RPGs get their names from many sources. A lot of them get their titles from the world they take place in. For some, they are named after one of the main characters. Others are named after something important to the story. Unsighted gets its title from a little bit of all of those, since the term is key to the plot, the world around them, and could potentially apply to the main character and everyone around her.
The Role You Play
You play as Alma, who begins the game waking up with no memory of her past. Alma is one of many robots built by Dr. Zeferina, who was built to be a protector in a war against humans. She specializes in combat with swords and guns, but can learn to fight with a multitude of other weapons as well. She can also learn to utilize other tools to help navigate around the city of Arcadia.
Plot
Almost every character in the game is some type of robot who gets their life source from Anima. The Anima primarily comes from a large meteor in a crater in the center of the city. However, that meteor has now been cut off by the sudden emergence of the crater tower. Without it, everyone, Alma included, is facing a countdown toward losing their consciousness and becoming one of the unsighted. Alma must acquire 5 meteor shards to assemble a meteor blade, gain access to the tower and destroy it to save everyone.
Gameplay
Unsighted has a hybrid gameplay style that feels like a mix of Zelda-like, action RPG, platforming and a bit of Metroidvania and Souls-like thrown in. This means there is a lot of variety in the kinds of challenges you face and puzzles you have to solve. That doesn’t even include the combat, where you engage in melee and gun bun-based combat with the various unsighted throughout the world. It’s mostly hack-and-slash combat, but with a heavy focus on parrying attacks to get the most out of countering.
Length
The main objective of the game is to collect the five meteor shards and destroy the crater tower. During that time, you can collect special weapons that allow you to explore more of the world. Ultimately, the length of the game is determined by how much you want to explore or whether you want to go through the game more linearly. However, exploring has its costs, because doing so will reduce the remaining time that Alma and the others have left before they become unsighted. You have to choose between playing leisurely or quickly. With that said, the game averages about 8-10 hours long.
Music
The one word I would use to describe the music is somber. There are a lot of soft melodies that play throughout the different parts of the world that are either piano or guitar-driven. The production usually changes and gets more up-tempo when the environment changes or when you engage with enemies. It matches the overall feeling of impending doom that a lot of the characters are feeling throughout the game.
Notable Features
All of the characters have been cut off from the meteor and no longer have their primary source of Anima to help keep them alive. Because of this, whenever you interact with anyone, you will see a timer that indicates how long until they become unsighted. This applies to the shopkeepers, the NPCs, your sidekick, and even the main character, Alma herself. You can find meteor dust around the world that can extend a character’s time, but there is a finite supply. Once a character becomes unsighted, there is no way to bring them back.
The Talking Parts
There are a lot of dialogue scenes, and several of them are interspersed with pixel art cut scenes. Several of them are ones detailing Alma recovering her lost memories from before she woke up in the recovery tube. They detail her relationship with another robot named Raquel and her upbringing as a fighter.
The conversations other than that are pretty straightforward. One interesting factor is that characters can look visibly fatigued if they are getting close to becoming unsighted.
Z…We’ve Reached the End. Anything Else?
When I mentioned earlier that Unsighted was a Zelda-Like, it is a bit too much like Zelda. Most of the items that you get to help you explore the world and unlock new areas are clearly inspired by the Legend of Zelda series. They all have either the same name, same function or same purpose as an item from a Zelda game. While Unsighted has gotten a lot of praise for its originality, this stands out as the most unoriginal feature of the entire game.
Final Summary
Unsighted is not a game you want to miss. It mixes nearly every type of action-RPG style imaginable into something amazingly fresh. It manages to be heartfelt and heartbreaking at the same time while also being fun and challenging. Definitely worth checking out.
Final Score: 9/10
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