GameCentral catches up with an excellent indie game from earlier in the year, that may have the best script and voice-acting of 2024.
Every year, at around this time, we try to make sure we catch up with any interesting games we may have missed at other times during the year – invariably indie titles that were not well publicised at launch, but which subsequently gained critical acclaim.
has crept up on us a bit this year, so we may have to conclude our catch-up in January – which is perhaps just as well given how slow the start to the year usually is (although perhaps not, depending on ).
We wanted to cover 1000xResist first though, because not only is it a great game, that we’d never heard of until a few weeks ago, but it’s very likely to make it into our Top 20 of the year. It is pretty obscure – it’s all-time peak on Steam is just 154 people – but it’s easily one of the best storytelling games of the last 12 months.
This is the first game by developer Sunset Visitor, but the most obvious point of reference is Vanillaware’s . Not in terms of any of the specifics – this is not a strategy game – but the sci-fi setting and storytelling tone does feel as if it’s cut from the same cloth, with some similarities to as well (and probably a bunch of anime that we’re not aware of).
1000xResist takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been all but wiped out by aliens, via a global pandemic. The allusions to Covid are clear from the start, although here the artificial virus has reduced the human race to a small group of women cloned from the Allmother – a rare human immune to the virus.
You play as one of six clones given a specific leadership role, such as doctor, librarian, and engineer. Your job, as Watcher, is more complex, since you’re tasked with recording the life of the Allmother by accessing her memories during a process called a communion and interpreting and recording her actions and life before the alien invasion. At the same time, you also have to keep an eye on the other clones, which creates tensions amongst the group, even though you’re technically all ‘sisters’.
In terms of gameplay, 1000xResist is essentially a visual novel and most of the time you’re just walking around, looking for people to talk to. That’s actually the worst part of the game though, as there’s no proper map and it’s very easy to get lost. There’s no real action, beyond some elements similar to , where you’re jumping between different locations, and the occasional puzzle. Both aspects are very simplistic though and are not at all intended as a challenge.
In terms of visuals, the game is not exactly high-tech, but that doesn’t mean you’re just left trawling through pages of endless text. For a start, all the dialogue is voice-acted, and extremely well too – with performances better than many a triple-A game. But communions are also visually inventive, in terms of both the camera angles – from side-scrolling to first person – and the many different time periods the memories are set in (technically the game takes place over a period of a thousand years).
Although the tribulations of the pandemic, both real and fictional, are one obvious focus of the story, it’s anything but one note. Some of the more general topics range from negative parental influences to governmental abuse of power, but since the developer is based in Canada, and primarily made up of Asian immigrants, the game also explores that experience too.
Like all good sci-fi, 1000xResist is more about the current day than it is the far future, with very human stories mixed in with evergreen concerns about authoritarianism, discrimination, and radicalisation. If the game has any singular message though, it’s how damaging the past can be if it is mistakes are not acknowledged and addressed.
There’s a lot of grim subject matter in the game but it can also be surprisingly funny at times, with all the characters proving impressively three-dimensional in terms of their flaws and character quirks. Physically, they may all be clones but they’re all individuals, with their own personalities, concerns, and hang-ups.
It’s no longer unusual for indie games to have better storytelling than big budget games but it is unusual to experience one that is quite this ambitious and capable in its execution. Especially as the story runs for over 12 hours. 1000xResist may have a terrible, off-putting name but everything else about it is extremely well written and compelling.
1000xResist review summary
In Short: A superior example of the visual novel, with some of the most compelling storytelling of the generation, even if it’s not very interactive.
Pros: Excellent script that tackles many subjects with grace and, at least occasionally, humour. Surprisingly good voice-acting and more visually interesting than the low-tech graphics suggest.
Cons: Beyond a few branching paths, the story progression is entirely linear and there’s very little traditional gameplay. Navigating the base is a pain without a map.
Score: 8/10
Formats: PC (reviewed) and Nintendo Switch
Price: £16.75
Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Developer: sunset visitor 斜陽過客
Release Date: 9th May 2024
Age Rating: 16
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