I first laid my eyes on REPLACED over five years ago. The game showed up out of nowhere with a trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase of 2021. It was a show that had everything from heavy hitters like Starfield, Halo Infinite, and Forza Horizon 5 to a Pirates of the Caribbean crossover. Sandwiched between all those trailers was REPLACED, an indie game by an unknown developer that had me instantly interested in its cyberpunk world and classy 2.5D visuals.
As you might have figured out, developer Sad Cat Studios missed the original 2022 launch window by a mile. Now, almost five years of waiting after the original announcement, the game is finally ready for prime time. I managed to spend a good chunk of time with the pre-release version of the game in the last few days as the developer focused on squashing bugs right up to the finish line.
Waiting for me in REPLACED was one of the most stylish and cinematic games I have ever played. I don’t think a fully 3D game in first- or third-person perspectives could have pulled this aesthetic off without some level of jank or quality loss.
My full review of REPLACED, which I will be referring to as Replaced from now on, follows below. I have kept story spoilers outside of the intro to a minimum to keep the narrative fresh for everyone jumping in.
Retro future
It’s the 80s, but it’s not quite our version of it. For once, there are flying cars and advanced AI programs already, but CRT displays and analog controllers are still in fashion. Everybody still loves neon lighting just like us though. And oh yeah, that advanced AI program might be being used to have the rich and powerful live longer at the expense of normal folk. Our unlikely protagonist is somebody who is deeply involved in this conspiracy.
Following a catastrophic event at the facility that houses the R.E.A.C.H. AI, the very program that matches clients with compatible ‘donors’ for harvesting organs gets accidentally transferred to a human. It’s this being’s journey through this dystopian world and how it witnesses the humanity outside the walls of this corrupt megacity that builds the narrative. It’s a satisfying story to go through and unravel, one that’s filled with hard lessons that our newly independent AI goes through while still grappling with its original binary and emotionless way of thinking.
Reach’s mission of returning to his comfort zone of being inside a server and fixing up his human host has him running into a number of eccentric characters. Outside of being impressed by the visual design, the character building is what hooked me into Replaced the most. Reach isn’t a very caring protagonist at first. It’s not altruism that has Reach helping the downtrodden in these situations, but it’s objectives that happen to align.
The story has us traveling through deep mining tunnels to confront cannibalistic tribals of this age, raiding through highly advanced scientific facilities and hacking its systems, and even blending in through the crowds in the busy streets of a supercity. Doing all this while looking cool is only possible thanks to the jacket we’re wearing. The only soft spot Reach has in the beginning is for his host. A one-sided internal monologue always keeps the player company as Reach apologizes for putting the body in danger and not making better decisions to avoid conflict.
The city that we left behind looms in the background of most environments, blocked by a massive wall to keep out the unwanted and those who have already been harvested of their organs. The outside environments show a world that has been abandoned for the most part, with nature already creeping back to claim it. The bridges have already collapsed, the concrete of buildings is crumbling, and the only safe haven for outsiders is an old train station that is barely scraping by.
This station is a returning element throughout the storyline and serves as a hub area for Reach to recuperate and meet individuals that want to see some change in this world. Despite the ramshackle nature, it is full of life. The hot-headed Tempest wants quick and explosive solutions to the stresses affecting this world. Living below the station, Yo-Yo is a little weird, but also a wiz with the machines to keep everything running. In a secluded corner, a kid is repairing old arcade machines (which you can set records in) in an effort to make more friends.
There are small side stories that Reach can stumble upon here, usually involving an errand or two all situated inside the station. These can range between finding food for a dog to granting the final wish of a dying old man. I enjoyed the simplicity of these interactions. The missions outside of this area have enough high stakes already, so making time to make someone’s life easier in the Station felt like a good way to pass the time. It’s such a rich world that I was always craving more NPC interactions and questlines whenever this area came back into focus.
Oozing style
Replaced is probably reaching the peak of how good a side-scrolling 2.5D game can look. The characters’ pixel art graphics coupled with the 3D environments and phenomenal lighting effects not only give each level distinctive looks, but usually has multiple distinct locations, puzzle types, and combat areas to keep things compelling.
If you look closely at my screenshots, outside of the characters, the rest of the world doesn’t follow the same pixel-art rules exactly. This allows for incredibly crisp and detailed environments and explosive set-pieces that look straight out of a high-budget action movie. Somehow, this combination fits together without even a hint of clashing. Even the handheld computer-like cassette tape device of Reach that tracks objectives and collectibles is a joy to fiddle with.
