Developer: Anshar Studios
Publisher: Anshar Studios
Platform: PC, Switch
Tested on: PC
Gamedec – Preview
It only makes sense that as our technology develops, new jobs would be invented by people related to the upkeep of all this fancy tech. Anshar Studios’ upcoming title, Gamedec, has an interesting way of exploring this. In the distant cyberpunk future of the 22nd century, a new career has blossomed. Taking the role of a so-called ‘Game Detective’, you venture into the complex world of this narrative-focused RPG to see how your choices can shape the story, with all the consequences that follow.
Gamedec presents us with a future where the virtual world and the real one have intertwined, almost to the point distinguishing between the two has become near impossible as people spend more time inside online game worlds than the real one. Within these virtual places, crime still happens. Humans will always be plagued by greed, lust, and envy, after all. To solve these cases happening in cyberspaces, you will need to become a Game Detective. Exploring the reaches of Warsaw City, you learn more about its history and the diverse lives of those who thrive here. Gamedec promises to focus heavily on the player’s choices as a tool to shape the narrative, changing depending on what knowledge you acquire and the actions you undertake.
One interesting aspect we can see this in, for example, is the solutions to your cases. Basically, there is no set answer to any of the conundrums you face. They all have a multitude of ways to get to a conclusion – whether right or wrong – and your options will be dependent on what clues or information you have gathered. This in turn will affect the continued flow of the plot. The dialogue in the game is also very choice-based, allowing you to prioritize what you deem important in questioning. Characters can like you more or less depending on how you behave or based on character traits you unlock along the way. You also advance your career like this, with the help of an RPG-typical skill tree. Gamedec is a non-combat RPG, focussed completely on the narrative and world-building with some light puzzle-solving and inspired by classic tabletop RPGs to make the game unique to every player.
Visually Gamedec manages to blow most other RPGs out of the water. The isometric graphics work really well for the exploration that is such a big part of this game, with a beautiful painted style that reminds us of graphic novels. The character portraits also look really good and have a lot of detail. Since the plot revolves around traveling into different virtual worlds for your job, the game can play a lot with changing environments. From a cyberpunk metropolis to a humble farmstead, there is no shortage of variety in the places you visit. And they all have their own feel.
The music is sounding good too. We have a soundtrack that fits the game’s futuristic and gritty atmosphere perfectly, without becoming distracting since you’ll be having to do a lot of reading. Gamedec currently does not have any voice acting, so for a game that is rather dialogue-heavy, that means the player will need to be prepared for that.
Since the game focuses so heavily on narrative in favor of gameplay, the controls stay simple and easy for beginners to pick up on, while the complex storytelling is hoping to reel in veterans looking for an exciting cyberpunk experience. In essence, the most you will be doing is walking around and picking dialogue options or interacting with items or people. The puzzle-solving happens mostly in your deduction screen, where you use your acquired information to come to conclusions similar to Frogware’s Sherlock Holmes games. The game also comes with a codex that tracks important things you learn, about characters you’ve met for example. There have been a lot of games coming out lately taking a crack at the genre, but so far Gamedec does seem to want to set itself apart from the mob by having a lot of unique touches.
Conclusion
Gamedec is still months away from it final release but already the game is showing a lot of promise. The developers have also displayed a big willingness to listen to their audience and be quick to respond to problems or suggestions, which plays to their advantage. Headed in this direction, Gamedec promises to be a clear hit and an enjoyable adventure for players to undertake.
Gamedec - Preview,
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[…] been keeping our eye on Gamedec for a while now, previewing it back in May and staying up-to-date with the work the devs put into it. Today we’re happy to take a look […]