1000xRESIST

1000xRESIST is an [b] ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE! [/b] This game still reverberates within me and will stay with me forever. The multi-national & multi-cultural INDIE developers based in Canada, made this game during Covid [strike] in a cave like Tony Stark [/strike], and for their debut title this level of quality is truly astonishing! The game makes use of cinematic shots and various angles reminiscent of film rather than "cinematic" games. The diverse set of devs brought experimental performance, art and music that gives this game a unique feel. I haven't played "Nier:Automata" yet, but almost all peers point at the similarities in approach. We switch from 3rd person to 1st person in an open world to then suddenly turn side-scroller. It keeps the experience fresh and the players engaged. It is an interactive linear story-focused game, more akin to walking simulators and novels. There is no combat in this game like in Nier:Automata, we are mostly playing in the role of Watchers, not Bang Bang Fires. I personally like how the story uses very real and human stories and writing, no whimsical gamey behavior or cringe anime logic. The very deep and rick worldbuilding is something I haven't expected. In this Utopian/Dystopian setting, we unravel an intriguing and highly absorbing 10+ hour story. The story grows on you as you are plunged into this strange world and barely understand anything in the first chapters but by learning this world we start truly caring about it on a deeper level. I'd say I was highly immersed. The game blew my mind multiple times, and I don't mean cheap M.Night Shyamalan twists but actual logical events and consequences of the characters' actions. I have to commend the writing and story of the game. (The game was nominated for so many awards, shame it won only one. I say it is peak worthy to stands among the absolute best in gaming.) Pandemic, Evangelion-esque alien existential threat, clones, Pandorum and various other mindfks are all legitimate issues but even such huge matters are expertly entwined and drowned by the far superior human stories that are at the heart of this game. Hong Kong riots and their aftermath on people, Asian diaspora expatriates and their struggles to adapt, Generational trauma, toxic relationships, especially with strict Asian parents. All of them HIT. DAMN. HARD. Even if the game had mostly female protagonists, it still was very relatable as many of us have gone through similar stories in life. (Hekki, with the world as it is now, literally who hasn't?!?) Ignoring the clear Sci-Fi threads we could link to the Matrix Trilogy, it reminds me of this game in a different way. The vibe it gave me was more from the animated anthology "ANIMATRIX (2003)". A very profound and artistic approach to a very mature storytelling. It made me feel and relate to every single character, every sister. I stopped seeing the Shells and Miscellaneous as some NPCs but as actual living breathing sisters who mattered. 1000XRESIST is a masterfully woven story that makes full use of the gaming media's potential to tell a story that otherwise could not have been as effectively told in a book or TV show format. - Stop complaining that there are no good games left to play, stop feeding the triple-A slaughterhouse infested with AI and get this $10 buck 10-hour game, where every hour's buck is well worth it. This game is a certified must play!

What I imagine happens when you combine Disco Elysium, End of Evangelion, and Everything Everywhere All at Once into one game.

1000xRESIST starts strong with an engaging and immersive premise, but it unfortunately loses its grip along the way. While I highly appreciated the stunning art direction and the soundtracks, the game’s pacing plummets significantly past the halfway mark. The mid-game introduces tedious backtracking and endless, exhausting dialogues that completely disconnected me from the narrative. Visually, the character animations are extremely minimal. While this might be a deliberate artistic choice, the reality is that you spend most of your time just listening to or reading text, which quickly becomes a major drag. By the finale, the narrative gets so convoluted and sluggish that I completely lost track of what I was even playing. I'd give it a 7/10 solely for the ambition and effort, but honestly, finishing this game was an absolute chore.

i'd have trouble recommending this to most, because of how rough the presentation is. to fully enjoy it, your expectations of what an indie game of this scale can deliver should be in line with reality, and i don't think most who engage with games as a medium understand that as well as i'd like. outside of that, and the fact that the wayfinding can be a bit confusing sometimes, boy does this game have a lot of heart and soul, i am so glad that they decided to make this... a thing, like, at all (maybe i'd have liked it a little more in the form of a book, but the choice to make it a game speaks to the way the creator wanted this story to be experienced). there isn't anything more i can say, i'm just happy that projects of passion like this get to exist, and i get to witness them. hair to hair.

