Play review of ``Citizen Sleeper'', a new sci-fi adventure that combines TRPG elements where dice decide fate and a story-oriented novel game
``Citizen Sleeper'' is an adventure RPG set in the space colony ``Eye of Arlyn'', which is overrun by corrupt corporate control, and where you survive as an android `` Sleeper '' with no human rights and a constantly perishing body and an electronic soul. , achieved the long-awaited Japanese translation in February 2024. The game has a deep story like a science fiction novel, and the game is an exquisite combination of TRPG elements and adventure elements where you decide your actions by rolling dice.You can actually play this work, which has a sequel planned. I tried to.
Steam: Citizen Sleeper
·table of contents
◆2: Strengthening the character
◆3: Hacking action
◆4: Story part
◆5: Summary
◆1: Character make and use of action dice
When you start Citizen Sleeper, the following screen will appear, so select 'From scratch'.
The game begins when you select an empty save slot.
Play the video below to see how I played the first few minutes to get a feel for Citizen Sleeper.
There are three types of occupations that can be selected as the character of the main character, ``Sleeper''. For example, the following is a 'pilot' who is strong in computer work such as hacking, but has low patience.
The other type is ``mechanics,'' who are highly skilled but are not good at interacting with people.
Lastly, there are 'miners' who are not good at using their intuition to perform tasks that require patience. All of them have their pros and cons, but in the end you can enhance almost all stats to MAX or just below MAX in any profession, so there is no problem in choosing the one you like.
This time, I decided to start the game by selecting 'Pilot'. The story of this game begins when the main character, a cyborg worker called 'Sleeper' who has extracted the spirit of a human and housed it in a pseudo-living body, stows away on a spaceship and drifts ashore in a space colony in order to escape from corporate control. . The person who picked up the main character was this old man named Dragos.
The conversation ended and survival life in the colony began.
At the top of the screen is the main character's status. The orange bar at the top is a 'status' gauge, which corresponds to HP in general games, and the white bar at the bottom is a 'vitality' gauge, which represents the protagonist's hunger level. The dice in the middle are the 'action dice' that represent the number of actions the protagonist can take this turn and their action power, and the roll is determined randomly at the start of the turn.
Action dice are a core element of this game. By playing the movie below, you can see how you actually act using action dice.
Since those who don't work don't have to eat, Dragos decides to work at the waste dismantling yard where he makes a living.
And this is the 'action' screen where you take actions using dice. There are basically one or two actions that can be taken in one location, and the event progresses by completing one or the other to a certain extent. In addition, each action has a status that affects the judgment, and the 'pilot' selected this time is not good at tasks that require patience, so the action on the right is set to '-1'. This means that, for example, if you use a die with a roll of 6, it will be the same as a die with a roll of 5.
So, I decided to drag the dice and perform the action on someone who is not good at it. Then, it was displayed that the probability of a good result is 25%, normal is 50%, and bad result is '25%'. The higher the number on the dice, the higher the probability of getting a good result.
Unfortunately, the judgment result was a failure, and instead of obtaining 'Clio', the currency of this world, 'Vitality' was wasted, and the event did not proceed.
I threw in more dice, and this time I was successful, and the event advanced two clocks, giving me more Cryos.
Once you run out of dice, there are basically no actions you can take this turn. So, I return to the container that serves as a home.
Returning to base, this cycle, or one day in this colony, is over.
When a new cycle begins, the action dice will be rolled again, and you will use them to complete the tasks requested by Dragos.
The event progressed and you were returned to the map screen. The game follows a 'drive,' which is a series of events and corresponds to a quest in a typical game. You can check the drive by clicking on the top left.
What I had been working on up until now was the drive 'Repay Dragos', a drive where you work for Dragos and return the favor. Click on the diamond icon that appears when the drive advances to the next stage.
A conversation event occurred and I was assigned the next task.
◆2: Strengthening the character
Once a drive is completed, you will receive points to improve your skills. You can check your skills from the top right.
The skill screen looks like this. This time, we will strengthen the 'intuition' that gives you an advantage when using dice.
