{"id":1876148,"date":"2026-04-10T14:42:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876148"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:42:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:42:46","slug":"esoteric-ebb-review-camp-and-cutting-political-comedy-in-a-dd-disco-elysium-wrapper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876148","title":{"rendered":"Esoteric Ebb review &#8211; camp and cutting political comedy in a D&amp;D Disco Elysium wrapper"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"reviews\" data-article-group=\"review\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\" data-review-value=\"4\" data-review-style=\"stars_whole\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/reviews\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Reviews<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/esoteric-ebb\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Esoteric Ebb<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Esoteric Ebb review &#8211; camp and cutting political comedy in a D&amp;D Disco Elysium wrapper<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Flow state.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/esoteric-ebb-review.png?width=690&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Esoteric Ebb key art showing a knight with broken sword, and other fantasy characters in a mystical woods, in cartoon style\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"esoteric-ebb-review.png\" data-lightbox width=\"690\" height=\"388\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Alexis Ong avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1599724719.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Alexis Ong avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1599724719.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"reviews\"><br \/>\n                    Review<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/alexis-ong\">Alexis Ong<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-04-10T14:42:46+00:00\">April 10, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/esoteric-ebb-review?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          3 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"9b46e4ba-c66e-4fb7-af0a-c24a49655667\" data-name=\"Esoteric Ebb\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Esoteric Ebb\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Esoteric Ebb\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Esoteric Ebb\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Esoteric Ebb\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Esoteric Ebb\" title=\"Follow Esoteric Ebb\"><br \/>\n  Follow Esoteric Ebb<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<div role=\"img\" class=\"review_rating\" data-style=\"stars\" data-variant=\"whole\" data-size=\"large\" data-value=\"4\" data-max=\"false\" aria-label=\"Rating: 4 stars out of 5\">\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"star disabled\"><\/span>\n  <\/div>\n<section class=\"synopsis\">\n<div>Weaving Terry Pratchett, Terry Gilliam and more, Esoteric Ebb is a comedic D&amp;D adventure where a waylaid Cleric is tasked with solving a crime, days before the world&#8217;s first election.<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>When I tell people about Esoteric Ebb, I mostly say that I play an idiot, because there&#8217;s something deeply comforting about being a waylaid government oaf. Sure, I&#8217;ve pledged allegiance to hierarchy and bureaucracy, but there&#8217;s always the possibility of doing something <em>naughty <\/em>or <em>exciting<\/em> or even something unexpectedly <em>brave<\/em>. As an unassuming representative of the establishment, I dance on the knife&#8217;s edge of plausible deniability and weaponised incompetency. Ultimately, though, there&#8217;s always the chance that, as a Cleric of the state, I&#8217;ll just slump back into line out of anxiety or complacency or whatever it is that keeps civil servants glued to the teat of government service, because life is hard enough, and having to worry about things like work accommodations and job safety and the respect of your fellow man is tiring.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"aside right\">\n<h2>Esoteric Ebb review<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Developer:<\/strong> Christoffer Bodeg\u00e5rd<\/li>\n<li><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Raw Fury<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform:<\/strong> Played on PC<\/li>\n<li><strong>Availability:<\/strong> Out now on PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2057760\/Esoteric_Ebb\/\">Steam<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Nevertheless, I am determined to be a useful idiot, though I&#8217;m not yet sure to whom. I roll my Cleric to be respectably wise and competently dexterous, with the strength and constitution of a sickly Victorian orphan. I have been assigned to investigate a crime \u2013 a local tea shop just blew up \u2013 in the lead-up to the world&#8217;s first-ever election in the city of Tolstad. Unfortunately, it seems that I somehow died, before being found and revived by the local mortician \u2013 the game starts as I wake up on a stone slab, bedraggled and confused, with a ruined spellbook and horribly weakened magic abilities (<em>esoteric<\/em>, in this setting, is a specific kind of magic). I have five days to figure out what happened, and more importantly, maybe make my first real friend.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Esoteric Ebb - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hPXwfbVvyDk?