I covered this game as part of my coverage of the Humble Choice for June 2022
A great elevator pitch, but only that.
Here’s the idea, you’re a game detective, and you’re going to go into multiple different video games and solve crimes in a futuristic cyberpunk world. That sounds great, and I’ll even ignore the fact that it’s a point-and-click adventure game rather than an action game or anything else. There was a good concept at the core here.
The problem is that Gamedec tries to highlight its writing as a major element and pushes the player to appreciate the vast quantities of dialogue. This isn’t Disco Elysium, but it’s trying to be Disco Elysium at times. The problem is that it is blunt with its exposition. It feels more like a thirteen-year-old chuckling about the ability to discuss adult games than an interesting depiction of whatever subject matter it’s trying to reach, and oftentimes wants to just drop strange words when a better term exists. Why call yourself a Gamedec if Game Detective exists and you have to say that often enough. For an example of the writing, the very first case involves a son of a powerful exec that’s currently been on a multi-day bender in the virtual world with an erection. And that’s delivered far more bluntly than you can imagine.
Pick this up if you like poor translations, or potentially know a different language. The studio is in Poland, and I see a lot of Italian and Polish sites rate this game higher than others. It’s likely a translation issue that puts the game in the state it’s in, but it’s still in a state that is hard to accept as is if you’re going to play it in English.
If you want to see the video this was taken of, or more from me on the Humble Choice or Game Pass, check out: https://youtu.be/NPxN2M0c65w
A great elevator pitch, but only that.
Here’s the idea, you’re a game detective, and you’re going to go into multiple different video games and solve crimes in a futuristic cyberpunk world. That sounds great, and I’ll even ignore the fact that it’s a point-and-click adventure game rather than an action game or anything else. There was a good concept at the core here.
The problem is that Gamedec tries to highlight its writing as a major element and pushes the player to appreciate the vast quantities of dialogue. This isn’t Disco Elysium, but it’s trying to be Disco Elysium at times. The problem is that it is blunt with its exposition. It feels more like a thirteen-year-old chuckling about the ability to discuss adult games than an interesting depiction of whatever subject matter it’s trying to reach, and oftentimes wants to just drop strange words when a better term exists. Why call yourself a Gamedec if Game Detective exists and you have to say that often enough. For an example of the writing, the very first case involves a son of a powerful exec that’s currently been on a multi-day bender in the virtual world with an erection. And that’s delivered far more bluntly than you can imagine.
Pick this up if you like poor translations, or potentially know a different language. The studio is in Poland, and I see a lot of Italian and Polish sites rate this game higher than others. It’s likely a translation issue that puts the game in the state it’s in, but it’s still in a state that is hard to accept as is if you’re going to play it in English.
If you want to see the video this was taken of, or more from me on the Humble Choice or Game Pass, check out: https://youtu.be/NPxN2M0c65w
Reviewed on Jun 11, 2022