Deponia
Deponia is the first game I’ve played by Daedalic Entertainment and I’ve picked it up without any expectations, as the reviews on GOG and reddit were very mixed with quite few straight out hating the game. I must admit that the criticism is often just, but the final verdict however is mostly not. It’s a game with numerous flaws and issues and you could nitpick to death, but it is still entertaining, fun and very enjoyable game.
It appears that most hate comes towards the main character Rufus, and it’s understandable: he is narcissistic, egocentric and doesn’t give a damn about anyone else but himself. Our only objective is to get his ass out of Deponia no matter what. But there are plenty asshole characters in movies and games, and often they are even much more lovable than the good guys, so what’s wrong with Rufus?
The main problem with him is that he is quite hard to relate to. Sometimes he does something that no real human would ever do and thus it is really hard to accept him as a main protagonist of the story. Nevertheless sometimes he seems like he can laugh at himself or accept his own clumsiness and failure with a bit of humor, and that really works great in his favor.
Other characters are though are very likable, everyone is unique and have a pretty decent voice acting. Almost everyone dislikes Rufus or at least likes to tease him and make fun of him, and that’s where the most humor from the game comes. And it’s pretty darn good! There were quite few times that I just burst out laughing of the smart-ass comments made towards Rufus. Interestingly enough, even Rufus himself seems to appreciate when the sarcasm was especially good.
The story is quite simple with some twists and turns: Rufus attempts yet another escape plan from a junkyard of a planet called Deponia to a paradise like place called Elysium. This time he almost succeeds: he manages to get on the train that goes to Elysium, but unfortunately for him, there is some kind of conspiracy going on. Trying to be a hero he accidentally knocks down Goal, an important Elysian girl, and gets knocked down back to Deponia himself.
Goal is unconscious after the fall and the first quest of our protagonist is to wake her up with some strong-ass coffee. Given there is no such thing as coffee in Deponia, Rufus must improvise. This quest takes at least one-third of a game and reminded me of Day of the Tentacle: it’s highly nonlinear, you can run around wherever you like around the town and get the ingredients in whatever order you like.
Even though I loved the complex puzzles to get the coffee, this part drags a little bit as most of the items you’ll need to get are not simply laying around for you to pick up. Unfortunately I had to use a walkthrough for one puzzle, which I think was not hinted properly and it was not exactly clear what was happening with failed attempts.
Anyway, once that’s done and the coffee is served, the game really sets off. The remaining half of the game is especially fun to play, with clever puzzles that are hinted well, but never too well, so you’ll really need to scratch your head for some of them. Some of them might even require you to step down from the game, go out with your dog and return with the solution. I just love these kind of puzzles!
The story from there on flows nicely too: almost every puzzle you solve will deliver something in return. Not that it’s the most fascinating story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but it keeps the game interesting enough to keep on playing. But honestly, I was looking forward for what other puzzles are yet to come, rather than what’s next for our protagonist Rufus and his dream girl Goal.
Regardless of many shortcomings, it was still a very enjoyable game, creative and fun puzzles together with beautiful cartoonish graphics and fun characters make up for whatever is lacking. It might not be a ground braking game, but if puzzle driven games are your cup of tea, it is something you should definitely check out. I for once, am looking forward to the remaining 3 games!