I slept on Citizen Sleeper when it initially launched in 2022, and it wasn’t till a few years after its launch that I lastly performed it. However although I got here to it a bit late, I immediately fell in love with it. Combining a captivating and deeply imaginative sci-fi universe, unbelievable writing and storytelling, and compelling choice-driven gameplay that revolved round a singular cube rolls system, indie studio Leap Over the Age’s RPG immediately had its hooks in me. I’ll have initially slept on the primary recreation, however I made a decision I wasn’t going to make that very same mistake with its sequel.
I’m glad I did, as a result of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is improbable. It takes every part that was good about its predecessor and well builds on it, delivering what looks like an much more participating and fleshed out expertise. From the stellar writing and world-building to the dangerously addictive time administration, choice-driven, cube rolls gameplay loop, the sequel retains all the first recreation’s greatest strengths. On the similar time, with good tweaks, enhancements, and additions, it additionally expands on every part from the development mechanics to participant selection methods and extra. The top result’s a stellar sci-fi RPG that manages to seize lightning in a bottle but once more.
“Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is improbable. It takes every part that was good about its predecessor and well builds on it, delivering what looks like an much more participating and fleshed out expertise.”
Citizen Sleeper 2 as soon as once more places gamers within the footwear of a Sleeper – robots who’ve had human minds and consciousness uploaded into them – and one once more, you’ve gotten fled from the clutches of the company that owns and enslaves you. This time, nonetheless, you’re joined by a crew, have a ship of your individual, and have totally different threats bearing down on you. Chased by your company masters, in addition to by a prison faction seeking to management you, and having to cope with a failing and glitching physique, Citizen Sleeper 2 duties you with as soon as once more constructing a life for your self and discovering an escape. This time, nonetheless, the main focus is simply as a lot on gathering a crew, enhancing your ship, and taking up totally different jobs scattered all through the Starward Belt.
On one hand, not being tied to a single location like the unique recreation was does really feel like a little bit of a loss. I beloved exploring and slowly however absolutely rising aware of the Eye and its ever-expanding environs in Citizen Sleeper, and I’ll admit that I do really feel the shortage of an identical, single location that spans the complete recreation. Then once more, what Citizen Sleeper 2 good points in trade comes with its personal advantages. Your ship, as an illustration, continues to be very a lot a single location that you just name residence. Slowly enhancing and increasing its capabilities and getting higher acquainted along with your crewmates stays fairly satisfying all through the sport.
Having fixed entry to a ship means you’re additionally transferring round lots in Citizen Sleeper 2. Scattered all through the Starward Belt are a variety of totally different contracts and quests that take you to totally different asteroids, stations, ruins, and extra. The higher location selection lends the sport a higher sense of scale, and likewise shakes up the acquainted core loop in attention-grabbing methods. At its core, Citizen Sleeper 2 nonetheless duties you with managing your cube and power as you make use of restricted actions each in-game day to advance quests, earn cash, discover, and simply plain survive, however every contract breaks up that cycle with its personal minicycles.
“Having fixed entry to a ship means you’re additionally transferring round lots in Citizen Sleeper 2. Scattered all through the Starward Belt are a variety of totally different contracts and quests that take you to totally different asteroids, stations, ruins, and extra. The higher location selection lends the sport a higher sense of scale, and likewise shakes up the acquainted core loop in attention-grabbing methods.”
Success in contracts is decided by quite a lot of elements, from what your crew composition is and the way well (or not) you utilize your cube, to how properly stocked your ship is with provides and extra. Being locked right into a contract when you’ve accepted it does admittedly really feel a bit limiting, which kind of goes towards every part that Citizen Sleeper’s design is about, however on the entire, they reach injecting a lot higher quest selection into the sport.
In fact, a lot of the credit score there has to go to the writing. After the primary recreation, it must be no shock that that’s the space the place Citizen Sleeper 2 most likely shines the brightest. Each character you meet within the various, splendidly realized forged makes a powerful mark, each scene and dialogue dialog is immaculately written, each dialogue selection or determination you’re requested to make feels deliberate. The sport weaves a fascinating story that’s arduous to tear your self away from, and likewise makes use of its extra expansive setting to flesh out and reveal extra of the universe’s lore and backstory. Narratively, then, Citizen Sleeper 2 is a triumph but once more.
The moment-to-moment time and useful resource administration mechanics that type the spine of the expertise additionally see some adjustments for the higher. As an example, the primary recreation’s Situation system has been changed with a brand new Stress system. In Citizen Sleeper 2, although you’re nonetheless managing your power by ensuring you’re consuming repeatedly, in contrast to the primary recreation, you’re not depending on stabilizers, which implies your physique isn’t in a always deteriorating situation. That stated, taking Stress harm on failed actions now impacts the well being of particular person cube, which, as soon as totally depleted, renders that cube unusable till you discover a strategy to restore it.
The Stress system undoubtedly feels rather less strict than the Situation system when it comes to the way it punishes failure and the way a lot it restricts your actions, which works splendidly with the higher sense of freedom that the remainder of the sport affords as properly. These restrictions, in the meantime, now take different kinds, like glitches that your physique accumulates additional time, in flip glitching a few of your cube to dramatically improve their failure charges. It’s a well carried out system that manages to retain a way of threat and reward whereas guaranteeing that gamers don’t ever really feel too throttled.
“For followers of the primary recreation, for followers of RPGs, for followers of choice-driven gameplay, and for followers of the sci-fi style, Leap Over the Age’s sophomore outing is a straightforward recreation to advocate.”
Citizen Sleeper 2 additionally introduces ability checks, permitting gamers to decide on particular actions throughout sure scenes that work the identical as cube rolls and see the story being impacted by your decisions and branching in attention-grabbing methods. On the development facet of issues, in the meantime, the sport introduces a brand new Push system, which grants particular talents to every class, granting every of them totally different tactical benefits (relying on how you utilize them, that’s). Like its predecessor, Citizen Sleeper 2 retains its development methods lean and centered, however each improve that you just make feels significant and genuinely impactful.
Whether or not its the day-to-day gameplay cycle, the development mechanics and sophistication differentiations, and even how quests operate, the working theme in Citizen Sleeper 2 is one among good, iterative enhancements that take its predecessor’s successful method and hone it to near-perfection. That “yet one more day” hook that characterised the primary recreation so properly continues to be very a lot current and accounted for within the sequel, to the purpose the place it could be a good stronger and extra addictive pressure than it was the primary time round. Mixed with its stellar writing, engrossing worldbuilding, and knowledgeable storytelling, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector sticks the touchdown in each means that counts. For followers of the primary recreation, for followers of RPGs, for followers of choice-driven gameplay, and for followers of the sci-fi style, Leap Over the Age’s sophomore outing is a straightforward recreation to advocate. Completely don’t sleep on Citizen Sleeper 2.
This recreation was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
