1000xResist

1000xRESIST
Developer(s)	Sunset Visitor
Publisher(s)	Fellow Traveller Games
Director(s)	Remy Siu, Kodai Yanagawa
Producer(s)	N. Tan
Programmer(s)	Colin J MacDougall
Writer(s)	Pinki Li, Conor Wylie
Composer(s)	Line Katcho, Drew Redman
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release	9 May 2024
Genre(s)	Adventure, Visual novel
Mode(s)	Single-player

1000xResist (stylized as 1000xRESIST) is a 2024 video game created by independent developer Sunset Visitor and published by Fellow Traveller Games for Windows and the Nintendo Switch. The game is an adventure video game in which players assume the role of a clone named Watcher, in the post-apocalyptic far future where aliens have eradicated most of humanity through a global pandemic, leaving only a small society of clones behind. Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to its narrative and treatment of themes relating to the experience of members of diaspora communities, the legacies of conflict, intergenerational trauma and the coronavirus pandemic. Several critics described 1000xRESIST as one of the best games of 2024. Following release, the game received nominations for several awards at the 2024 Independent Games Festival, including a shortlist for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Gameplay

Gameplay involves environmental exploration and conversational choices, similar to walking simulators. In many levels, players can jump forward or backwards in a given memory to explore previously inaccessible areas, or to see characters experience different time periods. Unlocking these additional time period can assist the player in completing a puzzle or conversation. The game features many optional conversations and interactions. In some segments, the player enters focuses on a specific memory of a conversation by entering an abstract space, slowing time and interacting with floating spheres to fly between them to locate the characters who had the conversation. Whilst in the Orchard, players can display a map of the area and a minimap to show waypoints of interest.

Plot

The story of 1000xRESIST is presented in nonlinear fragments over the game's ten chapters. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future after humanity was nearly eradicated in 2047 by an alien force known as the Occupants. Following Occupant invasion, the date of many of the game's sequences is ambiguous. Humans are nearly extinct due to a pandemic brought by the Occupants that causes moisture to drain from the eyes of the afflicted. Many years after the pandemic, remaining human life inhabits an undersea vessel, the Orchard, led by the Allmother. The Allmother is a survivor of the invasion of the Occupants, one of few known to be immune to the pandemic. She creates clones of herself called Sisters, each with a specific role and purpose in the Orchard, such as Principal, the overseer, Healer, the doctor, Fixer, the engineer, and Knower, a librarian. The Allmother promises Sisters a blessing of immunity in return for their service. The player assumes the role of Sister Blue, a Watcher who is tasked to record and interpret the life story of the Allmother through a process known as Communion. During Communion, the Watcher is accompanied by a floating Familiar, Secretary, and embodies and is treated by others as the Allmother.

Exploring memories in fragments and out of order, the player explores the Allmother's memories through the perspective of her former identity, Iris Kwan. The player can only navigate the spaces of these memories in places that Iris remembered or dreamt about. As the player navigates these memories, they learn about the relationship between Iris and her parents, who emigrated from Hong Kong during the 2019–2020 protests, and her high school friend Jiao, who recently emigrated from China. Iris shares a complex relationship with her mother, who is strict and domineering and struggles with her mental health as a result of her experiences during the protests. She also has a complex relationship with Jiao, her only friend, whom she bullies for her use of Mandarin and connections to Chinese culture despite her affection for Iris. During this time, the Occupants appear as a large red body floating in the sky, with several students falling ill, ultimately including Jiao. Despite protest from her parents, Iris decides to leave home after authorities offer to study her for her immunity against the disease. After her death, Iris carries a picture of Jiao, which talks to her.

Fixer, another clone who has left the Orchard, hijacks the Watcher's first Communion and warns Watcher that the Allmother is not what she seems and talks with the Occupants. Although Watcher shares a relationship with Fixer, she confides with Principal, the lead clone, about her behaviour. Principal orders Fixer to die and that all of the Sisters commune with Watcher to prove their loyalty. As the Watcher undertakes further Communion, they learn that the Allmother is less virtuous than they appear. One memory of the Allmother sees the youngest of the first five clones, the Ancient Sisters, attempting to clone Jiao. In response, the Allmother punishes the Ancient Sisters by stripping them of their immunity, and departs the Orchard for the Other Side, a place outside the reach of the clones. Back in the present, the Orchard is affected by a collision with an occupant. Watcher discovers during a Communion that the Occupants are also able to commune with the Allmother. In this process, Watcher discovers that the Allmother accepted the powers of the Occupants. Disillusioned, the Watcher takes the train to the Other Side to confront the Allmother and stabs her. Principal attends the dying Allmother and reveals she is the youngest of the Ancient Sisters. Watcher escapes the Orchard as it slowly engulfs with water.

