Mr. Saitou

Okay, are you ready for Mr. Saitou? I don’t know if you are. I asked and you said “Yes, of course I am. I wouldn’t be here if not,” but I don’t know how ready you can be for this heavy hitter to go right for your feels. Mr. Saitou is a short puzzle adventure game about an average salaryman who suffers an accident, when he awakes, he is in a fantasy world where he meets a new unexpected friend who helps him understand some of the more meaningful aspects of life. This game tackle’s themes of isolation, social exhaustion, and the woes of capitalism. If that sounds like something you want to take on, keep reading.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Mr. Saitou is that of a top-down adventure game, not dissimilar from classic titles like Pokémon, but there is not battle system in this like there is for that. This is, for all intents and purposes, a narrative game, that has you walking around the world interacting with it. Speaking to people, solving a few puzzles and learning what the game and the people in it had to teach you.

This game is not a challenge, not really. Instead it is an experience where you build friendships, getting to know a cast of colorful characters and completing the Edudungeon, meeting the Sphinx of Basic Math and ride on a train sometimes. With straightforward directional keys to choose where you go, this is a story that wants to tell you something, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing what it had to say.

Visuals

The visuals of this title are absolutely lovely. There are a few shots of the world that you see form a moving train that are stunning, the characters are all adorable and quirky, and the environments that you get to explore all have drastically different tones that offer something unique. Whether you’re in your corporate offices in the real world, or visiting some spectacular ancient site hidden in the forests of the fantasy world.

Incredible care has been taken to ensure that each scene, each moment is stunningly rendered, and puts the message across that it intends to. This is one of the few games, like Ghost of Tsushima or any other title with high-quality visuals, where it pays to stop and look around every now and again.

Story

The story of this game has the player take control of Mr. Saitou, a Japanese salaryman who, after an accident, finds himself in an amazing fantasy world. Suffering from serious exhaustion from the struggles of every day life, he must find a way to learn how to appreciate life again, and battle his way out of the depression that is creeping in through the seams.

This is a game that challenges you to take a cold hard look at yourself and your own life. As Mr. Saitou takes on this life-changing adventure, there is definitely something in here for you to also learn.

Pros

• Great visuals where great attention to detail has been paid
• Awesome heartwarming story that rejuvenates the soul

Cons

• I wish it was longer