Rough Justice '84 | Step into the 80's!

Publisher: Gamma Minus UG, Daedalic Entertainment
Developer: Gamma Minus UG
Nintendo Switch Review

*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game for PS4 in return for a review, all opinions are mine and mine alone.

I may have been born in '88 but trust me when I say my partner and I keep the 80s alive in this house, from music and games to our fav movies and Tv shows we embrace what the 80s have to offer which is exactly why Rough Justice '84 is sop appealing to 80s lovers like myself. Rough Justice '84 is described as a 80s noir board game inspired strategy game ( I see no lies here). You run a security agency that undertake a number of different jobs entwined with mini games, some take practice others are pretty simplistic. In your world it's a dog eat dog industry, you need to have your eye on the ball at all times even if that means getting rough with justice. 

I found myself taking on the role of Jim Baylor, he has recently been released from prison after a wrongful conviction,  his friend saw a gap in the market thanks to the crime rate in Seneca City rate of crime increasing and proposes him and Jim start up a security agency together and Jim accepts. Hires are self employed and rely on you to help them solve cases and mini games to make a profit for both themselves and the company. sounds simple right? No it's far from that. Agents have different skill sets, picking the right one is important as it could lead to a very quick failure on your part. 

There are some mini games i favoured over others such as the X-ray machine and lockpicking, they are more simplistic and fast to get done, where as others like the dice mini game I wasn't a an of. The same goes for agents, some are better than others and can get the jobs done in an orderly manner but unfortunately, just like real life they need a rest and can only take on a number of tasks before needing to head to the headquarters for a rest. It took me a while to learn the games mechanics, there is a lot to remember and take on in such a short amount of time which is why it's important to complete the training when it appears in the map. 

The Training includes all the mini games which you can play over and over again to complete jobs in a fast and timely manner, I, highly recommend players make the most of this feature, it also allows you to see your best time for completion and try to better it. Another thing players need to keep an eye on is how far away an agent is from a job they have accepted, I would just click on a random job not realising that an agent is at the other end of the map and the timer to get the job would run out, that was on me though. Learning how to balance out my hires and jobs I accepted wasn't topo much of a hassle in the end, once you get into the mindset of knowing how it all works jobs will start going in your favour.

Money was the biggest worry for me, I was in the minus range for a long time and I was scared of making my company bust, I didn't want to keep taking out loans I just needed to have a better knowledge of what I was doing and yes tutorials helped me with that. At one point I was taken aback from a random prompt on the screen telling me to choose between two options that turn out to be very negative for me, talk about make my job harder. There was never a moment where I felt relieved because there was always another job and a high chance that I would fail due to being so rubbish at the game.

I can see why it's considered a noir board game, I'm not great at board games as it is and wanted to challenge myself when it came to this game, it did just that for me. Grinding is something you will find yourself doing unintentally, you want a better reputation? This seemed to me the best way to go about it, purchasing gear cards will increase your chances of completing cases and the shop inventory is constantly changing and updating. On top of that new agents are made available which means you're not stuck with the same options each time, make sure you read their bios to get the idea of what they're capable and if they are the right fit, some have slots for more gear and others don't.

I was very impressed with the voice acting, the language used, the execution was spot on and made me feel like I was in an 80s cop drama, the music was spot on, I could listen to it, i've actually been listening to it on YouTube since I started playing the game, my favourite track has to be The Main Theme just because it's so catchy and you can't help humming along. The developers have created a beautifully addictive and frustrating game where the graphics are bound to give the older generation , they will probably spend hours engulfed in this 80s world.

Have a cosy day

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