Esoteric is a word that describes that secret joke between you and a best friend, the friend you can say “pass the salt” to and instantly erupt in fits of laughter, while the rest of the table looks on in confusion at dinner. This exact feeling is what Christoffer Bodegård and Raw Fury have channelled in the new CRPG, Esoteric Ebb.
Esoteric Ebb infuses witty writing and excellent character design into a quest that demands you see what happens next, all while keeping some of the funniest inside jokes between you and the writer in your back pocket. Esoteric Ebb’s insistence on being unique and staying unapologetically “esoteric” brings one of the best games I have played this year to PC.
Before jumping in with both feet, I was able to outfit my version of the Cleric with statistics ranging from the usual fare of Strength to Charisma, and these statistics determine how successful you are throughout the Cleric’s quest. The developers, along with writing from Christoffer Bodegård, demand that you make mistakes during your romp through Norvik.
If the Cleric’s Dexterity stat is neglected, even climbing down a ladder becomes a task fit for the gods. I built my Cleric with Charisma and Intelligence, making his balance akin to a newborn toddler and keeping death on retainer for my playthrough. The Cleric’s mission in Norvik is simple: find out who blew up a tea shop in the centre of town. But it turns out no one wants you to.
Things kick off where life ends. You are the Cleric, basically the world’s worst assigned beat cop in the land’s least desired post, and your bunkmate is a dead guy outlined by a sheet on a stone slab. You are in a morgue, you are filthy, there are apples everywhere, and a zombie is painstakingly trying to stack them.
I ebbed toward examining my roommate’s corpse. In titles like Esoteric Ebb, similar to Disco Elysium and Pillars of Eternity, the player’s biggest confrontation is internal, and the writing from Christoffer Bodegård keeps your eyes hungry for what happens next.
“Esoteric Ebb grabs hold of the player and does not let go until the credits roll, much like a Gelatinous Cube.”
It turns out my on-ice bunkmate did not have health insurance, and he is a prime candidate for resurrection. Esoteric Ebb bakes in TTRPG mechanics and dice rolls to determine what happens next. Your underlying stats, inventory and knowledge shift each scenario accordingly. My high Intelligence still was not strong enough to determine how this guy met his end, but Revivify could be used to tow him back to Norvik’s cramped alleys alive.
Esoteric Ebb then forces the player to argue with themselves, as your stats act as the primary party. The Cleric’s Wisdom stat embodies the best of virtue ethics, while Intelligence argues that if we spend all of our high-level magic saving everyone, and even asks “what if he wants to stay dead?”, we will get nothing done. Intelligence embraces consequentialism, while Wisdom leans into deontology. Saving someone is always right, although doing so could hurt us, or others, in the long run.
To give readers some perspective, Esoteric Ebb started five minutes ago, and I do not have access to level-three spells as a level-one Cleric. That fact is jotted down in your Quest Tree for later inspection, or intervention. I then went upstairs to meet the man behind the desk, the owner, called Visken. He is in charge of the morgue. He has a pale complexion and has clearly had many run-ins with authority. As I attempted to ask him anything, even “why is there a zombie in your basement?”, he used what I assume is Norvik legalese to deflect and guide the conversation away from himself and toward more pressing matters, like the tea shop.
After being corrected on my line of questioning and being told where to go next in no uncertain terms, I went outside to check the state of the world. I ran into a group of dwarves suspected of “wrongful organizing” by the city. These men have strong political ties to the Azgal Workers’ Party and are organized to push their agenda. A city official was also there, a handsome, Freestrider-aligned half-orc named Viira, and she was irritated by the organizers.
The city is keeping her there until she can get them to disperse. It turns out the answer to “can you flirt with them?” is almost always yes in Esoteric Ebb, as I was able to attempt to swoon the orc official with honeyed words. It turns out she is on official business until Norvik’s election in five days’ time, so dinner will have to wait. That sets the stakes: you have five days to figure out who blew up the tea shop so it does not interfere with the election.
Like real life, Norvik’s citizens are either deeply invested in politics or will shut you down if you mention it. Although I am “the Cleric,” I was also able to establish myself as an Arcanist King. When politically engaged characters ask which affiliation you support, you can declare, “I should be ruler, I am the Wizard King!” Almost everyone responds by scoffing or openly mocking you. After asking enough people about politics, I earned a feat called “Democratic Herald,” which restores hit points whenever you bring up political discourse. A feat I absolutely needed, considering the deadliest encounter I have had so far was a ladder.
After refusing to get involved in the messy dwarf politics scenario, I wandered into a goblin named Snell, who escorts you toward one of the major players in Norvik, Lady Sageleaf. The conversation with Lady Sageleaf feels more like a boss encounter than a standard Esoteric Ebb exchange, as my fearless hero failed a dice roll to maintain composure and promptly ran for the hills at the sight of the Dragon of Tolstad.
Esoteric Ebb throws the player into so many messy scenarios that it is hard to keep up. Each time, however, the conversational banter between characters, the choices you make as the Cleric, or something more, and the reactions that follow keep you on the edge of your seat, anxious to see what happens next. While dice rolls determine your fate in Esoteric Ebb, player choice guides the adventure, and the mishaps that unfold are genuinely hilarious.
The sound work of Esoteric Ebb washes over the player in an awesome wave. Sound effects drive home what is happening on screen, and atmospheric music, on par with Mass Effect’s menu theme, perfectly encapsulates each moment as it unfolds. While your biggest confrontations occur between characters and their indifference to your “prying” investigation, Dungeons & Dragons infiltrates Esoteric Ebb with creatures from its lore. You can have run-ins with a drunken gynosphinx that slams you with riddles, sand that attempts to remove your face and other instantly recognizable monsters from D&D.
“With its ugliness, ethical dissection and genuinely funny interactions, Esoteric Ebb is a can’t-miss experience.”
On one occasion, I invited myself into the home of a sleeping halfling who loves the sound of his own voice. He explains advanced Dungeons & Dragons terms like alignment and whether choices are good, neutral or evil. Snurre Appledent, he even has a stuffy name, is a scholar, and he is not afraid to tell you his thoughts on everything. He even carries a rough misogyny complex. Each of these characters is impeccably designed, down to your goblin companion Snell and how he interacts with others, and Christoffer Bodegård is not afraid to lean into unpleasant characterizations. These ugly character traits lend themselves to the setting, making Norvik feel lived in.
The ugliness, political superiority, and figures who believe their air is better than that of lesser creatures fill Esoteric Ebb with realistic, difficult confrontations grounded in ethical tension. As the Cleric, you can follow the story, challenge these characters or ruin everything entirely. With its beautiful art style, excellent storytelling and wild character portrayals, the wave does get bumpy, but it is one worth riding. Esoteric Ebb grabs hold of the player and does not let go until the credits roll, much like a Gelatinous Cube.
Esoteric Ebb is one of the best games I have played this year. With so many interlocking systems, raw character portrayals and a story that is not afraid to confront the player with hard questions, Christoffer Bodegård’s direction and writing are the stuff of legend. Even casting a level-one spell like Charm Person within sight of your companion Snell can lead to unexpected ramifications. Whether those consequences hurt your quest or help it, the intrigue Esoteric Ebb builds forces you to see it through. With its ugliness, ethical dissection and genuinely funny interactions, Esoteric Ebb is a can’t-miss experience.
