ReStory preview
I don't know how the old cell phone accumulated dirt and debris inside the case, but it's my job to clean it. The guy above my store just asked me to fix an old Atari controller and the local cop needs a flashlight fixed. This is my life in ReStory, the upcoming cozy renovation simulator.
Messing around
ReStory is set in the early 2000s, so you won't have to repair the latest iPhone or tablet. Instead, Y2K-era items are on the cusp of an all-digital world. This means a lot of things to take apart, wires to fix, screws to remove, and faulty switches to replace.
You have a small 3D store on a busy Japanese street. Interaction with clients, local residents such as the landlord, is carried out through static screens and dialogue trees. At the end of the day, you get on your bike and ride home. Nice enough. But the repairs add up, and sometimes you're short on cash. You may need to increase the cost of repairs.
Any repair work consists of several stages: from disassembly to cleaning and repair. To clean a piece of gear, you simply brush it off, giving it some serious Power Wash Simulator vibes. Sometimes you have to reuse parts from one item to another. ReStory rarely forces you to think for long as it gives you a checklist for almost every task. This will prevent you from accidentally missing something or doing something out of order.
Ironically, ReStory also needs renovation
I had the opportunity to host an early demo of ReStory on my desktop. Unsurprisingly, he had a few problems with things like disappearing parts. The game's interface is a bit wonky. For example, enlarging a piece of equipment to examine it obscures other items on the table. Sometimes the game makes it clear where the pieces go, sometimes it isn't. Options are pretty sparse when it comes to visuals, and there's no controller support.
However, despite some rough edges, ReStory's gameplay provides the calm, orderly satisfaction that the genre is known for. The economic simulator aspect is fairly basic, and the writing and characters aren't particularly engaging. But cleaning something in a game is always a pleasure, and disassembling and rebuilding things touches some deep crevice of the brain. It's hard to tell from the demo how difficult the repair tasks end up being, or whether players will ever pay a little more attention to them.
There's always room for another good game in the cozy niche of cleaning simulators. Thanks to the nostalgia for old classic technologies, ReStory occupies a unique place. I'm looking forward to seeing what other dirty, broken, and outdated junk comes out when the game releases.
***PC code provided for preview***
