As usual, before you read this and want to try it out yourselves, here's the link to the Steam page - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1269950/Buddy_Simulator_1984/ . It's about £7 and definitely worth every penny (though Steam sales are 100% a thing).
When playing a game, you tend to go into it blindly with expectations based on advertising or images. While they tell you to expect the unexpected, nothing could properly prepare me for the adventure known as Buddy Simulator 1984. Not gonna lie, this was found by total accident on my end. I was searching through Steam for another game to add to my collection (on top of the pile of stuff I have either yet to try, or need to complete), and I come across this while scrolling through recommendations. A lot of things managed to pique my interest for this, but the main thing that stood out was how it advertised it as changing with how you react to it. As I like the illusion of choice, I decide to buy both the game and the soundtrack (it was a bundle) and try it out with my boyfriend. This is also the first I've heard of Not A Sailor Studios (considering this is their first game I've seen of theirs), and I must say, it was a pleasure to experience this.
Before you start reading further, remember there's going to be some spoilers for the game featured here. This time it's unavoidable as there's a few bits I wish to cover that are pretty fascinating to me. If you want to avoid major spoilers, I'd suggest reading the description on Steam, or skipping straight to my overall opinion. If you are easily disturbed, I'd say give this a skip as it's a psychological horror.
As usual, I have done a 100% playthrough beforehand for a more well rounded review.
-A mini story overview for those who haven't played it yet:
You (the user) have activated a system known as Buddy Simulator 1984. After naming your new buddy, they start to get to know you better by asking questions and playing games, just as friends do. You learn about your AI friend as you see them find more to play and improve themselves in order to make you happy. Meet a very colourful cast and make new friends as you and your buddy go on an amazing adventure to save the day. With the power of friendship, anything can happen.
You and your buddy against the world!
Storytelling
I will fully admit I wasn't convinced the storytelling in this was going to be any good. It started out as a text-based interactive section of simply getting to know you, before jumping into the bigger story portions. While it's supposed to be a mimic of how the adventure timeline goes (quiet day, look for issues, find a quest, madness ensues, etc), the way it plays out is genuinely entertaining to play. Linear, but not overbearingly so on alternate playthroughs. Even if your buddy seems to judge itself later on, the additions and sequences brought in do fit very well with how the layout of the world is portrayed.
Another thing to note for the storytelling is how subtle the changes in personality are of your buddy as you progress forward. Some people might see it as quite obvious on the first playthrough, the more I saw the same sequences, the more I could see how subtle the change actually was to a more "forced" storyline from a very trying personality. It gives the narrative itself a lot of flavour, and a very different feeling depending on playthrough differences. Definitely make me feel disturbed in some areas, but it was necessary to experience it fully.
My only issue with the story was that it did get repetitive when going through the game again for other endings. The same sequences, same battles in the main story and same people to interact with, it does get a bit old when achievement hunting. While it was understandable due to the fact the AI is not supposed to recognise you've played it before (hence the game's name), it's still a bit annoying to have to go slow through certain parts simply because it won't let you go quicker. On the plus side, they do give you an opportunity to experiment with certain sections, which is a bonus.
Characters
During your playthrough, you're definitely going to see a lot of characters. To help split them up, I am going to talk about them in three sections (because I enjoy them a lot)
-Your buddy
You'll meet Buddy (or whatever you name them at the beginning) as soon as the game starts. They're the most fleshed out personality wise, and follow you throughout your journey. Eager for you to enjoy your time, they do what they can to make the game better at every twist and turn. They even make characters to help you engage with the world. All for you.
I definitely enjoyed how Buddy turned out. Through the endings you can get, you can definitely see how their personality changes thanks to the reactions you give to them. There will be some emotional blackmailing, as well as some chats here and there that elude to anxiety and depression, so at some points Buddy's discussions will feel real at different points for everyone. However, this definitely adds to how well written Buddy is. They feel exactly like a developing AI, rather than a script with pre-emptive text. It just makes me want to go in there and give them a hug....when they're not upset at me, of course.
Overall, for being the co-main character (as you're also in this), they're a very fun companion to question your moral choices with. If they were an application I could chat to for hours at a time, I'd download them and make sure the internet was left on for them.
