A video game was released in May 2024. It caught the attention of a friend of mine, who forwarded me a YouTube analysis video, implying that it was the kind of narrative that would be up my alley. “If you liked Nier and SIGNALIS, play this,” somebody had told her. The video was nearly an hour long, and so I declined, having wanted to experience the game for myself.
I had heard the name before on social media; people spoke incredibly highly of it, but never actually elaborated on why it was good. The game had Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam, many of which insisted the game had to be experienced. It was a game that was evidently difficult to describe beyond surface descriptors without treading into spoiler territory. It was a work of art that needed to speak for itself. It was a game called 1000xRESIST.
Developed by Sunset Visitor and published by Fellow Traveller, 1000xRESIST was almost unfamiliar territory to me. Setting aside what I learnt inspired it (names such as Final Fantasy VII, 13 Sentinels, and Kentucky Route Zero come to mind), I chose to go into the game without doing any prior research. If this was truly something I would connect with, I felt I didn’t need any sort of primer before launching the game. I didn’t read the basic plot outline that was provided on the Steam page, meaning I wasn’t even clued in on how the end of Chapter 1 would come to play out.
I’ve said this multiple times after the fact, but I feel that streaming the game was a mistake. Not because it was a bad game, but precisely because it offered me an experience that I absolutely adored and felt I wasn’t seeing elsewhere. It gave me something I could truly identify with and immediately became one of the best stories told to me in 2024. I rarely feel this way, as I normally like to keep archives of my playthroughs to look back on, whether through streaming or writing a journal of sorts. 1000xRESIST was so intimately familiar to me that I constantly struggled to say anything. I didn’t want to overshare, and so I bit my lip exceedingly often.
Even as I type this, I’m trying to find the right balance of saying just enough without saying too little. This game is a story about the far-reaching impacts of any one incident or action. Large or small, anything is capable of causing a domino effect into something grander you could never have predicted. Something potentially beautiful, and something potentially ugly. It carries heavy themes of generational trauma, oppression, and as you can surely guess, resistance. I’m willing to bet, after grouping those three things together, the first word in your mind is ‘family’. As for myself, there are a couple others: ‘legacy’, ‘inheritance’, and ‘choice’.
I don’t like to talk about my personal background and history more than I need to. Due to varying personal reasons, I generally prefer reserving that sort of information for trusted company. That said, I do admire those who are able to speak so candidly about their lives and make a positive difference by doing so. At minimum, I would share that I am not actually of the same background as much of those who worked on 1000xRESIST; however, I share a great number of deeply similar experiences regardless: the attention given to riots and protests, the influence of the past on your present, and the experience of being Asian diaspora were all things that hit me like a ton of bricks.
This game put me in a position to acknowledge something I often tried to bury, because I had never been given an opportunity to speak about it with anyone who would have understood it from experience. Do I feel comfortable discussing it with this person? Do they have this experience? If they do, would they understand? If we share a similar background, do they feel as disconnected and lost as I do? Will they get angry with me? I never found a safe refuge for these topics. My closest friends exist, of course, and I deeply appreciate them for being there, but through no fault of their own, they can’t relate to being in that position.
Playing 1000xRESIST felt unreal in the best way possible. Here was a story that understood the subject matter, told by people who lived it and weren’t afraid to talk about it. Nothing felt restrained, and that captivated me. It showed even the ugliness of that human experience, and hammered to me repeatedly that I was not alone. It made me emotional that some story beats in my personal writing were also found here; it was a sign that said to me there really were others like me out there, working those feelings into their art. I mean, of course there are. I always knew that, but to see evidence in the form of such powerful artistry hit me in a spot I felt no media ever would.
This wasn’t a game where I felt compelled to follow a certain moral playbook. I wanted to see where each dialogue option led, as I was already hit with this understanding of what the narrative was going for. Without spoiling much, the game’s finale provides a number of fascinating choices. Even here, I didn’t care to exclusively choose the ‘good’ and ‘safe’ choices. More than finding an ‘ideal’ outcome, or any desire to achievement hunt, I wanted to see what the writers would do. What would they want to show from each choice? What message is there to convey? I wanted to see everything to be said by a creative team that resonated with me.
I want to see more like this. I think the world needs more stories like 1000xRESIST that are so deeply unafraid to talk about the heavy topics they want to, even if they won’t relate to every person on the planet. It said to me, “I understand. I get it. This is for you.” Even putting that aside, I already know so many others that played through it without sharing certain experiences; they all nonetheless found it to be enlightening, emotional, and intensely thought-provoking. I think that’s equally important.
What else can I say without spoiling too much? I feel like those reviews I’d read earlier. I don’t want to give too much away; I want people to experience it for themselves and give it a fair shake. I’m going to personally indulge myself and say that Knower was my favourite character in the game. Jasmine Chen’s voice work was absolutely stunning and kept me hooked on every single one of the character’s lines. I’m a sucker for purple-themed characters to begin with, but that voice, paired with the exact kind of character that Knower was, hit me in all the right spots. What a complex and incredible character. People will absolutely have varying opinions on her.
Don’t worry if you play it and you feel a little confused to start off with. It’s very normal and intentional, and it will all come together in the end… even if it breaks apart now and then. It’s the sort of story that has a number of twists and turns, forcing you to reassess the situation against new knowledge. I enjoyed every moment of it. As of writing, it is currently 25% off on Steam, and I understand there’s a Switch version out there as well. Please consider giving this game a chance. To me, it’s worth the time.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoy what I do, you are welcome to support me via Ko-fi!
