Gaming Reviews, News, Tips and More.
We may earn a commission from links on this page

Citizen Sleeper 2: The Kotaku Review

Cowboy Bebop and Firefly influence an even bigger, more ambitious cyberpunk noir RPG
<i>Citizen Sleeper 2</i>: The <i>Kotaku</i> Review
Image: Jump Over The Age
We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Bodies tear, break, grow, shrink, endure, decay. I occasionally think of myself as a sack of skin transporting around a pure, permanent, irreducible self protected from oblivion by its mortal shell but also transcending it. But as I get older, weaker, more tired, the act of self deception, for better and for worse, becomes harder to maintain. The body keeps the score, whether we want to see it or not. ¡°Everyone has to contend with the entropy of their flesh,¡± Citizen Sleeper 2's narrator tells me. ¡°And, in that realization, you suddenly feel less alone.¡±

A sequel to the 2022 sci-fi visual novel RPG and launching January 31 on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a beautiful, tedious, harrowing sci-fi adventure about a copy of a human consciousness stored inside an artificial body (what¡¯s called a Sleeper) who¡¯s on the run from cruel corporate owners. Survival entails endless gig-economy toil across a dozen or so asteroid colonies called the Starward Belt, scattered throughout the remnants of a once powerful governing federation whose ghosts still haunt the crime-ridden backwater. It¡¯s a slow burn, and a memorable one.

Order Citizen Sleeper 2:?Humble Bundle

If you played the first Citizen Sleeper, you¡¯ll recognize its sequel following a similar but greatly expanded blueprint, leaving behind the atmosphere of a single planet to discover an entire solar system¡¯s worth of possibilities¡ªmore characters to meet, bad situations to scrape your way out of, and tools for navigating the harsh realities of an interstellar existence ruled by perpetual scarcity. And like its predecessor, Citizen Sleeper 2 is primarily a game about words and dice and relishing the serendipity when the two combine in unexpected ways.

&lt;i&gt;Citizen Sleeper 2&lt;/i&gt;: The &lt;i&gt;Kotaku&lt;/i&gt; Review
Image: Jump Over The Age


Inspired by tabletop mechanics, Citizen Sleeper 2's quests and storylines are governed by a fickle equation of resource balancing and probability-based skill checks. Want to escape the mining asteroid you¡¯re on before your corporate overlords catch you? You¡¯ll need fuel and supplies. Visit some nearby nodes on the map offering work, slot in your dice, and hope your rolls successfully complete the job and net you extra cash. There are no big victories in Citizen Sleeper 2, just the patient accumulation of small wins.

But now you¡¯ve exhausted your dice and need to go to bed. Wake up and you realize you need food or risk a cascading set of bodily failures that will result in one or more of your dice breaking. Eating costs money too. Better take a contract that¡¯ll let you cash in big-time. Except you follow the job to the middle of nowhere and now you¡¯re running out of food all over again, some dice are breaking and others are glitched from permanent damage, and you botched the job so badly that the asteroid you were supposed to survey for water is now breaking up. Back to the nearest colony in even worse shape than when you left.

It¡¯s a credit to Sleeper Citizen 2's excellent writing by creator Gareth Damian Martin that, rather than burning me out, the repetition of its resource gathering and the constant tension of things inevitably going sideways keeps me compelled, serving as a richly textured backdrop against which the game¡¯s real concern¡ªa burgeoning family of misfits on a busted-up space ship¡ªtakes center stage. Survival in Citizen Sleeper 2 is merely a catalyst for setting up collisions with other people, including a series of similarly flawed and fragile strays who slowly join your crew

Serafin, a rude and short-fused pilot, is the one who rescued you from the company that made you, and who got you both on the run. Bliss is a tranquil mechanic always ready to take the temperature down a notch. Juni is a hacker obsessed with uncovering information from before the collapse, when the local system was dotted with massive ships and baroque facilities run by powerful artificial intelligences. And the only thing Yu-Jin likes more than drinking and gambling is chasing bad intel in the hopes of finding a long-lost interstellar space drive that can help him escape the Starward Belt.

&lt;i&gt;Citizen Sleeper 2&lt;/i&gt;: The &lt;i&gt;Kotaku&lt;/i&gt; Review
Image: Jump Over The Age


Like any true family, they fight, piss each other off, and occasionally let one another down. But they also add their own hopes and dreams to the mix, help shoulder one another¡¯s burdens, and, most importantly, don¡¯t cut and run when shit hits the ceiling, which is where it inevitably ends up in Citizen Sleeper 2. These social bonds are borne out in the missions you go on with your crew, where their unique skills and dice rolls are added to yours. The relief of having friends was never sharper than when their fives and sixes helped me narrowly complete a job that would have been impossible on my own.

I fucked up early in Citizen Sleeper 2. Made some bad calls, got sloppy, and lived with the consequences of that through to the very end. My dice broke from stress, which made it harder to get the materials I needed to repair them. I blacked out a few times and permanently damaged myself, resulting in glitched dice that only ever had a one-in-five chance of not completely screwing me. I uncovered hidden space cathedrals and helped launch corporate rebellions, and yet no matter what I accomplished or how lucky I got, the jobs never got much easier. The work continued, though; my crew grew, and we managed to scrape together a life for ourselves, at least for a little while.

Flesh is soft and prone to injuries, but it¡¯s also flexible and resilient. It fights the slow erosion of order and meaning into chaos and emptiness for as long as it can, which isn¡¯t enough but at least it¡¯s something. In Citizen Sleeper 2 the struggle can end up feeling like much more, thanks in part to the seamless melding of art and interface, as well as plaintive, industrial melodies of minimalist electronic composer Amos Roddy. Life is messy in the Starward Belt, but its evocative beauty is only brought into such sharp focus because of the uncompromising precision of its elegant presentation.

There was no game quite like Citizen Sleeper when it first came out. It¡¯s nice to finally have another one.

Order Citizen Sleeper 2:?Humble Bundle

.

universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
soxtry.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
maw-pr.com
zaaksen.com
ypxsptbfd7.com
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
onlinenewsofindia.com
worldgraphic-team.com
bnsrz.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
webmanicura.com
osostore.com
softsmob.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
odskc.com
inzziln.info
leaiiln.info
cq-oa.com
dqtianshun.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
bartoysdirect.com
taquerialoscompadresdc.com
aaoodln.info
amcckln.info
drvrnln.info
dwabmln.info
fcsjoln.info
hlonxln.info
kcmeiln.info
kplrrln.info
fatcatoons.com
91guoys.com
signupforfreehosting.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
topsedu.xyz
xmxm7.com
x332.xyz
sportstrainingblog.com
autopartspares.com
readguy.net
soniasegreto.com
bobbygdavis.com
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
qazwsxedcokmijn.com
parabis.net
terriesandelin.com
luxuryhomme.com
studyexpanse.com
ronoom.com
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
snn01.com
hope-kelley.com
bancodeprofissionais.com
zjccp99.com
liturgycreator.com
weedsmj.com
majorelenco.com
colcollect.com
androidnews-jp.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
nova-click.com
abeautifulcrazylife.com
diggmobile.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
sizam-design.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
bamthemes.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com
avgo.top