A particularly powerful characteristic of games as a medium is that, in creating a virtual world with its own rules and that runs on its own time, they can not only achieve a level of immersion other forms of media struggle with, but also, they can employ and borrow liberally from the tools those other forms of media use without breaking the experience. There are multiple examples of games that do so, but the latest and a new favorite is 1000xResist.

To define 1000xResist succinctly is in itself a challenge: to simply say that it is a sci-fi narrative game does help a potential player tell if it's their type of game or not, but betrays the amount of layers there are to the game and how much there is to see beneath the surface. It's a groundbreaking work, and if I only have this one paragraph left to convince you, let me say this: if you enjoy narrative games in any way, and especially if you make narrative games yourself, this is the game to pay attention to in 2024.

It was developed by and is the debut title of Sunset Visitor, a studio composed mostly of Asian-Canadian folks, and the events of the game take place on Earth, over a thousand years from the present day. Somewhere near the middle of the 21st century, Earth was visited by aliens humans called the Occupants. The Occupants didn't attack, per se, but they brought with them a horrifying disease that caused humans infected by it to rapidly perish. Only one person was immune: a young girl named Iris, who seemed to become immortal instead.

Failure to develop a cure in time, however, left Iris as the sole survivor from our species, and all those who walk the Earth, one thousand years after the occupants arrived, are clones of her. She is revered as the ALLMOTHER, who fights the Occupants to reclaim the surface. Meanwhile, her clones, who call each other sister, live in peace within a large enclosed facility called the Orchard, each sister with an assigned role. This is where the player joins the story as the new Watcher, whose function is to experience the ALLMOTHER's memories in Communion and interpret her teachings.

Based on that synopsis, one might expect the story to approach the themes of religion at some point, which it does. With so much death and technology, maybe it would ponder the meaning of life and what being alive really is, and that's also here. But would you expect it to discuss diaspora, and the challenges it places on the people undergoing it? Would you expect one of the deepest and most poignant explorations of generational trauma ever to grace videogames? Do you think 1000xResist has something to say about real-world geopolitical conflicts? About the nature of totalitarian regimes and the process through which they are created?

Because it does discuss those things, and much more. That is why it is such a difficult work to define in just a sentence, because it juggles such a wealth of themes that focusing just on the speculative fiction premise comes off as empty. Not to say that that premise is disconnected from the themes, however -- far from it. Even more impressive than the breadth of themes is how seamlessly they are woven into the narrative, how all of them emerge organically from the elements and characters in the story. With 1000xResist Sunset Visitor achieved something extremely challenging: to create a work that takes a crystal clear stance on several political issues, while not even for a moment feeling preachy.

As fantastic as the setting might be, as many cloning facilities, infinitely renewable resources and impossible life support technologies it might feature, 1000xResist feels authentic, as if it was a continuation of human history itself, with each event but a natural consequence of that which preceded it. The characters also avoid the fate of being one-dimensional stand-ins for the ideas they represent and instead sound like real people, with beliefs and personalities shaped by the environments they lived in. It also helps that the game features extensive voice acting that feels, for lack of a better word, mundane – not in a bad way, but as if these were real people having conversations.

Which is a good segue to get out of the 'what' and, going back to the intro of this review, to talk about the 'how'. Gameplay is split between two parts: the Orchard and the Communions, and while it would be unfair to say that it is in the latter that the direction truly shines, it is in the surreal, dream-like sequences of the ALLMOTHER's memory that the game's inspirations become more evident. Each Communion has a distinct flavour to it: some borrow a lot from cinema, while others replicate books or theater in their presentation. Some sequences are straightforward, while others are maze-like.

Nier is explicitly listed as an inspiration for 1000xResist, and it shows: Sunset Visitor plays around with the camera and its own mechanics, sometimes subverting players' expectations of how the game would play, to add metanarrative elements to certain passages. Sometimes, the camera is used to communicate the constrained feeling of an environment. Other times, the layout of the stage expresses confusion or unwillingness of the ALLMOTHER to share details of a memory. In some of the game's more climactic moments, a barrage of different shots is presented interwoven, seeming, at first, like a series of unrelated facts, but that soon begin to coalesce as the game slowly and elegantly ties its own story together.

The use of color is also noteworthy, with the game making great use of colored lighting to establish moods and frame its many scenes. The expert craftsmanship is apparent: 1000xResist is a game made by a small team with a very low budget, but you wouldn't think so at first glance because the competent art direction knew which corners to cut. Characters are beautifully rendered and well animated, since they're the focal points of most scenes, but the environments' comparatively simple geometry and texturing is played to the game's benefit, with scene composition favoring strongly defined shapes, spaces and colors that effectively communicate what the artists and designers wanted to show or say. So many indie games display hideous, low-effort visuals and try to pass them off as "retro" or "low-poly", and it's great to see one that goes the complete opposite way and deals so well with its own limitations.

This is an outstanding game, no matter how you slice it. 1000xResist is a stellar work of art that has been living rent-free in my head since I finished it, and will probably continue to for some time. It absolutely should not be slept on. Hekki Grace, sisters!