One of the biggest concerns with modern gaming is development time. While game sequels and new IPs could come out within two to three years at the most, now they can take upwards of a decade to release. This applies to not just major AAA releases, but also indie games as well. An example of one that I’ve been thinking about ever since it was announced is REPLACED.
REPLACED is an indie cyberpunk platformer that boasts free-flowing combat and a gorgeous pixelated art style. It was announced five years ago, and while many noted its similarities to The Last Night (a game announced all the way back in 2017 that still hasn’t been released, mind you), people were still excited for its release. However, it would be delayed several times before getting its final release date of April 2026.
As I finally played the game for myself, I found myself wondering whether or not the wait would be worth it, or if it just set impossibly high expectations that developers Sad Cat Studios could never live up to. After beating REPLACED for myself, however, I can confidently say that this is a fantastic game, albeit one with several major gameplay issues.
“More Human Than Human”
REPLACED begins with Warren Marsh, a scientist hooked up to a machine that directly links him to an A.I. of his own creation named R.E.A.C.H.. The two are looking through “donors” for an unknown purpose when R.E.A.C.H. notes Marsh’s emotional instability and tries to pause their session for the day. His stubbornness, however, ignites a disaster that engulfs the lab in flame and leaves R.E.A.C.H. stuck in Marsh’s body, with the man himself having gone completely quiet.
As the newly christened Reach, you must find your way back to the laboratory where the accident occurred, and see if it’s possible to separate your mind from Marsh’s body. Along the way, Reach will understand more about Warren Marsh’s past, fight against the Phoenix corporation and Termite gang, make new friends, and above all else, learn what it truly means to be human.
I genuinely adored the narrative of REPLACED. I’ve consumed a lot of cyberpunk media throughout my entire life, and its rare that I’ve seen a new idea that is wholly unique to the genre. However, REPLACED does something with the themes of humanism that I’ve rarely seen before. Reach having to explore an AI inhabiting the body of a human and trying to reconcile between his programming and the new waves of emotions and sensations he’s feeling in his new vessel is genuinely a really compelling arc that quickly made his character stand out to me.
The other characters of REPLACED are great too. While Warren Marsh takes a backseat for most of the story, we do see flashbacks of the life he lived before the accident that changed it forever, and it’s a great way to further enhance Reach’s arc. Tempest is a hotheaded rebel that Reach comes to see as a genuine friend, and his girlfriend, Veronica, serves as a trusted confidant for both characters. There are even a bunch of side characters you meet as you explore the world of Phoenix City. One of my personal favorites is Susan, a young girl who starts as a quest giver, but if you visit her more, she soon calls Reach her “super best friend.”
When it comes to themes and tone, REPLACED shines in those aspects too. The cyberpunk genre has always shone in its ability to balance bleak subjects with hints of optimism scattered throughout. The plotline with the donors is grim and genuinely disturbing at points, and the influence of the Phoenix corporation is horrifyingly oppressive. Yet, even still, the moments where you interact with characters like Susan are where you get to see that life has still flourished even in such dire circumstances. Further, the ending is bittersweet and will likely leave you smiling with a tear in your eye.
One of the key reasons why REPLACED‘s story clicked with me so much was due to its presentation. Its visuals combine pixelated artwork with modern lighting to create one of the best-looking games I’ve ever seen in my life. At first, I was concerned that you’d only experience Phoenix City at a distance, though the visuals from afar were still gorgeous. Once you finally enter the metropolis itself, though, all of my concerns went out the window, and I was genuinely blown away by what I was seeing. Even on my fairly limited Steam Deck, the game still looked gorgeous, and I can only imagine how much better it would look on more powerful hardware.
The soundtrack of REPLACED also stands out. As you’d expect, it’s filled with pumping synth beats, with their intensity varying depending on the situation. You may be fighting against corpo police officers with some fast-paced beats, or you may be navigating a massive laboratory with slower and more atmospheric sounds. You can also collect lyrical tracks performed by Veronica herself, which you can find by exploring, and help to further the game’s worldbuilding.
While there were no real issues with REPLACED‘s story, it’s worth noting that the game is prone to several glitches. Only a few affected the gameplay experience, but these unfortunately interfered with the presentation and cutscenes. A few cutscenes were completely absent, with the credits being stuck on a blank screen, which made me worried that I may have missed a key cutscene that added more context to the narrative. Further, towards the end, there were a few times when the camera entirely glitched out.
Some of these will definitely be fixed soon, according to the developers. Further, the aforementioned ending glitches have also started to be patched, and I was able to experience the finale in its best possible form. Still, some issues like falling through the world remain, so hopefully, these are fixed soon as well.
Overall, though, the presentation and narrative of REPLACED are absolutely fantastic. The gameplay, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired for me due to frustrating platforming mechanics and occasionally sluggish combat.
Not Quite Beholden to One Genre, For Better or Worse
When I watched all of the trailers for REPLACED, I wasn’t quite sure what genre it would fit into. At first, I thought it would be something akin to an RPG with elements similar to Disco Elysium, or maybe it would end up a more action-heavy sidescroller. Once I picked up the game for myself, I soon realized it fit more into the lens of a platformer, albeit with mechanics that emphasize combat and exploration in equal measure. In many ways, this mix of elements worked to both the game’s benefit and detriment.
To start with, there were several parts of REPLACED‘s gameplay that I really enjoyed. Mainly, I really liked the small moments where you are just exploring a small area, observing the environmental storytelling, and talking with other characters. The chapters where the game slows down and you navigate the Station, the main hub of the game, are genuinely fantastic.
