Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

90%
Game Brain Score Based on 273 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Game Cover
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is incredible, with deep characters, a fascinating narrative, and an amazing soundtrack. It takes everything that made the original so special and amplifies it.
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A dice-driven RPG, in a human and heartfelt sci-fi world. You are an escaped android, with a malfunctioning body, a price on your head and no memory of your past. Get a ship, find a crew, and take on contracts while you navigate across the Starward Belt.

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Cloud
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
  • Xbox Game Pass
  • x_box_cloud_gaming
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

90%
Audience ScoreBased on 273 reviews
story68 positive mentions
grinding4 negative mentions
  • Incredible writing and character development that creates a deeply engaging narrative experience.
  • The gameplay mechanics have evolved, introducing new systems like contracts and stress management that enhance the overall challenge and strategy.
  • Beautiful art and music that complement the atmospheric storytelling, making the game a joy to experience.
  • Some players may find the new mechanics, such as the stress and dice breaking systems, to be overly punishing and frustrating.
  • The game can feel less challenging in the later stages, as resource management becomes easier and survival aspects are toned down.
  • Certain quests and character interactions may feel underutilized or repetitive, leading to a sense of sameness in some gameplay sections.
  • story200 mentions

    The story of "Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector" is widely praised for its depth, character development, and emotional resonance, often described as a beautifully crafted narrative about community, belonging, and survival in a dystopian setting. While some players noted that the main narrative can feel linear and occasionally repetitive, the engaging writing, rich world-building, and the introduction of new mechanics enhance the overall storytelling experience, making it a compelling sequel that stands on its own. Many reviewers highlighted the game's ability to evoke strong emotions and create meaningful connections through its character-driven plot and immersive gameplay.

    • “Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a masterpiece of storytelling and game design about the dream of independence and the reality of the world.”
    • “The story is deep and engaging, the writing is as sharp as ever, the characters and their design are endearing.”
    • “An amazing evolution of the first game in terms of story and gameplay, I actually got hooked right off the bat.”
    • “The story felt bland, somewhat repetitive, and the dialogue felt needlessly drawn out.”
    • “The story overall feels much weaker, and I think this is partially because the game is far less stationary than the first.”
    • “I did not realize that fetch quests could be implemented in a game like this, and it feels really bad compared to the first game, where everything sort of naturally fell into place.”
  • gameplay147 mentions

    The gameplay in "Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector" has evolved significantly from its predecessor, introducing new mechanics such as stress, dice damage, and a contract system that add complexity and tension to the experience. While the game maintains a strong narrative focus and engaging character interactions, some players find the new mechanics can be frustrating and punitive, leading to a sense of monotony in resource management as the game progresses. Overall, the gameplay is described as a mix of rewarding and challenging, with a blend of familiar and innovative elements that enhance the storytelling.

    • “The gameplay is thus a very different experience, as is the atmosphere.”
    • “The dice-driven gameplay remains at the heart of it all, but now with even more weighty decisions, risk-taking, and those nail-biting moments when a single roll could make or break your cycle.”
    • “It builds on both the narrative and the mechanics of its predecessor.”
    • “The game is packed with negative mechanics in a way that I don't remember the first one being: stress, broken dice, glitch gauge and dice, starvation, fuel requirements, and inability to repair partly broken dice.”
    • “Instead of facing challenges and becoming good at overcoming them, success in this game is really just keeping yourself from being hobbled by the plethora of negative mechanics.”
    • “I especially disliked that you could not repair dice that were only partially broken; it seems like a pointless limitation with little actual gameplay purpose, other than randomly forcing you into suboptimal situations at low-to-medium stress levels.”
  • music48 mentions

    The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its atmospheric and immersive qualities, with many praising the soundtrack as beautifully crafted and fitting perfectly with the game's mood. While some players feel the sequel's music doesn't quite match the impact of the first game's soundtrack, it is still considered stellar and enhances the overall experience. Overall, the combination of music, art, and writing creates a rich and engaging atmosphere that resonates with players.

    • “The music is stellar—moody, atmospheric, and effortlessly immersive.”
    • “Amos Roddy knocks it out of the park once again with his beautifully haunting soundtrack, and the UI design and 3D modeling is stylish and charming.”
    • “The music, meanwhile, is delightfully moody electronic sci-fi stuff that I never got tired of.”
    • “The first one had a better soundtrack.”
    • “Shuffled soundtrack is high quality but can get repetitive; endgame difficulty still loses steam (on standard setting).”
    • “I think I might like the soundtrack of the first one better, but is that an indictment when it was incredible?”
  • graphics15 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their beautiful art style, dynamic character designs, and immersive environments that enhance the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the refined visuals and compelling aesthetics, which complement the gameplay and storytelling effectively. However, some users have reported technical issues, particularly on hybrid graphics Linux setups, leading to instability during gameplay.

