Video Game Review - Gamedec

Rob reviews Gamedec on Nintendo Switch...

The humble RPG is something of a permanent fixture when it comes to gaming. Since time began role-playing games have come in many forms and guises. From Final Fantasy to Elden Ring, these games offer a vast expansive story that's tied together with plenty of stats and figures that work diligently in the background. 

When it comes to Gamedec, from Polish developer Anshar Studios, it's as much an RPG as it is a visual novel. Striking a somewhat middle ground between the two genres, Gamedec sacrifices any form of combat and statistical upgrades in favour of a more character-driven narrative. 

Placing you into the role of the titular 'Gamedec' - a "game detective", you'll investigate a variety of detective cases across a cyberpunk-style setting that's been inspired by author Marcin Przybyłek. Whether it's solving murders or tracking down missing people, each case you take on features locations both in the real world and the digital realm. Think 'Tron' and your sort of in the right direction. 

Though you can necessarily develop your character, it isn't to say that Gamedec is devoid of life. Each case has plenty of larger-than-life characters, and the central narrative has plenty of twists and turns. It's very much a player-driven experience as you'll dictate the pace of each case, as well as how you proceed to solve it.

Each of the cases starts as a small story in a big world. As such at the beginning, it doesn't feel like you're doing much in the way of progress. However, as you start to complete more investigations the much larger plot comes into play, with the smaller plots acting as the threads in the much wider plot web. Considering that the game is based within a technology-driven world, there's plenty of liberty taken with its story. Quite often the line between the real world and the virtual world is blurred, and you'll start to question everything about the reality of the game. It makes for a great story and certainly sees you asking a few questions about the whole experience. 

The gameplay of Gamedec plays out like any other point & click adventure. Each case revolves around the same basic loop of speaking to NPCs and scrutinising the environment for clues. Everything you discover then helps towards solving the big question as to what happened. Each case is also broken up into several sections with each section having a choice to make at the end. Coming in the form of a multiple-choice question, you can just rush through and guess the answer. However, playing the game and discovering the intricate details makes for a much more enjoyable experience. 

Much like in real life, most people who hold information are often not willing to part with it. Within the Gamedec world, it's no different. Conversations are measured with a bar that fills depending on what questions you ask the character, and how you answer theirs. If the chosen person likes you enough, they'll open it more and be willing to help in the investigation. However, become a bit of an ass and you may just miss out on a vital clue to the investigation. 

Much like other RPGs, your detective can choose from various backgrounds that can help you progress through the game. Each profession comes with unique dialogue options that can either speed up the conversation or allow you to skip it altogether. Each profession can also be progressed via points that are rewarded for performing well in conversations. Depending on how you play, it's feasible to unlock every profession to create some kind of master detective. 

While Gamedec is certainly playable this way, it does take the shine away from any replayability the game has. Role-playing within a different direction does give variation into how the game plays and does offer some interesting ways to complete cases. That being said, Gamedec isn't technically a game you play. Theoretically you could say that it's even classed as a visual novel. There's a lot of reading involved, and while it is a great narrative, there are no combat or playable action sequences. 

That being said, don't let it put you off what Gamedec has to offer. The presentation is spot on and the cyberpunk setting is wonderfully portrayed. Each setting drags you into this world, and whether you're traversing the bright city heights, or down in the murky underbelly - there's a lot to experience. While character models are a little lacking in polish, they truly come to life with their dialogue - with each being portrayed by a detailed profile picture. However, while the game nails its setting and world-building, it does occasionally suffer from texture pop-ups. While it doesn't break the immersion, it does show the limitations of being developed by a small studio. 

All in all, Gamedec is a worthy gem in anyone's video game library. Not necessarily a true RPG, this one is essentially a "role-playing" game - as in you play out the role of a grizzled detective in a cyberpunk world. There are no vast spanning battles, no intricate party management, and no hidden numbers. What you do get is a superb story that's filled with unique and interesting characters, that touches on some pretty heavy themes. 

If you like games with a rich player-driven narrative, then Gamedec is one I'd highly recommend. 

Rating 8/10 

Gamedec is available now and can be purchased via the Nintendo Switch eShop. 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

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