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YIIK: A Postmodern RPG Review


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778812439_YIIKlogo.png.6cd76ec16b21b466b7de321e65abf2fd.pngIt's hard to imagine any video game recapturing the blissfully bizarre style of Earthbound, but YIIK: A Postmodern RPG from developer Ackk Studios and publisher Ysbryd Games comes far closer than most. With a mind-bending storyline full of metaphysical and philosophical twists and turns, engaging RPG battle mechanics, and a slightly otherworldly 1999 setting, YIIK invites players to take a chance on a wholly unusual experience. And despite a few rough spots along the way, the journey is well worth it.
 
The year is 1999 and Alex, a recent college grad, has returned to his hometown when some odd things begin happening. He stumbles upon a strange girl in an abandoned factory who is soon whisked away by otherworldly beings, and it only gets more bizarre from there. It's a fun, surreal, not-quite-the-real-world setting, but the most impressive part of the game is how far the game pushes its metaphysical and philosophical ideas. YIIK isn't afraid to deliver some lengthy cutscenes that delve into ideas like astral projection or the nature of souls, and even though it can get a little hard to follow at times it is nevertheless a fascinating storyline, one where you genuinely don't know what to expect from moment to moment. It makes for a compelling mystery, and it's easy to get invested in the characters as well because YIIK also isn't afraid to paint its lead protagonist as kind of a dick sometimes. He's not the noble heroic lead of so many other games—instead, Alex is presented as human, with plenty of flaws and brutally honest truths about human behavior. It's refreshing to see a video game deal so directly with this kind of psychological development and show a character being introspective about his fears and doubts. YIIK's story and writing leads you on a mind-bending journey, but it's also absorbing and thought-provoking.
 
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Between cutscene expositions on supernatural realities, YIIK plays like a classic JRPG. There are towns to wander through, dungeons to explore, and, not surprisingly, an oddball cast of monsters to fight. Taking a page from Earthbound, you'll fight things like animated stop signs and violent traffic cones, all in a turn-based battle system that revolves around mini-game button presses to execute attacks—kind of like the Paper Mario games, but more involved. Alex, for example, uses a vinyl record to attack enemies, so in order to attack you'll play a short mini-game of hitting the colored sections of a spinning record. The better you do, the more damage you'll deal, and there's also defensive mini-games when enemies attack that can let you block or dodge damage completely.
 
On one hand, the mini-games are a fantastic way of keeping battles engaging. You can't just mash "A" to attack enemies over and over, you have to pay attention to the battle. Each character has their own mini-game as well, so there's a bit of variety in what you have to do and you're always actively involved with the action on screen. On the other hand, all of these mini-games means battles tend to drag on at a slow pace. The worst offender is when an enemy uses an attack that hits everyone in your party, and you have to do the same mini-game four times in a row. Enemies also level up alongside your party so there's not much opportunity to power up so much that you can crush enemies quickly—battles will always take a while to complete, as a typical enemy will require several hits to go down. Although the mini-game system is fun, the pacing of battles can make it a little tedious at times.
 
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It doesn't help that the game, as a whole, can be slow-paced, down to little things like long loading screens to enter and exit battles, or the slight delay between walking up to an object you can interact with and the button prompt actually appearing. There are a handful of little issues like this in YIIK that would really benefit from a bit of polish, such as the item menu that requires you to scroll through everything slowly if you want to look at the new item you just picked up. These kinds of minor annoyances can wear on the experience after a while.
 
And YIIK is a good sized RPG at about thirty hours, so you're already investing a good bit of time into it. Still, even if the slow details get to be a little grating, the game as a whole stays plenty engaging, especially when you're dealing with one wild new plot development after another. RPG fans should be pleased to hear that there are a variety of side quests scattered throughout the game as well, though for the most part YIIK is a fairly linear game. And if you can't get enough of the game after finishing it, there's a New Game+ option—which might be a good idea just to re-experience the story one more time.
 
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Aside from the intriguing storytelling, the other highlight of YIIK is its unique visual and aural aesthetic. The game uses sharp polygonal shapes, no textures, and bright, saturated colors for an incredibly striking look. The lack of textures makes the colors pop even more, and during the more surreal moments the color palette becomes incredibly vivid yet dreamlike. It's a beautifully original visual style that continues to surprise and delight throughout the length of the game. The animation also has an unusual slight choppiness to it that adds to the otherworldly nature of the setting—it stands out at first but as you play it feels oddly suited to the world of YIIK.
 
The sound design in YIIK is just as eclectic and impressive as the visuals. The soundtrack seems to draw from a huge variety of influences—it makes sense that there are several guest composers on the soundtrack as well, adding ever more unique sounds to the game—and somehow the game manages to make the transitions from jazzy, funky numbers to dreamlike pop songs feel natural and seamless. Just like with the story, you never quite know what you're going to get with YIIK's soundtrack, but it's always exciting to see what comes next. And finally the voice work in the game does a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, especially all of Alex's internal struggles, doubts, and fears. It's a story heavy game after all, so it's great to hear the characters put a voice to all of the crazy plot developments.
 
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The entirety of YIIK: A Postmodern RPG feels like some kind of intense dream, one that looks bizarre from the outside, but while you're in it everything feels natural and you're driven by a need to see what happens next. In addition to the bold, eclectic visuals and music, it's the game's intense otherworldly quality that makes it so compelling from start to finish, and despite some rough spots in the gameplay design, battles are stylish and engaging. Fans of thoughtful storytelling and classic RPG beats can't miss this surreal, one-of-a-kind game.
 
Rating: 8 out of 10 Vinyls
 
Review copy provided by publisher
 
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG will be available in the Switch eShop on January 17th for $19.99.
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