- Publisher: Anshar Studios
- Release Date: Sep 16, 2021
- Also On: PlayStation 5, Switch
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Nov 30, 2021Gamedec is a fascinating detective RPG where even a bad call can lead to interesting outcomes. The setting is very original, a blend of our reality and a virtual world. But the story loses its breath somewhere along the way which is a real shame.
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Sep 28, 2021Although Gamedec offers a beautiful detective adventure, it cannot fully assess the great potential it contains.
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Sep 23, 2021Gamedec seems to show exactly how far you can pare down a cRPG, stripping away some of the deeper mechanics to streamline a tabletop-inspired experience. Those new to the genre will enjoy this opportunity to get their feet wet, while established veterans will feel this virtual “one-shot” campaign was executed succinctly. If you love cyberpunk detective stories and want something that will absolutely suck you in for 10 – 20 hours, you can’t go wrong with Gamedec.
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Sep 17, 2021Gamedec has a lot of interesting ideas and mechanics, and its hardboiled- detective-in-the-22nd-century story is a great premise. Either the developers had ambitions beyond their ability to deliver, or maybe the game just needs a few more passes with the random orbital sander to smooth down the rough edges, but in its present state Gamedec’s flaws definitely detract from an otherwise intriguing experience.
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Sep 16, 2021Gamedec is a good and ingenious crpg. Unfortunately, despite being also a good cyberpunk detective story, there are sequences that feel underdeveloped and unpolished.
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Sep 20, 2021Embellished with pleasant graphics, the title of Anshar Studios offers an interesting story and a considerable amount of text. Unfortunately, all those nuances that would have made it more interesting are missing, such as a more intelligible progression system and the presence of secondary activities disconnected from the dialogues which instead represent the only backbone of the game.
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Oct 12, 2021I want to fully endorse Gamedec, and up to a certain point I do, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the radical shift in the game's focus. Up until then the investigations are mysterious and fun, telling a legitimately interesting tale. After it the game feels like it goes into hyperdrive, not stopping until the credits roll. If this universe is ever revisited, I would hope there would be more investigative stories and less weird color-coded mazes. As it stands then, Gamedec is best described as a promising title with uneven execution.
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Dec 23, 2021Gamedec tries to cram a complex world created by Marcin Przybyłek into a 15-hour adventure, and, in doing so, spreads itself too thin.
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Game World Navigator MagazineNov 30, 2021Gamedec’s modest skill tree not only feels tacked on – it actively hampers the role-playing aspect, because certain dialogue options reward you with leveling points, and others don’t. So there’s a strong incentive to just sift through dialogue looking for those special options, instead of doing what feels natural for the character. [Issue#256, p.52]
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Nov 5, 2021Gamedec certainly doesn’t lack ambition. Its setting is well thought-out and provides a rich tapestry to fall back on when the player’s actual interactions with the world come up a little wanting. While its aesthetics are great, a bit more attention was needed in the audio department, as music is generally only adequate and there are entire sections devoid of music altogether. Voice-overs are likewise notably absent. The all-important investigations struggle to gel during the game’s first half, and while the narrative eventually picks up a bit more, it’s clear there were some missed opportunities here. Overall, Gamedec presents a rich world that would be worth revisiting again, though perhaps with an extra layer of polish needed for its narrative.
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Sep 26, 2021The genre of Cyberpunk has been the “in” thing for a while now and I’m not sure why but it seems to get it right. It may be that the world is so complex and filled with so much grey within the black and white that games struggle with adding in the tiny touches that make Cyberpunk worlds really come alive. Gamedec has the lore, but it doesn’t go that extra step further to really incorporate it into the world. Gamedec doesn’t seem to know the benefits of the phrase “less is more” and instead of trusting in the beauty of the world it created, stuck its fingers into too many narrative pies. What is left is a pie full of so many ingredients that it’s hard to tell what the flavour of it actually is; it’s tasty and looks good, but you may be too full to go back for seconds.
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Sep 21, 2021The VR focus allows for a portrayal of human ennui and general hopelessness on a large scale; here is a whole subculture of people running from an unfavorable reality, hoping to eke out a marginally better virtual existence even if the only way to access it is to buy the equipment and pay for a subscription. It’s a good setting that I would be curious to see more of, even if Gamedec’s initial exploration of it stumbles out of the gate and comes alarmingly close to a total faceplant.
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Sep 20, 2021Underneath stability problems and bugs lies one of the most ambitious games I’ve played, bringing a tabletop game level of choice to RPG enthusiasts. The rich story and excellent writing delivers in a huge way...if you can get the game to cooperate.
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Sep 17, 2021Gamedec is based on a neat idea, that in some ways similar to Beautiful Desolation, but the game sadly crumbles under its own ambitions.
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Sep 16, 2021Gamedec is half of a good RPG and falls far short of its tantalising premise.
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Sep 17, 2021Gamedec's ideas are interesting and so is its imagination. But what disappoints about the work of Anshar Studios is how the concepts were concretized and how ineffective the dialogues are - both in describing the world (the discovery of which will only be possible by reading dozens of codex documents), and in telling the characters and their emotions.
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May 18, 2022Pretty much all the pieces for a good detective game are there, but Gamedec fails for a variety of reasons. Apart from an unhelpful, tutorial-esque chapter that confuses more than it helps, and a UI that makes simple things harder, the writing is extremely boring, ruining the incentive to keep on sleuthing, as it is hard to care about anything, or even remember what is actually going on. Bad writing isn't just a small thing here, either, with almost 90% of the experience revolving around reading text.
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Sep 16, 2021Even with some refreshing concepts related to investigations, Gamedec stumbles owing to uninteresting plot points, bland characterization, unclear systems, and pesky bugs.
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Sep 21, 2021Gamedec is an RPG that is well worth exploring. Fleeing from combat, he focuses everything on the narrative and, thanks to his elaborate world-building and background, he has managed to hook me from the beginning. As a critic and lover of video games, many of the issues that Gamedec raises are tremendously interesting, frequently opening spaces for reflection on where we are heading as an industry. Few weak points, and those that exist are forgiven for the well-balanced nature of the rest. Something very cool within the RPG in isometric view. [Recommended]
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Sep 16, 2021It's a pity, because Gamedec has brilliant ideas for subverting the banal cyberpunk formula. It explores the concept of metaverses through an invigorating, dynamic collage of virtual worlds, without relying on the usual signifiers of cyberpunk that its peers have drawn on to evoke scenes of excessive consumerism and exoticism. It captures the uncertainty and frustration of investigative work, sometimes forcing you to make decisions based on gut instincts alone, particularly in situations where information is scarce or when you don’t have the luxury of resources and time to unspool every narrative thread. It celebrates rare moments of joy that arise from making the right deductions, or whenever you see these threads weaving into a meticulous web of schemes and political chicanery.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 20 out of 49
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Mixed: 23 out of 49
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Negative: 6 out of 49
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Sep 17, 2021
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Jun 6, 2022
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Sep 17, 2021