I was also impressed by how much depth the camera could show by shifting its angle slightly. That small degree of change only happens in cutscenes, but would give a whole new perspective, literally and figuratively, to whatever is happening on screen. The camerawork employed by the developer is outstanding, making me feel like I’m watching a classic noir movie.
It"s not just the story and the eye candy I was impressed by, as combat deserves its own mention. If you’ve played the Batman Arkham series, you should be familiar with this style of simple but satisfying fighting moveset. Other than the combos of the baton mode of Reach’s gun, he can counter attacks that come with a yellow warning on top of enemies. A red marker means it has to be dodged. However, new mechanics are introduced in almost every new chapter.
The broken weapon Reach finds is slowly fixed and upgraded to be a powerhouse of features. Instead of beating on goons with its baton mode, I was soon cutting open shields, exploding heads with sleek execution animations, and reflecting enemies’ own bullets back at them. Playing on normal difficulty (easy and hard also available), combat could get hectic if I started spamming buttons or panicking under fire. It can get quite unforgiving, with multiple enemies taking jabs and shots whenever possible. Once again, the camera angles pull a lot of weight here. The quick zooms and pans that pulse out during finishing moves make me feel like I did a lot more than just press a button.
Between the exploration and fights sit the platforming and puzzle sections. Platforming is never my strong suit. Thankfully, there are plenty of auto-saves that happen between larger climbing and enemy-avoiding sections to quickly redo them, which only happens due to my ever-present impatience. Only a couple of puzzles had me scratching my head for a minute, but usually they were satisfying and straightforward to figure out. Sad Cat Studios has done well to spread each type of gameplay out and give enough breathing room to not feel like something is overstaying its welcome.
Pre-release jitters
Despite the ultra-sharp visuals and lighting effects, and probably thanks to its 2.5D perspective and the letterboxing effect employed by Sad Cat Studios, Replaced isn’t a difficult game to run by any means. Its system requirements ask for a quaint GTX 1060, and I don’t have doubts about that claim either. Performance was never an issue in the hours I spent inside the game. My setup, with an RX 9070 XT 16GB-equipped Windows 11 machine, easily reached 400 FPS while playing at 1440p in most locations before I capped it to reasonable levels matching my 180hz display. It’s no surprise that the game is already Steam Deck verified.
The launch version of Replaced that’s landing today, April 14, should be a more stable version than what I had access to during the review period, according to the developer. There were multiple updates even over the weekend, all aimed at fixing a number of known issues. This included glitches that showed up when skipping cutscenes, a few longer loads, camera flickers, and UI problems. I even had a nasty softlock issue that completely stopped me from progressing through a level. I had to go through my press contact to receive instructions from the developer for rolling back my save to save the playthrough. This specific bug seems to be resolved following another update on Monday. Games that ship without bugs don’t exist, but I am hoping Sad Cat Studios has delivered on the promise of fixes that at least resolve any level blockers.
Conclusion
Sad Cat Studios has taken its sweet time and delivered a worthy game of the year contender. It’s the most cinematic game from this perspective I have ever played, one that is oozing style in every aspect. This is a lengthy experience too, one that can easily reach over 10 hours of gameplay if you’re the exploring kind. Despite the length, every scene that I came across, every new combat or platforming mechanic that was introduced, and every climactic moment all have a single common element: absolute cinema.
Whether I am talking about the dark cyberpunk setting, the writing, graphics style, sound design, effortless animations, lighting, or combat, Replaced has managed to peak in almost every department. If these are the types of games I get to experience after lengthy delays, sign me up for more please.
The pre-release build that I had my hands on admittedly wasn’t the most stable. I ran across several glitches in combat and even a mission softlock. The studio says they have all been resolved in the launch version. Even over the weekend, it was shipping updates that were fixing the very bugs I was seeing. This is still something to keep in mind though.
For the $20 it’s asking for, I absolutely recommend Replaced. With all the games that have been released this year, I’m calling this my current game of the year candidate. Even if you’re not into 2.5D games or retro-futuristic aesthetics, this is a game I suggest giving a chance. It just might blow you away.
REPLACED is releasing on April 14, 2026, on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store) and Xbox Series X|S for $19.99. It will also be a part of Xbox Game Pass on day one.
This review was conducted on a pre-release PC copy of the game provided by the publisher.
