![]() I’m not, from my perspective on the ground, here to sway the tides of history I’m here to file my paperwork, pick up my paycheck, and pay my bills. The resulting tone is somewhere between The Martian Chronicles and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I may be an invading force of one, but my actions serve something more explicitly nefarious. The set dressing all hammers home the issue of colonialism: I am here to get what I can out of the environment and whatever life I find, all to raise my employer’s stock price a few cents. I find my moments of escapist joy, but the game never quite lets me forget that my goal here is one of exploitation. Every new story beat I uncover either highlights or echoes my CEO’s self-serving shortsightedness. The game doesn’t shy away from its cautionary parable of environmental exploitation and corporate greed, and it doesn’t relegate it to window dressing. Image: Typhoon Studios/505 Games via Polygon Punting a Pufferbird is a great way to take the edge off of being trapped in a corporate dystopia. It never stops to dwell on its existential undercurrents, but it doesn’t gloss over them either. From my funhouse-mirror caricature of a CEO to the gentle arc of a punted space chicken disappearing over the horizon, it always strikes the right balance of funny, fun, and cautionary. Which may make Journey to the Savage Planet one of the more effectively absurd games in recent memory. The act of doing my job doesn’t have to be grim, even if the job itself doesn’t offer much hope for the future. Even while it confronts me with email reminders about my current crippling debt, the game never forgets to be fun first. The self-consciously bright and cheery criticism of capitalism and worker exploitation might have bogged down a lesser game, but the feeling of simply playing around in the planet’s untamed environments is itself a joy. ![]() I can’t reach them all at first, but each area is dense enough with optional challenges that I rarely feel barricaded down the obvious main path. If I wander a little off the main path, I discover secrets, platforming puzzles, and extra resources. Navigation and exploration are familiar and comfortable, and I’m soon running, leaping, and climbing across the surface of the planet from objective to objective. I get an exhaust-spewing jetpack, an exceptionally lethal pistol, and a Proton Tether that will remind folks of Link’s Hookshot. #JOURNEY TO THE SAVAGE PLANET STATIC PANIC UPGRADE#Through this journey, I use plants, rock formations, and the guts of local animals to upgrade myself from hapless Pufferbird slapper to menacing resource harvester. The exploding ugly-cute alien creatures, the interstitial commercials, my AI overseer, or even just the way my character flails his arm around for a slap attack all plant a smile on my face throughout the 15 hours or so it takes me to complete the game.ĪR-Y26 is a nice place to visit. ![]() ![]() The existential void of late capitalism isn’t new thematic ground for games these days, but that hasn’t prevented Journey to the Savage Planet’s creators from finding new angles from which to stare into the abyss. Escape is an option, but I have to keep working for the man in the game if I want to keep playing the game in real life. I’m warned that I’ll be ravaged on social media if I do, however, and this threat is followed up by an ending that’s - well, let’s just say it’s unsatisfying if I decide to go through with it anyway. All I really need to do is refuel my ship and fly home. I have the option to ignore him, of course. What starts as a quick survey mission quickly becomes a planet-spanning quest to bring him back a powerful artifact. Back on Earth, my boss watches my findings roll in, and modifies my mission accordingly. I wander around the planet’s colorful surface, cataloguing the local flora and fauna and collecting resources by slapping and blasting aliens to death. If you want to see the very best of the best for your platform(s) of choice, check out Polygon Essentials. When we award a game the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the title is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun - and worth fitting into your schedule. Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games. ![]()
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