What if we lived in a world where a seemingly benevolent Artificial Intelligence system controlled our environment and kept humanity safe? How would you handle the various tasks and situations that get thrown at you as a human caretaker of such an environment? These two questions lie at the core of D-Topia. Through a series of unique situations, you will be forced to make decisions that will have lasting impacts on the community that you serve. Is this game able to deliver a great gaming experience while grappling with these questions? Let’s dive in and find out!

For those who don’t know, D-Topia is a third-person choose-your-own-adventure game set in the future. In this reality, humanity has taken shelter within virtual worlds in order to prosper after an unknown set of catastrophes that happened in the real world. You play as one of the newest arrivals to your virtual world as a mechanic of sorts. Throughout D-Topia, you will find a variety of problems that require fixing and encounter various citizens who will help or hinder your ability to best serve the community. As you get used to the environment of your new home, you will begin to find various things change as you make each decision. Your choices will also change your relationship with the citizens you run into and determine what they think of you. 

The game is split into two distinct areas of play: the choose-your-own-adventure, where you will have to make choices that impact D-Topia and the various people that you run into, and various puzzles that will test your intelligence. There are some caveats to both of these areas that may or may not be enjoyable to certain players. For the choose-your-own-adventure part, there are plenty of times where you are shoehorned into making a decision even if it seemingly goes against what you have been doing for the rest of the game. As for the puzzle areas, there are some that seem fairly elementary while others are rather difficult. There was at least one puzzle that I stared at for probably twenty minutes, scratching my head since none of it made sense. It was only after flailing around with the controls that I happened upon what turned out to be a major clue.

The world building in this game is quite impressive. From the colorful cast of characters to the supposedly horrible outside world to the mice that inhabit the repair side of D-Topia, there is so much to take in and put together. There is no voice acting in this game, which means that if you want to experience this game completely, then you will need to read a lot of text. There are plenty of times where the dialogue is necessary filler, but also other times where the dialogue tells you fascinating clues about other Topias or provides insights into things going on within D-Topia.

Exploration is not encouraged within the game, but there is a lot to do during the various chapters that could easily be missed if you don’t have a keen eye. The music in the game is rather minimal, but that seems to reflect the overall art structure that exists within the virtual reality. Everything is primarily in shades of whites, grays, & blacks with almost no color beyond the faux plants and water. There will be occasional times where reds and greens are thrown into the mix in a prominent way, but that is primarily during significant points in the story.

Overall, D-Topia is a lovely indie game that you can play over multiple days amongst the various chapters or finish in one sitting if you have about 8 hours to spare. It is another home run by Annapurna Interactive, who continues to have an almost flawless streak in picking fascinating games to support. If you have played any other Annapurna Interactive supported games or have heard great things about them, D-Topia is a great one to pick up. The only players who I believe won’t enjoy this game are those who don’t like to read, as there is no voice acting.

That is probably the one thing that would’ve improved the game, as many of the supporting characters would benefit from their own quirky voices to amplify their personalities. It would also help to not sound like a lunatic when some of the dialogue options make you question if you are reading a little bit too much between the lines. If you are looking for other unique games from Annapurna, consider checking out my review for People of Note right here.

A PC review copy of D-Topia was provided by Annapurna Interactive for this review.

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D-Topia

19.99

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Great Story
• Interesting World
• Unique Game Mechanics

Cons

• No Voice Acting
• Some Unhelpful Tutorials