This review contains spoilers
I would classify this as one of those games that people claim isn't meant to be fun, like Pathologic. It's not really groundbreaking or innovative, but it perfectly expresses what it sets out to and that guarantees it a 5/5 in my view.
It really does feel like "an adventure game without the adventure" or an "anti-adventure". The planet of Xabran's Rock is full of all kinds of colorful people: spellcasters, rogues, androids - adventurers. But you're not one of them. You're the janitor. The "sanidrone". Despite the fact that you were cursed to have a skull yelling at you at all times, you're still leagues more mundane and unimportant than even the blandest vendor there is.
There is a constant sense that nothing in this place - from the items you pick up to the environment itself - is truly meant "for you". You can pick up powerful spell components, but you don't have the expertise to use them; You can stumbled across powerful drugs, gems, and technology that costs more credits than you'll ever make in your entire life, but you're at the mercy of the vendors that will only pay you 10 credits at best regardless.
Selling items by itself is a pain. First you have to make your way to the correct vendor, which is a (intentionally designed) nightmare as the map is confusing and the arrows oftentimes don't help at all, and some of them switch places on the daily. Then you have to hope their randomized stock lines up with what you want to sell. And finally, you have to pray they're willing to pay a decent amount for it. They aren't most of the time. There is no consistency, no pattern to follow. It's all luck.
Said luck is one of the few things you can precisely quantify in this game along with your money, but it doesn't really seem to matter. More luck didn't seem to accelerate the pace in which I found the goddess fetishes, I found most of them while I was in the negatives. Random food and genders on the ground were so sparse that I really couldn't tell if my luck was affecting them at all.
It's not like there wasn't any progression. The items I found on the ground did change, regardless if through the luck stat or based on the amount of hours I put into the game. I started finding whole metal plates instead of scraps, and once I stumbled across "the dankest weed in Xabran". But these items weren't made for me. This would be a lucky find for anyone else. All I ever hoped to find was food, gender or worship items.
The game conditions you into sticking to your profession as a janitor. Finding the vendor that will maybe buy this item for more than 2 credits is going to take time, time I could be using to burn trash and make a miserable but stable earning. It's not like I couldn't abandon my job and focus solely on selling, but I would risk starving to death. The metaphor is clear.
And the ending is... depressing. I worked harder than ever to gather resources (600 credits in my case, the arguably cheapest option) to break the skull's curse. I then go to sleep. I wake up with said skull speaking actual words to me, words of apology and a promise that I can finally leave to go on my very own adventure. I set out in the middle of the night, path illuminated by floating lanterns, and board the ship (or air?) to start my new life.
Then I woke up. Hungry, dysphoric, with 4 credits to my name. No curse, but also no adventure. Today is Delviday. My payment of 18 credits for burning 50 pieces of garbage just came through.
But it's not like it was a joyless experience either. I think the religion aspect of the game is oddly comforting in a way. Even if luck doesn't really help you much in practice, it always felt nice to pray or put down an offering and hear the luck increase (I think?) jingle. The shrines served as both landmarks to help me navigate and the focus of some jokes I cracked at myself to keep entertained amidst the grind. Are you lost? Turn the corner. You found Beb. Works every time.
It's one of the only things in this game that is consistent. You pray, you get more luck. Even if that doesn't really mean anything, it's a fact. You have 9 deities looking out for you at all time. Maybe they don't understand that helping you find a powerful laser blaster won't be enough to release you from capitalism. Or maybe they're just as powerless as you are.
Aside from the cops/military, every other talking NPC seems to be sympathetic or at least neutral to you. A lot of them inform you on different ways to gain or avoid losing luck, which is a tutorial but also a way to show they're also relying on fate and want you to succeed as much as they want to themselves. It feels like everyone has a rich and unique life story that exists even if you can't be a part of it.
My favorite thing in this game were the Theday festivals. Their gameplay significance is obviously that the ground is littered with Thedule effigies, which I could grab and keep for a significant luck increase. But sometimes I just spent a couple of minutes in front of the many bands performing across town, taking a moment to enjoy the music even if my pay would be gutted. It's okay to enjoy yourself.
