explored in interesting ways. If you're like me and enjoy a good story and running around talking to everyone in between plot tasks for more lore, then this is for you.
If there's anything that would stick out as a complaint, it would be the voice acting, which can be a bit hit and miss at times.
Highly recommend if you're in the market for a good sci-fi story.
Very interesting walking sim with a tight narrative full of themes that are explored in interesting ways. If you're like me and enjoy a good story and running around talking to everyone in between plot tasks for more lore, then this is for you.
If there's anything that would stick out as a complaint, it would be the voice acting, which can be a bit hit and miss at times.
Highly recommend if you're in the market for a good sci-fi story.
I see other people listing 'Hong Kong stuff' as a con, but for me it's one of the main reasons this game is so special. Not every video game should be shy and abstract.
There are games you finish and don't know what to say because they are so unremarkable, and then there are games like 1000x resist where I sit at my computer inmediately after thinking how exactly I could do the game justice without just playing it again whilst taking notes.
I'll try to be brief, but what 1000x resist's sci fi narrative adventure game brings to the table is that its not only dense as hell plot and theme wise, feeling almost like an adaptation of some acclaimed novel, whilst also having stylistic flourishes that are both impressive and also feel purposeful in a way that a higher budget game probably wouldn't. They made a game this visually striking with what feels like cardboard sets and a few unity shaders. The starkness of the environment design and the various shifts of perspective from over the shoulder to first person to top down to side scroller in a way that feels elegant rather than whiplash to the extreme.
The credits have the usual indie game thing where one guy was Modeler, Texturer, Writer, Designer, Costum Designer, Chef, Lawyer and Defender of the Innocent. The game is so impressive as someone who does 3D modelling myself, I have taken a bunch of screenshots of the game simply because I love how they look. One small ass team somehow puts most AAA games I've played to shame in the visual department.
Thats not to say the game's budget or lack thereof doesn't become apparent with the lack of facial animation. Of course the game understands this to some extent, hence the choice of making the sisters require masks to breathe and be clones of each other (hence, only like 5 or so models had to be rigged up) but thats what taking advantage of your limitations is all about.
Story wise, its again hard for me to really comment because its dense but in a way that all great narratives are, like say, Moby Dick or The Truman show, which are enjoyable both at surface level and on a deeper read of the symbolism. Not everything worked for me, and the resolutions of the endings could have perhaps been more elegant, as well as all the Hong Kong stuff carrying the stench of liberalism about it (Incidentally the cops of the provisional government being called the Red Guard was really on the nose) but the game is otherwise so engaging that I don't mind. Strong personal contender for GOTY, it and Extreme Evolution : Drive to Divinity are the front-runners for me.
I'll try to be brief, but what 1000x resist's sci fi narrative adventure game brings to the table is that its not only dense as hell plot and theme wise, feeling almost like an adaptation of some acclaimed novel, whilst also having stylistic flourishes that are both impressive and also feel purposeful in a way that a higher budget game probably wouldn't. They made a game this visually striking with what feels like cardboard sets and a few unity shaders. The starkness of the environment design and the various shifts of perspective from over the shoulder to first person to top down to side scroller in a way that feels elegant rather than whiplash to the extreme.
The credits have the usual indie game thing where one guy was Modeler, Texturer, Writer, Designer, Costum Designer, Chef, Lawyer and Defender of the Innocent. The game is so impressive as someone who does 3D modelling myself, I have taken a bunch of screenshots of the game simply because I love how they look. One small ass team somehow puts most AAA games I've played to shame in the visual department.
Thats not to say the game's budget or lack thereof doesn't become apparent with the lack of facial animation. Of course the game understands this to some extent, hence the choice of making the sisters require masks to breathe and be clones of each other (hence, only like 5 or so models had to be rigged up) but thats what taking advantage of your limitations is all about.
Story wise, its again hard for me to really comment because its dense but in a way that all great narratives are, like say, Moby Dick or The Truman show, which are enjoyable both at surface level and on a deeper read of the symbolism. Not everything worked for me, and the resolutions of the endings could have perhaps been more elegant, as well as all the Hong Kong stuff carrying the stench of liberalism about it (Incidentally the cops of the provisional government being called the Red Guard was really on the nose) but the game is otherwise so engaging that I don't mind. Strong personal contender for GOTY, it and Extreme Evolution : Drive to Divinity are the front-runners for me.
