Developer: Anshar Studios
Publisher: Anshar Studios
Platform: PC, Switch, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: PC
Gamedec – Review
We’ve 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 at the completed project: an interesting narrative-driven RPG with cyberpunk flavors. Anshar Studios said they wanted to invoke classic table-top RPG tropes and elements for this game, something they’ve certainly managed to accomplish. Sadly, that does end up pushing Gamedec in a niche not everybody is going to appreciate.
Story
Gamedec takes place, like so many cyberpunk games, in the not-so-distant future where technology has become the focal point of humanity’s existence. Specifically, virtual reality has become a big part of everyday life in Gamedec, with people spending more time inside of video games than they do outside them. And why wouldn’t you, considering you can be anything you want to be in the virtual world, while the place where people live – Warsaw City – is a rather dreary and somber affair. This new level of technology opens up a whole series of jobs, and one of them is that of the Gamedec, which is short for Game Detective. It’s their job to solve mysteries and crimes that take place not in real life, but in the digital realm. The opening cutscene establishes you as one of these Gamedecs, on the road to your newest case. As the game is heavily plot-focused, player choice does determine some of the broad strokes of the plot moving forward.
Graphics
Visually Gamedec is a treat. From the isometric art style of the main game to the beautifully drawn character portraits, there’s always something stunning to look at. Cyberpunk is a rather worn-out aesthetic at this point, sometimes it feels like they’re coming out by the dozens. That being said, with its concept of traveling to various virtual realities to solve crimes, Gamedec avoids putting the player in the same-looking futuristic backdrop every single game in this genre has us staring at, and instead delivers on diversity in the level and character design.
Sound
Gamedec has a nice, lo-fi soundtrack to accompany the game’s atmosphere. The music is a great asset, though not one of the highlights of the game. On a less fortunate note, Gamedec is extremely dialogue-heavy and does not feature voice acting. This means that you’ll have to be prepared to do a fair share of reading when you get into this game.
Gameplay
Gamedec is a role-playing game with a big focus on character development and narrative progression in favor of gameplay. This means that at times, it can come across more as a fancy-looking walking simulator than anything else, with the puzzle-solving done in the form of deductions you’ll have to make in a separate screen (think of it as your personal notepad) with the gathered information. Apart from these deductions, the main meat of the game is walking around with point-and-click mechanics, inspecting objects to pick them up, and talking to people with the expected dialogue options to spice things up. It really is rather barebones, but this game relies on the plot to carry itself forward.
Your character is not static throughout the game either. At the start, you can customize them. Then, as you progress, your dialogue choices will shape their personality and in turn unlock other conversations and reactions for them going forward. On top of being a Game Detective, you will be able to dictate your character’s career and skills, since every mystery you solve, and problems you encounter, can be fixed in multiple ways. The game does not force you to take a specific approach. It does however sometimes lock you out of certain information and dialogue based on your character, which in turn keeps you from making the deductions you should. This makes the game turn into guesswork at some points.
Another minor gripe is the game’s codex: a sort of dictionary slash encyclopedia that collects all the lore you’ve gathered on the worlds, characters, and terms you encounter. What that translates to is that you’ll have to do even more reading. Some of it isn’t even optional, as you will notice finding yourself at a complete loss if you don’t keep up with codex entries. The fact that Gamedec doesn’t have a convenient, short explanation for certain concepts in the game itself, but instead hides it behind ‘optional’ reading sections can be annoying.
Conclusion
It’s worth complimenting Gamedec for all it’s trying to do. It’s a video game that feels more like a tabletop RPG, set in a genuinely interesting world and with enough options to tailor your character to your own playstyle to be fun. But in terms of gameplay, it’s really lacking and the short length of the game keeps it from reaching its full potential. Since the devs are still adding content and DLC, it’s worth keeping an eye on for the future.
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