Here’s one of those legit objective viewpoints of saying that Esoteric Ebb isn’t really my sort of thing, but it’s an absolute masterpiece. A complete noob in the world of CRPGs, I would naively call this a text-based adventure with some really nice visuals. Want me to sum it up/dumb it down with something relatable? Disco Elysium in a helmet.
Raw Fury has been one of my favourite publishers for years, and whether it’s recognition for my hard grafting over the years of always delivering constructive reviews (unlikely), or there’s been a change of staff that has started to grant my review code requests, I couldn’t help but shoot prematurely for a chance to cover this game by Christoffer Bodegård. Sorry, there’s no way this is the efforts of one solo developer. Absolutely no way.
Despite being a veteran gamer and writer, I’m really not one for reading walls of text. I just want to crack on with it, though I truly do appreciate intelligent, engaging and typically witty wordplay. Visual novels used to be a genre that bored me to tears, but all it was was boring writers. Slop, for you TikTokkers. While talk of politics and endless laws of cities and states bores me to tears unless it’s Tolkien, I grimaced through the Esoteric Ebb’s introduction as there was the carrot-dangling of being able to create my avatar in my image. Not silly moustaches or poncy perms, but traits that would affect my fate.
If you’re skimming, let me drill a little and remind you that I’m not a text-based adventurer. I could appreciate Disco Elsyium, but it was a little jarring at how stupid it made me feel, while still being in awe of its prose. It was just a bit too much of a slog for this simple point and click adventurer. Esoteric Ebb is similar in the way your fine-tuned traits now come to life in the form of inner monologue. Strength is an alpha ‘I wait for no one’ characteristic that wants the guts and glory, while Wisdom is exactly that and a little more cautious in its tone. In fact, when choosing these traits, it isn’t a simple Baldur’s Gate approach as the game gives some guidance on how your character presents if, say, they’re full of Dexterity, or charmed up with Charisma.
The stats you invest in each trait don’t tame the inner voices, though they do affect the die you roll, which is essential to the experience. You can freely move your helmet around the lucious visuals, though predominantly everything is determined by your stats and chance. These stats influence the outcome, but are in no way a guarantee of what will play up. As a noob, this game of luck was incredibly frustrating, erratic, yet exciting. Even on the first death, I arse was clenching the faux leather of my 8-year-old Ikea chair, ripping the cracked textures with the pressure unleased from my cheeks. This was riveting. The game, not my bottom.
Esoteric Ebb is so slow, so calculated, that there is zero reason to rush through, and that’s an early spoiler: I have not finished the game and am conducting this review based on how impressed I am with it. I don’t anticipate I will finish this in my usual 7-day deadline, and as it’s already been released into the wild, if you’re sitting on the fantasy fence of, ‘Do I have enough on my PayPal account?’, then let me tell you: eff it: go ahead and buy it without question. It’s so incredibly unique, so refreshing and calculated, that I’m going to be premature once more and say this could be a GOTY.
Anyway, coming back to the pacing of the game, it’s incredibly slow. That’s not a negative. You move Helmet (or The Cleric) about methodically and interact with items, NPCs and potential traps with severe caution: you don’t want this good thing to end. Moving yourself about is completely free, though the battles are turn-based and aren’t limited to melee or ranged shenanigans. At your disposal are spells and your silver tongue. You can potentially manipulate a battle through speed or have an inner rhetoric with your multi-layered personality to decide on the best way to move forward. Spells are likely to feature, however, and these are effectively learned through memory, then allocated through physical interaction with shrines, making this just as methodical as your footsteps.
Like any RPG (note the ‘C’ is removed as I’m a Boy Scout), you have an inventory so you can consume goodies and wear the gear you locate on your adventure. Unlike some of the other games in this field, donning a cloak or wielding a crossbow isn’t going to increase your piercing damage and instead affect your personality. There’s a high chance that you might get some proficiency in the Strength stat, but at the detriment of your Intelligence. Seriously, Estoteric Ebb is the thinking gamer’s digital orgasm. That sounded better when I thought it through my fingertips. Moving on…
Regardless, Esoteric Ebb is absolutely mint. I am so impressed with what Christoffer has created, and could honestly give the finger to society and instead delve into politics. Even if it means I’ve only got five Earth days to embrace that. Think I’m fangirling about this? Go read some other reviews, or watch them if you don’t like looking at letters. Be aware: if it’s the latter, you may come unstuck with this. Christoffer, you’re an absolute fiend of the English language, and I salute you and your game, and kiss the feet of Raw Fury for the opportunity to delve into this madness. Highly recommended.