An absolutely enthralling and deeply personal sci-fi narrative that is simultaneously small in scale but explores so many ideas. It's mechanically shallow and that will turn some people off and, without giving anything away, I think the ending could've been handled better. Additionally, being a low budget game means that you'll have to overlook voice actors giving great passionate performances while their character looks nonchalant with no real facial animation. However, I'm more than happy to overlook these things. 1000xRESIST is a brilliant piece of media and a journey I will never forget.
A bear perfect story with so many layers and ideas that I could dive into everything about it here for hours. It's a completely story based game so I cannot talk about it here.
The only reason I cannot rate it a ten out of ten is because the gameplay is very minimal and I wish there was a bit more puzzle solving with it. But I'm ok as that isn't the point. Another thing is that I also played it on switch which led to a couple crashes and frame rate issues.
Literally check out this game it's incredible. It deserves so many awards
The only reason I cannot rate it a ten out of ten is because the gameplay is very minimal and I wish there was a bit more puzzle solving with it. But I'm ok as that isn't the point. Another thing is that I also played it on switch which led to a couple crashes and frame rate issues.
Literally check out this game it's incredible. It deserves so many awards
A masterpiece.
incredible & inspiring game...
more thoughts here: https://cohost.org/kuraine/post/5995344-1000x-resist
more thoughts here: https://cohost.org/kuraine/post/5995344-1000x-resist
Is it trite to call a unique and expressive VN literature?
This one is rough around its edges - yet its writing is impossibly worthwhile. Very glad I sat down with it.
1000xResist will undoubtedly be mentioned often when folks start throwing around GOTYs this later this year, and it will be deserving of that praise.
This one is rough around its edges - yet its writing is impossibly worthwhile. Very glad I sat down with it.
1000xResist will undoubtedly be mentioned often when folks start throwing around GOTYs this later this year, and it will be deserving of that praise.
Incredible game, if you're a fan of terrific narrative experiences like 13 Sentinels (the story part) then do yourself a favour and pick this one up.
Here's my full review: https://thethirstymage.com/2024/06/05/1000xresist-on-steam-a-review/
Here's my full review: https://thethirstymage.com/2024/06/05/1000xresist-on-steam-a-review/
I saw an article saying that if I liked Nier, I would like this game. More specifically, I believe it was titled something like "The best new story-heavy game that no one is talking about" and it mentioned a similarity to Nier. I've never finished Nier, so I don't know if the comparison is apt.
But holy shit, I could not put this game down. It is insane in all the best ways. Twists, turns, revelations. The story was fantastic. I really can't talk about it much without spoiling anything, but if anyone decides to play it, pay attention. Every last detail matters.
But holy shit, I could not put this game down. It is insane in all the best ways. Twists, turns, revelations. The story was fantastic. I really can't talk about it much without spoiling anything, but if anyone decides to play it, pay attention. Every last detail matters.
Without a doubt one of the best stories I've seen told in video games.
hekki almo
hekki almo
There is a me that cannot bear this and a we that cannot look away.
This game is fucked up. Relentlessly fucked up. Every choked breath you fail to hold back begging the game to give you one second of grace will be met with a knife. No happy endings. No second chances.
But in service of those who fought in Hong Kong and so many cities like it, we must confront the depths of humanity explored here head on, lest we suffer the doom that follows should we cut our eyes out to look away.
Sold here is a promise - a horrific rollercoaster of emotions that dares to show you humankind's faintest hopes even at their lowest, darkest pit of despair. Breathtaking, in all the good ways to match all the bad. I couldn't possibly recommend it enough. I just hope you have the strength to bear despair that I nearly could not.
This game is fucked up. Relentlessly fucked up. Every choked breath you fail to hold back begging the game to give you one second of grace will be met with a knife. No happy endings. No second chances.
But in service of those who fought in Hong Kong and so many cities like it, we must confront the depths of humanity explored here head on, lest we suffer the doom that follows should we cut our eyes out to look away.
