I usually can't get excited for visual novels, much for the same reason I can't get behind walking simulators. These are usually games that have a story they want to tell but hardly the inspiration to tell it while accessing what makes video games special; they more often than not abandon the art form and its unique traits in favor of clicking through text or walking from one voice line to the other.
Citizen Sleeper is not what I just described. Not only does Citizen Sleeper have something to say but it says it in a way unique to video games. Gareth Damian Martin and the team at Jump Over the Age told a powerful, human story while engaging the player through intense systems of time and decision management.
These moments where the lives of people around you are in your hands are tense, emotional, and intensely gripping. There are times when real sacrifices are necessary and the game pulls no punches in making you feel left out. That's confidence in design, a virtue often forgotten by contemporary designers. There are some consequences as a result; the game is not replayable because the decision you make feels like yours and not that of some character you are merely embracing for six hours. In TellTale's The Walking Dead, I wanted to see the different outcomes because I wanted to see what happened to Lee and his comrades; in Citizen Sleeper, I do not want to see what happened to my friends because I already saw what happened to them. I felt like that was really me making these real decisions. This is a feat I have yet to witness another game pull off. I believe replayability is an overrated feature anyway but that's usually because I don't have the time or patience to play a game more than once. What Citizen Sleeper does is different in that I feel strange at just the thought of playing it again; it feels disingenuous.
The game is brilliantly written and eloquently designed. I always appreciate a game about something not so grandiose. We've all been put in the shoes of an effortlessly cool hero whose bravery befuddles all that bare witness. That's boring. Citizen Sleeper is a game about people; People not doing very well, they have dreams and flaws, and they get angry, selfish, and sad. They are angry at the systems around them. I'm glad this is being appreciated as it is. I hope there's a time in which game makers can discover the confidence to tell these kinds of stories about their communities and themselves because the product of such courage is remarkable in the case of Citizen Sleeper.
Citizen Sleeper is not what I just described. Not only does Citizen Sleeper have something to say but it says it in a way unique to video games. Gareth Damian Martin and the team at Jump Over the Age told a powerful, human story while engaging the player through intense systems of time and decision management.
These moments where the lives of people around you are in your hands are tense, emotional, and intensely gripping. There are times when real sacrifices are necessary and the game pulls no punches in making you feel left out. That's confidence in design, a virtue often forgotten by contemporary designers. There are some consequences as a result; the game is not replayable because the decision you make feels like yours and not that of some character you are merely embracing for six hours. In TellTale's The Walking Dead, I wanted to see the different outcomes because I wanted to see what happened to Lee and his comrades; in Citizen Sleeper, I do not want to see what happened to my friends because I already saw what happened to them. I felt like that was really me making these real decisions. This is a feat I have yet to witness another game pull off. I believe replayability is an overrated feature anyway but that's usually because I don't have the time or patience to play a game more than once. What Citizen Sleeper does is different in that I feel strange at just the thought of playing it again; it feels disingenuous.
The game is brilliantly written and eloquently designed. I always appreciate a game about something not so grandiose. We've all been put in the shoes of an effortlessly cool hero whose bravery befuddles all that bare witness. That's boring. Citizen Sleeper is a game about people; People not doing very well, they have dreams and flaws, and they get angry, selfish, and sad. They are angry at the systems around them. I'm glad this is being appreciated as it is. I hope there's a time in which game makers can discover the confidence to tell these kinds of stories about their communities and themselves because the product of such courage is remarkable in the case of Citizen Sleeper.