After the Allmother's death, a Provisional Government is established by the High Minister, Knower, and Watcher is captured. Watcher reveals to Knower that Principal has manipulated the communions to motivate her to kill the Allmother, and Knower reveals that fixer is still alive. Knower attempts to extract a confession from Watcher, and removes her eyes when she refuses. In this time, the player assumes the role of a bartender, 48, who lives in the Old Town beneath the Orchard. When their partner at the bar is killed, they vow to bring down the Provisional Government. Being promoted to work in the Orchard and renamed as Blue, they stage an explosion with the assistance of Principal, who wants to eliminate the last Sisters of the previous generation. Watcher is rescued by Fixer and Blue, who stages an attack on the co-operating Knower. Blue escapes and meets with Fixer and the others. Blue and Watcher are entangled after Blue communes during the explosion, being exposed to Watcher's memories. As Watcher is dying, she communes with Blue and reveals the Occupants are communicating through memories, and that the truth can be revealed if Blue is able to unite all three of the Familiars to summon an Occupant and trigger a mass communion. The surviving Sisters and various factions against the Provisional Government unite to stage an attack.

After the mass communion is triggered, Secretary merges with the remaining Occupant. They provide the player with the choice to keep or erase each of the surviving characters in the world, determining their fate. In the epilogue of the game, an unnamed character accompanies Blue to visit the graves of characters marked throughout the Orchard.

Development

1000xRESIST was created by Sunset Visitor, a four-person development team based in Vancouver, Canada, with backgrounds in theatre, new media, dance and performance art. Creative director Remy Siu stated the game began as a prototype in March 2020 following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, during a period when the developers were unable to perform or tour and decided to enter video game development. The characters in the game were animated using Rokoko motion capture technology.

1000xRESIST was announced with the release of a trailer in September 2022, and a demo was showcased at Steam Next Fest in February 2023. The full version of the game was published by Fellow Traveller on 9 May 2024 on PC and the Nintendo Switch. The game was distributed as part of a Summer Narrative Celebration Humble Bundle in September 2024.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	NS	PC
Metacritic	86%	85%

Review scores

Publication	Score
	NS	PC
Destructoid		85%
Edge	8/10
Eurogamer		4/5
IGN		9/10
Nintendo World Report	90%
TouchArcade	5/5
Financial Times
Paste		9.7
Siliconera		90%
Softpedia		4/5

According to review aggregator Metacritic, 1000xRESIST received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, with the site identifying the game as one of the highest-rated of the first half of 2024. Several critics described 1000xRESIST as one of the best games of 2024.

Many critics praised the game's themes, with reviewers noting its content explored the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the experiences of members of diaspora communities, and of conflict and intergenerational trauma. Tom Faber of the Financial Times stated the game explores "existential themes and contemporary global politics with a sophistication and maturity that are still lamentably rare in gaming". Josh Torres of RPG Site lauded the game for its "illustration of the different struggles of immigration across generations", highlighting its treatment of themes around intergenerational trauma, conflict and the "intricacies of Asian diaspora". Considering the game to defy summarisation or simple metaphor, Alexis Ong of Eurogamer similarly discussed the game's treatment of the "invisible", "ugly and gruelling" effects of immigration and eventual assimilation.

The writing of 1000xRESIST was similarly praised. Faber considered the game to be a "feat of storytelling" and commended the game's "uniformly superb" writing as "poetic, poignant and humorous". Ed Smith of PCGamesN stated the game "might be the best videogame story ever told", highlighting the developers' "command of dialogue, characterization, staging, symbolism and visual metaphor". Finding 1000xRESIST to be "purposed" in its writing, Michael Higham of IGN highlighted the game's worldbuilding and characterisation, praising the characters as fully-formed, rich in personality and expressing genuine warmth in their interactions.

The visual presentation received generally positive comments. Oisin Kuhnke of VG247 described the game as "visually stunning" and "the most boldly art directed game of the year". Higham did not consider the game as graphically impressive, but expressed that the game let "its creative techniques speak as loud as its words" through the use of "striking" colors and camera angles. Faber found the game's graphics to "underwhelm" but be compensated by a "strong" and "stylish" artistic direction.

Accolades

1000xRESIST was nominated as a finalist for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Excellence in Narrative and Nuovo Award at the 2024 Independent Games Festival. The game also received a nomination for Best Storytelling at the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards.

External links

• Official website