Sold here is a promise - a horrific rollercoaster of emotions that dares to show you humankind's faintest hopes even at their lowest, darkest pit of despair. Breathtaking, in all the good ways to match all the bad. I couldn't possibly recommend it enough. I just hope you have the strength to bear despair that I nearly could not.
Even my shitty government isn't as good at rehashing generational trauma as this game's masterful recycling of art assets
Es difícil poner en palabras una experiencia que aun tu cerebro esta procesando y asimilando.
Quizás eso ya diga mucho del juego: 1000xResist es uno de esos juegos que dejan poso, que dejan su huella y te acompañan durante mucho tiempo.
1000xResist es una aventura narrativa, lo que viene a ser una novela gráfica con pasos extras, increíblemente bella con una gran puesta en escena (se nota que parte del equipo desarrollador hay gente que viene del teatro) e increíblemente bien actuada (al menos en una gran parte).
Lo único malo es la parte "juego" que presenta que a veces es increíblemente tediosa (navegar por la laberíntica zona principal para poder hablar con todos los personajes en varios momentos del juego) o simplemente innecesarias como la secciones donde saltamos de un punto a otro para llegar al siguiente marcador.
Una pequeña e insignificante mancha para el que es sin duda uno de los juegos del año.
Quizás eso ya diga mucho del juego: 1000xResist es uno de esos juegos que dejan poso, que dejan su huella y te acompañan durante mucho tiempo.
1000xResist es una aventura narrativa, lo que viene a ser una novela gráfica con pasos extras, increíblemente bella con una gran puesta en escena (se nota que parte del equipo desarrollador hay gente que viene del teatro) e increíblemente bien actuada (al menos en una gran parte).
Lo único malo es la parte "juego" que presenta que a veces es increíblemente tediosa (navegar por la laberíntica zona principal para poder hablar con todos los personajes en varios momentos del juego) o simplemente innecesarias como la secciones donde saltamos de un punto a otro para llegar al siguiente marcador.
Una pequeña e insignificante mancha para el que es sin duda uno de los juegos del año.
Holy fuck
Hoooooly fuck
This might just be one of the best games of all time. Such beautiful writing.
Hoooooly fuck
This might just be one of the best games of all time. Such beautiful writing.
1000xResist is one of those sleeper indie games I picked up because of the seemingly out of nowhere cult favoritism and fanfare they've gotten, thinking I may be in the running for a hidden gem and possible memorable sleeper hit. What I quickly found out as I made my way through this visual-novel esque piece of abstract was that you are intended to revel and take in the confusion as a piece of endearment towards this media and not as a detraction. The scope of the narrative is entirely obscure and reminiscent of an amalgamation of futuristic and philosophical pieces of work that I've experienced in the past like Nier: Automata, Land of the Lustrous, and strangely enough Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm all for the out-there when it comes to penning a story, but there has to be a level of grounding for me to have a buy-in. Nier: Automata's abstractism and grandiose questioning of Philip K Dickian ponderings works because it has an immediate pressing storyline to help carry on the deeper and more intrinsic philosophies. Where 1000xResist separates for me is that you as the player are immediately thrust into a cavernously deep thought-focused plot with no real endeavor made to either coat it under an easier to parse coat of paint or giving it a guiding light. I'm not saying that it needed to be spoken to the player like they were out of Idiocracy or something, but Moreso that levelling out a ten or so hour experience in abstract and only making it more confusing and... abstract leads to a story that never really sticks for me.
I was able to understand the loose goings-ons of things as they happened and the messages placed throughout the game, but it never really struck with me as a critically important or thought provoking piece of media. This is the same gripe I had with the last six episodes of Neon Genesis: Evangelion that gets me in hot water with friends of mine as we discuss the hallmark and legendary anime. As the creator delved further into the conceptional of Shinji's mind and enemies at large and further and further into psychological mysticism, I fell out of favor with the show. It felt like it was trying to "think too much" and not "say enough." That is ultimately my qualm with 1000xResist, there is a lot being done in weird ways that are meant to be symbolic and interesting but ultimately fell flat because of the persistence to non-linear and ambiguous storytelling.
