Versatile Space Adventure--Citizen Sleeper

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how I ran into a list of game recommendations in an odd place--namely National Public Radio (NPR).  Despite being a bit skeptical of the source I decided to check out some of the titles on their list...and, guess what?  So far they've been 2/2!  Both games I've decided to check out have been winners (**see my review of Norco).  Last night I finished my first playthrough of Citizen Sleeper and was very impressed.

What is it?

A story-based RPG of the more textual variety.  The story centers around your character a "sleeper"--a robot with a mind that is the emulation of a human mind--who has escaped from a strictly controlled corporate world and crash landed on an independent space station.  Your goal is to survive, to elude the corporation who isn't happy to have lost its property, and to find a path for the future.

Pros:

+ The writing is top notch.  The characters you meet are interesting and have many layers--they're not simply "good" or "bad" but have complex motivations.  I know that some people are turned off by games that require a lot of reading, but the writing is so good in Sleeper that it's very enjoyable.

A daily activity at the shipyard.

+ The gameplay is deceptively simple but requires making many choices about how to spend your limited daily resources.  Your character starts each day (called a "cycle") with a certain number of dice (the number of dice you receive is dependent on the condition of your body--something that is a key part of the story).  The numbers on the dice reflect the probability of a certain outcome--a low number die (1 or 2) means you have a 50% chance at a neutral outcome or a 50% chance at a negative outcome; higher numbered dice increase your chance of getting a positive or neutral outcome and decrease (or, in the case of a 5 or 6--completely eliminate) the chance of a negative outcome.

The map is scattered with many opportunities to explore the station and discover more locations or more about the station itself.  Each activity you choose requires you to use your dice and many activities require you to spend multiple cycles to unlock them.  As you unlock locations you run into the cast of colorful characters who populate the station--they offer up storylines you can choose to participate in (or not).

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed trying to puzzle out how best to spend my dice every day.

+ Very replayable.  I finished up my first playthrough in about 6 hours.  That seems short but there were many other options or paths I could've taken that would result in different outcomes.

Another factor that contributes to the replayability factor is the option to choose different classes.  Each class has a certain set of talents which add a positive modifier to your dice rolls for certain activities--for example, I chose engineer for my first playthrough so I started with a +1 modifier to all engineering activities.  Since I had that positive modifier on engineering activities, I tended to seek them out--my character spent quite a bit of time in the shipyard.  Throughout the game you earn experience points and can earn new talent points that can improve the talents you have and offer special skills as a bonus or can be used to unlock other abilities.

I am looking forward to choosing a different class for my next playthrough and experiencing new story paths.

+ There's a cat!  I like cats and you can find a feline friend at a certain location.

+ Additional FREE content is being added!  Three episodic story branches are in the process of being added to the core game.  One episode, called "Flux," is already out (sadly I missed it because I didn't know how close to the end of the game I was) and another is scheduled to be added at the end of October.  It's always nice when free stuff gets added to games!

Cons:

-I don't really have any cons as I found Citizen Sleeper to be a really great game.  If you're one of those people who are anti-reading in games...well, you're missing out, but just go play Call of Duty or something.

Recommendation:

I would highly recommend Citizen Sleeper.  The writing and story are top notch and there are so many choices to be made.  The fact that there are numerous outcomes makes subsequent playthroughs very appealing.  I bought it on sale (for $15.99) but it's definitely worth full price. 

What to Play?

With the imminent arrival of fall and the pending conclusion of my total The Witcher marathon I am giving some thought to what I want to play next.  I'm having some desire to play back through Two Point Campus.  Recent patches seem to have addressed some of my gripes about student behavior and it might be worth seeing what's changed.  The same can be said for Cyberpunk 2077 which received a sizeable (18 gig) patch in anticipation of the release of the Edgerunners anime series on Netflix.  The patch notes mentioned the addition of a few Edgerunner themed items being added to the game as well as something I've long desired--the ability to transmog outfits!

There's just something about the weather cooling off and the arrival of fall that makes me want to hunker down with a warm blanket and play something comforting.  I've been keeping an eye on a charming Australian-themed farming game called Dinkum which is currently in early access but has glowing reviews.  It might scratch that Stardew itch in a perfect way.

In other Cyberpunk related news, it looks like the first (and, I would anticipate, only) DLC called Phantom Liberty will release sometime in 2023.  The trailer has more Keanu (ala Johnny Silverhand) and the story looks to see V joining up with some sort of military-esque faction related to the NUSA.  Color me intrigued, but also realistic in the fact that it might be quite awhile before we actually see said expansion as a reality (CD Projekt can't really screw this one up or their already embattled reputation could take another big hit--I would guess that they'll take their time with it and make sure it's in a much better state before it's released.  But, we'll see.).

Happy pre-fall to everyone!  Find something comfy to play and burrow into a nice soft blanket.

A 90's Vibe with a Zany Story--NORCO

Sometimes you find good video game suggestions in the strangest places--this is how I stumbled onto NORCO.  My main source of news is NPR (National Public Radio for the uninitiated) and they had an article with their picks for the best games of 2022 (so far--read it here).  I scoffed and figured that it'd be a list filled with the typical triple-A sports-y, shoot-y type of games.  The list, however, was actually filled with a decent variety of big name titles and games that skew more toward the indie side.  NORCO was featured with a small blurb praising good writing and a "thought-provoking story."  One the plus side, it was on sale for just $7.49, so I decided to check it out.

What is it?

A 90's style point-and-click game set in the New Orleans of a dystopian United States.  Check out the trailer below.