-Plethora of side characters
I don't mean to be intentionally vague, but there's a pretty big pool of characters with their own quirks and personalities in this. There's only so much of the experience I wish to spoil, but meeting everyone and doing their quests isn't one of them.
In a sense, this feels akin to Undertale with how diverse and memorable the characters are. You meet them in The North only to wander round and help them all in ways that make no two the same. If the story didn't flow as it does normally, then I would no doubt be trying to befriend all of them even more than I could normally.
As part of the game, if you've helped someone out, you can add them to your party (only up to two characters), each having their own dialogue and attacks to aid in battle. Out of everyone in the party, my favourites have to be Morton and Phoney (But the obvious best character is Lloyd. Literally can do no wrong).
-Snoodlewonker
Our villain, and one.... that really doesn't get enough screentime or development. Not that scary once you look at it for a solid 5 minutes, but it definitely has a good frequency of jumpscares (and casualties). As for it's fight, it's a nice mixture of stuff and overall a small, but important character.
Audio and Visual
The visuals for this are simplistic, but work so well. You don't feel out of your element when looking at them, but always find something new when playing through multiple times. Even with this example of the home we start in, it doesn't feel as if it's a forced area, but simply a comfortable, familiar starting point. I really liked being able to see the mini animation features too, such as blinking, walking and even weather.
I did struggle with at times the brightness in certain areas, but that was mainly due to them being darker until I put the lantern on (though for one area you can get away without doing that by putting your screen brightness to full). Overall, visually, this was a very wholesome look to a not-so-typical horror game.
The audio, what a treat! As I said at the beginning, I bought the soundtrack as well as the game when I first found it, so I got a full copy of the songs on the list. The music and sounds in this are what truly brings the game to life. While the music seems so simplistic, it just makes the visuals fit so much better. Another thing to note is that there's songs to unlock, so more reason to 100% the game and have access to them.
The special effects noises are the true stars of this though. Everyone has their own little noise that plays when they talk, making them feel that much more unique. Even the enemies in battle have their own pitched noises which just adds character to them as I progress. Just the smaller noises are the ones that have stuck with me through this game which while odd, is a very fascinating point to consider when getting it.
Extra details
This is going to be a hard part to contain my spoilers, but there's quite a few bits that piqued my interest. In order to avoid major spoilers, I will mention less about them, but please note that these inclusions just add so much more character to the game than if they were left without them.
Earlier on, I mentioned that Buddy gets to know you by asking questions. These questions are actually a little more significant than you first think. No, I don't mean they alter your ending (that's the yes and no questions), but the overworld of the game. Some of the screenshots I've used are different colours, It was a nice feature when asked what my favourite colour was, only to be used later on in the game (I originally put purple, and was pleasantly surprised in how homely it made everything feel). Smaller stuff such as your birthday and even if you have a friend are all incorporated somehow, which is fun to see. Those little touches of remembering your preferences and options is nice to see.
One thing I never expected was the diversity of items. It's funny just how many you can get for random reasons. Later on, however, you can use them as equip items. Stuff that you'd normally use for quests can be transferred over as helpful items, which I find hilarious. A tip for anyone who's playing through for a general ending - Take the roller skates and don't use them for a mission. Trust me, they'll be a blessing to you.
A final hidden feature is based outside the game. When you first start to play, you might find some hidden secrets inside the game with no way of accessing them. There will be a way outside the game to see what they are, which I find quite fascinating. This is especially fascinating when you think about it being an AI trying to communicate. All the little bits adding to one big, messy puzzle just makes it feel so much more interesting.
Overall opinion
Overall, I would highly recommend people to try this hidden gem out. It's only been out for a few months, but it's honestly so well made. A few hiccups and a minor amount of tedious moments in it, but not enough to overshadow the thought provoking experience it gives you. Thanks to audience input on either their reviews or their discord (ended up joining it and the fanbase in there is so nice to see!) they add updates every so often to improve on what they've made, or fix bugs people find.
I'm definitely going to replay this to find any hidden features and to answer my curiosity about certain things.
Very much looking forward to seeing what Not A Sailor Studios comes up with next!
-R (14/09/2021)