I think it’s something of a miracle that Replaced is with us, given the development journey it’s been on. Originally intended to release four years ago, in 2022, the game’s development was impacted by the Russian-Ukraine war. The devs at Sad Cat had to relocate to Cyprus to continue. I can only imagine how jarring that must be for them. Thrust into a completely unfamiliar situation, surrounded by new faces and exploring new emotion whilst trying to figure out what’s going on… Much like our protagonist in Replaced.

In honour of the protagonist’s adventure, our headings are initially in binary and then translated to English

01000010 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01010010 00101110 01000101 00101110 01000001 00101110 01000011 00101110 01001000 00101110 (Bit of a R.E.A.C.H.)

Our story is set in a cyberpunk retrofuture, 1980s America. Warren Marsh, a scientific researcher, has created an Artificial Intelligence (AI) designated Research Engine for Altering and Composing Humans (R.E.A.C.H.). He uses R.E.A.C.H. to identify best organ matches to “defeat death”. He does this by cataloguing the best organ donors for the right patient. It is accessed via a neurolink. During a session with the AI, a mishap at the lab occurs. R.E.A.C.H. ends up inhabiting the body of Warren.

Now, playing as Reach, through Warren’s body, you must escape a now hostile lab. Once away, you must gather yourself, and then try to find a way to get back to the lab. Hopefully to to reverse the mess you’re in. It isn’t long before you stumble across others away from the metropolis that is Phoenix City, Disposals. They are the people who illegally had a body part harvested. Because of R.E.A.C.H.’s existence they were idnetified as a perfect match. Whether they were a donor or not. This reality, and the impact it has on people, is something that Reach must come face-to-face with.

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Over the game’s ten chapters, you’ll see Reach learn about life, companionship, and what it means to be…human. I felt the story was incredibly well told. It was all done through text boxes, rather than vocalised characters. Sad Cat has managed to convey a heartfelt and emotionally charged story. It feels like it could be a film. The cinematic storytelling is excellent, and it takes its time at certain moments to let key plot points, or story beats hit their mark. Reach’s self-reflection is something I enjoyed. He maintains a logical, AI patter, referring to Warren, as if he was talking to him. I noted this particularly in the earlier chapters which was a clever touch.

No spoilers, of course, but I found myself totally invested in the story, it had moments that made me smile, feel despair and the occasional “woah” moment. There are some standard tropes you might expect to see in a story about “fighting the machine” (literally!), but it never feels like a stereotype or predictable. The ending left me feeling satisfied and reflective. I sat through the epic music during the credits and just let them run to the end.

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I think the story feels so impactful, in part due to the world that Sad Cat have created for Replaced. The game looks incredible, opting for a 2.5D game with a pixel art style, the care and attention to detail in the environments is excellent. You get a true feel for what this 1980s alternative America is, how it works, what people do, both inside the city and outside, and how those two different sets of people exist in their fineries or squalor.

You’ll travel from the lab where it all starts out into the wilds of the countryside around ‘the wall’ (what keeps Disposals out of Phoenix City), through abandoned mines, teaming with feral humans, called Termites to scaling security stations teaming with turrets, drones and attack on site enemies. I loved adventuring through the world in Replaced, the populated areas felt alive and painted a story of many different lives. From the back-alley streets of the city to the bustling hubbub of the Disposals’ market,  it felt alive.

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Approaching these as an AI guised as a human forced questions that meant explaining why people are experiencing hardship, or why someone feels a certain way about a situation. The snapshots of life in Replaced captured either through the game’s narrative or the many logs you can find all add to a rich lore that I enjoyed learning about.

The game is largely focused on exploration, some light puzzle solving, sneaking sections, and combat with enemies. As you progress, you’ll unlock new weapons, skills or abilities that add to the diversity of exploration. Replaced introduces new mechanics well, incorporating them at a good pace so that it never feels overwhelming or confusing of what you can, or can’t do. The puzzles to progressing never felt obtuse or difficult to work out. A couple required a moment to stop and think, but I always felt doable.