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/hPXwfbVvyDk\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Esoteric Ebb &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hPXwfbVvyDk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Esoteric Ebb is a game that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve, with one big obvious one; here we have a nonlinear, narrative-focused, text-heavy dice-roller that has parts of my Cleric&#8217;s psyche jockeying for dominance via said dice. We live and die (sorry) by D&amp;D skill checks, like real gamers, and collect wearable items that can enhance or diminish certain stats; simply perceiving NPCs, too, requires a skill check that reveals more information with higher rolls. There&#8217;s a tiered magic system that requires prepping spells at altars scattered around the map, with buffs for skill checks during combat encounters, and D&amp;D staples to understand languages, speak to animals, and so on. Its &#8216;feat&#8217; system, too, was a good bit of flexible fun \u2013 after completing a certain set of objectives, the player gets to choose a specific buff or gameplay advantage related to the narrative themes of said objectives. These can be swapped out through the course of the game, offering a little bit more customisation in the Cleric&#8217;s build.<\/p>\n<p>It weaves political intrigue and personal failure into a charming web, mixing in humor and comedy that echo literary fantasists like Terry Pratchett, Max Frei, et al., a touch of Terry Gilliam, and all the messy frivolities and anxieties that pervade contemporary culture (we do find, at one point, the esoteric equivalent of Ozempic buried in a mound of smuggled goods, because why wouldn&#8217;t a culture of magic users do that). This is, after all, a game about meeting and learning about people, pathologically riddled with universal idiosyncrasies and insecurities that transcend space and time and genre.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Intelligence page on the character creation screen where the player sorts out their stats\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260409173401_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Intelligence page on the character creation screen where the player sorts out their stats\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260409173401_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My first concern in Esoteric Ebb was the immediate and unavoidable comparison to gaming&#8217;s most punished pariah of discourse, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/disco-elysium\">Disco Elysium<\/a>. A wrong, but common cursory assessment of what made Disco Elysium&#8217;s writing so effective was a matter of verbosity, rather than a deeply rhizomatic approach to narrative design; that some players were simply starstruck by the sheer reams of prose and lyricism and brute force rhetoric. Now, there is (ironically) a lot to be said about how people perceive text in games, and in an ideal world, we wouldn&#8217;t be in a place that conflates &#8220;many words&#8221; with intellect and eloquence. We can do better than this sort of dichotomy. And we can certainly do better in how we tend to shackle profundity to cynicism and self-loathing and gravitas. Still, to be honest, I was a little worried that Esoteric Ebb wouldn&#8217;t be able to clear this hurdle, but it does, capably, on its own terms.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>What Ebb does really well is this: it has some fantastic moment-to-moment writing and an excellent overall approach to tone and consistency in its humour. This is the sort of game that makes the concept of agency simulation feel seamlessly fun and instinctive within the first five minutes of experiencing the starting area vibes (did I attack the tutorial zombie for no reason? Yes. Did I fail shamefully and keep going back for seconds and even thirds? Also yes). The scale and interconnectedness of this entire narrative setting is genuinely lovely to behold, even when I&#8217;m just reading snippets of arcane history and theology or learning about the powers that move in circles far above me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315222325_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">4<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315222325_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260315005606_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the player character\u2019s profile and inventory, specifically highlighting a Bottle of Milk that reduces his constitution\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315005606_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the player character\u2019s profile and inventory, specifically highlighting a Bottle of Milk that reduces his constitution\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315005606_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314233138_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the character profile for an NPC named Youth Azagal Modissa\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314233138_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the character profile for an NPC named Youth Azagal Modissa\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314233138_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314232746_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb that shows the game\u2019s black-and-white linework city map with location names labeled\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314232746_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb that shows the game\u2019s black-and-white linework city map with location names labeled\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314232746_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ebb simmers in a great stew of situational comedy and classic pathos that nudges my Cleric toward unlikely solutions and useful indignance \u2013 if I can&#8217;t get something done because I&#8217;m too weak or clumsy, I can lean into my ineptitude with aplomb. I can have a crisis of faith and purpose while contemplating running a side hustle to deliver milk for a questionably little amount of money, or spend a questionably large amount of money to supposedly buy the property rights for an underground lake. I embarrass myself horribly time and time again, conjuring real-life PTSD from younger years when I still had the sort of fortitude and survivalist shamelessness that I&#8217;m trying to cultivate in my Cleric like a resilient little seed. When I fail at assessing NPCs because the dice don&#8217;t behave, that opaqueness and frustration build wonderful tension between characters and in the overarching mysteries and objectives that make up my journal.