It’s the search for a home, not possession of it – Broken Roads Review

They say “Philosophy is about the search, not the destination.” Designed as a philosophical RPG, Broken Roads is a game you’ll enjoy playing even if you don’t reach the end. It’s a beautiful journey, trust us.

Broken Roads was introduced as the Australian Fallout. In fact, the game’s team includes Colin McComb, one of the writers of Fallout 2. The team intended to blend their love for Fallout and isometric RPGs with Australian culture and philosophy. Naturally. Because the developers are mostly Australian graduates from philosophy departments.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game was replacing the good-evil distinction found in classic RPGs with a moral compass. The developers understand that the definition of morality can change depending on our situation and perspective. Therefore, in this game, there is no absolute good, absolute evil, absolute right, or absolute wrong.

You manage your character’s worldview through four philosophical perspectives. For example, from a Nihilist perspective, you might argue that this reality doesn’t matter at all, or from a Humanist perspective, you could claim that life is about making another person happy. However, the Nihilist viewpoint can support a selfish attitude like ‘it doesn’t matter what others say,’ or lead to a selfless direction like ‘it doesn’t matter what I want.’ Thus, you will see that the moral compass can produce very different dialogue options within the same philosophical approach. Seeing this will inevitably encourage you to think about philosophy.

Broken Roads set out with these goals: to introduce us to Australia, promise a new moral system, captivate philosophy enthusiasts, and bring together fans of isometric RPGs.

Unfortunately, the game’s journey, true to its name “Broken Roads,” was filled with setbacks and obstacles. From the death of the lead voice actor to the closure of their publishing studios, Drop Bear Bytes faced disaster after disaster. Yet, they managed to deliver this game, created with passion and evident enjoyment, to us.

When the game was released on April 10, its adventure was marred by technical issues. Despite this, the team persevered. They continuously worked on fixing all the bugs reported by players and continue to improve the game. Thankfully, players recognize the team’s diligent efforts and are quick to adjust their reviews positively as the issues are resolved.

However, shedding the negative tag on Steam is not easy once initial reviews are not good. This honestly breaks my heart because Broken Roads is a beautiful game that does not deserve such a negative label. Therefore, I will persistently recommend it to all RPG enthusiasts.

It’s About the Search Because I Couldn’t See The End

Broken Roads aimed to give players freedom and allow the story to change based on their choices. Moreover, it was designed to offer multiple ways to complete quests, all influenced by the character’s worldview, skills, and previous decisions.

What I mean is, the game attempted to handle a highly branched series of interactions. However, being their first game, Drop Bear Bytes faced a shortage of testers, making it difficult to easily identify some of the existing bugs in the story flow.

When we played the game before its release, we agreed that the biggest problem was in the combat system. For the release, Drop Bear Bytes not only improved the combat system but also made it interesting with fun features. However, due to their inability to test all the branching interactions, some bugs that hindered progress in the story remained.

I couldn’t finish the game because the characters I needed to talk to in order to advance in the main story never appeared. If I had been able to speak with them, I was just about to finish the game! Thinking maybe I was doing something wrong, I checked how other players progressed, and the game seemed very generous in presenting them with the characters they needed to talk to. Clearly, my (previously untested) choices left me stranded on this path.

Despite this, the game still left a good taste in my mouth, even unfinished. The journey was enjoyable, as were all the beers I drank and the pastries I ate. I am glad to have met and traveled with the characters I encountered. And since the game is a philosophical RPG, it inspires us to enjoy the journey rather than focus on the destination. So, we can only talk about how much fun we had with the parts we played!

Nevertheless, knowing that I can continue my journey in the next update because I reported this bug is important. Drop Bear Bytes is determined to fix the identified bugs and lift this beloved game to its full potential.

The Road Passes Through Post-Apocalyptic Australia

Broken Roads tells the story of small human communities struggling to survive in the nuclear-scarred lands of Australia. We aim to become a part of these tiny societies or solve their problems. Of course, you could also choose to wreak havoc on these communities. It’s up to you.

At the start, you get to choose a background/profession. Whether you become a Jackaroo who understands animals or a Surveyor mapping the new Australian lands, fate eventually brings you together with a group of unfortunate mercenaries.

Our interactions with the companion characters traveling with us are quite limited, yet they still manage to endear themselves to us. The Australia we explore contains real buildings and locations, just taken and battered by apocalyptic winds.

The game’s graphics and visual style are already stunning. The visual details make us stop and admire our surroundings throughout the game. During the journey, our reactions range from “Is that a koala? Let me pet it!” to “Kangaroo meat, really?” and “Of course, there’d be giant spider fights in Australia. Damn it!”

Great Story and Quests, Cheers to the Writers!

They promised Broken Roads would be a story-driven game, and they delivered one. The adventure flows smoothly, with quests that are engaging and never repetitive. Some scenes are quite memorable, as the game centers around the moral compass, compelling us to make ethically challenging decisions.