Also, gender treatment is the same price of a protein drink? And it works immediately? Maybe it's not such a dystopian world after all.
It really does feel like "an adventure game without the adventure" or an "anti-adventure". The planet of Xabran's Rock is full of all kinds of colorful people: spellcasters, rogues, androids - adventurers. But you're not one of them. You're the janitor. The "sanidrone". Despite the fact that you were cursed to have a skull yelling at you at all times, you're still leagues more mundane and unimportant than even the blandest vendor there is.
There is a constant sense that nothing in this place - from the items you pick up to the environment itself - is truly meant "for you". You can pick up powerful spell components, but you don't have the expertise to use them; You can stumbled across powerful drugs, gems, and technology that costs more credits than you'll ever make in your entire life, but you're at the mercy of the vendors that will only pay you 10 credits at best regardless.
Selling items by itself is a pain. First you have to make your way to the correct vendor, which is a (intentionally designed) nightmare as the map is confusing and the arrows oftentimes don't help at all, and some of them switch places on the daily. Then you have to hope their randomized stock lines up with what you want to sell. And finally, you have to pray they're willing to pay a decent amount for it. They aren't most of the time. There is no consistency, no pattern to follow. It's all luck.
Said luck is one of the few things you can precisely quantify in this game along with your money, but it doesn't really seem to matter. More luck didn't seem to accelerate the pace in which I found the goddess fetishes, I found most of them while I was in the negatives. Random food and genders on the ground were so sparse that I really couldn't tell if my luck was affecting them at all.
It's not like there wasn't any progression. The items I found on the ground did change, regardless if through the luck stat or based on the amount of hours I put into the game. I started finding whole metal plates instead of scraps, and once I stumbled across "the dankest weed in Xabran". But these items weren't made for me. This would be a lucky find for anyone else. All I ever hoped to find was food, gender or worship items.
The game conditions you into sticking to your profession as a janitor. Finding the vendor that will maybe buy this item for more than 2 credits is going to take time, time I could be using to burn trash and make a miserable but stable earning. It's not like I couldn't abandon my job and focus solely on selling, but I would risk starving to death. The metaphor is clear.
And the ending is... depressing. I worked harder than ever to gather resources (600 credits in my case, the arguably cheapest option) to break the skull's curse. I then go to sleep. I wake up with said skull speaking actual words to me, words of apology and a promise that I can finally leave to go on my very own adventure. I set out in the middle of the night, path illuminated by floating lanterns, and board the ship (or air?) to start my new life.
Then I woke up. Hungry, dysphoric, with 4 credits to my name. No curse, but also no adventure. Today is Delviday. My payment of 18 credits for burning 50 pieces of garbage just came through.
But it's not like it was a joyless experience either. I think the religion aspect of the game is oddly comforting in a way. Even if luck doesn't really help you much in practice, it always felt nice to pray or put down an offering and hear the luck increase (I think?) jingle. The shrines served as both landmarks to help me navigate and the focus of some jokes I cracked at myself to keep entertained amidst the grind. Are you lost? Turn the corner. You found Beb. Works every time.
It's one of the only things in this game that is consistent. You pray, you get more luck. Even if that doesn't really mean anything, it's a fact. You have 9 deities looking out for you at all time. Maybe they don't understand that helping you find a powerful laser blaster won't be enough to release you from capitalism. Or maybe they're just as powerless as you are.
Aside from the cops/military, every other talking NPC seems to be sympathetic or at least neutral to you. A lot of them inform you on different ways to gain or avoid losing luck, which is a tutorial but also a way to show they're also relying on fate and want you to succeed as much as they want to themselves. It feels like everyone has a rich and unique life story that exists even if you can't be a part of it.
My favorite thing in this game were the Theday festivals. Their gameplay significance is obviously that the ground is littered with Thedule effigies, which I could grab and keep for a significant luck increase. But sometimes I just spent a couple of minutes in front of the many bands performing across town, taking a moment to enjoy the music even if my pay would be gutted. It's okay to enjoy yourself.
Also, gender treatment is the same price of a protein drink? And it works immediately? Maybe it's not such a dystopian world after all.