REPLACED тоглоом нээлтээ хийлээ

When I made the list for my most-anticipated games of 2026 back in December, only a half-dozen titles sat above REPLACED, and all of them were from AAA developers with five being new entries from established franchises. That’s a long-winded way of saying that my interest level in REPLACED, the inaugural title by developer Sad Cat Studios, was extremely high despite several delays, most recently from March to an April launch.

The thing that consistently stood out about REPLACED was its 16-bit, cyberpunk visuals, and I’m pleased to announce that, at least on that front, it delivers. From start to finish, the world is crafted with such detail and care that I found myself taking time to soak it all in. The developer seems similarly proud of its accomplishments as well, injecting moments where the camera pulls back to show off its neon-soaked vistas.

Although the entire game takes place in and around the fictional Phoenix City (named after the bird that resurrects itself, not the population center of Arizona), it does a good job of mixing up its locations. You spend the early hours outside the city’s massive walls among those that have been discarded before making your way into downtown proper. Even as I write this, I keep thinking about all the excellent little touches that create a living, breathing world.

Another thing REPLACED does well is build a sense of nostalgia. While the setting screams futuristic from a distance, the game is set in an alternate America circa the 1980s, so you’ll encounter logs that reference real historical figures along with technology elements that fit with that time. It’s easy to see the Blade Runner influence, but the work goes well beyond referential to carve out something unique and memorable.

Unfortunately, neither the story being told nor the gameplay that accompanies it can match what’s been done with the presentation. Let’s begin with the former: You play as R.E.A.C.H., an early AI that has been paired with its creator, Warren Marsh, to help him do things like monitor his health and assist with productivity. An accident at the company labs necessitates that Reach take charge and lead Warren’s body to safety.

Following a harrowing escape, you awaken outside the wall with Reach’s mission to return to the lab and have its consciousness removed from its human host. As a setup, it does enough, though it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. You’re taken in by a group of survivors and go about helping them deal with threats so that you can get back inside the city. Along the way, you begin to care for the people and learn what it means to be human.

The story never got in the way of anything, but it fails at elevating the experience. I didn’t warm to Tempest, who saves you early on and becomes your de facto bestie, or anyone else you encounter. There’s little depth to the side characters, and the dialogue, which is entirely text-based throughout, felt a bit stilted.

Ultimately, the story is a blip on the radar compared to the gameplay’s shortcomings. With Reach controlling Warren, he’s able to exceed normal physical limitations—it feels safe to say the developers were fans of the 2018 film, Upgrade. As a premise, that sounds great, creating an opportunity for slick combat and deft platforming as you fight through groups of thugs and corporate jackboots. In practice, however, it comes up short.

It’s not an issue of not having a good concept, either. In combat, your weapon is a hybrid police baton and handgun. To use the gun, you need to build up enough energy with melee strikes, creating a loop where you bludgeon lesser enemies and fire a powerful projectile into tougher ones. There are also some Arkham-style elements where enemies telegraph their attacks with a colored icon above their head. If it’s yellow, you can counter. If it’s red, you must dodge.

As you progress, you’ll unlock the ability to deflect projectiles back at your enemies, acquire a powerful rapid-fire burst that can turn the tide of battle, or unleash a shockwave that knocks down foes. There’s more than enough here for satisfying combat. The problem is it all feels clunky. Reach takes too long to respond, and enemies land cheap hits because of it. Instead of looking forward to combat, I ended up enduring it just to get back to the game’s aesthetic.

Platforming falls victim to similar issues, though not at the same level. Reach feels a bit ponderous, and the fact that the game doesn’t have a sprint is annoying—instead, it decides when your character should run or duck. It often feels like you’re not quite reaching where you’re supposed to get with your jumps only to grab onto it anyway. That’s more of a graphical issue, but it’s still something I noticed throughout.

There’s nothing here that’s so bad that you can’t find your way through. Instead, it’s a case where I spent much of my time just wishing Reach moved more smoothly, and that combat and platforming were akin to something like Shadow Complex; not that it needed to be as fast-paced as that but simply be more responsive to my inputs.

REPLACED is a very linear game, checking in at a little over 10 hours, though there are some optional side quests, text logs, and music tracks to hunt down, and a few old-school video games to play as well. Once you finish the game, there’s no ability to replay specific chapters or any New Game+ mode to encourage multiple runs or chase missed achievements.

Final Score (7.5/10)

Expectations can be a double-edged sword. Perhaps, if I had gone into REPLACED without such high hopes, its shortcomings would’ve been easier to forgive. That’s a hypothetical question, though, as my hype level was sky high. I still managed to mostly enjoy my run through the game’s immaculately constructed world, but I can’t stop wondering what could’ve been if the actual gameplay had matched its breathtaking 16-bit dystopian world.

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