On top of qualms with the way the story was told, there are some slight issues I had with this game that don't really chalk up to much of a real con-list: voice acting I felt could have been greatly improved to create a more passionate tale, and the hub world that you revisit quite a bit is maze-like and annoying to traverse.
Pick this up if you want a mildly interesting (basically) visual novel that jumps heavily into science fiction themes, but if you want a game that will stick with you and make you think, this was not it.
I was able to understand the loose goings-ons of things as they happened and the messages placed throughout the game, but it never really struck with me as a critically important or thought provoking piece of media. This is the same gripe I had with the last six episodes of Neon Genesis: Evangelion that gets me in hot water with friends of mine as we discuss the hallmark and legendary anime. As the creator delved further into the conceptional of Shinji's mind and enemies at large and further and further into psychological mysticism, I fell out of favor with the show. It felt like it was trying to "think too much" and not "say enough." That is ultimately my qualm with 1000xResist, there is a lot being done in weird ways that are meant to be symbolic and interesting but ultimately fell flat because of the persistence to non-linear and ambiguous storytelling.
On top of qualms with the way the story was told, there are some slight issues I had with this game that don't really chalk up to much of a real con-list: voice acting I felt could have been greatly improved to create a more passionate tale, and the hub world that you revisit quite a bit is maze-like and annoying to traverse.
Pick this up if you want a mildly interesting (basically) visual novel that jumps heavily into science fiction themes, but if you want a game that will stick with you and make you think, this was not it.
"Hekki Grace, Sister."
Quase todo ano tem pelo menos um jogo que me faz lembrar do porque eu amo vídeo-joguinhos, eu sei que essa é uma frase jogada quase o tempo todo por gente que está sempre falando "a indústria está morta, não há mais jogos bons" mas não tem uma melhor para descrever como eu me sinto nesse momento. Em adição a isso também me faz lembrar do quanto eu quero criar experiências como 1000xResist ou Signalis, arte que mesmo com suas limitações utiliza sua mídia ao máximo para quebrar suas expectativas de novo e de novo.
"Hair to Hair, Sister."
Há muito a se falar sobre 1000xResist, o seu texto, simbolismos e personagens são tão ricos e com tantos significados diferentes que eu poderia ficar por horas discutindo sobre, sobre os protestos de Hong Kong principalmente, mas sinto que quanto menos quem for jogar saber mais interessante vai ser a experiência. Uma das coisas mais curiosas desse jogo para mim é como ele parece uma peça de teatro, o uso de luz, poses e exageros para comunicar emoções de formas diferentes por toda a campanha; já que o jogo é basicamente um talking simulator com alguns simples e fáceis puzzles (não há combate) toda a diversidade vem dos visuais e em diferentes mudanças na forma em que a narrativa é contada, e em todos esses momentos a criatividade/expertise dos desenvolvedores são EVIDENTES.
(Os desenvolvedores aparentemente trabalharam com teatro e similares, faz sentido)
Eu demorei um pouco mais de 10 horas para zerar 1000xResist e é surpreendente que um jogo independente com tanto texto e diferentes personagens está completamente atuado, e ainda mais surpreendente: com incríveis atuações no geral.
A parte mais fraca de 1000xResist é na sua fidelidade gráfica, é aparente que o jogo foi desenvolvido para Nintendo Switch e o port para PC possuí diversos problemas com mudança de controles, performance e falta de customização (que provavelmente é a causa de tais problemas de performance), mas nada disso tirou a beleza teatral do jogo para mim.
"Sphere to Square"
Eu não sei se este jogo terá o mesmo Cult-Following que Signalis e outros similares tiveram ao passar dos anos, já que apesar de tudo que eu disse ainda é praticamente uma visual novel e nem todo mundo curte isso, mas se você já tinha algum interesse ou tem gostos para arte similares aos meus, por favor jogue 1000xResist, vai te chocar, vai te fazer chorar, vai te fazer rir, vai te assustar, e mais importante de tudo: Te lembrará que não conseguimos colocar tudo em nossas mochilas, por mais que queremos.
1000xResist é meu jogo do ano até o momento e acho difícil algo tirar, mas vai que o Miyazaki cozinhou um The Old Hunters² ai, nunca se sabe.