As a result, it is now possible to predict in advance what the outcome of the judgment will be. Having this skill does not increase the probability of success in a decision, but it does make it possible to make decisions such as ``If the risk of failure is high, I should refrain from throwing in a die with a low result.'' It has become.
◆3: Hacking action
As you progress through the game, you will be able to perform hacking actions that take advantage of the sci-fi setting in which the main character's brain is a computer.
Wander the ocean of electronics in the sci-fi adventure 'Citizen Sleeper' - YouTube
Hacking can be done in the 'cloud', which can be accessed by clicking on the eye-like icon at the top of the screen.
Hacking is a special action, and there is no judgment of success or failure, but only certain dice can be thrown. For example, here you can only insert dice with a roll of 2. However, thanks to the high status of Cyber, you can also use 3 dice.
I got an item called a cryptographic key. This encryption key is required by some drives. Basically, hacking often requires dice with low numbers such as 1 or 2, so it is more efficient to use dice with higher numbers for normal actions and smaller dice for hacking. You can proceed with the game.
The important point of dice is not just the result. The protagonist's body is designed to gradually disintegrate unless stabilizers are administered, and the condition worsens not only when an action fails, but also just as the cycle passes. And as the condition worsens, the number of dice given at the beginning of the cycle will decrease.
Therefore, the stabilizers obtained through events or purchased from specific characters become the main character's lifeline.
The vitality gauge does not directly affect actions, but if the vitality gauge decreases further when the vitality gauge is zero, the status gauge will decrease instead of the vitality gauge. Also, this gauge is mainly restored by eating food.
In this way, the basic flow of this game is to proceed with the drive by completing tasks and requests, and to find a way to survive while securing stabilizers and food.
◆4: Story part
Citizen Sleeper's charm lies not only in the adventure parts, but also in the group drama that unfolds among the people desperately trying to survive in a collapsing space colony. In the following movie, I have cut out and summarized some of the conversations with impressive characters among the people who appear in the early stages.
◆5: Summary
After playing Citizen Sleeper until I completed almost all the drives, what I felt most strongly about was how well the TRPG element of dice was incorporated into the adventure game. The number of dice increases or decreases depending on the main character's condition, and the number of dice is directly linked to the number of actions, so as the situation worsens, there is a feeling of pressure that there is less to do.This creates a dark worldview. It matches well.
However, if you look at it as a pure adventure game, the difficulty level is quite low, and you won't get stuck unless you push yourself too hard. This low difficulty level has both advantages and disadvantages. First, the thrill of an adventure game is lost, and repetitive actions tend to become simple tasks.
On the other hand, thanks to the game not being unreasonably over, I didn't have to start over even though I'd gotten halfway through, so I didn't think the difficulty level was low, but rather that it was a great way to enjoy the story without being disturbed by noise. It might be more appropriate to say, 'Just the right game balance.'
Actually, the editorial staff member who reviewed this game is not as good at games with no movement as compared to action games, but despite this, he was able to continue playing this game, which has a huge amount of text, because he was drawn into the story.
I won't go into details as it would be a spoiler, but there are multiple endings, ranging from the main character setting out on a journey to a new world to one that takes full advantage of the sci-fi element of the cyber world. Also, after watching the end credits, the game will automatically return to the point before you selected that ending, so you can watch a different ending. However, depending on your choices, there are some endings that you won't see, and there is no ability to save at any time, and you cannot repeatedly save and load to get the desired result, so the importance of your choices is guaranteed.
There were no difficult science fiction terms used, the quality of the translation was high, and there was no blurring of the characters' tone, which is common in Japanese versions of foreign games, so it was easy to read, and after playing it, it was easy to read. It was a game that focused on the atmosphere, giving you the same feeling you get after reading a novel. Taking these points together, I feel that this is a game that is worth playing if you like science fiction works.
Citizen Sleeper is 2300 yen including tax for
It has also been decided that a sequel, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector , will be produced.
Steam: Citizen Sleeper
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1578650/
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