Esoteric Ebb is a rare gem of an RPG

Esoteric Ebb is a game made by Christoffer Bodegård, and it wears its inspiration on its sleeve, heavily borrowing concepts from both Dungeons and Dragons and Disco Elysium. Despite the developer clearly taking bits and pieces from various classic RPG and remixing them into one story, the result feels wholly unique. I’m a Cleric, sent to investigate a tea shop explosion. The explosion is suspicious, and worse yet, it’s happening in the run-up to the first ever election. Luckily, I got a weird little goblin guy at my side, and I pumped fifteen points into strength, so there’s no obstacle that can withstand my inquiry.

Of course, all of this is easier said than done. During my first day of investigations, I woke up in a basement full of apples (many) and one (1) zombie. I tried to eat my way through the pile of apples, but it gave me a tummy ache. I tried to shove my way past the zombie, and I just hurt myself. Then I found my voter card for the aforementioned election, got confused, and ticked off every box. Oh, oops, that’s not how elections or democracy work. Who are the candidates anyways? 

This is the best narrative trick that Esoteric Ebb pulls. The voices in my protagonist’s head are tied to the stats I picked. That means that there are a handful of “companions” in my Cleric’s head, but each of them are tied to a specific faction. In dialogue, my reactions will roll a check, so Intelligence can recognize a specific sigil, or Dexterity might notice the freshly laid tracks of someone I’m pursuing. These stats, while remaining abstract concepts, are voiced, making for a chorus of disagreeing voices in my head. (They do all agree that some choices are profoundly bad, which are, of course, the most fun choices to make.)