Sanabi

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

Sanabi is an Action-Platformer released in 2023 on PC and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players take the role of a retired military operative simply referred to as The General, out for revenge on the mysterious Sanabi. When his former comrades tell him they’ve tracked Sanabi’s location to the cyberpunk-esque Mago City, he makes his way there only to discover all human life seems to have disappeared, save for a young woman named Mari who helps him break into the city’s computer systems while he uses his cybernetic arm’s grappling hook to violently smash through the army of hostile robots that stands between him and his objective.

Thematically, Sanabi combines numerous elements in a way that makes for some truly great atmosphere. The revenge plot and unstoppable death machine of a hero seems reminiscent of John Wick, the cyberpunk setting beautifully fits the game’s often dark tone, and the retired military professional and his terse relationship with his former comrades evokes some excellent action films from Schwarzenegger and Stallone. However, on top of this great mix of ingredients, the game’s story adds a healthy amount of mystery. Who or what is Sanabi? What the heck is going on in Mago City? And what is Operation Zero, the protocol The General requests, much to the horror of those around him?

This excellent story is filled with some great characters, including The General himself, whose high competence at what he does hides his barely-restrained rage. In addition, there’s Mari, who’s grounded and rebellious nature keeps The General grounded and practical even when he might prefer to cut loose and just kill everything to get to his target. Also, I can’t not mention The General’s Daughter, who is a pure, energetic bundle of joy in the brief flashbacks when you see her.

At this point, you may be wondering why I’m spending so much time here talking about the game’s story when this is an Action-Platformer, and this is for two reasons – first, the story here is quite good, and is definitely a highlight. And second, the game itself puts a lot of focus on this story, frequently cutting from the gameplay to the story, alternating between the two. I will admit this is one of the more frustrating elements of the game, as when the story really gets going, I want to keep it going, and when the gameplay starts going into high gear, I want to keep playing through the action.

And as much as I enjoy the story in this game, I enjoy the action just as much, if not more. Sanabi pretty much just does one thing, but it does that very, very well – The General uses his grappling hook for almost everything, and this makes for some truly joyous acrobatic gameplay. Movement in this game feels so natural, from building momentum into a swing and pumping on the dash button to go into a super-high leap as the swing hits its apex, to targeting enemies to instantly zip straight to them and completely destroy them and not taking more than the briefest of moments to select your next target before zipping off to brutally obliterate them next.

The presentation here is quite good too, making use of 2D pixel art visuals with some truly excellent animation, and an overall great sense of style. The half-destroyed city slums are an ominous sight, and even though I was expecting the neon-lit cyberpunk-style high-class district, it was still a surprisingly beautiful sight.

This is all backed by an outstanding synthesized soundtrack that does a great job combining the high-action gameplay and the cyberpunk setting, with some good examples being Kang Seon Boss Theme, Chapter One Theme (Crusher Chase), Writ of Execution Boss Theme, Chapter 2 Theme (Mago Business District), and Chapter 2 Theme (VIP Evac Route).

When it comes to complaints… honestly, everything I can think to complain about, I’ve already touched on – the gameplay can be a little one-note… but that hardly matters when that one note is so very good. And both the story and gameplay are excellent, though it can be frustrating to jump back and forth between them like this.

But in the end, while there are a few places that could be improved a bit, overall Sanabi is an incredible Action-Platformer with truly delightful gameplay, a wonderful story oozing with intrigue and filled with some great characters, and a presentation filled with excellent atmosphere. This may very well be Nintendo’s sleeper hit of 2023. Do not miss it.

tl;dr – Sanabi is an Action-Platformer where players take the role of a revenge-fueled man using his bionic arm’s grappling hook to swing acrobatically through a desolate cyberpunk-style city and gracefully and efficiently eliminate its robotic threats. What’s more, this game has an outstanding story filled with character and atmosphere, and while the story and gameplay can butt heads at time, it hardly matters as both the gameplay and the story had me glued to my screen. This is a truly must-play game for any Action fan on Nintendo Switch.

Grade: A-

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Action Game – It’s hard to top Sanabi’s feeling of skillfully swinging around the environment and then suddenly flinging yourself straight to one enemy after another, quickly and effortlessly eliminating them. Just the way you move and fight in this game is a thrill, and that’s exactly the sort of thing I look for in a truly great Action game.

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Best Value ($15), Most Overlooked (No Metacritic score for Nintendo Switch), The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award, Best Story, Best New Character (The General’s Daughter)

.

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}