Quase todo ano tem pelo menos um jogo que me faz lembrar do porque eu amo vídeo-joguinhos, eu sei que essa é uma frase jogada quase o tempo todo por gente que está sempre falando "a indústria está morta, não há mais jogos bons" mas não tem uma melhor para descrever como eu me sinto nesse momento. Em adição a isso também me faz lembrar do quanto eu quero criar experiências como 1000xResist ou Signalis, arte que mesmo com suas limitações utiliza sua mídia ao máximo para quebrar suas expectativas de novo e de novo.
"Hair to Hair, Sister."
Há muito a se falar sobre 1000xResist, o seu texto, simbolismos e personagens são tão ricos e com tantos significados diferentes que eu poderia ficar por horas discutindo sobre, sobre os protestos de Hong Kong principalmente, mas sinto que quanto menos quem for jogar saber mais interessante vai ser a experiência. Uma das coisas mais curiosas desse jogo para mim é como ele parece uma peça de teatro, o uso de luz, poses e exageros para comunicar emoções de formas diferentes por toda a campanha; já que o jogo é basicamente um talking simulator com alguns simples e fáceis puzzles (não há combate) toda a diversidade vem dos visuais e em diferentes mudanças na forma em que a narrativa é contada, e em todos esses momentos a criatividade/expertise dos desenvolvedores são EVIDENTES.
(Os desenvolvedores aparentemente trabalharam com teatro e similares, faz sentido)
Eu demorei um pouco mais de 10 horas para zerar 1000xResist e é surpreendente que um jogo independente com tanto texto e diferentes personagens está completamente atuado, e ainda mais surpreendente: com incríveis atuações no geral.
A parte mais fraca de 1000xResist é na sua fidelidade gráfica, é aparente que o jogo foi desenvolvido para Nintendo Switch e o port para PC possuí diversos problemas com mudança de controles, performance e falta de customização (que provavelmente é a causa de tais problemas de performance), mas nada disso tirou a beleza teatral do jogo para mim.
"Sphere to Square"
Eu não sei se este jogo terá o mesmo Cult-Following que Signalis e outros similares tiveram ao passar dos anos, já que apesar de tudo que eu disse ainda é praticamente uma visual novel e nem todo mundo curte isso, mas se você já tinha algum interesse ou tem gostos para arte similares aos meus, por favor jogue 1000xResist, vai te chocar, vai te fazer chorar, vai te fazer rir, vai te assustar, e mais importante de tudo: Te lembrará que não conseguimos colocar tudo em nossas mochilas, por mais que queremos.
1000xResist é meu jogo do ano até o momento e acho difícil algo tirar, mas vai que o Miyazaki cozinhou um The Old Hunters² ai, nunca se sabe.
damn. didn't really expect that right after Land of the Lustrous (a singular manga and one of my all-time favorites) ended, an indie game would pop up operating on the same level, about many of the same themes, in its own incredible and singular way. a bit speechless. also very validating proof that we can (and should) demand more of games on a narrative level.
really struggling with star reviews. i used star reviews on letterboxd for a few years before opting for heart/no heart which is also troubled but in general feels better. happy to have another crack at it but it feels weird to not give this 5 stars, but i will stand by how i'm doing things for now at least... (5 stars being the all time top of the top of the top, which this also might be! need to sit on it for a minute)
edit: hell yeah 5 stars lets go, goty 2024
really struggling with star reviews. i used star reviews on letterboxd for a few years before opting for heart/no heart which is also troubled but in general feels better. happy to have another crack at it but it feels weird to not give this 5 stars, but i will stand by how i'm doing things for now at least... (5 stars being the all time top of the top of the top, which this also might be! need to sit on it for a minute)
edit: hell yeah 5 stars lets go, goty 2024
Este es el extraño caso de un juego que no veo que justifique ser un juego, pero aún así la historia que cuenta es tan buena, que no veo otro medio que aguante una historia de 12 horas y te mantenga tan enganchado ocupando todos los métodos que 1000xRESIST ocupa. El trasfondo teatral de los desarrolladores ayudó en gran medida a que cada escenario sea tan épico como se siente.
