Duskpunk

I feel like you only have the option for revolution which is unfortunate but the game is still very cool and nicely designed minus the choice that objectively revolution is the only path.

I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ loved this game so much, it's incredible. Mechanically it's very reminiscent of Citizen Sleeper, but narratively it is exponentially more punk. As soon as I met the interracial throuple planning an industrial strike, I knew this game and I were on the same wavelength. It's a relatively short game: I completed my first playthrough in 13 hours, resolving the majority of the game's storylines, with the exception of the Lich Dealers and the Ossuary, whom I briefly engaged with before quickly tapping out. Despite its relatively short length, I feel immensely satisfied with the experience I got out of Duskpunk: I had fun, the mechanical aspect was challenging enough to be engaging, and the narrative was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ excellent. I loved the characters so much, I loved the depth and complexity of the setting and the political dimensions of the story, and I couldn't be happier with the ending I got. Sure, the relative ease and smoothness of the revolution is more aspirational than perhaps realistic, but it's grounded and inspired by real world history enough to still feel authentic. On the historical inspiration front, I especially enjoyed learning [spoiler] Markov's [/spoiler] backstory and seeing the strong parallels to the Haitian Revolution, one of my favourite historical revolutions. And the revolution is not won without struggle and sacrifice, including the loss of [spoiler] one of my favourite characters, Henry. [/spoiler] I think the best thing about Duskpunk, for me, is just how much heart it has. You can really feel the passion that went into creating this game, and as an indie game designer myself, it warms my heart to see a passion project like this one turn out so well. The story resonated very strongly with me, to the point that I wound up openly weeping at [spoiler] the end of Henry's funeral, when the union workers vote to look after Henry and Ruby's kid, so she'll have the most parents ever. [/spoiler] That ♥♥♥♥ was beautiful, I can't believe it. From a design perspective it's very solid as well, with the mechanical systems aligning very nicely with the narrative themes and progression. Having each completed objective award a point for improving your skills is a simple but elegant bit of design that ties your increasing mechanical capabilities to the narrative progression of your character picking themselves up and rebuilding their life in Dredgeport. Technically I encountered only one bug, an objective remaining in my log after I should have failed it (gain the Ossuary's trust after I completely cut ties with her), and only two typos throughout the impressive body of text in the game. Very solid, shows a high degree of QA competency among the dev team. All in all, Duskpunk is absolutely fantastic, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

very good

Absolutely wonderful experience. The writing, the character development, the choices...very exciting and fulfilling. Love the implementation of the Blades in the Dark mechanic. Super looking forward to more games using it as their base system. Brilliant game. It's taking my GOTY slot so far.

A great "Citizen-Sleeper-like", an unconventional dieselpunk (heavy on the punk!) RPG and life story simulator with interesting mechanics, good writing and an overarching sense of foreboding. I'm also getting the sense that this may turn out in the end to be hopepunk, and I'll be very happy if it is so.

wow