As every year, countless role-playing games appeared on Steam in 2024. Besides the big names, there are also some hidden gems that often go unnoticed. One of them is Depersonalization, which receives fantastic reviews, even though hardly anyone knows about it.
What is Depersonalization? Depersonalization is a Chinese role-playing game on Steam, developed by the small studio MeowNature. It is their debut work and presents itself visually in a pixel art style, reminiscent of beautiful RPG Maker games.
The character and creature designs reflect a mix of cosmic horror and anime. This is meant to be reflected in the presentation and the story. According to the developers, they were inspired by Call of Cthulhu role-playing games.
To be specific: Players can expect cultists, grotesque monsters, and an overarching threat that is hard to comprehend.
You can watch the game’s trailer here:
Cosmic Horror in Anime Style
What can players expect from the gameplay? Although it visually resembles JRPGs, Depersonalization is more oriented towards pen-and-paper gameplay. Dice rolling is involved, and there are multiple endings that offer different fates for the characters.
You should be able to create your own characters and progress through exploration in the story. Unlike a JRPG, the progression of values is always tied to the story. The different values should then allow you to access other story events.
How is the game received on Steam? On Steam, the game currently has a fantastic rating of 93% positive reviews out of 4973 reviews. Players particularly praise the mix of anime and Lovecraftian horror:
- ThatOneOtherIdiot:
A big hidden gem of a game. It is heavily inspired by Call of Cthulhu, and it plays like a TTRPG
- Berukastel:
A captivating Lovecraftian role-playing game with rich customization options, great expansion potential, and gripping gameplay that dives into cosmic horror.
- HNTMC:
Rich story and frequent updates, need to improve some things in English, but the rest is a solid game.
Is there a downside? As user HNTMC mentions, the game still has an English translation that needs improvement. As PCGamer explains, you first need to find out how to set the game to English. You need to click on the second option in the main menu and then click on the first option on the right.
How much does Depersonalization cost? Until January 2, you can get the game on Steam for the discounted price of €13.65. Otherwise, the game costs €19.50. Fans of Lovecraftian horror have been pleased with many games on the topic over the past few years. An upcoming game might appeal to Pokémon fans: A new game on Steam is like Pokémon, but set in a dark world with horror movie monsters