I'm just going to share my opinions about the game which you may aggree or disaggree with. Positives: + fully voice acted (although most of them speak quite slowly, and not the best quality way, but it's way better than having to read all by yourself - you can also click with left mouse button to skip them if you get bored how slow they can be) + Different angles, such as fixed camera, first person, "over the shoulder-like", top-down can help make things a little fresh. Disadvantages: - Underwhelming Endings: The conclusion feels lackluster. There are seven endings total, but five of them are incredibly short (barely a minute without voice acting except one). The two "main" endings feel repetitive, as they both rely on the same structure of navigating to specific points (A, B, C ... Q) just to reach the exact same final cutscene at the end. None of these provide a truly satisfying ending for the characters and for the story. It is simply leaving everything us to the players what will happen to them next. - The Orchard: The main hub area, the Orchard, is frustrating to navigate. The level design is cluttered with confusing paths and staircases, can turn into what should be a simple trip from point A to point B (, because you can use R button to see the map of the two floors) between story segments into a tedious exercise in getting lost (which also makes you waste your time , and can cause you a potential buyer to drop the game and ask for a refund. - The Occupants are the enemies in this game who most of the time don't even show up and we barely interact with them, so it feels like they just exist, because of the game needed enemies in the game, and not because they actually contribute something worthy to the story. - Although it is meant to be story heavy I don't really think the story is that great, which should be great to compensate the lack of actual gameplay. There are moments that can be explained if you connect the dots, but some of them IMO don't have any rational explanation (such as: SPOILER - The nature of the transit system remains a mystery, specifically regarding who or what controls the trains, and how the characters seem entirely oblivious to where these trains are actually taking them. - The fate of the sisters sent to the Allmother is never fully resolved, leaving a void where there should be an explanation how Fixer is alive/not with ALLMOTHER - The overall purpose of the Allmother is unclear. It is never explained what actual purpose she serves in a world devoid of humans, or how they can all live for an eternity. It's up to you to decide: +- Visual novel and first person walking simulator: There is literally no active gameplay, so if you are looking for hack&slash and puzzle heavy game, you will probaby not going to enjoy it, especially it can last for 10 hours even for the first playthrough. +- Choices: There are choices in the game, but you can choose whatever you want since the main plot is already decided and will happen exactly the same no matter what choices you make along the way. And unlike other visual novel or story driven games these choices don't even have a short impact as well nor how each character acts towards you. Only the final choices count at the end of the game, which will determine what kind of ending you will get. However keep in mind that the creators of the game never claims that your choices changes the story in any way. +- The teleport via using orange glyphes minigames IMO are quite boring and just waste of time. +- It's not compulsory to talk to optional NPC characters, but it's advised so you can understand the game's lore better such as what are those cryptic words means (hekki ALLMO, hair to hair, red to blue, sphere to square ... etc). +- Until the game gets a little more interesting, then IMO becomes boring again, then gets exciting again, only to be boring again, rinse and repeat until the last chapters (8, 9) becomes boring as well and it feels like it's just drags on and unnecessarily wastes time. The final chapter is also very boring, not to mention it's way too short and we don't even get final confrontation with the main villain of the game. And the game also wants you to connect the dots to figure out what's really going on and why. +- There are very few but great cutscenes, which is sad, since we are left with character models who most of the time just stand in one place, even if we talk to them, making the experience less enjoyable. +- There are similar things like in Nier Automata, which is not a problem, since they claimed the game was inspired by it (, such as a flying "pod", fake credit early, fighting against aliens who want to conquer the Earth ... etc etc), but it is really up to you to decide if it is just inspired or simply copy pasted the unique ideas from Nier Automata.

Wonderful narrative experience. It starts slow but rapidly increases in complexity/intrigue as it goes. As a narrative gamer I found this to be excellent. Well worth a playthrough

Absolutely blown away. DO NOT SKIP THIS GAME. Went in blind, expecting a decent narrative indie. 1000xRESIST is something else and was just breathtaking. I was genuinely stunned multiple times by the world-class writing and masterful presentation. It’s easily one of the most remarkable games I've experienced in years, and that's coming from someone who's played many of the games which are considered to have the best stories. Imo this is a 10/10.