Making friends is tough enough as it is, let alone when you’re the new kid in town. In Panoptia, you’re that new kid, so it’s time to explore your surroundings. The first thing that crops up is an ominous building in the town centre, which the locals aren’t too keen about.
Leaning a little on Omori and Mondealy, Panoptia is a top-down adventure that looks like an old-school RPG, though listed as a walking simulator. The genre has got such a bad name that when I saw this, felt it was unfair, but in reality, it is a walking simulator and pretty much on rails in most scenes.
That works in its favour as this narrative-driven experience MUST be explored. We’re all accustomed to these deceiving, cute-looking, pixel-art-like adventures with a hot rod engine under its hood, and this is no exception – exploring fears, anxiety and the power of the mind – EnricoSut has done a great job in storytelling.
Panoptia Review PC
Choices matter in the game, and you’re presented with a decision at the start that you might forget about until later. Choose your character’s name, head out into town, find out what the locals are babbling about, and get ready for a chase scene.
Returning to that walking simulator reference, getting the pacing right is crucial. Initially, everything feels a bit… iffy. Is this a comedy game? Will I be running back and forth, completing meaningless quests? Is there any point in my inventory? Does Panoptia exist? Ah… we’re onto something there.
In a short time, I’d sneak into the titular building, and that’s when the story kicks in. Without giving much away, there’s an element of duality here, and our hero experiences an alternate reality. Is it constructed, and if so, by whom? There are a fair number of questions, most of which will be answered.
Mind Mapping
Panoptia is split into three acts. Your character will explore various worlds to locate… a golden fleece of sorts, and with each retrieval, something happens, answering some more questions, and there’s a possibility that Sam Beckett might get home. Yes, explaining this without ruining it is tough, and I don’t do videos. Other than the screenshots, you won’t get the answers from me.
The gameplay is straightforward enough. You’ll walk around completely off-scale surroundings. That’s not just the abstract part of the narrative but the style in general. I’m not the biggest fan of this aesthetic, but it managed to win me over after the first 30 minutes – no doubt that’s due to the storytelling. I loved the art style of the ‘talking heads’ elements.
And, while we’re on the subject of presentation, there are short animatics throughout, similar to Omori and Ghostpia, and I couldn’t get enough of them. On the surface, they look like they’ve been made with MS Paint, yet I can’t express how charming they are. Profound, too.
Lifting The Lid
There’s no doubt that EnricosUt has either experienced some of the subjects encountered in Panoptia, knows of someone, or is just an excellent researcher. The topics are respectful and not gratuitous, nor does it make light of anything. Fear not – this isn’t likely to bring you down, but nowadays, everybody is triggered by something, so it’s relative.
It got a bit heavy a handful of times, and a few existential moments had me reaching for a grounding item. In the game, the save points are toilets, and when you encounter a new one, there are a few mindful statements that are very relatable; then, as you come back to the moment, you realise you have to wash your hands before you leave the room.
Panoptia isn’t with a few teething issues. I’d encourage regular dumps – sorry, saves- as the game seemed to hit a wall or quite the opposite a couple of times, and I lost my character on one occasion, so I had to reload. Repeated visits to one room would crash the game in one scene involving a pizza and while on one leg. This aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this on the Steam Deck and would encourage you to try the demo, at the very least.
