Jason DittonI’m… struggling with how to start this review, I have to admit. 1000xRESIST is from Canadian indie developer, sunset visitor (yes, all lower-case), and was originally released on May 9, 2024, as the studio’s inaugural release on PC. It was published by the Australian team of Fellow Traveller, who have also published such games as the two Citizen Sleepers from Gareth Damien, also known as Jump Over The Age, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between by Vancouver dev Silverstring Media, the fantastic first game from the Promise Mascot Agency developers Kaizen Game Works, and the recently released word-combing turn-based RPG Wander Stars, by Venezuela originated and Spain-based devs Paper Castle, to name but a few. That last I’m looking into checking out myself, hopefully sometime in the near-ish future.
I was really hoping that, by the time I got to this paragraph, that I’d have a better idea of how to describe 1000xRESIST. This is a title that defies simple measures in attempts to do so, and attempting to delve into what makes this the genuinely special game that it is along the same lines of trying to sell you on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim or Signalis, both titles that don’t bare any similarities in terms of what sort of game they are, but do share a common thread in that, let’s just cut to the chase here, cannot do anything but wholeheartedly recommend if you love games, fascinating writing and unique experiences. But I can’t really find the right words to describe it.
By the nature of my review style, and especially the nature of this game, any picture in this review will be from fairly early on in the game, and it will be as spoiler-free as usual. So. I guess all that can be done right now is to start.
Six To One
1000xRESIST starts with the protagonist, Watcher, stabbing a woman named Iris through the back with a sharp, cerulean blue shard. This is not a spoiler, this happens within the first two to three minutes of starting the game, depending on how much time you spend in the options menu, if any, after noting the ability to turn off “high pitched ringing sounds” in the audio settings, which is also available in the accessibility settings if you happened to miss it in the audio. After this event the game moves to a wide open area where you, as Watcher, have the opportunity to look around, and “meet,” although not yet speak with, a good amount of the cast of the game you will spend the next several hours of your life meeting eventually.
Then, in the center, you will talk to yourself. Mostly, at least. She’s a you with an blindfold over your eyes, for reasons not yet known to the player controlled Watcher, or the player themselves. There is an conversation between the two of you, a brief one, before you go further back to the beginning. You will, in time, learn a lot of things. What led up to the starting incident, about the two characters in the start, and why, precisely, what happened- well, happened.
Red To Blue
From this start, you will begin, after some encounters to establish dearest Watcher and her sisters, by going into the black-clad victim’s memory of a very particular memory of hers, and the game will start in full. So, what do you actually do, you ask? Well, that’s rather simple, really. You walk around, you talk, you look, and you learn. You learn what happened in the introductory school memory, as the game, in an extremely intuitive manner, teaches you what you need to know, before letting you off the leash, in a matter of speaking.
The gameplay itself isn’t particularly complicated. As I said, you walk, look, talk to memories, and important people to Iris’ story, and try to figure out how to get passed obstacles to learn more about the area. This is not particularly difficult, as long as you think about what information you have, and figure out what you have to do to move forward. This system integrates both who you’re controlling, and you, must do to move forward, extremely well, and you’ll get the hang of it in due time. And then, after you get to a certain point, due time will become readily more apparent, especially as the game goes on.
Hair To Hair
This is in direct contrast to the game’s writing, characters, and overall- lushness, is the word I’d use, I suppose. Complexity also works. If you’ve heard anything about this game since it’s release last year, it’s likely people raving about- well, what I was going on about that first sentence in this paragraph. This is an intelligent title, that handles complex issues that I cannot fully discuss without- well, spoiling the themes of the story. It dotes so with a maturity not often seen these days, in any medium, let alone one that’s generally derided- admittedly oftentimes justifiably so- for ham-fisted portrayals of sensitive subjects. It is beneath me to use this review to deride such other titles by name, however.
In my last review, I discussed that that title, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, was part of a series known for having very deep, human moments throughout its history. I still meant that then, and do now. 1000xRESIST, however, is that times- well, a thousand-fold. This is, in short, a story of cycles, and how someone’s responses to how their part in a cycle affect the next revolution. This is a story of how a person’s experiences and what information they have, affects how they might react to events, and how others might respond to their actions, for better or worse. It’s the very definition of a human story, and it does not shy away from serious impacts and what people might be driven to do with what information they have. I’ve said too much, I feel.
Hekki Grace, Reader
So, as usual, as a whole, what do I think about this title? What has what this game told me, what has what I’ve learned about the developer’s backgrounds, the publisher, looking into others explorations and impressions of it given me? What has the music, well made, beautiful throughout, the graphics, gorgeous if occasionally a skosh glitchy, the performances from the voice actors shown me? What have the characters, beautifully written, extremely well acted, performances as perfect as you can reasonably ask given me to think about? Well, beside my being a pretentious git, which was well-established before now and in no way something that 1000xRESIST is responsible for, to it’s eternal credit?
What has the story, one that had, I discovered after I finished the game and as I was considering how to write this review, was nominated for a Nebula, a Hugo and had won a Peabody Award? What has all of this, and the eight hours I spent, pretty much nonstop upon loading it up for the first time, given me? What do I, a reviewer that found himself far out of his depth through most of it, resolving to learn more about the events, cultures, and people behind both the real-world and fictional world that making up the overall creation of this title?
Well, if my name-dropping PMA, 13 Sentinels, and Signalis earlier and comparing this to those favorably didn’t foreshadow the end of this, or my flat out saying at the start that I was going to recommend it in the same section didn’t make it obvious? I absolutely adore and recommend this game. Do I qualify this? Only slightly, in that I do not, and cannot ask or tell you to buy this. Do what I, and Watcher, have done. Gather all of the information on this game that you think you need, then make your own decision.
My decision, however, is this; 1000xRESIST absolutely earned its Peabody, and I’m genuinely surprised that it lost the Nebula and Hugo. From what information I have right now, however? 1000xRESIST is genuinely perfect for what it is. I cannot demand, but I can very strongly suggest with every fiber of my being, that if you love art in any and all of its forms then you owe it to yourself to play this title. I would suggest, however, that you find something lighter to play, read, listen to or watch after. It does have rough and extremely heavy subject matters, and even if you do love art, you might want to consider what subjects you are currently able to handle before you do. Once more, Hekki Grace, reader. I’ll see you on the other side.