Deponia Review

Point and click games have yet to make a real impact on the Nintendo Switch. A genre without much support from developers due to it bringing games back to their basics instead of creating something new, point and click games have always been popular on the PC, but not so much on consoles. On January 30th, the third series instalment Goodbye Deponia was released on PlayStation 4 und then on February 27th, Deponia Doomsday made its console debut and finally the first chapter of the series Deponia series was released today 24th April for both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

This is a very clean port. The game runs smooth and if you played the game on PC, it will probably feel almost exactly the same. The game is beautiful, the composition of gorgeous colours are shown in their full glory. The game starts off great, with a short, charming song setting the scene and an interesting, albeit tired, storyline. But sadly, that is not enough to make the game enjoyable.

The game is about a man named Rufus, who lives on the planet Deponia, which is covered all over with junk. Think Earth in Wall-E. Rufus wants to escape Deponia and live on Elysium, a planet where most of the junk on Deponia comes from. After many failed attempts, Rufus finally puts the pedal to the metal and launches himself in a rocket to Elysium. However, instead of landing on Elysium, he knocks a beautiful woman, named Goal, fall out the sky, and brings her back down to Deponia. So, the game revolves around Rufus trying to wake up Goal, and protect her from the Organon, who will take her away as soon as they get the chance. Rufus sees Goal as his ticket to Elysium, and so makes her safety his number one priority.

Deponia focuses a lot around the characters, which is great to see. Character development takes the lead throughout this game, and watching the characters grow, especially Rufus, makes you feel like you have really gone on a journey with them. However, this journey is long and does not provide much of a reward. The game, after you spend hours with it, ends rather abruptly, to make way for its sequel, which is not in this port. You will have to buy it some other time, if ever. Even Goal, who you have spent so much time with, only wakes up near the end, and just when you start to get to know her, the words ‘the end’ are on your screen. While it is meant to make you excited for the next game, I just thought it was quite a lame, unrewarding ending.

The game does have the tendency to come across as a bit strange, in terms of language and humour. Due to it having to be translated from its original language of German, there are times when a piece of dialogue will sound weird, because of the wording and whatnot, which can take you a bit out of the thrall of the game. The music, however, is lovely, combining mechanical sounds with a relaxing soundtrack.

Overall, this game is interesting, but it will take a certain type of person to enjoy it. It is definitely not for everybody. You can compare multiple reviews for Deponia, and while the many will talk about the same things I have, this is one of those games where everybody reacts differently. If I were you, I would watch gameplay footage or read some more reviews before I bought this one.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.