KickStarter Gamedec - Definitive Edition - cyberpunk detective RPG set in virtual worlds

[agris]

We have a writer [...] we intend to use it wisely.

it

 

[Jenkem]

This is the game that Cyberpunk 2077 should have been.

 

[Infinitron]

RPGWatch, doing the work BEvers won't do anymore :S https://www.rpgwatch.com/articles/gamedec-gamescom-preview-480.html

No combat system confirmed.

Gamedec Gamescom Preview
by Joost "Myrthos" Mans, 2019-08-27

I was presented part of the demo of Gamedec, named an adaptive isometric cyberpunk RPG, by its developers. Gamedec is a game based on a series of books made by Marcin Przybyłek, where in a cyberpunk dystopian world a lot of people play virtual games and who are actually living those games. It all takes place in a post-transhumanist world, where the question whether AI is sentient is no longer being asked. AI is inside robot bodies in the real world and people are living most of their time in a virtual world, both of which are considered to be normal. To make sure the game stays close to the vision of Marcin, he is part of the team and works almost full time on the game by writing dialogs and advising on the lore.


A Gamedec is a detective who is specialized in solving issues in the virtual world and it is a highly respected profession. In the demo we were being contacted by a client to enter a virtual game called Harvest Time to contact someone named Stan. In the demo the Gamedec is in the low city of the real world, and is making his way to the game bar. The city we get to see in the game consists of two parts, the low and the high city, which are very different from each other.

At the start of the game you get to create your Gamedec, which is accomplished by dialog options from which you get to make your choice. This will result in things like the detective's background story, but also his or her aspects. An aspect is something similar to the tags in Original Sin 2. You could have the aspect of being from the low city when you are born there. But you can also get aspects while playing. When, for example, you try to hack a station an intelligence roll is performed and if you meet the criteria the hacking can start. But, if you successfully hack a station enough times, you can get an aspect, showing that you are that kind of person. You could for example, get an aspect named 'Hacker Man' , which gives an instant success on hacking, because you did that already so often. The aspects in the game do not come in levels, you either have them or you don't, but some of the aspects do have tiers, where you could evolve the aspect into a higher order aspect. There is also the possibility that you lose an aspect. However, as this is still under discussion, that actual implementation might be somewhat different from what was shown.

What is also still under discussion is how the character will evolve. One of the things being discussed is a karma model where your karma is determined by your choices and actions.


Dialogs in Gamedec are branching dialogs where you get dialog options that depend on your character build and your previous choices, similar to how this is done in other RPGs, likePillars of Eternity or Divinity: Original Sin (ed: examples given by the developers).

Every obstacle you encounter in the game will often have more than one solution, so the player has maximum flexibility in deciding how to overcome the obstacle. Whenever one of the designers has thought of an issue that needs to be resolved, like the need to cross an electronic barrier, they have a few mini P&P sessions around that to see what the people in the development team come up with as potential solutions, which then leads to the implementation of the options you as a player will have in the game. With this they want to prevent the game to follow the standard tropes to solving issues and provide maximum flexibility to the player.

Spoiler

As mentioned you need to find Stan who is in the virtual game named Harvest Time. As a Gamedec you need to login to the game by going to a location that has special couches for this. By putting up a helmet and wear a special suite that preserves your bodily functions, a connection with the virtual game can be made.

Harvest Time is a hardcore free-to-play grinding game, where people grind resources, similar to Farmville, to earn money and to compete against each other. The developers are at the moment working on three other virtual games; a world with dinosaurs, a Sin City type of gangster world and a dating sim world.

The intention is to have each virtual world feel like you are part of that game. It will also show UI elements that belong to the type of game you are logged in to. In this virtual game, people are harvesting goods, cows are making milk and the UI has elements like the amount of money that you have earned. The developers want to make each virtual game feel different and for that reason every virtual game will have different game mechanics.

However you as a Gamedec, are not here to play the game, but to find Stan. By talking to people you can find someone who knows where he is and who can mark him. In that case some small moving chevrons show that point you in the right direction towards Stan. Augmented artefacts, like this, are only possible inside virtual games.


