2019-03-01_Official_PlayStation_Magazine_-_UK_Edition

083

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUT NOW
PUBYSBRYD GAMES
DEVACKK STUDIOS

YIIK: A POST-MODERN RPG

The Mother of all nostalgic throwbacks

R

aiding the nostalgia drawer Undertale

previously ransacked, and punctuated

by delightful moments of dread, YIIK

(pronounced ‘why-two-kay’) is a unique

beast even before you begin to ask, “Wait, how

can a RPG be post-modern, anyway?”

Alex Eggleston, your protagonist, kind of sucks.

He’s that fake-deep guy you inevitably run into

at some point during your early 20s (maybe

even dating them). Returning to his home town,

degree in hand but minus any greater sense of

direction, he wallows in self-pity and his own

half-baked brand of philosophy. But after a

strange encounter, he finds himself tied into the

mysterious disappearance of a young woman

named Semi ‘Sammy’ Pak and embarks on a

strange journey through the distant land of 1999

and the bizarre vistas of his friends’ minds.

Alex’s introspective narration frames each

chapter; at first it’s tooth-grindingly self-

obsessed and flowery to a parodical degree.

Mercifully this indie RPG is completely in on

the joke, poking fun at its lead character’s navel

gazing just as much as it lays bare his flaws and

the self-doubt motivating them. Nestled between

a jamming soundtrack and

colourful low-poly world is a

story concerned with far more

than just nostalgia for the last

decade of the 20th century;

it’s not every day you get to

play as a protagonist grappling

with such a relatable sense of

existential angst.

SOUL BLAZER

The game delivers on the

subtitle’s promise of a different

take on the genre. What

appears to be a spiky-haired

PlayStation 1 protagonist in the

streets proves to be Shadow

Hearts in the sheets, with

fights being more involved than

the usual turn-based RPG fare.

Every character has a number

of unique rhythm minigames

that dictate damage, and you

have to time your button

presses pretty precisely if you

don’t want to get absolutely

slaughtered by stop signs

and sewer dwellers. This can

be tricky as your crosshair

doesn’t move at a consistent

clip, unlike the aforementioned

series’ Judgement Ring, though

taking hits gives you the power

to slow it down so you can nail

important prompts later. While

full of interesting mechanical

quirks like this, fights feel

dragged out as enemies soak

damage like the world is

ending... which it just might be.

It’s not just our world Alex

and the gang need to worry

about, either, but for fear of

spoiling things for you, nothing

more about the plot will be

revealed. What you need to

know is this is a lovingly

presented urban fantasy

adventure with plenty of twists

and turns you’ll want to follow

until the end. My time with

the game will have long since

passed when you read this but

I still can’t stop thinking about

it... not least of all because

the Mind Dungeon theme

music is an absolute banger –

it’ll haunt your dreams.

YIIKES @KoeniginKatze

VERDICT

The low-poly visuals

present a unique-looking

world drenched in an acidic

vaporwave sensibility.

Between the unusual character

arc at its core, funky beats,

and rhythm-based beatdowns,

YIIK has a lot more to offer

the RPG genre than just

doomsaying. Jess Kinghorn

“THE HERO EMBARKS ON A

STRANGE JOURNEY THROUGH

THE DISTANT LAND OF 1999.”