Even though our interactions with characters are brief and limited, it’s hard not to love them. Many NPCs possess little traits that we can relate to. Seeing a character who has dedicated their life to something no one else understands or values because they simply have an interest in it makes me look at my comic book collection and encourage that character to pursue their passion. “Do what you love. I’ll fight anyone who tells you otherwise,” I say. There you go, loving a character in just five seconds, again.

Speaking of quests, let’s talk about that End-of-Quest Sound Effect!

It’s brilliant!

Finishing a quest is marked by the sound of a cold beer being opened and someone exhaling in satisfaction. It’s as if the game is saying, “Sit back, relax, and enjoy this journey with a beer.” Embrace the journey itself!

Beer clearly holds a special place in Australian culture, and the game reflects that. There are numerous types of beer, many of which are actual Australian brands. The fact that almost every settlement has a pub but no health center tells you something.

In short, make sure your fridge is stocked with beer while you play.

No Signposts on the Road, You Have to Ask for Directions

Broken Roads doesn’t hold your hand through the quests. You need to learn to navigate on your own.

For instance, when you mark a quest, the map doesn’t tell you where to go. Often, you won’t even know how to complete it. Since most quests have at least two, often more, solutions, it’s reasonable that the game doesn’t steer you in a single direction. Be prepared to discover new ways to complete quests as you progress. Just because you figure out how to finish a quest doesn’t mean you should do it immediately. Sometimes, the order in which you complete quests affects each other.

However, this lack of guidance can mean that some events you become aware of don’t even appear in your quest list. You’ll need to remember information shared by other characters. You can use this knowledge to create new adventures for yourself. If you don’t pay attention, it’s not a big deal; you’ll just miss out on some of the interactions the game offers.

Here’s a tip from me: the secret to opening Koorda’s door lies with a librarian in another town. Talking to the librarian doesn’t mean this information will be added to your agenda.

The act of traveling without a map or GPS can be quite appealing for a certain group of players. However, unfortunately, because the game isn’t entirely free of bugs, if we can’t quickly figure out what to do, we might find ourselves wondering, “Did a bug just happen?” rather than focusing on solving how to complete the task. Since the game lacks a detailed guide or wiki page, it’s also not easy to determine whether something is a bug.

Sometimes the directions in the mission briefing aren’t clear enough to be helpful. For example, when trying to repair something, we might receive a message saying “you lack the necessary materials,” without the game telling us what those materials are. My advice would be to try to carry all kinds of items with you. After all, there’s no item/weight limit in the game anyway!

Any Fantasy Sci-Fi Stuff, Or Fighting?

Oh, there are!

The game has a fantasy theme. However, developers want the fantasy elements to be surprising, so I won’t spoil them either.

Speaking of fighting, there has been a significant improvement. When we last reviewed the game, characters were making foolish decisions, almost behaving as if they were committing suicide. In other words, they hadn’t written the algorithms for enemy characters well. Developers have largely solved this problem. Now, fights can be challenging until a certain level is reached.

As you can see above, when your character surpasses a certain level and can take almost infinite actions, the tension of combat encounters disappears. Now you can simply take pride and have fun in how powerful your character has become.

However, sometimes, probably due to a bug, characters may choose to throw punches even though they have weapons in their bags. If this happens, saving the game and reloading it resolves this issue, and your enemies will once again wield their weapons.

Broken Roads Belongs to Your Wishlist or Your Library

In conclusion, the game is quite enjoyable, but unfortunately, developers haven’t been able to identify and eliminate all the darn bugs. They did mention there are over 36,000 paths to progress in the game. Therefore, each journey and each bug can be unique to you. Hence, you can lend a hand in bug detection by reporting any issues you encounter to the developers via Discord channels. This way, you can contribute to refining the game too.

Moreover, most of the bugs in the game do not hinder your progress in the story, so you can often overlook them and continue on your way. It’s reassuring to know that the developers are willing to listen to your voice if you do encounter bugs that impede your progress.

Let me reiterate that I find the amount of negative reviews Broken Roads has received to be unfair. I believe this game should have received at least 70% positive reviews. I say this by comparing it to other indie isometric RPGs on Steam. For example, I find it unacceptable that Broken Roads has received more negative feedback than Encased, Sovereign Syndicate, or Gamedec.

Therefore, trust us and give this game a chance, especially if you enjoy story-driven games!

Here is the Steam page, if you want to check it out.

By the way, July 21st is known as Lamington Day, and you can celebrate it with Broken Roads by treating yourself to a Lamington at the bar.

(Oh, and don’t forget to chat with Brooke Farnham, the character in the demo that shares my name with the nickname I used during testing the demo of Broken Roads: Brooke. She’s a nerd who loves discussing books.)