DON'T GIVE UP: A Cynical Tale Game Sample - PC/Indie
16"DON'T GIVE UP: A Cynical Tale" is an Adventure/RPG game and the latest title from "trisbee" and "Taco Pizza Cat Games", a generally two-man development studio led by Tristan Barona and Jaroslav Meloun. While Tristan has been developing games for over half a decade, he has seen little success, and the frustration, hope and despair is ironically the catalyst that pushed him to make his greatest game yet... no, I'm not being mean or snarky either. DON'T GIVE UP is literally part self-portrait, part game, and it highlights the struggles of the average joe trying to make it in the contemporary world after facing one setback after another, told from the perspective of a 27 year old game developer, Tris, fighting his demons day and night. The game is portrayed in both a relatable and inspiring way and the protagonist shows no shortage of cynicism, sarcasm, humor and fourth wall breaking which is reciprocated and reflected by the strange supporting cast. The game was originally called "Cynical 7 - The Misadventures of Tris".
Tris suffers from clinical depression and anxiety and one day "decides" to end it all, but is saved by his alter ego, Subris (a play on hubris), who is part of Tris' mental state who is fighting his own battle to maintain Tris' sanity. The story is told from these two worlds (real and fantasy) through a series of flashbacks and exposition and anything that happens in these worlds affect the growth he experiences. That's not to say that DGU is a depressing game however; there are all sorts of colorful characters, parodies and references that will make the pop culture nerd in all of us smile, but especially those that live in the U.S., ranging from things like "Shack Shake", "Starluck", a sprite of "The Colonel" (of KFC) running around to (my current personal favorites) "Mega Grown Boy" and "Dank Hill", part of the charm is finding all the game's many references. The game's writing has a few minor grammatical issues but is wonderfully expressive overall and help's keep things interesting.
Visually and aurally, the game is quite a treat too. Part of the reason for this video is to bring attention to the game's release in a few hours (Sept. 16th), but also to highlight changes from the earlier builds that had placeholder assets and altered dialogue, as this will give the best idea of what the game is like before release. The game's characters and world are fairly reminiscent to the Earthbound/Mother series (with a few nods to the wildly popular "Undertale") and the music is nicely composed and even (whether intentionally or not) reminiscent to a few tunes you've heard before... hear the music that plays when the lady gets her purse snatched at 07:38? It sounds more than a little familiar to a certain boss theme in a certain "Mana" game... but I digress. The music does not disappoint.
The coolest part of the game is the combat though; it's a refreshing mix of turn-based and real time action with a little splash of SMT/Persona talking for good measure. During some battles, the player has the option to "Smak Talk" their opponent which can change their mood, affecting what buffs/debuffs you or the opponent get before battle. The player can move around, attack and parry during the enemies' turn and break through their guard to activate your turn, which is a free-for-all of uninterrupted pain on your foe. One of the closest basic comparisons is perhaps the GBA "Mega Man Battle Network" games, though "One Step From Eden" would be the true successor in this regard (and if you haven't heard of it until now, LOOK IT UP you MMBN fans). The final release will have more surprises such as special attacks you can execute, quests, items and more.
The game has a few caveats such as odd collision/interaction points for some objects and some events don't trigger for unknown reasons (I played this build three times, did not trigger Billie the first time and couldn't interact with most of the people in the subway the second time) that will hopefully be ironed out, but the game is brimming with potential, so you should keep it on your radar during release day and throughout the first few weeks to see if its right for you. This is a video of the whole demo; it wouldn't be half as long if I didn't delibrately go around interacting with everything. You can get the game at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/960710/DONT_GIVE_UP_A_Cynical_Tale/
https://gamejolt.com/games/dontgiveup/354865
Enjoy.
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