It’s not too out there to say dystopian settings are much more popular nowadays, possibly in accordance with recent events. This can be seen in the rising popularity of such shows as Squid Game, which depicts a world where people are put through death games just to ascend from poverty, and that’s only one of many. Sunday Gold, a turn-based point-and-click game from BKOM Studios, unveils a dystopian version of London in which homelessness and unemployment are at an all-time high, while ethical boundaries are being crossed horrendously.

Our preview began with a robbery gone wrong, where two of Sunday Gold’s main characters, Frank and Sally, are attempting to steal from a museum. The alarm gets tripped and their third companion is thought lost in a gunfight with guards while the two of them make their escape. It then fast-forwards to the future, where Frank is in debt and in trouble, but with a shiny new prospect on the horizon that could be lucrative.

RELATED:

18 Classic Point & Click Games That Still Hold Up Well Today

20220615183849_1-1

From the get-go, one could tell the game oozes style from every pore, almost similar to the visual style of Disco Elysium. The story-telling shown is heavily inspired by comic books, as seen in the cutscenes with cut-in graphics and words that jump from every action. From the beginning of the preview to the end, every inch was filled to the brim with flair.

Gameplay starts with Frank outside a bar he recently got kicked out of for starting a fight. His goal is to get back in so he could meet up with his old partner Sally, as she has a plan brewing that could get Frank the money he needs for his debts. It's a plan that involves taking company secrets from well-known billionaire Kenny Hogan, with the help of former employee Gavin.

As said before, Sunday Gold is a turn-based point-and-click game, and that descriptor is apparent throughout every part of the preview. What makes Sunday Gold so unique is that near-everything, from exploration to combat, is turn-based.

Exploration is standard point-and-click fare. The player chooses where the character goes and solves puzzles using items in their inventory. A nice quality-of-life design choice is that the characters don’t walk to the object, instead the camera glitches out and the character just teleports to that object.

Most of the time, Sunday Gold is linear in what players have to do to progress. In some cases, there might even be multiple ways of handling a situation, and choices that are otherwise optional. To get Frank in the bar, the player can choose to give money that was originally someone else’s to pay off a tab, or use firecrackers in the dumpster to distract the bouncer.

20220615200041_1

Combat is simple on the surface, but has its share of complexities. There are multiple damage types, like piercing, slashing, etc. that everyone can be weak to. In addition, each enemy has defense, which can be broken down with attacks. Once an enemy’s defense is broken, they will be stunned for a bit, allowing plenty of damage to be done to them.

What both of these modes use is AP, or Action Points, similar to other RPGs. Each character has a set amount of AP, which they’ll use in both combat and exploration. AP will be spent performing specific actions, such as in this first part where Frank procures a crowbar by giving money to a homeless man. To get the money, Frank spends AP searching a phone booth for coins, and will then spend more AP using the crowbar to open the gate to the alley.

The player's AP also carries over into combat. Later on, when Frank gets into a fight, he’ll have to spend AP utilizing attacks and combat skills. If he runs out of AP, it will go into the negative and he will become exhausted, which has its own disadvantages.

20220615195921_1

There are multiple ways to regain AP like the expected consumables, but there are more contextual methods as well. In combat, a turn can regain some AP, and guarding will regain more of it. Guarding also provides other advantages, such as being resistant to damage, and even reflecting more powerful charged attacks back at enemies.

In exploration, regaining AP requires the player to end their turn, but this comes with caveats. Every time the player ends a turn in mission areas, the alert level of that area increases, which in turn increases the chance of random enemy encounters at the end of each turn. So it’s important to use every character to their fullest extent before deciding to end the turn.

Each of the three characters the player can control is unique, with their own strengths and weaknesses, skill trees, preferred weapons, and inventory. Frank serves as a leader for the group, with the ability to use long guns, and skills that involve marking enemies for better damage dealing. Sally is the brawler/medic of the group - most of her attacks have two hits and she can patch up her friends. Gavin is a techie, so most of his repertoire is based on hacking and machines.

They even come with their own minigames, unique only to them. Frank can lockpick, Gavin can hack, and Sally can use her strength on specific objects. Each of these minigames has its own levels of difficulty depending, but can be made easier by putting points into that respective ability.

20220615205852_1

Each character also has an inventory of their own, with the ability to give items to another character who can better utilize them, like Gavin being able to better use tools meant for repair. There’s also gear they can equip, for ammo, armor, and enhancements, some of which can only be equipped by that specific character. However, all characters can use consumables, which is important, as there is one last thing that players need to keep track of per character.

The party also has a meter known as Composure, which can be comparable to a sanity meter. This is a mechanic that can affect everything, so it’s important to keep it in check. Characters start at 100% composure, but that can decrease for a number of reasons. Specific story events can force composure loss, some enemies might have skills that cause composure loss, and even certain actions can cause composure loss. It pays to be attentive to what is happening to possibly avoid further loss of composure.

When a character has low composure, it will start to be apparent. Each character has specific disadvantages at low composure, but the game will also reflect that state. Visual effects will occur, like text becoming garbled, words appearing on screen, and even hallucinations in combat that will need to be taken care of before they cause further composure loss. If composure drops far enough, a character might start affecting the other characters. Near the end of the preview, composure dropped far enough that timers began to appear when making decisions in combat.

20220617235808_1

Of course, composure can be managed, it’s not something that can’t be regained. Just like with losing composure, specific story events can raise composure alongside skills and consumables. It’s important to keep composure regulated so that the situation doesn’t go awry in the middle of a mission.

The preview ends with a boss fight against a familiar person and a look at what will become the hub: the basement of the bar. Overall, this first glimpse of Sunday Gold gave off an amazing first impression. The stylized story-telling combined with unique and interesting mechanics creates a spectacular experience that will be sure to please once it is finally released.

Sunday Gold is set to release on Steam sometime this year.