Buddy Simulator 1984 – Spotlight

Buddy Simulator 1984 didn’t live up to my expectations. The game’s title and trailer suggested a style that is all too common in the independent game industry: simulators or a twee take on horror. In the end, it turns out that this game is quite different from the rest.

Launching the game immediately reveals the game’s underlying tenor. In the background, the computer whirs eerily and the jingle from a 1980s CRT monitor fades in and out as the logo appears on the monochrome display.

While it may appear to be an innocent introduction, it’s actually quite creepy when juxtaposed with the friendly nature of your buddy’s introduction. Afterwards, they’ll ask you a few questions about yourself, and then the game gets started. Once you start reading, you’ll never want to put it down.

From this, it can be inferred that your A.I. buddy’s only desire is to be your friend and to bring you joy. Whenever a text-based RPS game becomes tedious for your pal, he or she comes up with a new strategy to impress you.

The buddy’s quest for self-improvement is sparked when he or she is given access to the game files. If it doesn’t get you excited, it will look for new ways to ‘upgrade’ the game and change up its mechanics.
It begins as a top-down text adventure before transitioning to a monochrome top-down RPG. It’s an interesting evolution. For the rest of the game, the stakes will only rise.

Your friend sees the game world as a never-ending project. In order to please the player, it is able to transform itself into something completely different.

While constantly evolving, the game still manages to provide robust, classic RPG mechanics with a unique twist.. Top-down RPGs of the ’90s, like EarthBound and more recently, Undertale, are a big influence on the game’s design.

You’ll be able to choose from a wide variety of characters, each with a unique set of skills, in the near future.
Battles are turn-based, but the controls are a little different this time around. Attacks and defences both require precise timing of button presses, so the success or failure of an attack is entirely dependent on the player’s reflexes.
As in the Paper Mario games, this prevents turn-based combat from becoming tedious. Defending yourself and striking at the right time is up to you.

Similarly, enemy attacks are constantly changing as the game introduces new strategies for each individual opponent. You and your party members each have their own unique abilities and attacks. When it comes to defending and attacking, pressing the right buttons at the right time is always the key, but the game makes it feel tactile and satisfying.

As with the puzzles used to break up the game, the battles never get too difficult but are still enjoyable. However, these finely crafted features are the icing on the cake. Buddy Simulator 1984 focuses more on your relationship with the game’s protagonist – the buddy – than on the actual quest you complete..

Everything else in this game is secondary to the primary goal of the alleged A.I. software: fostering human-to-human relationships. Having your friend take control of the programme is what causes the RPG action that follows. As long as you’re having a good time, the buddy is always there to keep an eye on things.

This artificially intelligent sidekick keeps a close eye on the action. Comment on what is going on, or congratulate you on your victory in a battle, or commend you for doing a good deed. Also, if you do something ‘wrong,’ like going somewhere you weren’t supposed to or touching something they told you not to, they will get angry and frustrated with you.

You’ve already gotten a sense that something is amiss because the player is free to obey or disobey the buddy at various points in the game. Chipper tones of the soundtrack make you believe in a utopian world; however, the game will at times break, revealing some unexplainable, hidden depravity before returning you to your normal routine.

Everything you do and everyone you meet in the game is tainted by a deep sense of unease. In one sense, the supporting cast is essential to the film’s atmosphere, but in another, it’s completely meaningless.
The game features a diverse cast of characters, each with a sinister backstory. The majority of people want to be your friend, but there is an underlying insincerity to it all. Even if you defeat an opponent in battle, they may end up becoming a close friend.

When you give up, your friend is left with a tinge of dread that you won’t return. A great job was done in portraying them as if they really did reside in your computer, anxiously awaiting your return. It’s alarming, but at the same time, it’s sad.

On the one hand, the game is a well-crafted commentary on friendship, loss, and love. On the other hand, the game raises important questions and concerns about sentient AI. For Buddy Simulator 1984, artificial intelligence is used as a means of distilling the complexities of the conscious human mind into an equation that can be better understood. This is a strategy used by games like Portal 2 and others.

Playing through Not a Sailor Studios’ six-hour-long game is an absolute joy. It defies convention at every turn, from its gameplay to its story to its cast. It also does an excellent job of balancing its own complexity, resulting in an experience that is both unsettling and engrossing, ridiculous yet poignant. The game encourages you to play again because there are so many different endings to discover.

Here’s one to keep an eye on. Get ready to be pleasantly surprised in a variety of ways…