1000xRESIST Review (Switch eShop)

We know. We’re pretty late with this one, but this bears talking about. Cast your mind back to 9th May 2024 and "Indie Game Day", with multiple outstanding games dropping simultaneously, demonstrating the variety, beauty, and necessity of independently-owned game studios. We covered several of them at the time, but this one slipped through the net.

Sunset Visitor’s debut recently won a Peabody Award and is up for a Hugo Award. So, one year on, let's see what all the fuss is about.

1000xResist is, quite simply, an astounding piece of art. That's incredibly lofty praise to kick things off with, but Sunset Visitor's first game defies all expectations and labels and stands confidently as its own thing. It's also an incredibly important one, sharing stories and experiences we all need to hear about the effects of the Asian diaspora, sisterhood, trauma, and power, all filtered through a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world where a teenage girl is the sole human survivor.

The game begins in medias res when Watcher, a ‘sister’, murders ‘Mother’. "Why do you get to choose who lives and who dies?" Watcher asks as Mother lies on the ground, bleeding to death, before turning around. The camera cuts away to reveal a second person, the music almost drowned out by the sound of a train on the tracks. And then, the title drops.

This dramatic opening sets the scene for one of the many mysteries throughout 1000xResist, which takes place in the future after a pandemic has wiped out almost the entire human race. Only a society of clones remains, and you know almost nothing about the world as you’re dropped into it, stumbling your way through dialogue options that don’t make sense: “Hair to hair, Sister.” “Square to Sphere.” But within an hour, you’re fully sucked in, picking dialogue options that seemingly mean nothing like they’re your second language.

Early on, you learn that the Mother is known as the ALLMOTHER, a human teenager called Iris who has created a society of clones, six of which (such as Watcher) perform functions. Fixer, for example, is in charge of repairs, while Knower is the library caretaker. Things that should be absurd start to make sense. And, very soon, you discover that Iris, the all-knowing “god” the clones worship, is really just a complicated, conflicted, and damaged teenager.

1000xResist’s writing is effortlessly engaging. No other video game understands and presents the messiness of humans and humanity quite so well, even while juggling big, bold themes. Generational trauma, fascism, family, hierarchy, abuse – 1000xResist is a deep ocean of rich ideas. It’s a beautiful, painful, and enriching, and one of the best video game narratives we've experienced.

We’ll talk a lot about style and story throughout, but ultimately, 1000xResist is a video game. The gameplay is pretty simple; as Watcher, you go around and talk to people and interact with objects. Dialogue options give even more flavour to the world, particularly in the Orchard, the community of clones set up by the ALLMOTHER.

This “hub” can be a pain to navigate, even with waymarkers and an (admittedly adorable) hand-drawn map. It doesn’t help that Watcher feels very slippery to control, almost like there’s a delay when you stop running or a wonky angle to interact with any item.

During the game, Watcher will go on Communions with other clones to experience the ALLMOTHER’s memories. You’ll explore a school or Iris’ home, for example, where you can talk to characters or watch events unfold as Iris remembers them. Sometimes you'll need to travel back and forth in time to progress or find new dialogue.

Other sections throw Watcher into abstract spaces where you need to grapple between floating orbs to navigate around these enlarged, white spaces. There aren’t many of these, but they’re not the most intuitive to get around. Controlling the camera and holding onto the orb is a bit awkward, and they sometimes feel like roadblocks to simply get to the next narrative morsel, but they’re often short and sweet.

Ultimately, while the Communions in particular can be fiddly, they are really just a vehicle to deliver the story, as we begin to unravel the mysteries of the world and ALLMOTHER in beautiful, sometimes amusing fashion. When Watcher comes across a crucifix during one of these Communions, she’s confused that people used to worship a “father” and not a “mother”. She also doesn’t understand that people didn’t have functions, or that names didn’t describe what they did. There are many exchanges like this which run the whole gamut of human emotions — rage, humour, sorrow, nostalgia, joy, horror, etc.

Throughout, it's clear that Sunset Visitor wears its experiences and influences on its sleeve. The team is made up of people with multimedia and arts backgrounds from across all types of industries, and they don’t just pull from video games like NieR:Automata either. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Signalis have both been cited, but other media like Adventure Time, Star Trek, the work of animator and director Satoshi Kon, cinematographers Roger Deakins and Christopher Doyle, and the movies of Wong Kar-wai are a huge part of the game’s identity, too.

Those latter two are incredibly important, in particular, because 1000xResist is 'shot' like a movie. It knows how to use light, colour, and space to enhance a scene, and the beautiful camera angles and set pieces punctuate the narrative, leaving haunting images that stick with you. Close-ups of faces, shots through circular windows, characters standing against walls, long views down corridors, characters as they talk or stare. If you’ve seen In the Mood for Love or 2046 (or any other Kar-wai movie), these shots will be intimately familiar to you.

This style is reflected in the visuals beyond the framing, too, and the bold use of colour and shapes that work within the limits of 1000xResist’s budgetary constraints. It’s a striking-looking game which is, sadly, lessened by the Switch version. Blurry close-ups and fuzzy textures, particularly in handheld, take the shine off the beautiful cinematography in some cases. As do the load times, which can kill momentum or drama as you jump between chapters. Right now, Steam is the best place to play this game if you're after the most immersive, cinematic experience.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play 1000xResist on Switch, though. Far from it. The artistry, fantastic characters – with stellar performances, too – and a haunting, evocative soundtrack from Line Katcho and Drew Redman all work together to create a meaningful story that will hurt as much as it will heal. Hekki Grace, readers.