Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Also on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Price: $19.99
At PAX West, I had the opportunity to preview Keylocker, a turn-based RPG set in a cyberpunk world. Although my initial playtime was brief, it left me wanting more. When I got the chance to dive deeper for a review, I jumped at it, fully aware of its challenging nature. And yes, it is tough, but it's also an amazing RPG. It stands among my favorite RPGs, with only a few minor quirks holding it back from perfection. Overall, I absolutely adore this game.
The story of Keylocker follows Bobo, a musician and singer-songwriter who’s imprisoned for the simple act of playing music. At first, she's just a rebellious artist standing up to a society that forbids music, but as the narrative unfolds, I watched her emerge as the leader of a larger rebellion against a far-reaching oppressive regime. She's joined by her brother, a skilled hacker, and a jukebot she discovers while escaping from the prison, both of whom become key allies in her fight. There are a few other characters that join her as well, but these three are the main characters in the game. The story is well written and focuses on this dystopian world with different caste systems and layers of society, effectively showcasing how difficult it is to fight against an oppressive regime. As I progressed through the story, I could see Bobo's character truly start to come into her own.
Just as intricate as the story are the RPG mechanics. There are plenty of stats to manage in this game, starting with simple ones like life points, which are essentially my health points, and electrical points. Electrical points, in particular, play a crucial role and are one of the key aspects that set this game apart. They're used to defend against electrical attacks and to power up my attacks.
There are other stats as well, like dissonance, which determines my ability to cause damage with attacks and counterattacks. There's also influence, which boosts the effects of skill programs, and overdrive, which enhances my critical attacks. All these stats can be upgraded in two different ways: either by using and consuming items or through the skeyll tree.
Leveling up in this game is a bit different from other RPGs. Instead of earning experience points, I collect keys, which can be spent on various skills in the skeyll tree. In other RPGs, I find myself grinding for experience points, but in Keylocker, I’m grinding to get more keys. As I progressed, I quickly realized there are a ton of skills available, not just for the first class I chose, but later on, I discovered I could dual class. This opened up an entirely new set of skills to unlock. There’s a lot to explore here, and it lets me customize how I want my characters to play and what aspects I want to focus on.
Combat in this game is very active and rhythm-based. There’s no option to just sit back and watch my characters—I need to stay engaged and pay attention. Fights are initiated in various ways, either by talking to key characters I need to confront or by getting caught in the spotlights of security cameras. While I can try to dodge these cameras, I often find myself wanting to engage in combat to earn more keys. The combat takes place on a grid, so I need to carefully move my characters into the right position to hit my opponents. My characters have four different attacks, each based on rhythm. Some attacks require me to hit the attack button when my character flashes to land a perfect strike, while others need me to input a sequence using the D-pad—up, down, left, or right—to complete the move.
But it's not just my attacks that I need to focus on—my opponents strike back, and I have to input the correct buttons to defend against their attacks. Sometimes, it means watching their movements closely and hitting the right button when they flash to dodge. Other times, I need to follow the rhythm on the D-pad, pressing the correct combination to successfully evade their attack. The challenging part is that each enemy I face is a little different, so I have to learn new patterns every time I encounter a new enemy type. The other challenge—and probably the most difficult part of the game—is that precise inputs are crucial. Dodging an attack is nearly impossible unless I hit the button with perfect timing. Even playing at the normal difficulty level, this made the game incredibly tough.
There were a few quirks; for example, I noticed that if I hit the button too early, it would say I was too late, or vice versa. There were also moments where I hit the button during the flash, but it didn’t register, which left me wondering if there was an issue with the animation sequence.
The boss battles in this game are pretty tough, but they're actually a lot of fun. There was one battle in particular that took me a while to figure out, but once I did, it left me with a real sense of achievement for being able to overcome the challenge and succeed.
Now, it wouldn't be a rhythm game without music, and the music in this game is phenomenal. I loved the tracks, whether during combat or in moments when Bobo and her band were putting on a concert. During these performances, I played a mini-game similar to Guitar Hero, where I had to press the right buttons to hit the notes. It was a neat way to break up the overall battle mechanics and add an extra layer of musical engagement.
There are a couple of things that could have made my experience a bit better. For starters, I would have loved to see a mini-map in the game. There were plenty of times when I found myself wandering around and getting a bit lost. While the world isn't overly large, having a mini-map would have been helpful to track where I've been and where I'm headed.
Another thing I would have liked to see is the removal of quests that I can no longer complete. There were a few times when I missed a quest because I wasn’t sure where to find certain items. The problem was that once I moved past the chapter where these quests were available, I could no longer complete them, yet they stayed in my quest log, cluttering it up.
Final Grade: B+
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Keylocker. The animation is stunning, the music is incredible, and the story is fantastic. Yes, the game is challenging, and no, it's not a passive experience—I had to stay engaged and pay attention during battles. But that’s exactly what I love about it. It dares to be different from a lot of other RPGs and takes some bold risks, most of which pay off beautifully. If you’re a fan of JRPGs, Keylocker is definitely a game that should be on your list.
Review code provided by Tinsley Pr.
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