Once you find Stan you will learn what the problem is and you will be asked to help him. You can do this by talking to the various people in the virtual game to gather information. Usually there is more than one way to find the information you need, so if an option to gather information is blocked, there most likely will be another option available to you. When you have gathered enough information a deduction can be made. This is supported in the game by means of a deduction window. It shows on the left hand side the information that has been gathered up to now. Depending on what information is gathered one or more deductions will show (or none if you have not gathered enough information yet). You can select the deduction you think fits best. This is not necessarily the right deduction, but by selecting the deduction you want to go with, you are choosing your truth, because it fits your agenda or because it matches your personal views. The game will adapt to your choice and will present new options in the deduction window, belonging to selected deduction, for which further information needs to be gathered in order to reach a conclusion of the case. This might not lead to the absolute truth, but it leads to an outcome, which is based on your choices and decisions. It is also possible to finish the case in an early stage, by selecting the solution you think is the right one. This might not be the right one, but the game will adapt to your choice and go with that. It also makes you 'solve' the case a lot faster.


Each case in Gamedec that you have to solve, has more than one possible ending. However, the game itself has a linear structure where you solve one case after the other. The choices you make in each of the cases will impact the characters that are involved in that case. In later cases you will meet some of these characters again and your previous choices will influence the attitude these characters will have towards you.

The developers aim for you to spend 45-60 minutes on a case when you play it normally. But when choosing the shorter path, as described before, this can be reduced to about 20 minutes.


Gamedec has no combat system. There is violence in the game, but it will play out through cut scenes or dialogs and not via interactive combat. An example was given where the Gamedec was meeting a gangster, supported by two bouncers and two turrets. My character could say "I'm going to kill you", but the turrets or the bouncers will likely kill the characters first. I could however, hack the turrets to kill the bouncers, or bribe the bouncers to hack the turrets. In that case my actions would not lead to my death, but to the death of the other. All this takes place without a combat system in placer, which is a deliberate choice as the developers wanted to make a narrative game where choices matter.

The books on which the game is based, are about a detective, who does have a gun. But even in the books the Gamedec only used the gun once or twice. The game is focusing on the first two volumes of the series. The books following those two moved away from the cyberpunk Gamedec theme and has slowly moved to a space opera, where the sixth volume is about a 100 meter big mech flying in space.

The books are currently in polish only. Translation of the books and publishing them is under discussion at the moment.

Even though it is a cyberpunk game there is no augmentation to enhance your character. This cyberpunk world takes place a lot later than for example Cyberpunk 2077 and the world has evolved into having tools that make living easier and change how the people think about life and death. You can become immortal by putting yourself in a game and live your life there for as long as the game exists.

Although in the 22nd century many things have changed, human nature has not changed much. There still is a need for Gamedecs to solve the problems of the real and virtual worlds.


Gamedec is now in pre-alpha and there will be a hands-on session at Pax West. After that the team will decide on further planning of the game. At the moment there are just a few playable cases, with more cases coming, but the game does have a meta story overarching all these cases. This overarching story is established, but they do not know yet how many endings there will be, nor how many cases there will be in the game upon release. Currently they are thinking to realize a gameplaying time of 8-10 hours, but thanks to the branching and the way the game adapts to your choices there should be quite some replayability.

Personally I am looking forward to this game and am quite interested to see if they can make it work, but it probably still takes a while before we can talk about a release of Gamedec.

 

[Sykar]

I am such a sucker for cyberpunk that this will be an instant

 

[Matt [Anshar Studios]]

Hi guys, I'm in the middle of writing a long and, I hope, complete FAQ for Gamedec. Will share it with you later this week.

 

[vota DC]

Seems nice. Harvest time Is clearly a citation of taleworlds bannerlord developers, so insta win.
What happens of you are poor and a bad hacker with those bouncers+turret?

 

[Matt [Anshar Studios]]

There are many possibilities, different approaches and outcomes

 

[Matt [Anshar Studios]]

We've launched our Discord Server! A true home for every Gamedec fan, who wants to discuss the game, the books, or hang out with our devs. Be sure to check the FAQ for more info about Gamedec.

https://discord.gg/aspgwVj

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Matt [Anshar Studios]]

This is the interview Turtle Beach made with our Executive Producer, Łukasz Hacura. It surely clears up some topics and explains where the idea to create a Gamedec video game came from.

 

[Cat Dude]

I'd rather play detective adventure games than detective rpg.

 

[Cat Dude]

This is the game that Cyberpunk 2077 should have been.

No way we want some action.

