Lev Lazinskiy

A Robot With a Soul

OPUS: The Day We Found Earth was released on Nintendo Switch this week. I picked it up and played through the main story in a few hours. There are few other games at the $5 price point that are worth playing in the Nintendo eShop. This simple game tells a very compelling story. Like most great short stories, it quickly establishes an emotional connection with the main characters and draws you in.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about video games as a medium for telling compelling stories. No one does this better than indie developers and the team at SIGONO delivers with this emotional adventure.

In OPUS, you play as a tiny robot who’s mission is to find the planet Earth in order to save the human race. You do this by exploring a vast galaxy from a space ship that is equipped with a powerful telescope. As you progress through the game you uncover additional parts of the space ship and begin to understand the curious circumstances in which the robot finds himself.

The game is short, the graphics are not revolutionary, and the game mechanics are very simple. However, where OPUS really shines is in the story that is told. The robot loves the woman who programmed him, he exhibits emotions, and you are quickly drawn in to feel sympathy and concern for his wellbeing. Coupled with the calming soundtrack by Triodust, you are immersed in the game and race against time to fulfill the seeming futile task of finding Earth.

I really loved this game. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Sigono and I would love to see more games like this in the Nintendo eShop.