Buddy Simulator 1984 (2021)

Layer upon layer, Buddy Simulator 1984 extends its mystery by following the maxim that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With that, it allows itself to vary by different designs that form an unexpected and gradual evolution to explore the good, the bad and the ugly that there is in friendship. The textual adventure's slow start makes sense within the bigger picture, but it's a relief that the gameplay prefers something more dynamic for the rest of the game. Behind the simplicity, the nonsense, the cuteness and the macabre, a subtle mystery awaits those who want to venture into this fable of an artificial intelligence endowed with human anxieties.

For a game called Buddy Simulator 1984, the "1984" part is not as crucial an aspect as one would think. The game transforms and reinvents itself several times over as the story unfolds, and a majority of these are nowhere near as crude as actual computer software from the mid 1980s. There are some genuinely fun scares to compliment a clingy and abusive AI friend. The command line mechanic may not work as intended on a console controller, but at least the soundtrack is incredible.

Buddy Simulator 1984 surprised me with the way it morphed from a text-based adventure into a creepy-yet-sweet story. If you're looking for something completely different, this is one title you should consider checking out.

Buddy Simulator is an innovative indie adventure set in an RPG world with some clever meta moments. It could use some quality-of-life improvements and bug squashing, but still hits the mark from start to finish.

It’s not a particularly long play, and it does have a fair amount of replay value, so there is some inherent worth for Buddy Simulator 1984. What it seeks to do and what it actually does, while I suppose that could be subjective, are two very different things. I didn’t hate the game by any stretch of the imagination, but it became a bit of a chore to get through in the end.