RE:CALL is an intriguing pixel art puzzle game from Argentinian singles developer Maitan_69 and publisher Whitethorn Games. In this world, everyone is a stylish badass with an attitude, and the story is a complicated one with many twists and betrayals to accompany a good noir story. All of this combined with clever puzzle mechanics gives it the makings of an indie darling, but the plot is completely lost when the game attempts nuanced emotions.
In RE:CALL, you play as Bruno Gallahger. A lazy 20-something who seems to be in trouble wherever he goes. Only after being invited to a party with cool kids does he find himself in the middle of an unimaginable assassination plot. This is a classic detective movie trope, so it’s clear that Maitan_69 has his inspiration on his sleeve, but it works in a way that makes the game as ambitious as it is engaging. increase.
The game’s story is divided into chapters, each offering a unique environment to explore and understand. Every level offers a new mystery for our hero to solve. It does this with a top-down pixel art presentation and works just like his old school SNES games. Talk to NPCs and interact with items in the environment until you reach an event that advances the story. After an event such as murder or crime occurs, all information and items are returned to the beginning of the map intact. This is happily reflected in a changing environment as you rewrite history with your newfound knowledge. Changing who you interact with changes the picture, and moving items changes how your character interacts with the world. It has a true Back to the Future vibe.
The main core of the game is that you can use the information you get, perform different actions, choose different paths, and finally figure out how to solve the events and continue the story. The event acts as a complex puzzle box, progressing step-by-step. Sometimes you find a solution to a crime, but that crime has a second stage, adding new wrinkles to the environment or new clues to solve. Dividing the story into chapters makes for a perfect one-time puzzle for him. This game is perfect for picking up and playing pixel art sudoku.
With character names like Chester Make Believe, Police Chief De La Soul, and Magnus DeLorean, clichĂ©s run rampant in the game’s relatively short runtime. It was charming at first, but as the story progressed, I rolled my eyes several times. On top of that, the character dialogue likewise bounces between thematic and engrossing at a breakneck pace. It’s a difficult balancing act to maintain, and RE:CALL seems to fumble with it at times.
Another obstacle to RE:CALL is the story’s emotional stakes. The issues surrounding the mysterious Dominic New Order are front and center, but there’s a secondary theme of repressed childhood trauma that’s handled as delicately as a ball his pean his hammer. The game spends a lot of extra effort bullying the main character for reasons that feel like they have no reason at all, and then leads the whole thing out of nowhere to a haphazard emotional resolution. but within the context of RE:CALL comes off as an unnecessary last-minute addition for credibility. It wouldn’t be an indie game without it.
After all, RE:CALL is a polished solo-development indie title that offers new game mechanics that rewrite history. Each puzzle serves as its own bite-sized puzzle box to analyze and explore, while the story delivers engaging noir-themed goodness. It does get rocky with sentimental secondary stories, but that doesn’t stop it from being a refreshing new indie game.
