Although it may seem that it has become increasingly difficult to find originality on the gaming market, you can still come across unusual productions. Because how else to call a narrative game combined with "emotional survival"? And this is what its creators - Chance Agency studio define Neo Cab . How did this unusual mix come out?
There was an emotion
In Neo Cab, we play the role of Lina – one of the last human taxi drivers in the near, increasingly automated future. Lina is just changing her place of residence, asked by her old friend to move in with her. It is an emotionally difficult situation for a woman, especially when her friend disappears, and Lina, left to herself, has to find herself in a city dominated by the hated corporation and her vending machines.
The narrative gameplay is based almost exclusively on selecting new clients and dialogue options during conversations with them. Our choices affect Lina’s emotional mood, and this in turn affects the issues available to us in discussions. The main goal of the player is to maintain an unstable balance between the satisfaction of the so-called passenger, reflected in the 5-star rating system, and the mental state of the protagonist. Hence the term – “emotional survival”.
Our taxi career depends on passenger satisfaction
While it may seem boring and not too difficult, it’s just a wrong impression. Dialogues are engaging and even seemingly ordinary topics can result in engaging discussion. In addition, if we get carried away by dealing with a persistent client, it may quickly turn out that it will be difficult for us to control the reactions of the heroine later. Offended passengers can quickly deprive us of a license to practice.
Unique characters
The basis of the game in Neo Cabie are actually decisions – the choice of the client, place of accommodation or how much we will engage in the discussion. There are quite a few options – during a single playthrough of the game you have to ask yourself whether you want to meet as many people as possible or establish a closer acquaintance with those already met. There is no chance of reconciling one with the other, thanks to which the production is very repeatable – when approaching Lina’s story for the third time, I still managed to find something new.
During each game night, we can make up to 3 courses, and before each we can choose one of at least two (and sometimes even four or five) potential customers. I must admit that Chance Agency has managed to create a rich gallery of heroes. Each character has a unique character and interests. Each will expect something different from us and we can expect unique reactions from them. We can meet, for example, a quantum statistician (such a cyber-witch that predicts possible versions of events), a start-up director, an actress playing something like an augmented reality theater or an heiress of an influential family trapped in a mech that partially controls her.
The course of the game depends very much on the selected passengers
Probably the greatest fun in driving a virtual taxi was just learning the stories of individual characters during subsequent tours with them. Especially that each story was related to important topics – from the issue of our freedom in an automated world, through the legitimacy of replacing human professions with machines, to reflecting on our decisions and the impact of emotions and their interpretation on our choices.
The main axis of the plot also touches on a lot of important issues, and although it is not very revealing, getting to know it gives satisfaction. When you first approach the game, some plot connections may turn out to be surprising, although in the end they seem to be well thought out. In the next ones, we can experiment and look for other ways and endings.
Are our decisions really ours?
Although Neo Cab gives the player a lot of possibilities in terms of story paths, it suffers from a certain ailment in most narrative games. Most of our choices are apparent. Even though they seem significant over the course of the game and influence the character’s story to some extent, the ending of the story is not really dependent on them. Or at least it is very little.
At Neo Cab, there were also considerations about the consequences of our decisions
The path to the end of the story can be very diverse depending on our choices, but the finale itself is mainly influenced by our understanding of the character and their emotions, so that we can properly conduct the most important discussion in the game. And it might seem like very little, yet the game offers several endings.
What may be a bit discouraging during the game are the occasional mishaps in the dialogues – sometimes it happens that we hear from the interlocutor about something that did not happen or happened in another playthrough. Fortunately, these are rare cases.
Comic book cyberpunk
The cyberpunk atmosphere of the story about the last human taxi driver results both from the technical innovations encountered and, above all, from the visual setting. The graphics are kept in a comic style, and the play of lights on the two-dimensional silhouettes of the characters plays a huge role in creating the atmosphere of the game. In the background, there is a city that we see only in the night light of neon lights. If you are not expecting technological fireworks from the game, there is plenty to look at.
The play of lights is impressive
Musically, Neo Cab is average at best. The soundtrack correlates well with the cyberpunk atmosphere of the production, it is not too monotonous and does not interfere with the gameplay, but the praise ends there. The soundtrack is not very catchy and if I cannot remember it completely after turning off the game, I can only judge it well.
The entire narrative in the game is based on the displayed characters’ statements and the thoughts of our heroine. We will not experience the sound of dialogues in Neo Cab , but it harmonizes well enough with the comic style of the graphics that it should not be a problem.
In the options menu, we get the option to define our pace of reading the text in order to be able to absorb the displayed statements of the characters in time. There is also no time limit for choosing a dialogue option, thanks to which the game does not put additional pressure on us. Even with some linguistic problems, we can calmly reflect on the meaning of the available statements.
It is worth noting that currently the game does not have a Polish language version at all. In the case of the English version, the vocabulary is not overly sophisticated and with a good knowledge of the language, understanding the dialogues should not be a problem. Even if certain words turn out to be too difficult, we can pause at any time and look for a translation.
Humanity over automation
The debut production of the Chance Agency studio turned out to be a solid entry into the gaming market. No wonder, however, since among the creators there were people who previously created Firewatch or Reigns: Her Majesty , and the publisher of the game was Fellow Traveler – the company responsible for publishing, among others, the Orwell series or The Stillness of the Wind .
Neo Cab is an “emotional survival” – we have to take care of Lina’s mental state
A cyberpunk story that combines a narrative game and an unusual “emotional survival” can safely provide two evenings of fun with a single pass, and additionally encourages the next few approaches (for example, to get all the achievements, if someone cares about it).
Neo Cab attracts with its storyline, extraordinary stories of the characters encountered and a strong cyberpunk atmosphere. Assuming, of course, that in terms of mechanics, the player only needs to choose the next dialogue options. If you are looking for a captivating story, not a fast-paced action – check out Neo Cab . Otherwise, the production is unlikely to come to you.
