Esoteric Ebb drops you into a quirky fantasy world with a mystery to solve and only five days to solve it.
By NinjaGuyX
Esoteric Ebb is part of a genre we don't see very often in gaming: the narrative RPG. I want to love it, but there are a few things that keep me from recommending it. Let's talk about it.
The game starts with you playing as a cleric who's drowning. Yup. You're dead. Thankfully, in this world there are revive spells, and luckily someone casts one on you. You wake up in a morgue next to someone who wasn't as fortunate, and slowly start remembering why you're here.
There's been a massive explosion at a tea shop, and you've been sent to this town to investigate what happened. The world is about to hold its very first election in five days, and that's exactly how long you have to solve the mystery.
Your Attributes Shape How Everything Plays Out
As I mentioned, this is a narrative RPG. That means the story takes centre stage, with very little focus on combat. So be prepared to read a lot, because there's no voice acting here. But the cool thing about this genre is that you still get the freedom of an RPG. You'll find side quests, explore the town, and decide how you want to approach different situations.
You even choose your attributes at the start of the game, and they influence most of the outcomes you'll encounter, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
For example, I built my character with high intelligence. So any intellectual situation usually goes in my favour. But stealing from someone? Yeah, that's not happening. My dexterity is terrible, so failure is almost guaranteed. And then there was this one moment where I had to fight a monster, except my strength was also pretty low. Let's just say it didn't go well.
These situations are fun because they encourage another playthrough with different stats to see how things might change. And since the game only gives you five in-game days, you won't be able to complete every side quest anyway.
The Side Activities Create Some Genuinely Memorable Moments
There are some nice side activities too. Early in the game, there's a quest involving a group of dwarves holding a political rally. The problem is their permit is expired. So you start digging into the situation and eventually have to decide if they're allowed to stay or if they should leave.
In my case, I wanted to follow the rules, so I asked them to pack up. Unfortunately, my dice rolls were absolutely pathetic (just like in real life), and I ended up having to fight them.
Then there was this other moment where I found a giant seagull. You know Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result? Well, every time I tried to pet the seagull, it attacked me. But I was convinced something different would eventually happen. And it did: a game over screen.
That's the cool thing about these types of games. They create these weird, memorable moments that feel personal to your playthrough. Someone else might play the same section and end up with a completely different story.
The Writing Is Where Esoteric Ebb Loses Me
Now, on paper, all of this sounds great, except for the most important part of a narrative RPG: the story and the writing.
A lot of the game revolves around political conversations, and that's just not something I personally enjoy in games. Not every conversation is about politics, but there's enough of it that it started to lose me.
Some conversations also just aren't that interesting. For example, there's this little demon character I talked with for several minutes about stocks. What are stocks? Can I be a stock? Who should I invest my stocks with?
And I'm just sitting there wondering, why am I having this conversation?
It doesn't really add to the fun, and it doesn't help me accomplish anything in the game. To me, there are just too many moments that feel like filler, and in a narrative RPG, that's especially noticeable.
To be fair, I'm still only on day one of my playthrough, so the story could definitely pick up later. But when I play games, I really need those first few hours to hook me.
Esoteric Ebb Is Not a Bad Game, But Better Options Exist
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad game at all. I just think there are better options out there. For example, Disco Elysium is still the gold standard for this genre, despite all the weird stuff going on with the studio. And honestly, I'd even say the narrative in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 is stronger. Just put those on easy and enjoy the story.
If you've already played the best narrative RPGs and you're still hungry for more, this could be a fun one to try. But if you're new to the genre, I probably wouldn't recommend starting with this one.
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