It makes me sad to see games like Citizen Sleeper because even though I'm aware of the fact that making a game is VERY hard, it just feels like games like these have huge potential still buried. First things first, it has amazing worldbuilding, and I love how cozy (for the lack of a better word) The Eye feels: A space station on the fringes of an interstellar civilization where greedy corporations exploit everything and everyone; born from the failures of that hypercapitalistic society. I found writing to be sometimes confusing or forced (for example when it describes MC's feelings, but we'll get to that), but still very much enjoyed it. However, I think the game has a big identity problem, and it affects everything. So let me say it out loud: THIS GAME IS NOT AN RPG. It isn't a bad thing in itself, of course, I loved the developers' previous game, In Other Waters, and it was a linear adventure with minimalistic gameplay.
The problems I had with CS comes mainly from its structure. It tries to be an RPG by giving you the choice on how to proceed, what to do and how to distribute your skills, with a system of using pre-determined dice rolls to interact with things and fix your decaying cyborg body. Problem is, after you get the hang of this dice system, everything becomes easy to achieve and when you get enough money to sustain yourself (which happens after 1 hour or so), you are able to do anything you want to do, and my biggest problem with the game shows itself: there are no consequences at all. No consequences if you do something, no consequences if you choose to not do something, and it's not just in the actions; it also doesn't matter what you choose in narrative parts either. Most of the time there are 2 choices with one of them being "stay silent" anyway.
Unfortunately, there are also almost no connections between storylines, so the game is more like a collection of short, self-contained and linear stories rather than a game where your choices changes things. Some of these stories are way too short to care about the characters, some of them just begin to unravel and ends. I think my favorite storyline is Lem and Mina's, which is the only one (other than the DLC storyline) that truly feels finished. Endings were also unsatisfying for me, I think there are 3 endings in the game in total, and they all felt abrupt. The ending decisions are also the only true decisions in the game, where you decide if you want to end the game at that point or not. So, it was quite unsatisfying.
In the end, I can't recommend the game if you expect a narrative heavy RPG (yes, like Disco Elysium, there, I said it). However, if you are interested in the setting and the stories it offers, give it a shot, and also definitely check out In Other Waters, I think they did a better, more focused game on that one. Still, I'm eager to see what Jump Over The Age will develop next, I know they have fascinating worlds to tell yet.
The problems I had with CS comes mainly from its structure. It tries to be an RPG by giving you the choice on how to proceed, what to do and how to distribute your skills, with a system of using pre-determined dice rolls to interact with things and fix your decaying cyborg body. Problem is, after you get the hang of this dice system, everything becomes easy to achieve and when you get enough money to sustain yourself (which happens after 1 hour or so), you are able to do anything you want to do, and my biggest problem with the game shows itself: there are no consequences at all. No consequences if you do something, no consequences if you choose to not do something, and it's not just in the actions; it also doesn't matter what you choose in narrative parts either. Most of the time there are 2 choices with one of them being "stay silent" anyway.
Unfortunately, there are also almost no connections between storylines, so the game is more like a collection of short, self-contained and linear stories rather than a game where your choices changes things. Some of these stories are way too short to care about the characters, some of them just begin to unravel and ends. I think my favorite storyline is Lem and Mina's, which is the only one (other than the DLC storyline) that truly feels finished. Endings were also unsatisfying for me, I think there are 3 endings in the game in total, and they all felt abrupt. The ending decisions are also the only true decisions in the game, where you decide if you want to end the game at that point or not. So, it was quite unsatisfying.
In the end, I can't recommend the game if you expect a narrative heavy RPG (yes, like Disco Elysium, there, I said it). However, if you are interested in the setting and the stories it offers, give it a shot, and also definitely check out In Other Waters, I think they did a better, more focused game on that one. Still, I'm eager to see what Jump Over The Age will develop next, I know they have fascinating worlds to tell yet.