Tinkering can be a lot of fun. Over the years, I’ve opened up consoles for repair, built a few PCs, and enjoyed doing home repairs. But when you take that sort of mentality and add it to a game about (mostly) retro devices and gaming consoles, you have my attention.
As someone who just got their hands on a Sega Dreamcast and is in the process of ordering a few improvements and mods for it, Restory may have arrived at the perfect time. It’s not only the coincidental timing that had me hooked, though; it’s also a satisfying game from start to finish.
Restory Takes You Back To The Early Aughts
There’s a particular vibe a game like Restory gives off. Sure it’s chill, and it’s mostly low stakes. But I’d argue its biggest and best aesthetic and feel is the pull of nostalgia. It’s intentional, of course: each loading screen, and each time you load up a new day, tells you it is the early 2000s. For me, it worked every time I picked up a screwdriver or dusted off an old piece of equipment.
All that being said, there is a story here, one that weaves a strange tale of relationships, threats, maybe some insider police information being tossed around, a person who lives upstairs from your shop but is too afraid to show their face, and more. It’s a long list of weird, obscure characters who stop by your new location as the repair ‘master.’ I was in tune with most of the dialogue and story here and there, but after a while I sort of lost the thread and just wanted to get back to work. What I will say, though, is that at least it gives you a reason to work on new and interesting electronics. The more the stories progress, the more items you get to repair and clean.
This is a repair simulator at its heart, and it does it in a wonderfully charming way. Games like this don’t always work for me; I need a reason to be sitting here and working on my farm or maybe power washing this property. But just like my experience with Midnight Moments early this summer, Restory just worked for me. Part of it is uncovering and looking into these classic devices I grew up with, but a lot of it is how the game lets you do the work.
Break It Down
Most of your time and effort will go into taking devices apart. Often you’ll clean the ins and outs of a delivered item with a brush, air canister, and eventually a soldering iron. It’s easy to understand on the surface, and the progression is fun and exciting as new electronics come in that are more complex and need more work.
Aside from the character moments and stories I mentioned above, you’ll move on from Atari 2600s and Motorola-like phones to a Nony gaming console, Pokia phones, and even electronic dogs and an imitation Xbox. Interestingly, Atari is the only real company present in Restory. With the rights to be able to disassemble, reprogram, solder, and rebuild devices of all kinds, it was cool to have my “hands” on consoles and controllers that exist in the real world
That said, the imitations are very close to their real-world examples. I’ve personally worked on an original Xbox, for example, and what they mimic here is nearly one-to-one. And repetition is actually a good thing in Restory because you become more familiar with the device and can clean and fix it with a quicker turnaround. That will then yield more payments and a bigger tip.
For me, the game had a great sense of reward and progression. As you earn more money from repairs, you can buy new licenses to add more devices to your repertoire. This is where new learning and exploration all come together in a fantastically satisfying package. I’ve always enjoyed picking things apart and finding ways to put them back together. I find it incredibly satisfying to put a PC together, and this is just an extension of that made into a nostalgic game.
There is a “grind” here, as every once in a while you’ll need to spend several days doing smaller repairs to move on to the next big thing or buy a new cleaning tool, but it’s all worth it. As with any business, the upfront cost may feel staggering, but it pays off in the end. You’ll also have access to the internet at your desk where you can accept orders and buy missing parts on eBay-like websites. All of this is a simplified but enjoyable experience because it’s easy and quick to operate.
There’s also a satisfying, ongoing game loop throughout Restory, amplified by the enjoyable music, mixed art designs, and sound effects. Again, I’m not usually someone who gravitates toward these types of games, but this game gives the player a real, tangible feel and audible feedback. Every click of a plastic casing, screw falling into your tray, brush of dust from a faceplate, or soldering iron use sounds amazing. The simpler things throughout Restory add up to go a long way in making it a very enjoyable game.
I did have to turn off the music playing out of the boombox in the shop after several hours, though. The songs are actually great, but 10+ hours of the short playlist got to me. Instead, I kept all the other sound on and listened to a podcast or two. It was actually a great balance and didn’t take me away from the fun I was having with the game.
Verdict
Restory has so many small parts inside its package that unlock nostalgia and satisfying gameplay. I was worried it would be too slow or simple, but it surprised me in almost every way and had me sitting and repairing dozens of devices for hours and hours. The look and feel of Restory adds to the already great repair loop, which will have you looking for your own devices around your home to open up and tinker with.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