My story-driven gamers your going to love this one you NEED to play it.
I don't know where to begin with this title I cannot articulate the level at which this game achieves because it is something above a masterwork but I must press on.
The music is wonderful. The characters are so complex with a lot of depth and the relationship dynamics on display is just gut-wrenching to the point it hurts. Don't let the graphics dissuade your interest because the art direction is so fucking spectacular you'll be surprised with how gorgeous this game can be. The character design is important for a game like this you know if you know or you'll find out hopefully. The designs are very distinct with the outfits and color. The use of color is used in ways I'm just so enthralled by with how little and how much they can me. The VAs really do an amazing job of giving these characters a voice and more.
Red to Blue, Mother.
I don't know where to begin with this title I cannot articulate the level at which this game achieves because it is something above a masterwork but I must press on.
The music is wonderful. The characters are so complex with a lot of depth and the relationship dynamics on display is just gut-wrenching to the point it hurts. Don't let the graphics dissuade your interest because the art direction is so fucking spectacular you'll be surprised with how gorgeous this game can be. The character design is important for a game like this you know if you know or you'll find out hopefully. The designs are very distinct with the outfits and color. The use of color is used in ways I'm just so enthralled by with how little and how much they can me. The VAs really do an amazing job of giving these characters a voice and more.
Red to Blue, Mother.
There's a common criticism of games as a medium that even their best narratives lack something in comparison to those of books, movies, etc. And while games are what I love, from a narrative perspective I have found that framing hard to disagree with. There are several games that have changed my life, but they are so often unsophisticated in their meaning-making. They are frequently blunt in their delivery and single-purposed, perhaps because it is so difficult to do all of the creative mediums at once and tell a story with interactivity. I love games because of that ambition, and yet...
I think 1000xResist actually defies that notion. And I don't mean to say that as if everyone who plays this will have their life changed forever or whatever, but it IS one of the most thought-stirring games I've ever played. It is utterly overflowing in meaning. It is not impressive merely "because it is a video game," or because of clever interactions that "could only happen in a game," yet all the while it makes shrewd use of its interactivity. It's the kind of narrative where truly nothing is without purpose, and I spent its entire runtime learning how to reinterpret past scenes, adding layers to the meaning that I had already derrived.
I'm afraid all of that is going to come across like I'm just dumping hyperbole on it without getting specific. It is sort of a challenge to articulate what it speaks to, because there truly is so much: it speaks to the experience of COVID-19, of the tension between immigrant parents and their children, of fitting in, of finding one's purpose, of generational trauma, of mental health, and so much more.
"But isn't this just the way? We do not get to choose what we inherit."
I think 1000xResist actually defies that notion. And I don't mean to say that as if everyone who plays this will have their life changed forever or whatever, but it IS one of the most thought-stirring games I've ever played. It is utterly overflowing in meaning. It is not impressive merely "because it is a video game," or because of clever interactions that "could only happen in a game," yet all the while it makes shrewd use of its interactivity. It's the kind of narrative where truly nothing is without purpose, and I spent its entire runtime learning how to reinterpret past scenes, adding layers to the meaning that I had already derrived.
I'm afraid all of that is going to come across like I'm just dumping hyperbole on it without getting specific. It is sort of a challenge to articulate what it speaks to, because there truly is so much: it speaks to the experience of COVID-19, of the tension between immigrant parents and their children, of fitting in, of finding one's purpose, of generational trauma, of mental health, and so much more.
"But isn't this just the way? We do not get to choose what we inherit."
In its first week, 1000xResist has received near unanimous praise for its story. I am not one of those people. I wanted to make clear what this is on the surface as a caveat for those sucked in by hype but aren’t primed for this sort of experience, which at points was the only thing keeping me going (besides the fantastic somber music).
The prose often consists of punchy psuedo-poetic labyrinthine conversations. I’d say Disco Elysium has poisoned the well here in terms of how its influence has conditioned gamers to treat cryptic rambling as the gold standard for writing in games. I think there was a finesse to the writing in Disco Elysium that made me believe in it regardless of my inability to latch onto it emotionally or intellectually but I must say I tend to feel dead inside by its imitators. This applies to the work of Hideo Kojima and Yoko Taro as well, whose work is similarly convoluted, but have a playfulness about them I find intoxicating regardless. 1000xResist takes itself far too seriously to develop much of a personality of its own, which leads me to a compounding issue here- the clones.
