REPLACED – Game Review

REPLACED – One of the design approaches that the writer likes the most is 2.5D side-scrolling games, where the main character, although moving in 2D space, interacts with a 3D background that is meticulously detailed.

Of course, this type of game is not new, and is also a type of game that is extremely favored by fans, from names that “make waves” at AA level from big studios like Little Nightmare of Bandai Namco, to the representative faces of the indie gaming industry such as INSIDE of Playdead, and many smaller scale games but no less meticulous in environment or gameplay design such as White Shadows, Shadows Part of Me, Iris.Fall, Planet of Lana…

So, what’s even more strange is that no game really stuck to this niche until 2026, when a small studio came from Belarus. Sad Cats Studios debut REPLACEDa cyberpunk game, with 2.5D pseudo-pixel graphics, 3D environments and modern lighting technology similar to The Last Night. And just like The Last Nights, the game also encountered an extremely difficult development cycle, with many delays, and took more than 6 years to complete.

So will Sad Cats Studios succeed in this “shortcut, ahead of the curve” move? Let’s pick up a walking stick with Vietgame.asia and crawl into the darkest corners of Phoenix City with artificial intelligence REACH to find out through the following article!

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Dark Future

REPLACED Set in the city of Phoenix, America in the 80s, with rapidly developing technology but deeply divided society. Suddenly one day, a mysterious attack took place at an artificial intelligence research facility and Dr. Warren, in a desperate attempt, implanted an AI called REACH into his head, and the two began their adventure through the city of Phoenix and its dangerous suburbs to separate REACH from Warren.

With such a seemingly simple story, the Sad Cats team was extremely skillful in taking REACH and Warren through one situation after another, leading to extremely dramatic and engaging moments, portraying all the dangers of a modern but corrupt society, where human life becomes extremely cheap, just like other Cyberpunk products.

From police gangs and corporate mercenaries to brutal criminal gangs like the Termite gang, the city of Phoenix and its suburbs appear as a Cyberpunk setting that is both familiar and new enough.

Familiar themes such as capitalism pushed to its limits, a society rotten from within, or technology becoming a tool of control and repression are all present in REPLACED.

However, the game still finds its own identity by creating giant factions, where violence is not just a means but has become a common language, a form of ultimate power always waiting to devour each other. The emotionless machines, the straight marching armies seem to be cast from the same mold depicting a stifling machine of domination that is squeezing the city of Phoenix.

And when those forces are not busy destroying each other, the people become the subjects of the cruel laws they impose.

And that is also what makes the story of REPLACED become effective. Instead of focusing on those who hold power, the game focuses on the people caught in the middle of those brutal struggles, those living under the heels of greedy corporations, emotionless law enforcement forces and criminal gangs who have completely lost their humanity.

For about 11 hours, players will spend a lot of time in a neutral area, where disadvantaged people gather into a small community, relying on and protecting each other to survive. It is these human moments that create a strong contrast with the harsh world outside, and at the same time become the lens for REACH, an artificial intelligence searching for self-meaning, to gradually approach seemingly unquantifiable concepts such as compassion, love for fellow human beings or the courage to stand up against authority.

Story of REPLACED becomes even more powerful thanks to the exceptionally impressive audio-visual experience that the game brings. Inspired by the pixel art of 16-bit games on the Sega Genesis or Super Famicom, the game’s 2.5D world appears with an incredible density of detail. From the trees and bushes to the alleys filled with neon lights, every frame is meticulously cared for to an unbelievable extent for a pixel art style work.

This art style also creates a very unique way of depicting “violence”. Throughout the journey, the player is not only a victim of violence but also directly becomes… its enforcer. In this regard, Sad Cats takes full advantage of what is often considered “the limitations of pixel art”.

Instead of pursuing gory, detailed and dirty images like many other Cyberpunk games like The Ascent nice Cyberpunk 2077, REPLACED choose a different approach. Violence in games comes quickly, unexpectedly and often ends in the blink of an eye. A gunshot, a blow or a body collapsing to the ground often appears and disappears before the player can react, before stopping to admire the details and injuries caused by themselves or others.

It is that moderation that makes violent moments more memorable. They do not appear as prolonged visual displays, but as sudden outbursts of a world accustomed to people being treated like objects that can be thrown away at any moment. In the city of Phoenix, violence is no longer an exception but has become a normal part of everyday life, absurd to the point of being scary.

It all blends together, making the story of REPLACEDalthough full of familiar details, is still memorable and unique, fully exploiting the human aspect amid giant social constructs.

Story of REPLACED becomes even more powerful thanks to a particularly impressive audio-visual experience

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Still not “ripe” enough

Despite possessing excellent audio-visual content and a rich story, the gameplay of REPLACED This is where the game shows signs of not being truly complete.

Most encounters take place according to a familiar rhythm: the enemies spread out on both sides, taking turns attacking, and the player responds with a series of blocks, counterattacks, and sometimes interspersed with a few long-range attack skills. While satisfying in the early hours, the formula doesn’t change significantly throughout the journey.

And that long duration also causes many other weaknesses of the product REPLACED revealed more clearly. Most notable is the game’s heavy reliance on unimaginative and highly repetitive side quests.

Most of them revolve around simple tasks such as going to a location, getting an item and bringing it back to another character. Conceptually, these missions are built to emphasize important themes of the game, from the support between marginalized communities to the effort to preserve humanity in a gradually decaying society. However, because the implementation is too monotonous, those heavy messages become a… burden.

It was the awkwardness in maintaining the narrative pace that caused it REPLACED encountered an interesting paradox. Although the story the game tells is relatively concise and concise, not inferior to other games in the same segment Planet of Lana nice Little Nightmaresthe overall experience feels significantly longer.

The reason does not lie in the plot itself, but in the times when the game stretches the journey with repetitive activities and segments that lack emphasis. This is not enough to do REPLACED becomes a game not worth playing, but players will still find it difficult to avoid the feeling that its duration is being extended longer than necessary.

Despite possessing excellent audio-visual components and a rich story, the gameplay of REPLACED This is where the game shows signs of not being truly complete