 

[Infinitron]

https://cramgaming.com/gamedec-gameplay-impressions-video-text-gamescom-2019-50697/

GAMEDEC Gameplay Impressions (video & Text) – Gamescom 2019

We managed to see Gamedec in action during our visit to Gamescom last week. Take a look at the Gamedecgameplay impressions video or read the transcript below. This cyberpunk themed game is shaping up to be a cool game for top-down isometric RPG fans.

Polish based developer Anshar Studios previously developed Detached and Telefrag which are both VR titles. They enter the fray with a new Cyberpunk-themed game titled Gamedec which is based on the Marcin Przybyłek novels. The game is in early development and plans to release in 2020. From our discussions with the developers at Gamescom this year we expect a later 2020 release rather than during the same window when that other Polish developed Cyberpunk game releases around April.

So what is GAMEDEC then and why should anyone be interested in it. Well, for starters it’s a completely different style of game if we’re going to draw any comparisons with CDPR’s first person action rpg offering. Set in Poland in the 22nd century, Gamedec offers an isometric top-down viewpoint and opts for an engaging role-playing experience based on table-top mechanics. The premise here is your character is free to do as he pleases as a detective-for-hire looking for cheats and anomalies in the neo-futuristic setting. The depth of your investigations depend on the how deep the player wishes to pursue the leads they uncover. As a Gamedec, your character enters virtual worlds of various themes and interacts with the inhabitants. Taking on the rules of any particular VR game world as well. Your motivation remains cloudy and the rewards for you actions based not only on financial gain. Something sinister lurks behind the scenes and what might be explained on the surface could turn out to be constructed from less overt elements.

Speaking to the developers at Gamescom and looking at the demo, the core structure is in place. The game concept is there, but a lot of features remain in the to-be-confirmed development stage. What we did see is a game that looks quite deep in terms of how the branches of your decisions or choices interact with each other. This lends itself to multiple plays and also highlights the fact the developers don’t want to punish players for their actions. So for example, during one scene on a field where gamers (in VR) farm resources, the Gamedec tackles the investigation in numerous ways including an option to steal items. Find information from those working the farm via conversation or speaking to the right person. Perhaps doing a favour here or there, even smooth-talking or bribery. One NPC took a nasty turn which offered choices in how to proceed, steal info from their body, save them, etcetera.

Interestingly, there isn’t a clear-cut light or dark, good or bad approach, rather a greyness dependent on the motives and morality of the person playing. However, your actions have consequences, that much is a given which means the easy or quickest path might come to bite you later-on considering all the branches are linked to form an overall larger picture. Anshar suggest you are the “sum of your choices” as a tagline for the game. That much was certainly evident here.

The Gamedec gains skills in several key personality traits. During conversations or actions, these come into play and change the course of the investigation if selected – although a roll-of-the-dice here will affect the outcome. This aspect reminds us the game is based around the Marcin Przybyłek Gamedec table-top mechanics.

We spent around 30 minutes looking at an early build which so far already looks pretty neat and captures the cyberpunk aesthetic very well. The opening moment of the demo has the player enter the bar as seen in the reveal trailer. A cool place to interact with several characters and a location to perhaps return to for more info as the game progresses. Anshar did suggest players could return to other visited VR areas for more information considering there are themes of child slavery and other unsavoury actions that might not reveal themselves on a first visit.

What we gathered from the demo is Anshar Studios are telling a story but not necessarily pushing any morality on the player which is a good thing. They are very passionate about their project and given their experiences of the VR platform, making a game about the effects of VR is very cool indeed. Perhaps they will inject some of their own views in the game in some ways though but that is to be seen when the game releases next year. In the meantime, we’re impressed and can’t wait to see more of the game when they reveal some gameplay to the masses.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

I liked the part in the trailer with teh b00bs.

 

[Infinitron]

https://rpgamer.com/2019/08/gamedec-pax-west-2019-impression/

GameDec PAX West 2019 Impression

GameDec strives to be a narrative focused on gameplay, where actions have true weight to them.

In a dystopian future where computers do everything needed, what’s a human to do? Fall into one of the many worlds of hardcore virtual reality seen in movies like The Maxtrix, living in these games for days and weeks at a time, of course. Which gives rise to new and interesting lines of work, such as being a private eye inside these virtual worlds — thus is born the role of Game Detective, or GameDec for short. A cyberpunk RPG with a heavy narrative focus, GameDec shoots for a dystopian world not unlike the one seen in Ready, Player One, based off the narrative works of a Polish author known for dystopian novels.



