Just a few years in the past, somewhat tabletop-RPG-inspired visible novel referred to as Citizen Sleeper arrived on the eShop, expertly crafting an expertise that tied collectively dice-rolling mechanics with a player-driven science fiction narrative. It rapidly gained a cult following, resulting in a brief sequence of free DLC chapters and the announcement of a sequel. Now that Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is lastly right here, we’re happy to report that one-person crew Gareth Damian Martin of Bounce Over The Age hasn’t misplaced a step—this new launch is every part that the primary sport was after which some.
Citizen Sleeper 2 chilly opens along with your conveniently amnesiac character waking up within the clutches of a gangster boss named Laine providing you with an indignant speech about his declare of possession over your artificial physique. Earlier than he can actually pull the plug on you and convey a couple of very swift Sport Over, a mysterious ally spirits you away in a small, stolen starship. Your saviour claims to know you and, realizing that Laine will likely be portray a goal on each your backs, you make for a close-by station to hopefully discover the sources wanted to vanish and earn your freedom.
Very similar to its predecessor, Citizen Sleeper 2 locations a robust emphasis on its ‘select your individual journey’ narrative, expertly weaving a sequence of tense subplots that add as much as a compelling story that is exhausting to place down. Scenes and conflicts are described in stunning element, and there’s one thing in regards to the uncooked unpredictability of what is going to come subsequent that retains you on the sting of your seat. New crew members come and go, and simply when it looks like your character is lastly getting a grip on issues and popping out forward, one thing else explodes or goes incorrect to ship you scrambling once more.
This fixed stress is the important thing to Citizen Sleeper 2’s wonderful pacing. It excels in conveying the hardship of life out within the Starward Belt, and it explores this in myriad methods by way of the varied fascinating conflicts you get caught up in. Towards the backdrop of an all-out struggle between a couple of mega-corporations far off within the inside programs, everybody caught on the sting of civilisation is barely scraping by combating for scraps whereas sources dwindle. On this dog-eat-dog world, it’s a must to suss out who you possibly can belief and who’s solely seeking to exploit you as you’re employed, cut price, and steal your method throughout the celebs.
The gameplay on the coronary heart of all that is fairly easy to know and borrows closely from the TTRPG playbook. Citizen Sleeper 2 is damaged up right into a sequence of hubs, every with a handful of nodes which can be dwelling to varied interactive actions that dangle tasty rewards. Whether or not a sign station that pays handsomely in your specialised engineering expertise or a pub filled with freelancers and loose-lipped spacer crews who know all of the native gossip, every part has one thing to supply and but you’ll by no means have sufficient sources to do all of it.
It is because firstly of every ‘cycle’, you roll 5 six-sided cube and should ‘spend’ them on an exercise. You’ll be able to preview potential outcomes earlier than you lock within the die, with there being numerous probabilities of both a constructive, impartial, or unfavourable consequence relying on the worth. When you’re out of cube, sleeping will get you a recent set, however this advances time one cycle and doubtlessly throws wrenches in your plans attributable to numerous occasions being time-limited.
As if the deadlines didn’t add sufficient anxiousness, one of many new mechanics is a stress meter that may massively upset your plans for those who don’t handle it correctly. Issues like continual hunger or a unfavourable cube examine will add to your stress, and because it goes up, your 5 cube may be broken every time you roll for a brand new cycle. If any of your cube run out of well being, they break and change into unusable till you spend sources to restore them.
As upsetting as it may be, we liked what this stress system delivered to the desk, because it behaves like one other diminishing useful resource that it’s a must to rigorously stability when selecting the way to finest act to get your character forward.
One other new mechanic is Contracts, facet quest missions that require planning and prep as you collect the gasoline, sources, and crew wanted to do one thing like mine supplies out of a derelict ship or disable a wayward company drone. Selecting crew members with a various set of expertise is necessary, because the mission hardly ever goes in keeping with plan, and victory is difficult to return by even whenever you’re nicely ready.
Regardless of the identical deal with making cautious choices, we appreciated how these Contracts handle to really feel suitably distinct from different duties again on the varied stations or hubs, notably in how every crew member comes geared up with their very own expertise and cube. And never solely do these vignettes really feel like suitably terrifying sorties into unknown hazard, however in addition they act as nice autos for storytelling and character-building.
Success will usually end in improve factors that may then be invested into a personality’s talent tree. There are three fundamental courses you possibly can decide at first which every have completely different specialities and weaknesses, and every talent influences success probabilities once they come up in a given job. We went with the Operator class initially, which meant that the majority hacking or computer-related actions would robotically add a degree to the cube worth chosen as a result of buff to the ‘Interface’ talent that comes with that class.
Given the choices, the stat system right here manages to have sufficient complexity that new runs can really feel virtually completely completely different relying on the talents you deal with, nevertheless it’s by no means difficult sufficient that it takes your thoughts off the narrative. We additionally appreciated the general affect of this stat system; it takes time to handle even one improve to a single talent, however each replace looks like a giant benefit.
As for its visuals, the primarily text-based nature of Citizen Sleeper 2 signifies that it goes for the ‘much less is extra’ method. Easy 3D fashions of house stations and ships within the backdrop are par for the course right here, whereas the foreground is occupied by a pointy, utilitarian UI and detailed character portraits to accompany dialogue. These in search of spectacle received’t actually discover it right here, however we wouldn’t say that the graphics are disappointing. The wealthy particulars given within the textual content descriptions fill within the gaps nicely, merging completely with the visuals for an immersive expertise.
A giant a part of what creates this immersion is the music, which does an excellent job of setting an efficient environment. Its mixture of synthwave and trance completely suits the science fiction aesthetic, whereas creating an air of hope, wonderment, and concern in equal measure as you journey by way of numerous stations and subcultures in your quest for peace. We’d advocate you play in transportable mode with headphones, as this soundtrack deserves to be appreciated to the fullest extent.
The one actual unfavourable Citizen Sleeper 2 is that it suffers from the identical problem its predecessor in feeling like a sport higher navigated with a mouse. It’s not all the time clear which node or menu possibility is presently highlighted, which might generally result in unintentionally making the incorrect choice. Touchscreen controls additionally aren’t an possibility right here, whereas the analogue stick or D-pad are serviceable, they really feel like awkward technique of navigating a number of the interfaces.
We wouldn’t say that the slight awkwardness of the management scheme is motive to keep away from taking part in this actually wonderful sport if Swap is your solely accessible platform, however when you’ve got a PC you often play video games on, you would possibly choose to choose it up there.
Conclusion
Citizen Sleeper 2 is a superb instance of a cultured sequel, persevering with all of the issues that made its predecessor a beloved indie darling whereas constructing upon and increasing these programs with some new and fascinating concepts of its personal. The choice-driven narrative, tense RPG programs, and unimaginable soundtrack all come collectively to make for a sport that’s virtually not possible to place down when you get pulled in. Newcomers who need to see what all of the fuss is about will get pleasure from this as a lot as gamers who liked the primary sport – Citizen Sleeper 2 stands tall as a worthy follow-up.
