3.5/5 ★ – delightedmoth's review of Citizen Sleeper.

I want to preface this review with saying that I really enjoyed playing through Citizen Sleeper. I think the art style is beautiful, the minimalistic UI is gorgeous and easy to navigate, and I got immediately sucked in by the, admittedly simplistic, but nonetheless compelling gameplay. The writing is absolutely stellar, I would be happy if I could ever weave words together half as well as this game does. It's an overall very engaging piece of work, featuring complex character and a set piece with a unique atmosphere. And yet there are two big issues I have with this game, that only got worse as I kept playing. First of all, why call it an RPG? I'm surprised to see so many people call Citizen Sleeper an RPG, it even is the first tag on its Steam page. Personally, I don't think this applies at all. Yes, there are skills, but which game doesn't have that nowadays. It's not like acquiring them will have people treat you differently, like calling you a good mechanic if you increase the Engineer skill. It also doesn't open up any new dialogue options. And here we've arrived at my first, and biggest issue: Why do I not even know my own Character after completing the game. Seriously I couldn't tell you the first thing about them except that they're very enthusiastic about helping people. In the beginning it made sense to latch onto anyone you'd meet, but as the game progresses this dynamic should change. As it stands, the Sleeper is just a tool to experience the stories of other people (which are very engaging tbf!), but it feels terrible having to reply to a long philosophic speech with only "I agree" "No" *Stay silent*. That's why I think the role-playing aspect falls flat or barely even exists. To reiterate, I still think the story the game does tell are good and even great at times. I just wish my Sleeper would have been more involved. Isolated in a community My second issue is a bit less important to me, and addressing it would probably go beyond of the scope of the game, but I wish the storylines had intersected a bit more. When one character who I thought I was done with appeared in another character's place later I was pleasantly surprised, but it doesn't happen other than that example. And it makes this huge space station feel a little smaller, and the communities I'm joining or helping build a little smaller. Still, it's a good game that manages to grow past its flaws and is worth every cent.