Watcher Run Down This Hallway
HIGH Deals well with important, interesting themes…
LOW …but I’ve played many games that hit the same themes.
WTF There’s a lot of WTF. I can’t narrow it down.
For years now, as game development budgets spiral into the absurd and corporate greed infests the triple-A market, people have been clamoring for smaller, “double-A” titles that allow for more creativity and less financial risk. Big publishers don’t seem to get the message, but the good news is that we’re seeing indies step up to the plate to fill this necessary hole in the market. 1000xRESIST is a shining example.
1000xRESIST is a narrative adventure. While there’s some light puzzle solving and the surprising addition of a grappling hook, the vast majority of the experience is walking through hallways in third person perspective and talking to people. There’s no map, but a compass is provided during flashbacks to help players find NPCs they need to have a chat with. This structure definitely won’t win over people that are not into games of this ilk, but based purely on the quality of its narrative, 1000xRESIST delivers in spades.
Before getting into the meat of the experience, I can say that the presentation of 1000xRESIST is impressive for a small developer. Everything is fully voiced, and while this didn’t sound like the most seasoned VO cast, they gave great effort and added a lot of punch to the emotional core of the story. The art design is exceptional, and the dream-like world that the memories take place in is a real highlight — there’s a little Suda 51 in here, perhaps. I played the game on PC, and the system requirements are quite modest, so my four-year-old budget laptop with a 1050 and 16GB of RAM was juuuuuuuust good enough to play this properly. It’s a great audiovisual experience all around.
So, the story. Writing reviews for story-intensive games is difficult because I would hate to spoil key moments or dramatic reveals, and going into 1000xRESIST as cold as possible is the best way to experience it. As such, I’ll keep it brief and say that players assume the role of Watcher, who like everyone else in a far-flung future, is a clone of the ALLMOTHER. Earth is currently uninhabitable due to a disease that wiped out humanity, and these cloned remnants live in technologically-advanced underground areas. Gameplay then centers on the player delving into the memories of ALLMOTHER to uncover the truth about what led to where things are today.
1000xRESIST is a well-told sci-fi tale that’s going to be impactful on many who play it. It’s not afraid to get personal and delve into real-life sociopolitical situations that most developers would be absolutely terrified to touch. It has things to say, and I admire a developer willing to display its worldview like this. It also has a great deal of smart commentary on the nature of religious philosophy splintering and evolving over time that intertwines well with the core story being presented. Of course, like any good tale there are some shocking moments that come out of left field, and when they work, they work.
While the script here is strong, it’s difficult to see its themes and not think about a litany of other titles that touch on similar concepts. Players will find a lot of Nier: Automata here, and fans of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim have likely already bought 1000xResist. It sure does seem like the “Anime Visual Novel With The Last Remnants Of Humanity Hanging Out In A Highly Advanced Pristine Technological Society Where Something Bad Happened, Then Finding Out About The Past And Sharing Trauma” genre is a pretty damn popular one!
To be fair,1000xRESIST gets away with these similarities because it explores these ideas better than most of the titles it can be compared to, and there’s a grounded realness here which is difficult to pull off — but the devs manage it. My only real complaint is that the story does drag a bit, and there are perhaps a few too many hour-long sections that could have been cut, to its benefit — it’s a great fourteen-hour game that could’ve been a brilliant ten-hour game.
Another issue I had was with player agency. Without spoiling too much, the player makes major narrative choices at the end of the campaign. I personally made a choice based on what I thought made sense given the circumstances, only to get the cutscene equivalent of being called a complete idiot. I was then kicked back to the previous section and had to try again. I admire 1000xRESIST for taking strong stands on certain things but if it gives me a choice, I would expect my choice to play out. If the devs never intended branching outcomes, then it might have been a better idea to simply take player choice out of the equation completely.
If I were to sum up 1000xRESIST in one word, it would be brave. I walked away extremely impressed with how it handled its core subject matter, and I’ve been constantly thinking about the story since I rolled credits. It won’t change the mind of anyone who doesn’t care for narrative-focused gaming experiences, but I really do think this is going to be a special game for a lot of people. It speaks in a mature way that is extremely rare in a medium not known for its tact, and the team at Sunset Visitor should be proud of their work.
I can’t wait to see what they do next.
RATING: 8.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Sunset Visitor and published by Fellow Traveler. It is currently available on Switch and PC, and was reviewed on a PC with a GTX1050 and 16GB of RAM to decent performance at 1080p. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 14 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Coarse Language and Extreme Violence. While the game does feature both of those things, they’re handled very well and I wouldn’t call anything in it grotesque or obscene. This definitely isn’t a title for kids, but for parents with an older teen who is into stories of this ilk, I think it’d be a fine choice.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be resized, but there is an option to make them transparent or opaque. The subtitles are quite thin and change colors depending on who is speaking, which could be difficult for colorblind players. It’s a story based adventure game, and there are no necessary audio cues. I’d say this is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: The controls are not remappable. The game can be played with either a gamepad or mouse & keyboard. The developers recommend a gamepad, as do I. The character is controlled with the left analog stick, camera with the right analog stick, and interaction is done with the A button.
He is currently attending graduate school at Pacific University seeking a Master's In Teaching with a focus on secondary social studies. From 2015-2020, Jarrod worked as a school teacher in various countries throughout Asia, and is now seeking certification to teach in his home country so a global pandemic doesn't leave him stranded again.
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