NobodyNowhere

I wasn't sure what to expect from Nobody Nowhere, a game that caught my eye in the scarily massive catalogue of games coming down the pipeline thanks to it's splendid pixel art style. 

Set in 2079, humans have developed replicants to act as host bodies for human brains, a shot at immortality for those that can afford it. As a replicant that has unexpectedly reached self-awareness, you take on the role of the hapless being and must escape to build your own life.

As luck would have it, your creator is sympathetic to your plight and seeks to smuggle you out of the corporation aided by a gang of like-minded freedom fighters, and your story is told through this pixelated side-scrolling text adventure.

Don't let the simple graphics fool you, the art is in the design and animation, with smart touches strewn throughout the game to bring a three-dimensional story to the confines of your two dimensional surroundings. The character sprites are really charming, augmented with portrait art that fill out the finer details the low-res graphics can't match. The dialogue isn't much to write home about (forgivable since this isn't a game with English designers) but it's all sold by the cute animation and graphical flourishes that make it feel magical.

Character portraits add details to your characters and provide a Steins;Gate vibe

It's not all scrolling and talking either. Your replicant brain contains a mechanical lobe or two, and this gives you the ability to work in cyberspace. For the purposes of this game, the digital realm is a top-down affair that sees you explore dark grids with your icon, searching for interactive elements or even battling your opponents as they chase you around the screen spraying bullet hell in a bid to take you out.

All of this works very well on Steam Deck, my gaming platform of choice these days. The text may be a bit small for some, but I could read it fine once I popped my glasses on. I tried it on the 55" OLED TV and it looked just as magnificent.

The story and characters are what win you over in the end - the little bursts of interactive battles ensure that, as the player, you don't feel like a passive bystander, there's a level of skill required to win and that makes it feel like a full-fledged game as opposed to a visual novel. 

For less than £10 you're getting a really memorable and enjoyable experience, and fans of pixel-art should go weak at the knees for all the smart and delightful details that are fun to pick out. The soundtrack is available separately and should be a default purchase - the opening tune, To Nothing, is an absolute hit, with the techno beats throughout the rest providing a pulse-pounding and atmosphere-rich score that deserves to be in your collection. I've had it on in the office while coding and its been quite motivating.

I wasn't expecting much from the game, which makes the wonderful time I had with it all the more remarkable. It's so full of charm that I could happily play it through again just to see it all unfold and enjoy the animation again. Fun, poignant, silly and sad, Nobody Nowhere should be enjoyed by everybody everywhere.