I think using clones is an excellent idea for a more budgeted title like this (fewer voice actors, fewer models) but it’s detrimental to understanding a complicated story when its singular voice actor is talking to herself in limited shades of aloof and tired. It’s a great gear to be stuck in for a sci-fi story I guess but the emotional range is lacking and the supporting voice talent isn’t doing nearly enough to inject the story with much flavour. Differentiation is needed in a narrative with so many twists and turns- because they were all technically the same people, emotionally I treated them as such. I didn’t care. I didn’t understand the stakes. My plot comprehension is pretty poor on the whole, so calling me out on that is fair, but the acting and writing is actively undermining clarity and I do see that as an underlying flaw.
The gameplay is fine. I like relaxing story-driven games without combat. But let’s talk about its derivative elements. If you’ve played your fair share of games in the past 10 years you’re probably well-acquainted with “vision quest” segments that place you in a hazy psychedelic space with oversized familiar objects untethered by gravity as symbolic waypoints for the fractured psychology of a character’s emotional distress. I am unbelievably tired of this trope, and 1000xResist makes an entire mechanic out of it. TBH it actually pissed me off less in this case just because of its commitment to the bit, but when trying to understand the story in tandem with its other quirks, there’s just layers and layers of inception here I don’t care to sift through.
Again- just my caveats! If you’re predisposed to enjoying these kinds of bendy sci-fi stories, I’m happy you’ll get a lot out of this. Not for me. To give it marginal credit, the prose itself never got anywhere near as bad as the “dumpster Jiao” line in chapter one. There is an overall maturity here I do appreciate despite my objections.
The prose often consists of punchy psuedo-poetic labyrinthine conversations. I’d say Disco Elysium has poisoned the well here in terms of how its influence has conditioned gamers to treat cryptic rambling as the gold standard for writing in games. I think there was a finesse to the writing in Disco Elysium that made me believe in it regardless of my inability to latch onto it emotionally or intellectually but I must say I tend to feel dead inside by its imitators. This applies to the work of Hideo Kojima and Yoko Taro as well, whose work is similarly convoluted, but have a playfulness about them I find intoxicating regardless. 1000xResist takes itself far too seriously to develop much of a personality of its own, which leads me to a compounding issue here- the clones.
I think using clones is an excellent idea for a more budgeted title like this (fewer voice actors, fewer models) but it’s detrimental to understanding a complicated story when its singular voice actor is talking to herself in limited shades of aloof and tired. It’s a great gear to be stuck in for a sci-fi story I guess but the emotional range is lacking and the supporting voice talent isn’t doing nearly enough to inject the story with much flavour. Differentiation is needed in a narrative with so many twists and turns- because they were all technically the same people, emotionally I treated them as such. I didn’t care. I didn’t understand the stakes. My plot comprehension is pretty poor on the whole, so calling me out on that is fair, but the acting and writing is actively undermining clarity and I do see that as an underlying flaw.
The gameplay is fine. I like relaxing story-driven games without combat. But let’s talk about its derivative elements. If you’ve played your fair share of games in the past 10 years you’re probably well-acquainted with “vision quest” segments that place you in a hazy psychedelic space with oversized familiar objects untethered by gravity as symbolic waypoints for the fractured psychology of a character’s emotional distress. I am unbelievably tired of this trope, and 1000xResist makes an entire mechanic out of it. TBH it actually pissed me off less in this case just because of its commitment to the bit, but when trying to understand the story in tandem with its other quirks, there’s just layers and layers of inception here I don’t care to sift through.
Again- just my caveats! If you’re predisposed to enjoying these kinds of bendy sci-fi stories, I’m happy you’ll get a lot out of this. Not for me. To give it marginal credit, the prose itself never got anywhere near as bad as the “dumpster Jiao” line in chapter one. There is an overall maturity here I do appreciate despite my objections.
Sometimes, you can't fit in the backpack.