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Occasionally, though, it  feels bloated by uneven writing and scenario design, and at times, briefly veers into excessive self-indulgence that crosses the line from neurotic self-effacing banter to tedium; one example is the cat-people gauntlet corridor in the catcombs which I felt was, in theory, an interesting exercise, but in execution, unsatisfying and unwieldy. A couple of times, the barrage of bantery one-liners don&#8217;t fully hold the weight and tension they need to maintain the whole concept of containing multitudes; this doesn&#8217;t happen often, but it&#8217;s such a load-bearing part of the gameplay that it&#8217;s really noticeable when it does. In part, Esoteric Ebb is an exercise in information maximalism due to its tooltip\/wikipedia-style interface that lets the player click on various terms and names in the game text to show summaries of important concepts and figures in the history of this world. This in itself is not the problem; I actually quite liked this system as a means of information delivery, mostly because I love good, dense, borderline overwhelming worldbuilding.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the Cleric player and his goblin companion explore a secret room with a chest that may or may not be a mimic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314203547_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the Cleric player and his goblin companion explore a secret room with a chest that may or may not be a mimic\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260314203547_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I try my best to avoid the word &#8220;cringe&#8221; as a descriptor, but sometimes there&#8217;s no better way to encapsulate the feeling of awkward, gnawing disappointment when you&#8217;re having a nice time exploring a neat fantasy world and bump into one of the most pernicious guarantees of western genre storytelling: casual, jokey, self-deprecating orientalism. There is, in a pile of books in the Cleric&#8217;s living quarters, a tome about the various peoples of this world \u2013 all fantastic folktypes like Urthfolk, Diminorians, Certs, and People of the Mountain. Keep in mind that we are in a D&amp;D homebrew setting that is rooted in magic and theocracy and dragons; it is fantastically detailed and incorporates real-life languages into its various mythologies (Tolkien, among others, did a ton of this \u2013 his Elven is heavily Finnish-coded, and in this game they are straight-up just Finnish).<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this list of people is &#8220;the Japanese.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Japanese, in this world, are more or less described with the same sort of feverish hyperoriental allure that made people like James Hilton a celebrated author, that turned isolated East Asian locales into a butchered run-of-the-mill trope across movies and comics and pulp stories. &#8220;An almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym \u2013 the so-called \u2018Japanese&#8217; have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era,&#8221; reads the book&#8217;s chapter. Reading this extract triggers my Cleric&#8217;s wisdom \u2013 a successful roll \u2013 to further clarify that the Japanese are &#8220;mysterious human people of Ym, who live in an isolated kingdom upon great plateaus, deep inland.&#8221; My Cleric&#8217;s charisma comes forward, now, to offer up a piece of self-reflection, as the game informs me that &#8220;You, too, were swept up in a Samurai-phase during your early years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure data-count=\"2\" role=\"group\">\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the text from an in-game book which says, \u201cAn almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym - the so-called \u2018Japanese\u2019 have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era.\u201d\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313222458_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the text from an in-game book which says, \u201cAn almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym - the so-called \u2018Japanese\u2019 have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era.\u201d\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260313222458_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt='Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is looking at a pile of books in a room. The on-screen text description for one book lists nine chapters of different folktypes, all fantastical, with the final option as \u201cCheck the chapter on the Japanese.\"' height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313222454_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt='Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is looking at a pile of books in a room. The on-screen text description for one book lists nine chapters of different folktypes, all fantastical, with the final option as \u201cCheck the chapter on the Japanese.\"' data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260313222454_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<\/figure><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Esoteric Ebb&#8217;s writer\/developer Christoffer Bodeg\u00e5rd probably meant this as a joke, as a tongue-in-cheek jab at how East Asians, particularly Japanese people, are often fetishised into objects of western adoration and worship. It is ostensibly supposed to be a bit of silly self-referential fun, but after all the care and effort that went into crafting this whole setting, it comes off as sloppy and self-indulgent. The fact that fantasy has traditionally been built on a rock-hard foundation of weaponised Othering, racism, and xenophobia isn&#8217;t news; this is simply something that fantasy enjoyers can either choose to acknowledge and engage critically with, or pretend they&#8217;re still eight years old. The fact that Ebb cares enough about racism in fantasy to directly address it in other subplots and character dialogue \u2013 second-class citizenship, for one, and open discrimination against birdfolk, for another \u2013 makes this whole Japanese attempt even more disappointing, as if there&#8217;s some sort of reverse-weeb exceptionalism here, that only smart and respectably self-aware westerners will understand and find relatable or even endearing. One wonders why this is even endearing in the first place, and to whom, and if western pop culture writing can ever be a little bit normal about Japan.