Early in 2022, a game by the name of An NPC’s Odyssey released onto the Nintendo Switch. A game that twists the typical RPG story of a hero defeating evil into something more simple. An NPC goes on a quest to get the money a hero took from his house back. It wasn’t something I had much of an interest in, until I saw it again during a sale in the summer.

I bought it, and then completely forgot about even playing it. Since this year is a quiet one for new Switch games, I’ve been returning to games from year’s past. That included finally giving An NPC’s Odyssey a try. This adventure is a short one, but absolutely a fun one.

Based on older RPGs such as Dragon Quest, movement is handled in four directions. The world might be small, but it is nicely designed in its 2D style. The same goes for the combat screens, too. Each background looks beautiful, with the enemies drawn to suit their attributes. Wolves look epic, raccoons look cute. And yes, there’s very few magical creatures here. You are an NPC, after all.

For the story, it pretty much is as described above. But during the journey, there’s another one that shows itself almost right from the start. I’m not going to spoil that other story, since I feel it’s best experienced without knowing anything about it. Plus, since this is a very short adventure – the game can be completed in just over an hour – any extra details will somewhat diminish the fun from experiencing the interactions throughout.

An NPC’s Odyssey has some great writing, with plenty of interactions poking fun at the fact you are an NPC on a journey. Even with flavour text on items, there’s fun descriptions that certainly wouldn’t be there from a hero’s perspective. There’s a host of localisation errors that are littered throughout, which is unfortunate. It is always possible to understand the intent of the text, so it’s no too much of an issue.

Everything on offer here feels like a love letter to those old RPGs, even the sound design and simplicity of combat. The systems at play all work as intended, with the usual items restoring HP and MP, revives, and equipment to give to yourself or party members. It pretty much is a whirlwind tour of RPG mechanics, which is as good a reason as any to recommend it.

The price is low enough that despite it being a short adventure, I don’t think anyone will feel An NPC’s Odyssey wasn’t worth a purchase. I’m certainly happy to have given it a play, and despite knowing everything that’s going to happen, I can’t help but feel a second play coming on. And this time I want to see what abilities are unlocked upon reaching that maximum level. Which thankfully is a lot lower than 99. Thanks for that info, sign.

Images Taken From:
An NPC’s Odyssey | Nintendo Switch [Handheld]