    • “An amazing art style, an amazing cast of characters, an amazing soundtrack, an amazing world, and an amazing story within it, and in all those regards, this game is no different.”
    • “The artwork is really great, I'm in love with the character design.”
    • “The art style complements perfectly the 3D models, and the amount of different places you can visit makes it even better.”
    • “None of this is explained in the 'help,' and there are no graphics in the 'help,' just dry text.”
    • “The game is very unstable on hybrid graphics Linux setups, so essentially laptops running Linux, with frequent and unpredictable freezing.”
    • “The art style feels more refined and explored in this iteration in a way I appreciate deeply, and aids even further in immersing you in the universe that's painted for you.”
  • emotional14 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is profoundly impactful, with players reporting deep connections to the story and characters that evoke strong feelings, including tears during pivotal moments. The narrative explores themes of connection, trust, and hope amidst adversity, enhanced by a beautiful art style and evocative soundtrack. Overall, it is described as a masterfully crafted experience that leaves players feeling deeply moved and reflective.

    • “So to start off, I cried at the end because this game is a thing of beauty and reassurance in these times.”
    • “Ultimately though, what matters above all of that is that the game is a masterful emotional punch to the gut.”
    • “An amazingly heart-wrenchingly good story about connections with others, trust, sense of self, struggling against a seemingly hopeless future and the hope and beauty that springs from all this.”
  • atmosphere8 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its engaging and immersive qualities, enhanced by a stellar soundtrack and thought-provoking writing. Reviewers highlight the combination of hard sci-fi elements with a unique dice RPG system, creating a rich and expansive experience reminiscent of top-tier tabletop games and visual novels. Overall, the atmosphere is described as fantastic, moody, and deeply atmospheric, contributing significantly to the gameplay experience.

    • “Fantastic atmosphere, great soundtrack, and the scope is much larger this time.”
    • “The music is stellar—moody, atmospheric, and effortlessly immersive.”
    • “Amazing atmosphere.”
    • “The gameplay is thus a very different experience, as is the atmosphere.”
    • “The writing and the atmosphere, as well as most of the gameplay, are very similar.”
  • replayability8 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while players appreciate the influence of decisions on narratives and the expanded exploration opportunities, many note that the limited branching paths and repetitive content diminish its long-term replay value. Some elements, like evolving companions and higher difficulty settings, do enhance replayability for certain players, but the consensus suggests it may not be substantial for everyone.

    • “Your decisions (and luck) will influence the broader narratives in these story segments, which offers tons of replay value, I'd imagine.”
    • “Love that we now have a lot more space and time to explore in a single run, but it still retains a decent amount of replay value.”
    • “Companions and contracts evolve the series foundation into a new experience; characters and writing are a cut above, quests are all killer, no filler, and the highest difficulty adds replay value.”
    • “That linearity isn't a problem while you're playing, but the lack of true diverging branches does hurt the replay value.”
    • “Despite some branching choices, most of the content stays the same unless you purposely fail certain interactions; replay value is limited.”
    • “The price of $24.99 is fair for this amount of content and quality, even if the replay value isn’t much.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often feeling that it lacks meaningful engagement and control over outcomes. The repetitive nature of filling up a clock through multiple rolls detracts from the overall experience, making it feel trivial and unmotivating.

    • “Most of the time you must fill up a clock over multiple rolls, making the outcome a bit too trivial to control and tedious to get to, on occasion.”
    • “Where I was struggling, grinding to find an edge and eke out one more storyline in CS 1 - now I don't see the point.”
    • “Some of the gameplay is unfortunately extremely tedious.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Character development is highly praised, with reviewers highlighting the compelling relationships and engaging writing that enhance the overall experience. The character designs are also noted as exceptional, contributing to the game's strong artistic appeal.

    • “The writing is great, the systems with the added crew missions are tense and fun, and the relationships are compelling. The character designs are amazing.”
    • “The artwork is really great; I'm in love with the character design.”
    • “Initial impression - writing, music, and character design are still top tier.”
  • stability2 mentions

    The game's stability has been criticized for being plagued by bugs and glitches, which can significantly impact gameplay, especially for new players. Many users feel that these issues detract from the overall experience, making it a frustrating sequel to the original.

    • “I enjoyed the first game, but this is very much a derivative sequel without innovation, and a buggy one at that.”
    • “The combination of dice breaking plus glitches can lead to a death spiral if you get very unlucky or if you don't know what you're doing (on your first playthrough).”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

85% average critic score

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