JUST ANOTHER COG IN THE MACHINE | Aneurism IV
Laundry irl? :( Laundry in Aneurism IV? :)
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Aneurism IV
Developer/publisher: Vellocet
Socials: Website | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Discord
Price: $9.99
I am a rookie in the Roleplaying scene. The idea of pretending or acting in an online setting, for me, seemed kind of like a cringe thing to do. But if there’s something I’ve learned from playing D&D in a random guy’s trailer filled with cockroaches and the air covered in sour milk, it’s that sometimes you have to play pretend to survive.
But there’s not much to live for in Aneurism IV, and maybe that’s what gave me the purpose. A roleplaying game similar to Gmod’s RP, it made me slowly appreciate RP’ing in games. While my first session wasn’t that good, as I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of roleplaying, it was because I was confused as to what I was supposed to do, and I didn’t really want to talk to people.
But the fact that I had to talk to people, that I didn’t know what to expect from others, and that everyone is almost as lost as me, drew me in. And so, the next day, I came in, and I loosened up.
Before I go further into my experience,
I want to define Roleplaying games or servers and what Aneurism IV is in my own words. In these experiences, the world has been developed with roles that are controlled or enforced by the players, and in some cases events that can, again, be triggered by the players or will happen for some reason. But for the most part, nothing is scripted, everything is mostly player controlled.
The world in Aneurism IV is a hellhole where you start as a prole, a cog in a damning machine ran by the Cortex that wants you --or at least had me-- scavenge through dumpsters for a pipe and do laundry until you get stabbed for no reason while folding said clothes.
And, it was a blast.
Sure, I do fold clothes for, like, an hour, but that’s me deciding to do so. I am unlucky enough to never being able to find a pipe or a knife through my scavenging, which would give me the ability to fish or mine. Although I will say that, given the setting, folding laundry is frustrating but entertaining, as many people generate money that way, many personalities get crammed in a tiny spot, which will almost always create conflict.
I’ve gotten stabbed to death, seen people get shot, witness a shouting match, and more, all in the laundry rooms.
The idea is that you will gain enough credits to stay alive by each pay cycle that happens at some points, I don’t really know when, allowing you to buy food and such. It is a constant struggle to live as you do need to eat and drink something, or you’ll die. *Immersion*
And sure, there may be ration cycles where you get free rations but those felt so rare. Luckily, you can drink from the sketchy water fountains and maybe get a parasite, eat a rat and maybe get parasites, or if you do have credits, you can buy food. Or get them from the local friendly merchant, who will either give it to you for free, or make you buy it. It depends on the player.
Through your ventures of staying alive, you will get Anamnecyte points that do stay with you even in death. This allows you to become other fates, which are roles, that are either neutral or fall under the scum or cortex factions and get their Anamnecytes and credits by fulfilling their roles, such as curing or stabbing others. I am aiming to become a Limitator to shoot scum or becoming a Scumbag to stab people in dark alleys.
When you throw that away that “shame” you may feel and immerse yourself in a world that someone created for you to do exactly that, it kind of makes you can come back for more. Get an apartment, survive the purge, run away from sociopathic killers, fold laundry, or run a business, and this is just the beginning of the game’s lifespan.
To be honest, this is the first time I have experienced a game like this, and it can be a little droll at first. Folding laundry can be irritating when people keep stealing your laundry and there’s no guards, pipes, or knife around for you to give them consequences.
There is no way of finding out what to do unless you talk to people, go through trial and error, or read the wiki. How do I spawn? Is there an inventory? How do I generate money? Where can I get food? Can I buy property? There are many things that I found out by pressing buttons, asking people, and overall, playing, that may spook away people.
I really can’t decide whether I would like a smoother onboarding process or not, because it kind of works with the setting. Like I said, you could go to the Wiki and find out at least the basic but jumping in blind, talking to people to learn, and dying more than a couple of times because of my lack of knowledge was fun, and fitting.
And the game just came out, with the developers adjusting the map, other small QoL improvements, and promising a persistent property system with customizable apartments, a clothing system, alcohols mechanics, and weapons. Even as I posted this, they made it easier to obtain a pipe, added a role that creates moonshine, and more.
This is the first time I actually dive into a Roleplaying game, and it has been a blast so far. It’s not perfect, for sure, but it’s a different experience that has created memorable moments. And that was just me being the bottom of the totem pole fate, excluding the slave. How will it be when I become a scum or join the enforcers of the cortex? And seeing that the devs are present, for now at least, this game has my hopes up.
What do you think of this game? What’s your favorite RP game? Played any? Let me know!