Dimension 20’s Mentopolis is a dark, dystopian take on Inside Out

polygon.com:

Mentopolis, the latest season of actual play from Dimension 20, is a heady (pun intended), trope-fueled noir. The show’s 19th season invites us to explore an entire city housed within the mind of one man, Dr. Elias Hodge, a lonely pharmaceutical researcher who realizes the work he’s been doing is unethical. Having long had doubts about the morality of his research, Hodge follows his conscience and impulsively steals an important file. The fallout from this act of rebellion causes a violent chain reaction from the powers that be, including inside his own mind.

Though Dimension 20 is known for its highly genre-focused narratives, Mentopolis takes this to a new level. This season blends the art deco aesthetics of Fritz Lang’s 1927 dystopian sci-fi filmMetropolis with thedevice of characterizing cognitive processes from Pixar’s Inside Out. Instead of Dungeons & Dragons, the game is played using a modified version of the rules-light Kids on Bikes system from Hunters Entertainment.

Hodge’s act of moral impulsivity is initiated by the wealthy heiress Imelda Pulse (Siobhan Thompson). She hires private investigator Hunch Curio (Mike Trapp) to tail newsie Conrad Schintz (Alex Song-Xia), who handed her a newspaper outside the speakeasy Sugah’s, run by Dan Fucks (Freddie Wong). Meanwhile, a larger conspiracy is in the works. The mayor of the city has hired The Fix (Hank Green) to “eliminate” Conrad’s subliminal moral messaging for being a distraction, and reporter A. Tension (Danielle Radford) is investigating the cover-up of a mysterious murder at Cerebell Pacific, the company that powers the city. The resulting story is a poignant meta-noir that examines the way systems of power coerce us into sacrificing our morals, happiness,