Replaced: Cyberpunk Thriller Wows at gamescom 2025

When you spend enough time playing video games, you develop a kind of "Spidey Sense" for games that feel like they're going to be truly exceptional. You can never be sure until the final version is installed, of course, but that intuition is often right.

Replaced, a 2.5D action-adventure game wrapped in a breathtaking sci-fi cyberpunk pixel-art aesthetic – with stunning camera work and an atmospheric soundtrack – is setting off that Spidey Sense. I played a short three-part demo over a year ago, which only strengthened the impression I had after its initial reveal four years earlier. This time, I experienced the first 30 minutes of the campaign, and it only deepened my excitement for what could become – if the rest of the game holds up – an indie classic on the level of Limbo, Braid, Inside, Balatro, and others.

Right away, it's clear that Replaced's art director knows exactly what they're doing. The dystopian setting, an alternate-history 1980s America, takes the 16-bit style I grew up with and enhances it with soft dynamic lighting and masterful cinematography. Add a subtle depth of field, and you get a world that feels lived-in. It radiates grit and melancholy, yet somehow makes them look beautiful.

You step into the role of R.E.A.C.H., an artificial intelligence inhabiting the body of a man named Warren, who awakens among a heap of corpses after being left for dead. The world of Phoenix City before you is the outcome of a global nuclear disaster that happened decades earlier. Diaries, news articles, and other fragments of lore are scattered around for you to collect and review on your Wingman – a device that's essentially a cyberpunk take on a 1980s Walkman combined with a Palm Pilot.

Replaced starts off straightforward, keeping you on a left-to-right 2D plane in classic fashion, with some simple platforming. But it builds its atmosphere with remarkable efficiency. Whether through the digital clippings hinting at a radiation-scarred past or the searchlight-wielding snipers who will take you down in one shot, the bleakness of Phoenix City is unmistakable. Before long, you must fight to survive, facing off against faction members and eventually whole gangs of them.

That’s where Replaced makes its next strong impression: it features a combat system reminiscent of Batman: Arkham. Enemies about to strike display a yellow lightning bolt above their heads; press Y to counter. And, as Arkham players will anticipate, a red lightning bolt signals an unblockable attack, requiring a well-timed A-button dodge-roll. Successful dodges and counters charge a special-attack meter, letting you either fire a found firearm from a distance or execute an enemy at close range. Naturally, it gets more complex; soon rifle-wielding foes join the fight, with tight timing for their unblockable shots. Heavier enemies add another layer. One appeared early on and, likely by design, wasn't overly challenging. All of his attacks were unblockable, and he could absorb a lot of damage, but he was alone by the time we fought, offering a simple preview of the tougher heavies to come later. I expect the combat to intensify significantly throughout Replaced in every way: enemy numbers, difficulty, and more.

Soon, Replaced introduced 2.5D elements, broadening the world by letting me move into the background or foreground to find items needed to advance. You might push dumpsters to create platforms or bridge gaps, for example. While this opening segment didn't allow much environmental freedom, I know it will eventually, having seen it in last year's demo. I should note that exploration sometimes yields collectibles tucked just out of sight – not quite secrets – that expand your dossier, share more about this fractured world, or provide upgrades. I wouldn't call Replaced inherently replayable, but if the developers craft a compelling backstory for Phoenix City, that could be motivation enough to return and uncover every hidden detail.

This year's demo – again, covering the very start – didn't showcase the biggest surprise from my earlier session: the RPG elements beneath its 2.5D cyberpunk exterior. From the impressive early trailers, I'd assumed Replaced was just a side-scrolling action-adventure. But no, it includes sections with quest-giving NPCs and free-roaming areas. I'm genuinely eager to explore this aspect further.

Returning to this latest part of Replaced, the music deserves praise. A moody synth soundtrack is essential for any dystopian cyberpunk story, and Replaced immediately proves it understands that. And I'd like to revisit the game's visual style once more. The pixel art is phenomenal, the color and lighting are top-tier, but I must also highlight the animation. It might sound odd, but in a retro-inspired game like this, animation can be too polished. Here, Sad Cat Studios has struck the perfect balance. R.E.A.C.H. and his enemies don't move too fluidly; instead, their slightly stiff motion reinforces the broken, desolate mood of Phoenix City and enhances the neo-16-bit aesthetic perfectly, in my view.

When the Replaced demo ended, I just wanted to keep playing. It’s a captivating experience through and through, and I'm excited to follow R.E.A.C.H.'s journey and uncover the larger narrative. I'm also curious to see how deep the combat and RPG mechanics go. Nothing would please me more than for my Spidey Sense to be right and for Replaced to stand among the most memorable games of 2026 (even with Grand Theft Auto 6 expected to dominate the news). While a release date hasn't been announced yet, I have a feeling it's not far off. Hopefully, we'll soon learn exactly when we can see how special the final game truly is.