Gnosia (Nintendo Switch) Review

Right off the bat, Gnosia is just a really weird experience. It is completely confusing what is happening at first, and the cast of characters feels more like those you would find at a carnival. The dialogue can be repetitious, the music only has two-three songs, and the gameplay can become a grind - but despite all of these negatives stated up front, the game is one of the more interesting, heart-filled titles that have come out in a while.

The premise of it is relatively simple, taking 'Traitor' games, such as Werewolf, Battlestar Galatica, or Mafia, and making it into a single player experience. Each round a player will find themselves into a random setup, ranging from 5-15 characters, and any role from the alien (called 'Gnosia') to humans, to third parties. Each loop, they must listen to characters, interject when appropriate, and help vote off the enemy. When the round is over, players get some experience to put into stats, and start back with a new setup.

Early on, expect many losses as the 'debate stats' aren't that high, and as a player you do not know what is happening. Yet, there is no punishment - in fact much of the true story is only revealed during losses. This weaves a slow plot into the gameplay, explaining why people are randomly assigned positions, and why the player is time-looping. Imagine a type of a party game that can be played quickly over and over, yet slowly starts to construct a larger narrative.

Debates have the player and the AI doing battle over who to suspect. Interestingly, if you say too much the computers start suspecting you for being 'suspicious.' Likewise hang out in the shadows and get called out for it as well. Whoever the player attacks starts to like them less, and becomes a target, making it a delicate balance of who to upset while trying to survive.

Cleverly, this has a serious 'meta' aspect to it, where the player must learn about each AI character's personality to beat the game. There are those that are vicious liars and selfish who will slit the players throat even when on the same team. Then there are those who are loyal and dislike lying, who are prefect allies, easy enemies, and worst case scenario, easy targets to get people off of your back if things get desperate.

There are problems certainly. The stat system, despite explanation, is still highly obfuscated. It is very unclear what exactly boosting, say, 'Logic' does, compared to 'Charisma.' Likewise, certain lines of dialogue get repeated very often, which is a bit of a drag. Some runs come down to pure luck. All these being said though, this beams with heart. The way AI handles situations is masterfully well done for how much it outright encourages a 'meta' aspect to learning the characters - and ironically weaving this into the overarching story itself.