Citizen Sleeper Reviews
Citizen Sleeper is an RPG inspired by board games and it delivers a competent experience on the Nintendo Switch based on its dystopian atmosphere, audiovisual work, and simultaneous and involving plot lines. It does not quite make a great leap towards a larger audience, however, given its rather short length and lack of new, differentiating gameplay mechanics, which means its appeal will remain mostly within its main audience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Citizen Sleeper intelligently and elegantly explores its cyberpunk themes and the growing potential of tabletop-inspired digital RPGs.
Citizen Sleeper is a great mix of a narrative adventure and a tabletop game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Unfortunately the game falters somewhat at the end, with multiple conclusions that don't feel particularly fulfilling. However, overall the journey is a worthwhile one. Citizen Sleeper hooks you with its elegant presentation, thoughtful narrative, and memorable characters, and despite one or two small missteps, it's an engrossing, atmospheric experience worth a roll of the dice.
Half literature, half RPG, Citizen Sleeper successfully unites its many facets to create inventive and thoughtful science fiction. Deep human issues are addressed in several sweet and melancholy subplots that weave together to form a life that is up to you to manage however you can. The paths do not lead to opposite roads, but it is up to whoever holds the controller to decide which trails to follow and which stories will have their attention and their dice rolls to build their uncertain daily life. Keep in mind that reading English well is essential for everything Citizen Sleeper has to offer.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Absolutely overflowing with evocative characters, situations and stunning world building, Citizen Sleeper effortlessly punches its ticket as one of the best narrative adventures on PS5. Sure enough, the lo-fi presentation and plodding tabletop mechanics won't be for everyone, but for everyone else Citizen Sleeper is a beautifully written, often emotional cyberpunk adventure that will linger long in the mind long after completion.
It's not often that a game grabs me in quite the way Citizen Sleeper has. By stripping a video game adventure to its barest components and then manipulating those components to create just the right balance of hope and despair it successfully conveys the drama and danger of its small slice of sci-fi storytelling. Top-notch writing, impeccable narrative design and inviting tabletop mechanics accompanied by gorgeous art and music serve only to elevate it even more. Play this bloody game.
Citizen Sleeper is a story of hope, desperation and redemption. Although it suffers from some gameplay issues, it's still one of the most unique games you could play.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Citizen Sleeper is a fantastic game. Although the cRPG elements might be a little weird for the Switch, if you give it some time you'll find a beautiful game about what makes us human and how people can thrive even in the harshest situations. The game is a heartfelt adventure that you shouldn't miss.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Citizen Sleeper is the kind of game one has to be in the right mood for. The setting is cold and alienating, while the overall mood for much of the game is a desperate struggle for survival against stacked odds. Once the stress of this abates, however, there are some genuinely lovely moments of characterization and storytelling that are absolutely worth it to experience.
Like each of the base game’s excellent quest lines, Flux reframed the way I approached my time as a Sleeper, and it once again revolved around that looming question of staying or leaving. This isn’t a spoiler. The game opens by asking: Do you wish to escape, find the truth, or make a life on this lunking station? And as you go about the day-to-day on The Eye, you’ll participate in the station’s many power struggles, and find new ways of organizing. Flux added additional depth to the game, effectively reframing the final choices I’d made during my first playthrough.
An excellent genre-defining game that breathes new life into popular and thought-provoking sci-fi tropes. The fact there's more content to be released in the coming year makes it even more appealing.
Citizen Sleeper is a sensible and well-written science fiction work with very relevant discussions. It's a masterpiece that every player interested in a good story should experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
With its well-executed TTRPG-inspired mechanic and an intricate narrative that fleshes out its universe, Citizen Sleeper brings a fresh outlook on the cyberpunk genre in video games.
While the game mechanics starts to lose its pacing at the very end, Citizen Sleeper offers a great story rich experience for fans of narrative heavy games and the sci-fi genre.
The new game from Jump Over the Age is, just like NORCO and Disco Elysium, one of the best-written games in recent years, being a must-play for those who appreciate well-polished text, just as those previously mentioned, mature, thought-provoking sci-fi plot and tabletop RPG mechanics.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
undefined.Citizen Sleeper allows for multiple playthroughs, and even when looking through screenshots during my review there are characters and locations I never once encountered within my first playthrough. Because of the heavy story-driven nature of Citizen Sleeper, your enjoyment will be contingent on your appreciation of the sci-fi genre as well as how much brain space is occupied by thoughts of Turing Tests. While that itself will denote that Citizen Sleeper isn't for everyone, for those that have even a slight interest in the genre, you don't want to sleep on this one.
Citizen Sleeper can be some great solo fun for those who have played a similar Powered by the Apocalypse game. But, the game doesn’t offer enough to entice newcomers with no experience. Even then, it can be a little difficult to resist just cheating the system by min-maxing on certain skills.
In the end, though, Citizen Sleeper is less a critique of capitalism itself, which in its defense has been done countless times in the cyberpunk genre, and more an opportunity to showcase how those under its thumb persevere and succeed despite it. Its hopeful and inspiring message is backed by a branching, heartfelt narrative, and a great gameplay loop, making it tough to put down. Add in its enriching visual style and my favorite musical score of 2022 so far, and Citizen Sleeper is a game I'll be thinking about for years to come.
Despite its simple gameplay, Citizen Sleeper still captivates players thanks to its intriguing cyberpunk story and its rich and detailed setting, full of history, personality and charm.
Review in Italian | Read full review