01000110 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001101 01100001 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100101 (Fight the Machine)

The combat in Replaced is great. It’s got a Batman: Arkham vibe to it, in that it’s brutal, satisfying and methodical. It isn’t a ‘mash the X button until everything’s dead’ kind of game. It’s more methodical that that. Enemies attack with parry-able and dodge only type attacks, telegraphing with a visual cue over their heads. You rarely fight more than one enemy at a time, so you need to keep your wits about you, and there’s a good mix of enemy types too. Some enemies with weapons or explosives, and there are those who are incredibly nippy, forcing you to counter attacks. Shielded enemies and aren’t vulnerable to your normal melee until you’ve removed the armour with your pickaxe. From standard soldiers, long-range shooters with grenades to hulking Elite covered in armour, you’ll need multiple approaches and tactics to succeed.

You also acquire a gun later on, but its charge is based on kinetic energy, so you need to do melee damage to build up charge to fire of a shot or use it for a satisfying finishing move. Other combat abilities get introduced later on which gives you an edge in battle, but then the enemies increase in difficulty, so they keep you on your toes.

01001001 11100010 10000000 10011001 01101101 00100000 01010010 01100101 01100001 01100011 01101000 00101100 00100000 01001101 01100001 01101110 (I’m Reach, Man)

I felt the combat worked well and was super satisfying, the hits felt crunchy and visceral and the different combat mechanics were well integrated. Although I got an absolute beating at times, it never felt unfair or because the mechanics did not work. Usually, a result of me trying to be too greedy resulted in me taking a hit or dying.

This extends to the several boss battles that take place at certain points. They were tough but not in a Soulslike type way, or an unfair way. The combat area and threats you face in the boss fights felt manageable. You could learn what to expect and react to in a fight quickly. I enjoyed them, and felt like they were part of the narrative, rather than a boss fight at the end of the level for the sake of it.

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Your edge in combat can be improved by exploring the world thoroughly and collecting the various weapon and health upgrades scattered around. Along with the aforementioned lore, there are also some really enjoyable music tracks to find (which I really enjoyed) and side quests in some of the chapters.

The side quests in particular were great, adding to the narrative of the characters and locations in the game. Never onerous either, they were self-contained within the chapter they are given in. Some of which get you to play three arcade iterations of classic videogames like Frogger and Space Invaders!

For achievement hunters, there’s plenty to keep you busy. Many of them revolve around combat and the collectibles, upgrades and pickups in the game. Alas, there is no chapter select. If you miss an item, and progress pass unmarked points of no return, they’ll be gone and necessitate another playthrough. Hopefully chapter select (perhaps with collectible tracking) could be added in a future update.

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The look and feel of Replaced is, on point. The soundscape as you explore this cyberpunk world is synth-y, grand and fits incredibly well. Hits during fights have a satisfying crunch and the music for combat, chase sequences and dramatic moments all landed really well. I must once again shoutout the music collectibles too, the tracks are great, and there’s quite a number of them.

Neon signs hum and flicker as you explore. Drones and police cars fly past in the background. It all creates a sense of paranoia and vigilance (it’s not paranoia if they’re out to get you). The use of lighting to create atmosphere and cut through the scenes is striking.

The 2.5D visual style allows for scenery in the foreground and background, adding literal layers of depth. It looks stunning and kudos to the art direction for bringing Replaced to life in such a brilliant way.

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In terms of performance, Replaced plays great. I get the sense that the team are still polishing and refining as several updates dropped whilst I was playing. I encountered a couple of visual hiccups, and one achievement not unlocking but nothing game breaking.

01000110 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01001000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 00100000 01000011 01101111 01101110 01110011 01110101 01101101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00111111 (Fit for Human Consumption?)

Replaced’s strong narrative, excellent world building and well realised audio and visual style make it a must play. Exploring the question of humanity via cinematic storytelling and visceral combat makes this 80s cyberpunk thriller worthy of your time. Say goodbye to the current game you’re playing, because it is getting Replaced!

Replaced releases on 14 April 2026 and is available on PC and Xbox Series consoles. It is available day one on Xbox Game Pass. The game was reviewed on PC.

Gamer Social Club would like to thank Thunderful Games for the review code.