Each time you revisit the Station hub, there are several side quests to complete before you progress. I do kind of wish there were more of these quests, though the ones that are there expand the world and themes in a very natural way. Even in the late game, there are a few quiet moments where, in order to continue, you simply need to explore the environment, making for moments where you’re able to appreciate the world even more. There are even some great easter eggs that fans of the cyberpunk genre will get a kick out of.
The combat also has several moments of gold. Throughout the game, you’ll be forced into encounters with powerful enemies, both big and small. As you progress, you’ll unlock more tools to counter said enemies. For example, you can deflect projectiles with a shield that knocks down the opponent who fired it. Additionally, the more times you utilize a counterattack, the quicker you’ll be able to fire back with a projectile of your own. There were countless points where I found myself finding the right rhythm in acting and reacting to each attack that an enemy delivered.
That said, there were just as many times when I found the combat to be really unresponsive and sluggish. Every time you’d mistime an attack, the game would punish you with a long animation that an enemy could instantly use as a window to attack you. At first, this seemed like an appropriate punishment for a failure of timing. Oftentimes, though, I’d be punished unfairly thanks to two enemies attacking in quick succession, making countering next to impossible.
Further, the speed of your attack animations is extremely slow compared to the absurd reactions of enemies. Worse still were the occasional input delays, which made it hard to tell whether or not the aforementioned timing errors were due to a misstep from me or the game itself. It’s worth noting that, even when some gameplay fixes were implemented, it still didn’t make the slower pace of combat feel any better. Don’t get me wrong, there were still several combat encounters that were genuinely thrilling and fun in equal measure. The boss fights were one such example, as were the sections where you fought against corpo officers while on top of a train. The moments where the combat’s slow pace and frustrating technical issues kicked in, though, sadly distracted from those few high moments.
The same can be said for the platforming and puzzles. A lot of times, you’ll be jumping from ledge to ledge by using certain abilities or solving numerous environmental riddles to progress. Sometimes you’ll need to take advantage of a pickaxe to dig into cracks in the wall, or use a multitool to hack into a terminal and open a door, for instance. Much like with the combat, there are plenty of times where you can reach a flow state, and everything clicks right into place in the best way possible. Yet, these are often hindered by numerous major technical and pacing problems.
In many cases, I found myself unable to reach a higher ledge even when I was right next to it. This forced me to try and backtrack, to see if I missed a step in a puzzle, until I realized that the game just didn’t register my input. On the subject of puzzles, a lot of them often require you to use trial and error, which meant that instead of feeling smart for having solved a mystery, I was instead just baffled when the solution accidentally worked itself out. Even the abundance of the yellow paint cliches didn’t make exploration any easier, as, despite how beautiful the environment looked, a lot of it looked exactly the same, making it even harder to figure out where to go next for either platforming or puzzle-solving.
At the end of the day, even if all the technical issues are fixed, both the combat and platforming suffer from the same key problem: pacing. The story flows dynamically, with a great balance between fast-paced action and slower, more methodical moments where the characters take center stage instead of the action. This balance completely goes out the window when you spend minutes at a time wrestling with the controls in order to fight through the enemies in your way or get to higher ground.
I will say that I don’t think REPLACED‘s gameplay is necessarily awful. If you’re someone who really likes platformers like INSIDE, then you’ll absolutely adore REPLACED‘s gameplay loop and may be willing to overlook some of its flaws, especially when the bugs are fixed. However, even as someone who was fond of these sorts of games, the issues with pacing and frustrating mechanics were deeply irritating.
Plus, even when the technical glitches are fixed, it won’t take away from how frustrating it was to have combat encounters and platforming puzzles take way longer than they should’ve due to circumstances outside of my control. There isn’t even a post-game or ability to replay chapters, which means that I can’t even re-experience the best parts of the game. Though, thanks to the gameplay, I can’t say I’m really chomping at the bit to replay the game anytime soon. Thankfully, none of these issues were enough to diminish from just how great REPLACED is when you consider its story, presentation, and the gameplay high moments altogether.
A Thrilling Neon Nightmare
Since I was a kid, the cyberpunk genre has been my absolute favorite in any medium. Whether it’s games, shows, movies, or books, if it focuses on a dystopian future where hope and rebellion still manage to flourish, I’m going to be there. Yet, I’ve recently feared that the genre couldn’t surprise me anymore, thanks to the overabundance of reused tropes. So, needless to say, I was ecstatic when REPLACED put those worries to rest once and for all.
Certainly, this game has several major issues. The overabundance of technical issues, while fixable, often interfered with my enjoyment of the story, presentation, and gameplay. Additionally, said gameplay frequently suffers from frustrating mechanics and poor pacing, which unfortunately hinder the moments where the combat, platforming, and puzzles shine. These issues still remain even after the first slew of post-patches for the game. Yet, these aren’t enough to distract from just how good the story and presentation are.
REPLACED does things with its narrative that I never would’ve thought possible. It manages to tell a compelling story about what it means to be human with a great cast of characters and a tone that manages to balance both dread and hope splendidly. Additionally, the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, and regardless of what platform you play it on, you’ll likely find yourself realizing that this game is one of the best-looking games in the medium, period.
At the end of the day, despite my issues with REPLACED, I can confidently say that the five-year wait was worth it. If you’re a fan of cyberpunk games or 2.5D action platformers, then you absolutely need to play REPLACED. Even though I’m in no rush to replay the game, I can’t wait to give it another shot after a few post-launch adjustments. While this may not be a masterpiece, Sad Cat Studios has managed to make a seminal title in the genre that is hopefully remembered for a long, long time.
Disclaimer: Thunderful Publishing provided a Steam copy of REPLACED for review purposes.
