Have you played...? Refind Self: The Personality Test Game
This is definitely an odd one. I was intrigued by the game’s propsal as a personality test, and the pretty screenshots in the Steam page convinced me to try it. I love weird games so I knew I’d like this one.
In Refind Self: The Personality Test Game you’re an android (whose default name is Utsuwa, but you can change it) created by a doctor who recently passed away. The game starts with you by her grave, and from there you can do whatever you like, however and whenever you like. This is a 2D side-scrolling adventure game where you collect stuff, interact with your surroundings and with other NPCs. While doing that, you slowly unravel your back story, your relation with the Doctor and what happened in the world. In the background, every action you take is registered. Based on that info, the game analyzes your personality and gives you a report at the end.
Even though this is a short game (each playthrough lasts for about 1 hour), there’s no shortage of things to do: there’s a large number of NPCs you can interact with, things you can buy and sell, mini-games scattered around and places to go. There are even turn-based RPG style battles here and there. The catch is that time is limited - you have a limited number of actions you can take, so you have to make conscientious choices about what you want to do.
The manga style graphics are detailed and very pretty and pleasant. It uses an 8-bit aesthetic with a 4 color palette reminiscent of the Game Boy, but in sepia tones instead of green. The main song, which plays for most of the game, is very relaxing but also melancholic, with a single piano melody playing throughout almost the entire gameplay. I think the colors and music really bring out the melancholy and nostalgia that the game wants to convey.
While playing, I was thinking: can a game really capture your personality? When I play games, especially exploration and dialog-heavy ones like this, I want to explore every corner, talk to everyone and do everything. That’s my “game” personality, which wants to try every possibility to see everything the game has to offer. I know many other gamers are like this.
However, for this one, I didn’t feel that was the “right” way to play. So in my first playthroughs of Refind Self, I played as if I were Utsuwa: what would I do in her place? What choices would I make? I guess that’s the intended way of playing it, at least for the first few times. The limited time mechanic also forces you to be mindful of the actions you take, so in a sense that also forces you to only do what you genuinely would do. And, by playing like that, the personality reports the game gave me were actually quite accurate I think. They were kinda astonishing.
This is undoubtedly an artistic game, where the main purpose is to contemplate and enjoy the experience. There are no right or wrong choices, nor game overs. It left quite an impression on me and earned a cozy place in my collection of heartwarming experiences.
It tells an intriguing and touching story about love, understanding and connection, in a very original and relaxing way. The few hours I spent through multiple playthroughs were absolutely worthwhile and made me think about who I am and how I interact with the world. In a sense, I refound myself.
My personality report
These are my three main personalities according to the game, if you’re curious:
- Researcher
- Clergy
- Philosopher
My report’s ID code is xnbT_eb82_xD2V if you want to compare mine with yours. Let me know your results in the comments, if you’d like to share them!
Misc
- I’m pretty sure the sheep in the game are references to the classic science fiction novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric SHeep ⤴” by Philip K. Dick.
- I just found out by chance that utsuwa ⤴ (器) can mean vessel or container in Japanese, which is very appropriate for the default name of the protagonist. Other NPCs’ names like kokoro ⤴ (心 - mind, heart, spirit) also make a lot of sense in context. I wonder why some of the names were kept in Japanese and others, like “Dull”, were translated.
Details card:
- Name: Refind Self: The Personality Test Game
- Genre: Adventure
- Developer: Lizardry
- Year: 2023
- Official site ⤴
- Available on Steam ⤴, Android ⤴, iOS ⤴ and Nintendo Switch