While it isn’t unusual to see comments on certain games that will say the whole is less than the sum of its parts, there are sometimes unusual cases where the opposite can ring true. Sometimes you can simply choose to pick apart individual aspects of a play experience, and find them lacking, but when you then step away it can be surprising to find that the game can still somehow stick with you regardless. 9th Dawn Remake is an unusual title that somehow triggered this feeling in me, as on paper it absolutely has elements that are lackluster. Nevertheless, mixing this with some charm, as well as plenty of things to do and places to explore, it still left a positive impression on me.

Starting it up, you’d be forgiven for perhaps feeling underwhelmed. In an age where you can custom sculpt the 3D model of your distinctive character to suit your tastes, here things are much more old-school and basic. You’ll quickly find that the style of action-oriented play is also decidedly simple, with your character somewhat stiffly and unceremoniously executing attacks while trying to evade those of your enemies. It’s functional, but not terribly exciting, and you’ll simply need to keep an eye on your health to be sure to either run away when necessary, or keep the healing coming mid-combat as you continue to take on damage from tougher foes.

If that’s all there was to the game it would likely be a miserable slog, but if you give it some time and explore its lands you may find some nice surprises, as well as satisfying play, if you value the ability to simply do things your own way. You’ll find that depending on how you equip your hero you can choose to be just about any pure or muddled combination of classes you’d wish. The fact that your potency with certain classes of weapons will encourage you to find something that works for you and stick with it, but you really can go wild with how you trick your hero out, something that’s not terribly common these days. Throw in some mini games with obvious fellow indie game inspirations (that, unfortunately, are also pretty thin versions of them) that are odd, diverting, and fun, as well as plenty of quests and locations to explore and complete, and there’s just something satisfying about lingering in this world. Its production values may be humble, but there’s absolutely some heart and a desire to simply be different here that may not always work spectacularly, but is at least worthy of some respect.