"Can Feel Like An Exercise In Frustration": Sanabi Review
Who doesn’t love a good grappling hook? Recent pixelated platformer serves up swinging gameplay and cyberpunk style, with a surprisingly dense narrative that can't get out of its own way. There are some unquestionably good vibes to be had in just swinging and parkouring around gun-toting robots and bottomless pits, but the game’s script was in desperate need of another pass, resulting in constant pacing issues that intrude on the playable content.
The primary touchstone and inspiration for must be 2019’s one-hit-death action masterpiece. As in that game, players take on the role of a nimble veteran embroiled in a heady plot full of sharp turns under the thunder of a persistent synthwave soundtrack, picking apart their fractured memory after forging a relationship with a mysterious young girl.
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An introductory sequence satisfies two objectives: getting players used to the controls and setting up a devastating loss for the unnamed protagonist. Sometimes referred to as “the general,” he sets off on a infiltration mission of revenge into the vast cyberpunk metropolis known as Mago, run by an all-seeing corporation of the same name, a nightmarish mix of Amazon and Tesla. His only lead for the perpetrator of the crime is the mysterious word “Sanabi,” and his only weapon is a massive grappling hook prosthetic known as the “chain arm.”
The game’s stylish and densely detailed pixel art greatly varies in terms of quality and effect throughout. At times, the presentation is weirdly flat, with plain washed-out backgrounds and a feeling of blank emptiness. Then, at other times, it’s incredibly busy and distracting, with scrolling backdrops layered with crowded
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