4.5/5 ★ – nickmazz15's review of 1000xRESIST.

1000xRESIST REVIEW - “We do not get to choose what we inherit.” This is an indie game I’ve been meaning to play for like a year and after reviewer after reviewer I follow kept singing the game’s praises I finally pulled the triggered and man. This game knocked me on my ass. 1000xResist is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic story where the only humans remaining are clones of this figure called the All Mother and through experiencing her memories you piece together how the world came to be how it is now. This is essentially a more interactive visual novel. There’s no real gameplay but its writing and storytelling are sensational. This is a very heavy thematic game. Clearly pulling inspiration from life during COVID lockdown and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. How this game weaves its ideas together was genuinely mind blowing for me. This game is about A LOT and Im still wrapping my mind around it but if I had to boil down what I most took away from my time with it its how information is used. How people use information to dictate the world around them. From family dynamics all the way to how communities function and societal roles. We see this explored through different institutional methods like education, religion and government. What information is revealed but also what information is withheld has a total impact on how society conducts itself. It’s how 1000xResist ties in the concept of memory into this that takes its narrative to another level. The integration of personal memory exploration and altering makes the experience all the more intimate. History can be rewritten but what you experience can never be. That’s your truth. Your life set in stone. Until it isn’t. When you cant even trust memory because it is fallible and can be manipulated. Which makes holding on too tight to the past dangerous. Nostalgia and tradition can get in the way of progress. But remembering history, personal and historical, is still important. History can feel like an endless cycle. New generations repeating the sins of the past but just wearing different masks. The character writing also really supports these big ideas. For a game where all you do is speak to other characters or listen in on old conversations, the dialogue had to be stellar and it completely was here. Character dynamics and relationships are engaging and fascinating. The differing motivations between characters and groups are justified and understandable. There’s a constant rising tension as you know things are going to go from bad to worse. One of my best decisions I made was keeping the option to manually continue dialogue. There were multiple moments when I had to take a second before continuing scenes because either I didn’t want to see what would happen next or had to catch myself after an emotional line. Everything came ahead in one of the later chapters of the game which was for me the emotional peak and left me absolutely floored. One of the best levels I’ve ever experienced in a game period. Im not versed in indie games at all but I understand how developers have to use little elements we take for granted in bigger games and utilize them to immerse the player even with obvious budget restraints. This game does that so well. As for issues, I personally think this game is best played slowly. Its ten chapters long and there was only one day where I was able to play a few chapters in a sitting and it did become a little tiring with the lack of real gameplay. Also while I really like how the ending sets itself up, the various multiple endings left a lot to be desired. Most of the ending cutscenes are very brief and only two of them are extended but those two are also essentially the same, just from a different perspective. Regardless, 1000xResist lived up to everything I heard about it. A riveting story that will have you contemplating it inside and out for days. It’s on PC and Switch. I played it on Switch and I will say the load times can be pretty long but I recommend you find a way to play this however you can cause it is truly excellent.