Stick It To the Man!

Chained is a puzzle narrative game created by Studio Digital Caffeine and is available on the Nintendo Switch.

The story of Chained is mainly about Cole, a man who has just recently lost his job in Network Security due to a new AI program, “Scout” which can potentially do a better and cheaper job. Cole doesn’t take this lightly and sets on a path of revenge against the AI that took his job and ruined his career. Along the way he meets up with two young girls with a mysterious past who basically blackmail Cole into staying with him. The twists toward the end are great, and I really felt for these characters. The story clocks in at about the 2-3 hour mark, but I believe everything wraps up well and I’m not left disappointed. I would like to see what happens with everyone after the plot resolves, but maybe that’s for another day.

In the gameplay department, Chained is spot on in its execution. During the game’s hacking sequences, you are given a string of numbers that you must line up so that each number is one more or less than the previous and next numbers. Not only that, but the aforementioned AI is deadest on kicking you out of the various bank systems it’s protecting. As you progress in the story Scout will gain new abilities that will severely hinder your ability to chain the numbers, but the good thing is that you can also grow as a hacker. Using the money you skim from your hacks you can purchase and upgrade various skills that will help you take down the AI. This gameplay loop was admittedly very addictive and I had a hard time stopping once I got into it. I’m not the biggest player of puzzle games, but Chained is very accessible and gave me a good challenge in the later chapters. The only complaint I have is that once the upgrades are leveled up you do feel a little overpowered toward the end.

Graphically I loved this game. I’m a huge fan of pixel art and Chained hit all the right aesthetics for me. Character portraits and in game models are great, and Scout is a fearsome opponent. Later on you can also spend points acquired from hacks to upgrade your apartment, and some of the designs of the various furniture options were astounding. The fish tank in particular was a nice touch.

The audio department in the game was also a hit for me. During the hacking sequences you’re bombarded with bleeps and boops alongside the effects that Scout throws out, and mixed with the techno background music I felt like a retro hacker. Also a huge shoutout to the composer of the ending/credits song. The piano work was beautiful. The biggest standout, though, was that the game was ENIRELY voice acted, which I did not expect coming into it. The cast did a great job giving life to the characters even if some of the lines do seem forced.

Out of everything I only had one big complaint. During the later chapters Scout has the ability to lock a number into place. A few times it was able to lock multiple numbers rendering any solution impossible. There is a powerup that will instantly complete a chain, but with my charges used up there was nothing I could do except wait for the trace meter to fill which took a fair amount of time. If a “forfeit” option was available I believe this would definitely solve the issue I had.

All in all I had a great time with Chained, and if you’re a big puzzle gamer it’s definitely worth trying out. It almost reminds me of a variation of the board game “Shut the Box” and is a very unique gaming experience. It also comes with an endless mode, which during this writing I have not tried yet, but I’m hoping it will lend to pick up and play replay ability if I want to go a few rounds with Scout again.