Have you ever played a game where, by the end of it, you go, “This sh*t should’ve been a movie”? Well, that was exactly what I said after recently rolling credits on 1000xResist.

Developed by Canadian studio Sunset Visitor, 1000xResist is a narrative-driven sci-fi adventure game that follows Iris, a girl whose parents immigrated to Canada after fleeing the 2019 Hong Kong protests. In 2047, most of humanity is eradicated by an alien race called the Occupants, who spread a fatal virus to the population, one that Iris is immune to. Iris is then taken by a group of researchers to be studied, who proceed to clone her—again and again, in the hopes of preserving her immunity. 

I’ll leave the synopsis at that for the sake of spoilers. This is a game whose narrative goes deep on a multitude of levels. Its themes are expansive, touching on the experiences of first-generation immigrants and the lingering intergenerational traumas that persist from said experiences—specifically within Asian communities. Furthermore, it uses the science fiction aesthetic to showcase geopolitical issues like the effects of a militarized, totalitarian government and the effects on such a society when an unknown threat looms over public safety. It does all of this through a character-driven, dialogue-first lens that has heart and an acute sense of cinematic subtlety.   

The problem, however, is that as a video game, 1000xResist is phenomenally boring. For as poignant as its narrative is, that narrative isn’t supplemented via gameplay. I’m perfectly fine with an explorative walking simulator (I love games like Gone Home), but none of the walking, exploring, or talking to NPCs here feels compelling. This world, for as unique as its art style is, feels hollow and unfinished. And the voice acting is oddly, for lack of a better word, “sleepy.” Seriously, I dozed off on more than one occasion while listening to some of these characters talk. And the few “puzzle” segments, which are the only truly engaging parts of the game, are comically simple and don’t feel like they serve the narrative. 

I still love this game and think it’s one of the most unique releases of the past few years. I understand all the comparisons to NieR, because tonally, yes, there are definitely a lot of similarities. But where every aspect of NieR’s incredibly fun and engaging gameplay positively supplements its themes and narrative, 1000xResist just feels like it should’ve been better off as a 10-episode animated series on Netflix.