Each case, or chapter, happens within a unique digital world. For the demo, the GameDec must enter Harvest Time, a hardcore farming MMORPG focused on grinding. Inside this game, player characters are getting sick and sometimes outright disappearing — something that clearly shouldn’t be happening inside of a virtual reality. Upon arriving at the bar hosting VR chairs for the game, the detective must find a way into the VIP lounge. He’s got choices — perhaps something out of the player-selected background will help him, such as growing up in a specific place or a hobby refined before becoming a GameDec? Alternatively, perhaps the detective’s charisma will sway the bartender? If no other options present themselves, there’s always a basic dialogue option or two to finesse the situation. Or players can completely skip the finesse and force their way into the VIP lounge with a good old-fashioned hacking.

Each MMO is uniquely self-contained. The case inside Harvest Time can only be solved by being inside Harvest Time, asking the right questions and gleaning the proper information. A mystery may have many different kinds of clues that lead towards a final resolution — for example, the initial case presented had eight clues and up to three conclusions. Which clues the player accrues depends on a lot of aspects — timing being a big one. After all, people are getting sick and dying in this game, and a clue may be held by someone who passes away after a certain amount of time. That being said, the devs plan to have multiple ways to acquire clues, so there’s not going to be a right or wrong way to accrue information, just different ways. The devs also warned us that even though eight clues were shown, some players through their action (or inaction) may find they can only gather six. Gathering less information means fewer conclusions present themselves, but there will always be at least one way forward.



Each case is expected to take approximately an hour to finish, perhaps two if players peek into every corner or get lost in the grinding of each game — Harvest Time had actual fully-working fields where the detective could plant, tend, and harvest crops for in-game cash, an unexpected level of polish in a title still under development…though they were a little coy as to how the in-game currencies would be used within the investigative narration. Heading to Steam first in 2020, the team hopes to offer the game in as many places as possible. What that entails will be detailed closer to the PC release next year.

Ultimately, GameDec strives to be a narrative focused on gameplay, where actions have true weight to them. To aid with immersion, the detective character will have some form of customization, likely including appearance, gender, and pronouns, but since the game is still in development what exactly will make it to the final product is still to be determined.

 

[Kem0sabe]

 

[Infinitron]

https://techraptor.net/content/gamedec-preview

Gamedec Has You Cyberpunk Sleuthing Virtual Crimes

If you’re a fan of cyberpunk, then these next couple of years have you covered. Of course, the big one is Cyberpunk 2077, but there are a ton of games coming out with a cyberpunk setting. Gamedec is one of those, but it’s got a different take than others. In this RPG, you take on the role of a Gamedec, which is a detective whose job it is to investigate crimes that happen in the setting’s various cyber worlds.

From the outside, it looks like your standard isometric RPG, just with a cyberpunk setting this time. While that is definitely the case in terms of how you navigate and interact with the world, Gamedec doesn’t have something that’s a staple in most video game RPGs: combat. At least, it’s not a traditional mechanic that is there the whole time. Some sort of combat may come into play in one of the virtual world’s you explore, but combat isn’t anywhere near the focus.

Instead, Gamedec is all about investigating. That means talking to people, searching for evidence, and piecing it all together to try to see what’s going on. That leads to a Deduction screen, which shows the many different branching paths your investigation can go down. None of them are particularly more right than others, but the more you unlock through your investigation, the higher chance you can make a decision you’ll be more comfortable with.



In Gamedec, the virtual and the “real” world don’t have much distinction. A lot of people live out their days mostly online and in these virtual worlds, which have a ton of variety. The first world you investigate seemed like an homage to Westworld, as it does take place in a western world. Talking to a developer with Anshar Studios, he said we can expect to see a lot of different locales to explore. What they could be is totally up to Anshar Studios’ imagination too, as nothing is limiting what the worlds can be.

A lot of the virtual worlds you’ll investigate are themselves games as well. A developer told me that of the cases you work on in Gamedec is inspired by the story that prisoners in China were forced to farm gold in World of Warcraft. In a similar way, someone is farming a currency related to one of these virtual worlds in an unethical way.

In the end, Gamedec will live and die by how players can investigate the various cases they work on. Whether that’s learning to read between the lines of what certain characters tell you or confronting them with information/evidence you already have, I hope Gamedec has a ton of tools to make it really feel like you’re an investigator. Gamedec definitely has a good premise and setting to work with, and I look forward to hearing more about it in the future.

