Singularity: Tactics Arena

A passion project by a game dev getting his footing in the industry, this title builds upon themes of survival in the face of adversity by a motley group of people who barely know one another. From the initial shock of seeing the main characters thrust into an uncomfortable setting, a story unfolds of shared human experiences that will resonate with many Players. Gameplay wise, Singularity: Tactics Arena is a bit grindy initially given that the whole premise is that the characters are forced to fight in an "arena" (really different stops on an elevator) at the behest of an initially unknown force who keeps your group captive. You can go back to easier floors to redo fights until you're strong enough to proceed comfortably with the rest of the experience (hence the grind). The story progresses as you go up each floor past each fight. The story itself is great, full of twists turns and some pleasant surprises. Tone wise, think Final Fantasy 7 but with more adult oriented content (not sexual content though, this isn't Memoirs of a Battle Brothels). Speaking of, this installment is part of a shared world and the experience is amplified by playing the dev's first work "The Singularity Wish" and later (a sort of "prequal" to both titles you should play last) "Memoirs of a Battle Brothel" (an nsfw game that keeps the tone and adds a lot of sexual content on top). This game is a true gem, and I just wish Triple A games these days would consider what makes this game good (a story with actual emotional attachment) so that we the Players benefit from a richer experience. Looking at you Cyberpunk 2077.....

Strategic horror with a wealth of options; not for the kiddies. I really liked the beginning, to see shock with a limited viewing flashlight until gasp, a suicide too, and everybody hiding guns. Trauma system is an interesting idea, to live with guilt of killing naked innocents in the first battle or else everyone gets gassed. In later battles it would be repercussions of dying; you're basically trapped in a type of arena (hence the title) though it's in an office type building. There's also a trust meter too, based on your decisions. There are plenty of skill trees to customize your characters as well. Remember to level up manually and then learn skills as they go by.

I hope more continues to be released for this game and even sequels, I already love this franchise.

Unique gameplay and an amazing story!

Just finished the game, and thought I'd offer some thoughts given the dearth of reviews. As the thumb indicates, this game gets a whole-hearted recommendation from me. That's not to say it's without flaws—the save system feels a little clunky, and the way your party heals inbetween fights is wonky as well (TL;DR you don't fully heal up, so cheesy strat is just go into low-level fights to heal yourself instead of buying tons of medkits). My thoughts on the game really break down into two main categories—combat and story—that I'll take on one at a time. [h1]Combat[/h1] The combat is enjoyable. It's not a rewarding puzzles of combos and matching weaknesses like Octopath Traveler (though comparing the two seems almost unfair, given Octopath is a large studio with tons of resources and this is done by a single person). The comparisons to Final Fantasy Tactics seem the most apt; there's a little bit of strategy, but mostly it feels like it comes down to "is your level high enough?" That being said, I loved the mechanic where my people gained abilities that didn't cost an action. It really felt like as I was leveling up I was gaining power: not just because the numbers were growing, but because I could do more and more things in a single turn. It's a brilliant mechanic, and I wish other games would implement something similar. [h1]Story[/h1] I'll be referencing a lot of spoilable content (using tags), so reader beware. I found not just the story, but the entire lore surrounding the game to be fascinating. It's very "Shadowrun with an emphasis on the occult." As for the story itself... Without giving too much away, I was really blown away at the level of attachment to the characters in a 5-8 hour game. The pacing felt great, and I honestly felt in suspense about what was going to happen the whole time. The writer does an excellent job of balancing standard twists with the knowledge that most people are pretty inured to all the tropes. For instance, [spoiler] when Eloise asks Isabell if she's the woman out of a myth and Isabell responds to the effect of "No, what kind of hackneyed twist is that?"[/spoiler]. As another (sort of big) spoiler,[spoiler] the game also felt like it had some common ground with Doki Doki Literature Club, in that the game references typically non-diagetic viewpoints (i.e. you come to learn that your party is canonically dying every time you game over, Vixone "knows" that you're reloading saves to try again, and you as the player represent a force in Eloise's head that is guiding her.)[/spoiler]. I'm a HUGE sucker for this storytelling mechanic, so the game gets a thumbs up on that alone from me personally. [h1]Complaints[/h1] Two of the complaints I've seen about the game I'd like to take time to address: the lack of meaningful choices and the initial "battle." [b]Lack of Choice[/b] The game generally lacks a lot of meaningful decisions. However, we are talking about one person writing and scripting this whole game. From a practical standpoint, I think they'd need access to a lot more resources to make more choices feasible. From a story perspective,[spoiler] the game mentions near the end that the universe is predetermined and that no choices are meaningful. It's literally a theme of the game (although not explored until very late) [/spoiler]. [b]Initial Battle[/b] I noticed that two of the thumbs down for this came entirely from a single battle in the beginning of the game. It's definitely worth talking about, because I can see it being a turn-off for some. Your first fight forces you against naked (and practically helpless) people that beg for their life. (Personally, them being naked felt unnecessary to get the point across). To the game's credit, it doesn't wallow in this opening fight like some strange power fantasy. In fact, the post-dialogue combat is the characters horrified at what they did. The fight feels incredibly dark—I genuinely felt uncomfortable for having participated in the fight, but that's the point. I think maybe bringing back the fight later or referencing it again would have made it feel little more like a theme, but that's me being extra picky. [h1]TL;DR[/h1] The combat is 7/10, the story is 9/10. If you like a good story with as many questions as answers, then I think you should give this a try.

Considering this is a first attempt at making a game, it's pretty good. I enjoyed the story line.

Very quality tactics RPG with driving creepy story

This is the first indie RPG that has both hooked me with the combat and enthrall me with the story and writing. I have backed Vampire Syndicate and I'm excited the next game.

This Game is so good! The Story got me hooked after 30 mins of gameplay, the music is good and for my taste i like the graphics.

A RPG maker title, crafted with a deep and intriguing story inspired by the SCP foundation.