I've barely touched my feet into all the mechanics of the game, but this is definitely one I'm gonna put a hundred or even more hours on this bad boy in my free time. It's a little bit of a stretch, but this game almost gives Voices of the Void vibe where its this semi-realistic survival game with goofy silly undertones and a sandbox-esq progression system. There's a plethora of wacky subsystems in this game all of which are designed around making you money. There's things like brewing, crafting, farming, and my personal favorite, scavenging >:3. I've tried my hand at a few of these, but I'm excited to see the extremes that they can go.

The main course in this game is the renovation of your dilapidated tenements which you can then rent out to the local substance-addicted homeless population to fund even more renovations. This requires you to clean out rooms, upgrade them with scrapped and scavenged resources, and then hunt down your prey (local rentoids). Some of these renters are incredibly needy for someone who literally doesn't have a home; they always want heating and bathrooms and running water and all that pedantic garbage. My biggest complaint for this system is how much time it takes for things to happen, it feels like a lot of this process involves just waiting and waiting and waiting for things to build. I don't mind waiting around, but a lot of times I feel like I don't have much to do besides rotting away waiting for my upgrade to finish so I can finally access the basement, or an additional floor, or whatever.

My second biggest complaint is how confusing a lot of gameplay systems are. There's a whole leveling system yet I couldn't tell you where you see your level, what the skills you're leveling are, and even what they actually do. Same goes for crafting where there's a lot of random recipes that you'll never get access to besides behind the door of some locked apartment which you have absolutely no reason to enter besides sheer curiosity. I understand that there's also a whole system involving addictions and health, but it also feels very confusing to me. I constantly read in the loading screens that the sauna can help with addictions, but in what way? How much does it help? How can you even tell that it's doing something? Maybe there's a way but I have absolutely no clue how it all works without a guide or wikipedia open on the other monitor. I understand that the confusing and harsh environment is sorta intended, but it frustrates me to know that I could have some random problem which has a solution, yet I would never even know that a solution exists outside of completely random "♥♥♥♥ it whatever" type of experimentation or following a guide.

For instance I found a backpack while cleaning out the tenements that greatly increases my inventory space WAHOO. Only a few days later do I get a message that I've been robbed at night and something expensive has gone missing. MY backpack has been stolen. I had no clue that this event could happen (especially since I was sleeping inside of my room inside my apartment). I noticed afterward that my bed is "unsafe". Which I assume means I can get robbed, but that might not be their relation. I have no clue how to get rid of the unsafe tag, from my basic scouting like every bed in this damned place is unsafe so it might have to do with my room because it doesn't have a door but I don't know if that's the solution. I can't tell you how to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ get doors on your apartment; it might be included as a wall upgrade but the rooms that do have them are ALSO unsafe. Even worse, I have no clue how to get a new backpack because no store I could find is selling one so it may be a crafted item but I don't know where I'd craft them, what the materials are needed, or even where I could find the recipe. Every step of the way I'm being punished by not having deep knowledge on mechanics which I never even knew existed before now. It's frustrating to have to constantly say "I don't know how to solve this problem, so I cannot solve this problem, unless I read a wikipedia". I don't want to constantly read a wikipedia, but I feel like I would enjoy the game so much better if I knew what was happening.

While my review is definitely complainy and negative I still enjoy playing the game; The complaints I've put forward are something that while frustrating I can manage and I can enjoy what this game is and ♥♥♥♥ around with the mechanics. I find my own fun in the simple repetition of gathering bottles and collecting bits of scrap to sell for a profit at stores, but there are things that can and will be a large turn-off for many players. I would love to have a little more accessible info about what all these mechanics actually are other than the cryptic loading screen tips and whatever mechanics I accidentally stumble upon.

I've barely touched my feet into all the mechanics of the game, but this is definitely one I'm gonna put a hundred or even more hours on this bad boy in my free time. It's a little bit of a stretch, but this game almost gives Voices of the Void vibe where its this semi-realistic survival game with goofy silly undertones and a sandbox-esq progression system. There's a plethora of wacky subsystems in this game all of which are designed around making you money. There's things like brewing, crafting, farming, and my personal favorite, scavenging >:3. I've tried my hand at a few of these, but I'm excited to see the extremes that they can go. The main course in this game is the renovation of your dilapidated tenements which you can then rent out to the local substance-addicted homeless population to fund even more renovations. This requires you to clean out rooms, upgrade them with scrapped and scavenged resources, and then hunt down your prey (local rentoids). Some of these renters are incredibly needy for someone who literally doesn't have a home; they always want heating and bathrooms and running water and all that pedantic garbage. My biggest complaint for this system is how much time it takes for things to happen, it feels like a lot of this process involves just waiting and waiting and waiting for things to build. I don't mind waiting around, but a lot of times I feel like I don't have much to do besides rotting away waiting for my upgrade to finish so I can finally access the basement, or an additional floor, or whatever. My second biggest complaint is how confusing a lot of gameplay systems are. There's a whole leveling system yet I couldn't tell you where you see your level, what the skills you're leveling are, and even what they actually do. Same goes for crafting where there's a lot of random recipes that you'll never get access to besides behind the door of some locked apartment which you have absolutely no reason to enter besides sheer curiosity. I understand that there's also a whole system involving addictions and health, but it also feels very confusing to me. I constantly read in the loading screens that the sauna can help with addictions, but in what way? How much does it help? How can you even tell that it's doing something? Maybe there's a way but I have absolutely no clue how it all works without a guide or wikipedia open on the other monitor. I understand that the confusing and harsh environment is sorta intended, but it frustrates me to know that I could have some random problem which has a solution, yet I would never even know that a solution exists outside of completely random "fuck it whatever" type of experimentation or following a guide. For instance I found a backpack while cleaning out the tenements that greatly increases my inventory space WAHOO. Only a few days later do I get a message that I've been robbed at night and something expensive has gone missing. MY backpack has been stolen. I had no clue that this event could happen (especially since I was sleeping inside of my room inside my apartment). I noticed afterward that my bed is "unsafe". Which I assume means I can get robbed, but that might not be their relation. I have no clue how to get rid of the unsafe tag, from my basic scouting like every bed in this damned place is unsafe so it might have to do with my room because it doesn't have a door but I don't know if that's the solution. I can't tell you how to fucking get doors on your apartment; it might be included as a wall upgrade but the rooms that do have them are ALSO unsafe. Even worse, I have no clue how to get a new backpack because no store I could find is selling one so it may be a crafted item but I don't know where I'd craft them, what the materials are needed, or even where I could find the recipe. Every step of the way I'm being punished by not having deep knowledge on mechanics which I never even knew existed before now. It's frustrating to have to constantly say "I don't know how to solve this problem, so I cannot solve this problem, unless I read a wikipedia". I don't want to constantly read a wikipedia, but I feel like I would enjoy the game so much better if I knew what was happening. While my review is definitely complainy and negative I still enjoy playing the game; The complaints I've put forward are something that while frustrating I can manage and I can enjoy what this game is and fuck around with the mechanics. I find my own fun in the simple repetition of gathering bottles and collecting bits of scrap to sell for a profit at stores, but there are things that can and will be a large turn-off for many players. I would love to have a little more accessible info about what all these mechanics actually are other than the cryptic loading screen tips and whatever mechanics I accidentally stumble upon.