Gamedec doesn’t have a release date yet and is coming to PC.

 

[Cat Dude]

I think Gamedec is somewhat a combination of Blade Runner The Game and X-Com.

 

[Infinitron]

Gameplay!



https://www.shacknews.com/article/1...ows-off-a-virtual-world-of-crime-and-charisma

GameDec gameplay shows off a virtual world of crime and charisma
Shacknews had a chance to sit down with Lukasz Hacura and get a firsthand look at some gameplay from GameDec, Anshar Studios' upcoming adaptive, isometric, cyberpunk RPG.

With Cyberpunk 2077 set to release next year, the next six months are shaping up to be somewhat of an exciting time for fans of the cyberpunk genre. Despite the hype surrounding the studio, CD Projekt Red isn’t the only developer working on bringing the future to life. We recently had a chance to sit down with Lucasz Hacura, the Executive Producer at Anshar Studios to talk about GameDec, the studio’s upcoming adaptive, isometric, cyberpunk RPG.

During our 20 odd minutes with Hacura, he showed off several bits of gameplay from GameDec as the player character works to infiltrate a local gaming bar, which will allow them to enter a virtual game world where they can search for clues about their current mission. It’s an interesting premise—moving between virtual reality and reality—and it’s one that GameDec appears to handle quite well.

During the demo that we were shown, the player character has the ability to talk their way through different instances. This is, of course, an isometric RPG, and the weight of player choice is extremely evident even in the short instance that we got to see during our talk with Hacura. You can see the full gameplay session above if you’re interested in seeing a bit more about GameDec. The Steam page has this to say:

You will hunt down the criminals of virtual worlds. Rich, spoiled businesspeople, mothers who want a better life for their children, or corporations with plans to rewrite humanity. Are they acting alone, or are they mere puppets? What does a "happy ending" mean to you or to them? Each decision you make shapes the game world and your character’s personality.

Some decisions will feel right, and others will be unexpected. The game continually adapts to your choices and never judges – only you can judge yourself.​

Whether you’re a fan of cyberpunk worlds or not, GameDec also appears to have everything that you could want out of an isometric RPG. We’ll be keeping an eye on this upcoming futuristic RPG, so make sure you subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube for more gameplay, interviews, and behind-the-scenes content like this.

 

[HoboForEternity]

this looks promising. the deduction screen looks good too. disco elysium and this. tres bien

 

[Werdna's Revenge]

With this game I think things are really hitting a "fantasy & post-apoc RPGs are out, cyberpunk is in" phase.

 

[Infinitron]

https://wccftech.com/gamedec-gamescom-2019-preview-slick-cyberpunk-detectives/

Gamedec Gamescom 2019 Preview – Slick Cyberpunk Detectives

Cyberpunk is the hot new thing right now, but CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 certainly isn’t the only cyberpunk game you should be looking forward to. There is plenty of room to experiment in the cyberpunk genre, and it certainly doesn’t have to all be about cybernetic modifications and mental hacking. Sometimes it’s safe to assume that the biggest things which will change are simply the methods of which people commit the crimes they already do today. As the game’s protagonist says in one of Gamedec’s trailers: “A lot has changed in this world, but not the human nature.”

Gamedec is a brand new cyberpunk adventure coming from Anshar Studios which is looking to please fans who want a deep, isometric PC RPG in a new cyberpunk setting (the game takes place in Warsaw City, XXII century). You play as a Gamedec, literally a game detective, who is tasked with investigating crimes committed in virtual worlds. As the world moves ever closer to online unification, it will only bring about more opportunities to abuse the vulnerable.

What stood out most to me about Gamedec is the fact that it doesn’t have to be constrained to a single kind of world. Yes, this is a cyberpunk title, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be roaming a city from the future for the entirety of the playthrough. Instead, since you’re investigating virtual worlds most of the times, you’ll be visiting a big variety of locales, including the wild west, and a Chinese-themed environment.



The range of environments will help players stay stuck into the world of Gamedec, but that certainly isn’t where the story ends. In the game demo I witnessed, the protagonist entered a wild west world, a free to play game, and begins researching. Before you know it, people log off unexpectedly, and dialogue between a few of the characters feels suspicious. Soon you learn that this free to play wild west game has child slaves behind monitors busily working the fields 24/7 in an absurd money-making scheme, a lot like World of Warcraft gold sellers but somehow even more malicious. Anything for a quick profit. Another storyline involved a murder over an in-game clan war. Needless to say, picking an alliance has more consequences than ever before.

