What do you get when you mix a Lovecraftian horror with a pixellated point-and-click adventure style game? Well, something like Planet RIX-13, out now for Nintendo Switch.
The story revolves around a pilot of a spacecraft that is looking for worlds that are potentially suitable for life. While scanning the next target, you lost control of your ship and had to make an emergency landing. It quickly becomes clear that you are not the first person on this planet… You have to study the ruins of a long-dead civilization and the abandoned laboratories of researchers who have been on this planet before you. Avoid deadly dangers, study the local flora, fight with hallucinations, and find a way to eliminate the cause of the accident. Try your best to leave this planet and return home!
Sci-Fi Planet RIX-13?
I’m a big fan of settings like I described in the above paragraph. Sci-Fi Horror, or Sci-Fi Thrillers like the books from Michael Crichton (known for Jurassic Park, E.R., Prey or Micro), are right up my alley and I had high hopes for Planet RIX-13. The game, however, left me feeling mixed. I was promised:
- A mysterious planet full of secrets and traps
- Lots of different ways to die
- Two endings (sort of)
And yes, statistically speaking this is exactly what the game entitles. However, to classify it as point and click would be an insult to the classics. Planet RIX-13 takes the player by the hand and walks him from the location towards the next location. Here you have to find object A, bring it to location B while avoiding trap C and discover Body D. Repeat this over and over again and you have the basic concept of Planet RIX-13.
Missing aspects?
Does this make Planet RIX-13 a bad game? No, but it has more potential than developer ‘Sometimes You’ shows with this indie title. By adding a little more layers in the story, the game wouldn’t have been completed in half an hour. Yes, the game has two endings, so if you want both, you’ll have to play the game for an hour. But the story does not really change, depending on your ending. You will only get an achievement based on the final choice. Since the Nintendo Switch does not support actual achievements, like Steam (by Valve), dying by all the traps or finding some specific item, won’t feel as rewarding as on Steam.
Conclusion:
Nonetheless, the game works fine, looks fine and has some fun puzzles to solve (good luck American calendar system players! Or that puzzle was localized.. I hope not). But…? It falls a little bit short on the Nintendo Switch. Fun, but, no .. winner? Hopefully, we’ll hear more about ‘Sometimes You’ in the future with a more in-depth puzzle Sci-Fi game.