What is the story about?

You play as a character whose mother has recently passed away and who grudgingly returns home (it's complicated).  Once back at home you discover that despite her failing health, your mother was researching/investigating the corporate oil company that owns a huge refinery that dominates life in New Orleans.  Like any good returning home/mystery story, things get tricky fast.

Pros:

+ As indicated in the NPR article, the writing and story are both great.  Throughout the story you encounter numerous zany characters and they're all intriguing in some way.  The story is definitely the highlight and takes you on quite a wild ride--you can't even begin to predict what might happen and that's refreshing.  The dialogue is quite funny in places.

+ There's some replayability.  I know that I missed some stuff (there are achievements for characters I never encountered) and there might be multiple endings (I'm still not 100% sure on that though).

+ The controls and gameplay are very straightforward and easy for anyone to figure out.  There are times in the story where it might seem like you don't know what to do next, but the game is good about giving nudges toward your next objective.

Cons:

- It's short.  I finished in 6.3 hours.  The story and writing are so great that I wanted more!

Recommendation:

NORCO is extremely well-written and definitely worth a play.  If you're feeling an itch for something that's not stressful, that feels fresh and interesting, and that scratches that 90's point-and-click adventure game itch, I would encourage you to check out NORCO.

Experiencing the Worst Ending

Okay, let me be honest here--I've played an ungodly amount of The Witcher 3--over 900 hours.  It's my favorite game and I just love returning to Geralt, the Witchers, the sorceresses, Ciri, and the strumpets in Novigrad that yell hilarious things as you navigate the city.  When you've played a game as much as I've played The Witcher 3 you might feel the urge to make different choices...you know, just to see what happens.  I decided to choose some things that I don't normally choose and will now narrate the disastrous consequences.  (I suppose it's worth mentioning that this will contain spoilers for The Witcher 3)

Things started to go wrong early on--I fully intended for Geralt to re-ignite his relationship with Triss Merigold.  I chose all the flirty, supportive options (except for maybe 1 or 2) but decided that Geralt shouldn't drop the big "ILY" as Triss is departing.  Apparently, that's the clincher.  Even though I like Triss as a character (and relationship choice), I do feel that Yennifer is the canon option.  I always ponder the dead rose of remembrance--it's supposed to stay alive forever...as long as there is still love in the relationship, if it's dead...well, that's not a great sign.  Plus, there's always the issue of Geralt losing his memory and Triss sort of stringing him along.  So, overall, choosing Yen isn't the worst thing ever.  I did not intend for things to fall apart with Triss though!

I've never really paid much attention to exactly which key decisions can impact the ending.  I really only had it in mind to ignore Emhyr and dissuade Ciri from visiting her dear ol' daddy.  There are other decisions though that have a big impact on the ending...and I chose poorly.  The earliest of those decisions occurs immediately following the tangle with the Wild Hunt at Kaer Mohren--Geralt chooses to comfort Ciri who is struggling with her magical training.  Geralt can either tell Ciri that it's okay, not everyone is good at everything or offer up a break to take her mind off of the training.  One of my favorite parts of the game plays out if you choose the break option--Geralt and Ciri have a silly snowball fight and share a cute hug at the end.  Instead, I chose option number 1 and got to watch as a sad Ciri joined Geralt for a round sad drinks.

The second key decision takes place after Geralt has rescued Margarita Laux-Antille and has reunited the Lodge of Sorceresses.  They want to speak to Ciri and she's feeling nervous about them due to their past schemes--Geralt can either reassure Ciri that she should go in alone and handle it herself or can offer to go with Ciri.  I decided that Geralt should go with her (to offer support) and it turned out to be the worst of the two decisions.

The last disastrous decision occurred while visiting Avallac'h's hidden laboratory with Triss and Ciri.  It's here that you discover that Avallac'h has a very intense fascination with the Elder Blood (and Ciri) and his "friend" tells Ciri that he actually hates her and that she's a dirty "half-breed."  Ciri is visibly upset and expresses frustration with her "gift."  Geralt can either choose to tell her to calm down or can encourage her to vent her frustration by trashing the lab.  Choosing the "calm down" option means that Ciri becomes angry and storms out of the lab.

Geralt sadly contemplates Ciri's medallion.

I didn't think too much about the choices I made and was stunned when Ciri seemed to picture all these events in a negative fashion as she took on the White Frost.  Then, a brand new ending that I had never seen started to roll--Geralt is in Velen and he's looking for the last Crone.  A werewolf has offered to show him in exchange for Geralt's help in rescuing some wolf pups who are in danger from some local villagers.  Geralt finds the group of villagers and discovers that they've trapped the she-wolf and plan to kill her and the pups.  There's virtually no hesitation as he kills the peasants--it's brutal.  Then, the werewolf leads him to the swamp village where the Crones reside.  Weavess confronts Geralt and implies that Ciri is dead--tons of monsters swarm the area as the fight takes place.  Once Weavess is dead, Geralt frantically searches the village for the Wolf medallion that once belonged to Vesemir but that Ciri lost during her battle with the Crones.  He finds it and then sits and stares at it as tons of monsters swarm the village.  There's a strong indication that Ciri's death has caused him to lose his will to fight.

I felt so bummed by this ending that I contemplated reloading my save before the Isle of Mists.  Holy crap does that ending suck!  I decided against the re-load since 1.) there was probably a good 30-ish hours of stuff to re-do and 2.) I've experienced the other two endings plenty of times.  I guess it was worth the experience of finally getting to see all of the endings...but, like my renegade Mass Effect run...never again!