Of course, this ties into the larger cyberpunk themes at play. Corporations with too much power dealing with criminals, murders, money laundering, and much more. Your role in the world is independent, with no obligations tying you down. This allows you to be impartial, and make your own decisions on what should happen to those you find in these virtual worlds. Do you ensure that justice is served, or can the circumstances truly justify the crime? That’s up to you to decide.

When you combine such a strong concept with the variety of worlds, rich dialogue, and a deep isometric PC RPG, you have a winning formula. Everything I saw from Gamedec inspired confidence, they’re doing their best to cater to a specific audience, and hopefully, the popularity of the cyberpunk genre right now will only enhance their chances of success. Gamedec is one of the most promising titles I saw at Gamescom 2019, and with the studio working so hard on the game it appears to have an incredibly bright future.

Gamedec is out next year on PC (Steam).

 

[RickOmbo]

How meta is the game going to be?

 

[Matt [Anshar Studios]]

It might be Meta in terms of virtual worlds [like farm and Wild West in Harvest Time] and some dialogues [you'll have to wait till the game is out to judge ]. I don't want to spoil too much

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/gamedec-is-a-investigative-cyberpunk-rpg-that-swaps-combat-for-case-files/

Gamedec is an investigative cyberpunk RPG that swaps combat for case files
Become the Sherlock Holmes of cyberspace.

Gamedec is a cyberpunk RPG from a Polish developer, but you'd never mistake it for Cyberpunk 2077. Set in Warsaw, in a future where people escape reality by plugging into virtual worlds, it's an isometric detective yarn that plays out case-by-case as you solve VR crimes with real consequences.

The demo, unfortunately hands-off, begins in a familiar street soaked in rain and neon. There is, of course, a bar nearby. It's a watering hole for gamers that's filled with topless women and places for people to plug into VR. It's a sleazy, bleak joint, but we don't stick around. There's a client who needs the services of a gamedec, and they're waiting inside a free-to-play farming sim.

Each case is a discrete mission with several possible conclusions based on evidence you've collected, which you've then got to tie together like a cyberpunk Sherlock Holmes. In this case, the client wants someone to look into people getting sick while playing the farming sim, which also happens to be set in the Wild West. Even the UI changes to match the new setting.

Pretty quickly, the farming sim gets weird. There's a suspicious fella spying on people working the fields, a player collapses but isn't automatically logged out and a mod is discovered that allows the user to accelerate time in the game. Each of them opens up a new avenue of investigation, but you can ignore them or get locked out of them, potentially losing that piece of information forever.

To find out more about the collapsed player, it's possible to hack the device they're connected to—the couch. Various skills can be used to give the gamedec the upper hand in when they're interrogating someone or exploiting a game, which can then become permanent 'aspects' that guarantee success. With the Hackerman aspect, for instance, the intelligence roll can be skipped during hacking attempts, making you a cyberspace wiz.

Anshar Studios CEO Lukasz Hacura says that the team prototypes the cases by running pen and paper sessions where players have to come up with their own solutions, then they pick the most interesting or common ones and tries to implement them in Gamedec. It's still the illusion of choice, but it's rooted in the anything goes philosophy of tabletop roleplaying.

There will be plenty of ways to solve a case, then, and even if you made terrible decisions and have a series of unlucky rolls, there are always going to be enough clues to close it—though maybe not to your satisfaction. You could even phone it in. Maybe you're a crappy detective, or maybe you've been paid to not follow the trail of evidence. Whatever conclusion is reached, however, the world just adapts and moves on. You'll still need to live with being an awful person, of course.

Notably, nothing violent happens in the demo. That won't always be the case—you'll be able to shoot people, hack turrets and find other less than peaceful ways to find information, but there's no dedicated combat system. These opportunities will crop up as cases unfold and play out like other actions. Hacura likens it to Quantic Dream's Detroit: Become Human, though without the quick time events, but he emphasises that Gamedec is an RPG, not an adventure game, and bristles at the idea that RPGs need to have combat.

Despite once being prescient, cyberpunk can sometimes feel a bit stuck in the '80s, but Gamedec seems a lot more unconventional. It's exploring things like gold farming, exploitative game mechanics and the seedier side of the medium, so maybe it has something interesting to say. A proper investigative RPG is also a rare treat, especially outside of tabletop games.