As per my tradition, every weekend I pick a game from my backlog and show it off as something you might see on Extra Life. It's a variety hour to help sick kids if you will, and something I have continued to do for years now. But a backlog is a dangerous thing, and sometimes you show off gold, others you show of crap. This time we showed off (and in a single session finished)... a game. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either... and it definitely lived on it's atmosphere FAR more than anything else, which in it's own was actually really good. But was it enough? Step inside.
Story: This is not a game you are going to play for plot. All the game tells you right away is you are user 243 and you are to install a program called Jester Assistant to your office PC. At least I'm assuming it's your PC. You are in an office in front of a desk with this screen that is VERY reminiscent of how Windows 3.11 used to look back in the 90s telling you to re-insert the installation disk to continue the installation. It will be up to you to find the disk and finish the installation, at which point you will hit a snag requiring you to find your way to HR.
This about all the story you will get till the very end of the game, nor is the payoff particularly good. In fact until I saw that ending I would have been hard pressed to believe there was any rhyme or reason to the story of the game at all... and even after it feels like the game wasted any potential it had in this department with a single fullscreen image explaining everything in the most unsatisfying way I have seen in a while. But at least it was explained.
3/10
Graphics: I'm of a split mind when it comes to the graphical prowess of this title. One the one hand, the game seems to use fairly standard artwork that, had the end credits not said the devs made themselves, I would have believed they bought for the game, but on the other hand, the entire game is made of an office building with the elements of the world intentionally designed to look as bland as possible as part of that.... well for the most part.
But at the same time, the attention to detail to give the world it's feel is absolutely incredible, right down to ensuring every desk at the office has a unique nametag or clearly used to store an extra part or two if not. This kind of office-life detail is something I could see many devs either not have lived or taken it for granted too much to see and bring to their game it anymore.
And then we have the surreal details, like odd geometry in the building itself or the artwork that is far less focused then the world (or even appearing broken). It is all crisp and clean and while it won't win any award for graphical prowess (it looks MUCH older then it is), it is surprisingly effective at delivering the world you are in.
7/10
Sound: Much like the graphics, I am a bit split here about the sound, though in this case it's more because of quantity then anything else. When you start the game, there is no music... just the usual ticks and clicks you might hear in an office during the 90s after hours when everyone needed a big desktop PC at their desk making the old-school hard drive noises one used to hear and it's late so everyone had gone home, leaving you alone with those bips and boops.
But then as you play, the sound itself plays with you. From "muzak" as you might expect to just fill space in some places to weird sounds with no real explanation just giving the world you are in an even more strange vibe, the sound design goes a long way keeping this game on an eerier feel then it has any right to keep. There is even a voice or two that will leave you waiting for the other shoe to drop in anticipation of whatever scare is coming your way. It's limited by the need to keep the game surreal and the world based on liminal space designs as well as the length of the game, but what is here is crafted expertly to keep things as creepy as they can.
8/10
Gameplay: There really isn't a lot I can say for the gameplay of this one... you will start the game trapped in an oddly shaped office looking for a disk to install a program to your PC. And when it fails to load you will start traveling along hallways and rooms in the building which frankly have no business being in an office building (or any sane architect's design). Outside of a few required interactions and a few things made for you to pick up (and usually eat like donuts on a table) there is little you will do besides explore the empty space you supposedly work at no matter how insane it gets.
Once you've found that installation disk, there really isn't anything to figure out so much as just go along for the ride and let the atmosphere of loneliness of liminal space itself mix to creep you out for a little while before the credits roll. The whole game can be finished easily in an hour... much less if you find that disk sooner then I did, so it never overstays it's welcome, but it doesn't really offer much while you play... and no reason to go back when you're done.
5/10
Bugs: I can not claim to have run into a single issue playing this game. It ran flawlessly.
Digital Rights Management: I do not know if this game needs Steam or not to play, but it has no additional DRM at all. Steam is the absolute most it could have in it.
Score: Seybul Tech is an incredibly short walking simulator with an intentionally confusing plotline as it takes you on a semi-guided tour through office space and hallways that have no right existing in the world you play. It makes for an interesting romp, but it's over before you know it and really you didn't do much while you were there.
I can't honestly recommend this game outside of horror fans who have a buck to blow and maybe an hour to kill, and really if it cost any more then that, I wouldn't even be able to recommend it to them. Still for what is here, it's worth the trip for the price of what might have been 20 minutes in the arcades during the days the office you wander would have existed.
6/10
System Requirements:
- AMD E2-1800
- 8 GB RAM
- Radeon HD Graphics
- 3 GB hard drive space
- Windows 10
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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