LogFAQs > #962182282

Hope I'm not late to the party but this game feels highly overlooked - I see it pop up in some year-end lists here and there but not really a lot of discussion. That's weird to me, because this game is doing a lot of super cool things! And I think it's the sort of thing a lot of people would enjoy. Quick pitch: Unsighted is an action-adventure based on 2D Zelda games, with map design taking cues from Metroidvanias, and combat reminiscent of Supergiant games. Also some light Soulslike elements because why the hell not. Plotwise, it's about android lesbians trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

If any of that sounds good to you, then great! There's one more thing you should know going in but I'll get to that later. Skip to the bolded sentence if you're already sold. First let me break down that description in more detail, because it's a lot of vague comparisons to different things. But all these inspirations come together in a way that's very satisfying to me.

Getting it out of the way first: many articles and reviews call it a Metroidvania, which is what initially got my attention, but it's not even a platformer. Not to spark a genre debate but this probably disqualifies it for a lot of people. HOWEVER, it's got stuff that obviously would appeal to fans of the genre. On the surface level, it is a 2D top-down action game with a big overworld map like Zelda. There are monsters to fight, puzzles to solve, items to collect, and dungeons to beat. Where the "search action" elements come in is how the map design intersects with the gameplay. The map is generally very open, though there are lots of one-way gates or obstacles requiring an item puzzle to progress. However, there are plenty of sequence breaks built in. Different items will open up alternate routes, and as you collect loot, learn the map, and master the game mechanics, you discover alternate solutions. There's a clear set of objectives and a recommended order to do them in, but there is potential for nonlinearity if you wish. Put this all together and it feels a lot like A Link Between Worlds but without the dark world and 2d gimmick.

Combat-wise, you can equip two weapons at a time. Typically you'll have a melee weapon and a ranged weapon that you control with the right stick, which makes Supergiant (specifically Hades) my point of comparison. Melee weapons don't have a ton of variety (there are swords and axes) but ranged weapons do. You can swap between loadouts. Then for the Soulslike bits: you have a jump/dodge and a block button. Perfectly timed blocks become parries which allow you to riposte for bonus damage. There's a stamina system but it's not too awful. You've got an estus flask for HP that recharges by dealing damage. Overall this makes for simple, but snappy and fast-paced combat. Honestly the Soulslike elements are light and just normal game mechanic stuff by now - die and you have to recover money you dropped, resting at a checkpoint revives enemies, "game hard." Except for one of the major thematic elements.

Here is what is probably the most controversial mechanic: the whole game is on a timer. You and all of the fellow robots you meet run on a limited resource called Anima. When someone's Anima runs out, they go Unsighted, losing consciousness and becoming a mindless killing machine (so, it's Dark Souls). There's an in-game time cycle (I think 1 real second =1 ingame minute) and everyone has a different amount of hours to live, which you can see when you talk to them. You start running into these deadlines a few realtime hours into the game. There's a resource you can use to extend someone's timer, but it's limited. So depending on your speed of exploration and combat skill, you might have to choose between NPCs to live or let die. IMO most NPCs aren't deep enough to make this as heart-wrenching as it could be, but there's still enough to create an interesting tension that rewards mastery. And if timers are a dealbreaker, don't worry - there is both an easier difficulty setting that also increases the timer and an accessibility option to turn them off completely regardless of difficulty.

Overall I find it to be very tightly designed. It's a love letter to a lot of games that reconfigures them into something new but familiar. The pixel art is gorgeous and has a lot of personality. The game's length is reasonably compact, but still manages to feel like a full experience that encourages replay. That said, I really hope they expand on this formula because there is so much more room to build on and flesh out. But that requires the game to be a success so I'm out here talking it up! Give it a shot or let me know how you felt about it if you already have.

Also: spoilers for items if you care about that sort of thing, but one of the things you get is the Spinner from Twilight Princess and that just fucking owns.