Zero Punctuation Season 10 Episode 28 The Technomancer

In this episode of Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviews the action role-playing game The Technomancer. Set on a Mars colony in a post-apocalyptic future, the game follows the story of a young technomancer named Zachariah. Technomancers are a special breed of humans who possess the ability to manipulate electricity and use it for combat and various other tasks.

Yahtzee starts off by praising the game's world-building and its attention to detail in creating a believable sci-fi setting. He also mentions the game's companion system, where the player can recruit various characters to join them on their journey. However, Yahtzee notes that the companions have very little actual impact on gameplay and their interactions with the player character are limited to the occasional short dialogue exchange.

Moving on to the combat system, Yahtzee notes that The Technomancer has a unique approach to balancing the use of melee attacks and technomancy abilities in combat. While Yahtzee acknowledges the game's combat as being "pretty good," he criticizes the lack of variety in the enemy design and the repetitive nature of combat encounters. He also criticizes the game's difficulty; on normal mode, the game is too easy, while on hard mode, the game feels unfair and unbalanced.

The game's story also comes under criticism from Yahtzee. While he praises the game's attempts to create morally gray choices and consequences, he ultimately finds the story to be uninspired and filled with cliches. Yahtzee also criticizes the game's writing, specifically the poor dialogue and lack of character development.

The game's RPG mechanics are praised for their simplicity and streamlined nature, but Yahtzee criticizes the game's crafting system, finding it to be tedious and unnecessary. He also criticizes the game's use of a morality system, noting that it doesn't have much impact on the overall story or character development.

Yahtzee concludes the review by summarizing his criticisms of The Technomancer, stating that while it offers a decent sci-fi world to explore and a fun combat system, it ultimately falls short in its story, characters, and overall execution. He suggests that players who are fans of action RPGs and sci-fi settings may enjoy The Technomancer, but those looking for a more immersive and engaging experience may want to look elsewhere.

Overall, this episode of Zero Punctuation provides a thorough and entertaining review of The Technomancer, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. Yahtzee's criticisms are well-founded and provide valuable insight for players who are considering whether or not to pick up the game.