So what to make of this one? I can't tell if this game was made in jest or to insult. I was a big fan of the original trilogy and while I didn't like the ending, I accepted it. What I don't accept is this game, which if it was ment to be a light heartened jest, then it has rubbed me the wrong way. A cross sequel/ prequel (time travel is always confusing), this game was advertised as:
Can you change Deponia's fate? Do you have what it takes to change Rufus' past, present and future without accidently destroying the whole planet? Fight time itself in this action-packed, platypus-tastic and insanely hilarious story.
Except that's not what entierly happens, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
So let's first start with the gameplay. It's your standard point-and-click adventure style you'd expect except they've added one new feature: Clicking! That's right, there are sections that will ask you to click a button for an action to take place. Not sure why it was added into a game like this when there was already a perfect formula, but at least it wasn't a quick-time event with random button combinations.
Graphics wise the game looks as beautiful like it's predecessors and the sound and music are great. At least, for the most part. See, one of the staples of the Deponia series is the Hazzah songs that a played at the start of the game, as intermissions between parts of the story and it's endings. They are catchy, entertaining and a great story summary's done in a fun way. Except in Doomsday they have only one song, the introduction Hazzah song and that's it. It really takes away from the experience of the first three games as this feels like a watered down version. It's a great song, though I have my issues with it.
So let's talk about my issues with this game and boy do I have some issues. As mentioned above, the game is advertised in a way that makes it feel that you can change a characters fate, except that by the end of the game not only have you not changed that fate, but the story seems more muddled then before. See, at the end of Goodbye Deponia, Rufus was placed in a position and had to make a choice. Rufus, Argus and Cletus (all dressed as Cletus) were stuck and Goal could only save one of them. Given that their transport was about to collapse and they needed to get back to Elysium to save Deponia, Rufus pointed to Cletus as being the real Rufus and chose to fall. Goal (now knowing that it was Rufus who sacrificed himself) rescues Cletus and they return to Elysium where Cletus, now dressed as Rufus, does his best Rufus impersonation and trying to think of Rufus ideas to save Elysium while Goal goes outside to look down on Deponia and of Rufus' true fate. It was sad and many fans felt that for a guy who one fell from a great (mountain like) height into a pile of needles and recovered from it fast enough, there was a possibility he could of survived (that and there was still a cloning factory).
Now enter Doomsday, were despite his sacrifice, Elysium still falls killing nearly all of it's residence. Some sacrifice huh. But now we see a frozen wasteland with monsters and an old Rufus using the last bomb to blow up Deponia. Why? How? Well, that's what you play the game for. We get into a story about time travel and while the first act uses it in a unique way, the rest of the game falls flat on it, going into a linear path. The Hazzah song at the beginning of this spells out the above quotes lie as that it belatedly points out that you can't change his fate, stop trying to find look whole, he's dead so just deal with it. They might feel this is a light heartened jab at fans, but it feels more like a middle finger (even if the song is good). Honestly, Day of the Tentacle did it much better in my opinion, but that's minor complaint. No, it's the build up of the story until you reach the Paradox City and once there the whole thing goes downhill. There's suppose to be meaning and connection in it, but one you get deep into it and them finally leave you get to one of the games big problems; The Utopians.
What was the purpose of these guys? I mean, they just seem to show up for the purpose of screwing everything up. Yes they don't want Rufus to go away from the original timeline, but how does saving Rufus cause the destruction of the Utopian homeworld and if it was that bad, would you not want a more positive outcome instead of being straight up jerks about it. They act so villainous that you can't take them seriously and just want to strangle them yourself. Also, why does their hair look like the same as Rufus and Goal?
Then there's the ending. So Rufus still falls and this time we are expected that he is dead-dead. Problem is, you just created a few time paradoxes and since the universe hasn't implode, that means we're getting down to the whole multi-verse theory. If we are to go there, then don't be surprised to see a multi-verse traveler Rufus who goes there to save Rufus just before he is killed. Seriously, that's what it's asking for.
As great as it was to hear the Hazzah crew, to hear Rufus and Goal's awesome voices, this game was completely unnecessary. It feels like it was made more out of spite then of love. If they just wanted Rufus to be dead, then just leave the series at Goodbye Deponia. Fans will always speculate and find loopholes, it's what fans do. This doesn't add to the series, it only takes away from the original trilogy. That and the steam brief just feels like a lie:
Can you change Deponia's Fate? -No you can't.
Do you have what it takes to change Rufus' past, present and future without accidentally destroying the whole planet? -No, cause nothing you do can change it.
Given that this game was a one off, that only makes it worse as if this was a more blown out trilogy (such as I mentioned above with the multi-verse idea) then perhaps it would feel more like it was leading up to something, but as a standalone it just simply does not live up to the originals. As a time travel story, there were many missed opportunities as well, such as going back and meeting the original whom Rufus was a clone of and the launching of Elysium. There was a bunch of history that was hinted at, but none of it was even touched on in this game. The game is still funny, there are plenty of great gags and still has much of the Deponia humour and moments the series is known for (for the most part anyway), but the game as a whole just felt a little misguided.
If anything, I highly recommend you play the original trilogy (it has a complete set on Steam, which is very handy) as it is a fun adventure to enjoy....even if I did just ruin it's ending for you...
...Yeah, sorry about that.
Edit: So it just occurred to me, in the introduction after Deponia's destruction and then time goes back, Rufus remembers that event. However, when the time traveler hits the glasses and breaks them, their conversation means that this was their first encounter. Meaning that until this point the two had never met, even with the time loop. This was their first encounter, meaning all that stuff in the intro with the Fewlocks and Deponia's destruction would have had to of happened before this all started. In other words, for a game to state that Rufus had died at the end of the trilogy, they clearly made a plothole that said Rufus would have to have survived it in order for these events to occur and the Fewlocks would have to have existed without the events in Chapters 3 and 6. This is why you don't do stories about time travel without going over the story a few times before releasing it.
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