Last year at Gamescom, I had the privilege of playing narrative-driven action platformer Replaced alongside studio co-founder Igor Gritsay. At the time, I was shocked by how cinematic and gritty the game already felt. Now, just a few days from release, I had the opportunity to dig deeper into some of its core themes with narrative lead Andrei Sulminsky and lead writer Kristina Buinevich. The game features a compelling cyberpunk dystopia where players control an AI named Reach, trapped in a decaying human body, navigating a post-apocalyptic 1980s America. This article will explore how Sad Cat Studios intricately weaves its narrative through environmental storytelling, tackling profound themes of dehumanization.
Replaced’s Dystopian World as Cyberpunk Reflection
“We are positioning Replaced as cyberpunk,” Sulminsky explains, outlining the game’s thematic foundation. “When we started to build the world and story of Replaced, a lot of the events and themes felt way too unsettling, unrealistic and unlikely to happen. But just seven years later, it’s starting to look more like a reflection of the world we’re living in right now.” The setting is a United States wrecked by nuclear catastrophe, with the shadowy Phoenix Corporation dominating Phoenix City, dealing in human life and body parts. This bleak backdrop allows the developers to dissect classic cyberpunk themes from a fresh and unsettling angle.
Exploring Dehumanization and the Disposals
Central to the game’s lore is the concept of the Disposals, a group of people cast out from society after being exploited by Phoenix Corporation for body parts, sometimes against their will. “This social segregation concept allowed us to explore classic cyberpunk themes from a fresh angle,” says Sulminsky. “Expect a lot of very personal stories about dehumanization and social atomization.” The narrative directly confronts extreme deprivation and the commodification of humanity, using the Disposals to personify the brutal consequences of unchecked corporate power.
Environmental Storytelling as Narrative Teacher
For lead writer Kristina Buinevich, the environment itself is a crucial character and a primary tool for Reach’s development. “From a narrative perspective, we had to make sure that the atmosphere created by our artists helped Reach learn as well, constantly providing more experiences of humanity,” Buinevich details. “As Reach spends much of his journey alone, we had to make sure even desolate areas still have a lot to teach him.” This approach transforms exploration into a narrative act.
Worlds Frozen in Time
The team meticulously crafted environments that serve as silent historians. “We tried to create environments frozen in time, telling the stories of people who left long before the events of the game began,” Buinevich says. “We wanted every individual area of the game to feel true to the spirit of a specific era, from the architectural style down to the signs and the prices of the menu inside an abandoned diner.” This commitment to detail demands extensive research, with every poster or date carved into bricks being the product of long hours of timeline checks to ensure a cohesive and authentic world.
The Evolution of Reach: An AI Learning Humanity
The protagonist, Reach, is an artificial intelligence constantly adapting through its new, decaying physical form. The game inverts a common sci-fi trope; rather than a human losing emotion, it’s an AI potentially gaining it. “The question of what it means to be human and how to remain human even in the most extreme situations will remain relevant for both Reach and the supporting characters from the beginning until the end,” Buinevich explains. “Throughout the game, Reach will undergo changes, but in what direction… who’s to say?” This ambiguity forms the core of the player’s journey with Reach.
The Role of Supporting Characters
Unlike many solitary platformers, Replaced features a cast of characters and even a dialogue system. “Reach, like any AI, needs something to learn from. In our case, the supporting characters and their stories act as that learning material,” Buinevich notes. “Through interactions with them, Reach gradually develops his own worldview.” These interactions include main story characters and side quest NPCs, with the narrative team expressing particular fondness for background characters, such as one who quotes literary classics at the player—Sulminsky advises players to “keep an eye on that weirdo!”
Creative Collaboration: Fusing Art and Narrative
Replaced is a visual tour de force, using its 2.5D perspective and dynamic camera work to create a deeply cinematic feel. This visual ambition is born from intense collaboration across disciplines. “When it comes to the creative process, the only way to get a cool result is constant collaboration, building and shaping something new out of each other’s ideas,” Sulminsky states. He reveals that one key story element originated as an art asset, and through collaborative iteration, it led to significant plot improvements, demonstrating the inseparable link between art and language in their process.
Choreographing a Cinematic Experience
This collaborative spirit extends to the game’s action sequences. “We were very concentrated on keeping Reach in the spotlight almost all the time to support the idea that this huge world is being experienced and interpreted by an AI,” Sulminsky says, explaining the approach to cutscenes and finishers. “I think that approach peaks in our combat finishers: every sequence is choreographed, animated and supported by camera work to capture the adrenaline rush feeling.” The team was willing to rework planned cutscenes on the fly to achieve greater dramatic impact, a flexibility crucial for the small, independent Sad Cat Studios team.
In Replaced, the desolation of Phoenix City is not merely a backdrop but the very medium through which its story is told. The game’s power stems from this synthesis: the meticulous environmental details that whisper past tragedies, the supporting characters who teach an AI about empathy, and the seamless collaboration between artists and writers that brings this cyberpunk reflection to life. It posits that humanity can be found not just in people, but in the artifacts they leave behind and the stories embedded in crumbling walls, offering a poignant exploration of identity in a world where both body and society have been picked apart.
