NaissanceE is a fantastic inversion of the tried and true image triple A dev smiling assurance to the consumer that of course they can climb that mountain, of course they can explore that city. It’s a grand presentation of paths you cannot take and horrifying, looming structures dripping with brutalist surrealism which you certainly cannot enter. Even the correct paths feel as though you shouldn’t proceed. It is, in short, a stunning simulation of the alienating horror of the modern cityscape.
The game hates you. Not in the overdone sense that somehow YOU are the real monster for playing, it’s structural (literally). The game loathes your advancement. It does everything it can to prevent it. I just walked into a staircase & it became infinite & I had no way out other than to load the last autosave. The game titled it “DumbChoice.” It has no specific malice for the player being a player, it despises the player by its nature as a city, an alien place, not meant for human life & comfort.
