I originally played Defunct back in 2018, being one of the few non-Nintendo games I had on my Switch at the time. I played for about half an hour but couldn't stand how glitchy it felt. I remember running into a wall and being flung off the map numerous times. I gave up on that and it sat in my Switch collecting digital dust for years. As I was looking to check off some of my backlog and finally touch some games that have never once been opened I came across Defunct once again. I loosely remembered the gameplay and thought it sounded like a fun time. And who knows maybe there was a patch in the past 6 years since I've last played that fixed some of the collision glitches.
I redownloaded, booted it up, and immediately I hit a wall and got flung high in the air and off the map. Though, I will say, that was the only significant glitch I encountered. Maybe there was in fact a patch or maybe I just hit less walls. As I was replaying it I see what originally drew me to this game. The feeling of momentum as you build speed down slopes is incredibly satisfying. There's very fun long stretches for you to build speed and fly down the path. Unfortunately that's all this game has going for it. You will be stopped occasionally to go down a slower path which is fine if there was anything worth seeing. The environments rarely change or have any focal points that show anything besides recycled post-apocalyptic rubbish.
And then you come across these sections that seem to be puzzles but are more just a series of activation points you have to touch to continue. Some are fun as you can find an optimal set up to touch all of them in one sweep in a very quick succession. Others are more spread out and have very little thought behind them than just touch the red light and make it not red. Just stopping any chance for momentum as you follow a cable to get near the thing™ to make the tower glow.
And just as I was thinking the game had a good balance of long stretches of speed and the lighting sections I enjoyed weaved together the game ends very abruptly. I genuinely thought it was a fake out until the credits refused to stop rolling. I was really shocked at how short it was. Even with my first playthrough many years ago and starting over now my Switch doesn't even show two hours of playtime. I normally don't look down on games for their length as long as I enjoyed the time I spent in it but I really did feel like I was just getting started.
This experience feels like a game I would have played on PS2 as a kid repeatedly and as I grew I would sing its praises as everyone else either never heard of it or called it mid. But seeing as I played this game 2 separate times in my twenties I am unable to not see its flaws. But I also see what it did well and I can see myself coming back to shut off my brain and experience that momentum based gameplay again.
I redownloaded, booted it up, and immediately I hit a wall and got flung high in the air and off the map. Though, I will say, that was the only significant glitch I encountered. Maybe there was in fact a patch or maybe I just hit less walls. As I was replaying it I see what originally drew me to this game. The feeling of momentum as you build speed down slopes is incredibly satisfying. There's very fun long stretches for you to build speed and fly down the path. Unfortunately that's all this game has going for it. You will be stopped occasionally to go down a slower path which is fine if there was anything worth seeing. The environments rarely change or have any focal points that show anything besides recycled post-apocalyptic rubbish.
And then you come across these sections that seem to be puzzles but are more just a series of activation points you have to touch to continue. Some are fun as you can find an optimal set up to touch all of them in one sweep in a very quick succession. Others are more spread out and have very little thought behind them than just touch the red light and make it not red. Just stopping any chance for momentum as you follow a cable to get near the thing™ to make the tower glow.
And just as I was thinking the game had a good balance of long stretches of speed and the lighting sections I enjoyed weaved together the game ends very abruptly. I genuinely thought it was a fake out until the credits refused to stop rolling. I was really shocked at how short it was. Even with my first playthrough many years ago and starting over now my Switch doesn't even show two hours of playtime. I normally don't look down on games for their length as long as I enjoyed the time I spent in it but I really did feel like I was just getting started.
This experience feels like a game I would have played on PS2 as a kid repeatedly and as I grew I would sing its praises as everyone else either never heard of it or called it mid. But seeing as I played this game 2 separate times in my twenties I am unable to not see its flaws. But I also see what it did well and I can see myself coming back to shut off my brain and experience that momentum based gameplay again.