The news that Among Us launches on Switch today has sent shockwaves through the world of Nintendo – it's one of the biggest games right now, after all. However, another game that was featured during today's Indie World presentation evokes similar vibes – it's also about being stuck on a ship and trying to discover who the bad guys are, but there the similarities end.
Gnosia isn't some shameless cash-in, either. Despite sharing a similar premise to Among Us, it launched in Japan in 2019 on the PlayStation Vita. It was ported to the Switch earlier this year in Japan, and is getting localised for the west early next year.
The game plays very much like a visual novel RPG with lots of dialogue sequences, but the aim here is to find out who of the ship's crew is a Gnosia – an evil life-form which is capable of disguising itself as a human. Each night, the Gnosia – if not found – will kill another member of the crew.
To unmask the Gnosia, the player has to chat with other characters. As is the case in Among Us, the crew of the ship will regularly vote on who they think is the Gnosia, and the one with the most votes will be placed in cryosleep. Should you succeed in putting all of the Gnosia on-board to sleep (yes, there can be more than one), then you win the game.
It sounds simple, but the fact that the game plays out in a time loop means that no two games will ever be the same – and you can actually end up being cast as a Gnosia yourself.
Gnosia comes to the Switch in early 2021.
Comments 23
This was the highlight of the showcase for me. I've been very interested in this one ever since it came out on the Japanese eShop earlier this year but it's one that I didn't think was ever going to get an English release. Was super surprised to see it show up today, definitely grabbing it when it comes out.
So Danganronpa then?
Never mind, accidentally missed a paragraph. Not like Danganronpa at all actually.
Almost bought the Japan version til I was told came in Japanese.
Raging Loop in space?
I remember hearing about this before, but had completely forgotten about it in the meantime. The hidden traitor/visual novel-y stuff reminds me of Lost Dimension (another Japanese Vita game, interestingly).
Given the short playtime per run and dialogue-driven gameplay, I have to wonder how much meat there actually are on these bones.
Still, if it reviews well and releases for a decent price, I'll probably pick it up. I LOVE the art.
My initial thoughts when I saw the trailer were that it looks really ugly, I don't like the art style at all, and the idea is great on paper but few games have succeeded in what it's trying to achieve.
But apparently it got 10/10 from IGN Japan. That certainly gives me hope that the time loop thing works and the game stays fresh and interesting even after a while. I'll keep an eye on it.
EDIT: @Ralizah Funny how you have the exact same worry when it comes to the gameplay loop but are the exact opposite when it comes to the look of the game.
It thought this was a Danganronpa clone, then it turned out to be Among Us- really threw us a curveball with this one.
@Ralizah It reminded me way more of Zero Escape than Among Us to be honest. The art style is very Steins;Gate as well.
Pretty much my impression from the trailer, and I'm admittedly sold on it even more than on Among Us (although I'm not uninterested in the latter either). Gives off an [in]explicable Zero Escape vibe, too.
@nessisonett The art is really cool. I'm just not sure how it's going to remain interesting for multiple runs, given the style of gameplay they've adopted.
The Among Us comparisons will likely not be so prevalent when some other game is the hot new fad next year.
The Zero Escape vibes are off the charts. The red- / pink-haired girl's design is like a fusion of Akane and Clover. If the gameplay is good, though, then I for one am interested!
@Ralizah They mentioned RPG elements but I’m not sure what that really means to be honest.
I'm trying to get more into this genre so this definitely interests me.
lol, every deduction game is among us now (although I do get why some people would say that for this game)
Oh yeah getting this one.
How do you pronounce Gnosia? Nausea?
Intriguing, I'll keep an eye out.
@nessisonett you have stats that impact your ability to root out the gnosia. (Or the stats help keep you alive when YOU are the gnosia)
Stuff like charisma, logic or performance. If the gnosia isn’t found in time, you all die. There is an engineer on board that will tell you who the gnosia is every day (provided enough of you are still alive including the engineer ) but there is no way to verify the engineer until the end of the loop. So the gnosia could claim to be the engineer to shift blame and then get away for a day. Same with the doctor.
Seems interesting. When it came up in the presentation it reminded me of Among Us and wondered if that would be the surprise at the end of the Direct... Fortunately I was right
@Aya-chan Danganamongus
@Nephtis Great game!
While I understand the Among Us comparison, the gameplay sounds much closer to a single player version of the Werewolf/Mafia games that inspired Among Us, since those games are played in turns with a night phase, where the Werewolves decide who to kill, and a day phase where you discuss and vote on who you think the werewolves are. Where in Among Us there are no set turns, and the Imposters have to find and kill victims without being caught.
Saying this game is a rip off of among us is like saying star wars is a rip off of flash gordon.
Same genre, might be inspired by, but is different in substance.
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