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"3\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Omitting this whole entire situation from the game would have diminished nothing, but including it left such a bad taste in my mouth it was hard to forget. My first playthrough is about fifteen hours, so it&#8217;s not like I could memoryhole that particular bump quickly, but it wasn&#8217;t hard to move on because Ebb is good at momentum. Halfway through my second playthrough right now, I&#8217;m still an idiot, albeit a more constitutionally robust one with a better sense of the game&#8217;s systems, and I&#8217;m still not fully confident in the game&#8217;s hybrid class system that lets me choose another role (say, a Druid or a Warrior, which must be unlocked by talking to relevant NPCs).<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314193422_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">3<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314193422_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314184929_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Cleric player trying to have a relatable moment with a teenager in a tavern, with the first dialogue option being \u201cHells yeah, kid\u2026 I\u2019m also scared of women.\u201d\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314184929_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Cleric player trying to have a relatable moment with a teenager in a tavern, with the first dialogue option being \u201cHells yeah, kid\u2026 I\u2019m also scared of women.\u201d\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314184929_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311205033_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from a cutscene in Esoteric Ebb where the player is talking to a human kid manning a magazine kiosk who makes a \u201cpassively racist comment\u201d about birdfolk\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311205033_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from a cutscene in Esoteric Ebb where the player is talking to a human kid manning a magazine kiosk who makes a \u201cpassively racist comment\u201d about birdfolk\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311205033_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But this low-key muddledness goes well with how the game forces the Cleric to commit to his own identity through verbalisation and articulation \u2013 the more I identify myself to people as, say, a Cleric, or as apolitical, the more it affects my alignment in said categories. I end up trying to be a sort of Cleric-Druid, though I don&#8217;t fully utilise the build in my first playthrough; it is also probably relevant to add that the Cleric is canonically some kind of arcane savant, and though we&#8217;re not exactly operating on &#8220;chosen one&#8221; levels, the game is explicitly clear that my precious buffoon of a holy lawkeeper has a preternatural gift for the esoteric. It&#8217;s hard not to enjoy a game that extends double-edged grace and questionable opportunity to even the biggest fool, especially when I don&#8217;t deserve it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"4\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Finessing political alignment is arguably one of the most fun parts of the game \u2013 this is, after all, an election period \u2013 because it does the lord&#8217;s work by roasting my Cleric whenever I describe myself as apolitical. I feel the withering disdain of my fellow voters as I proudly describe myself as <em>apolitical<\/em> to anyone who will listen \u2013 the dwarves who fight for labor rights, heavyhanded Freestriders who use power and coin to shape democracy in their image, and my long-suffering companion, Snell, a goblin of many talents and inhuman patience. It&#8217;s shame all the way down when I, a seemingly incompetent instrument of the state, talk to passionate stumpers about my indifference to the material problems that plague our city. I am a waste of space, and when I finally hit rock bottom and commit my Cleric to a cause, even I feel less ashamed of him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313223632_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">3<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313223632_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311222925_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is staring at an overflowing garbage can on a street and contemplating whether the pastry he took out of the can was actually in the garbage, above the rim of the garbage, or adjacent to the garbage\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311222925_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is staring at an overflowing garbage can on a street and contemplating whether the pastry he took out of the can was actually in the garbage, above the rim of the garbage, or adjacent to the garbage\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311222925_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311201407_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from the opening credits in Esoteric Ebb where the player character, a Cleric in knight\u2019s armor and helmet, is sinking in deep water\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311201407_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from the opening credits in Esoteric Ebb where the player character, a Cleric in knight\u2019s armor and helmet, is sinking in deep water\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311201407_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"aside right\">\n<h2>Esoteric Ebb accessibility options<\/h2>\n<p>Text size and font options, UI size options, colourblind mode.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Probably the most succinct way I can sum up the essence of Esoteric Ebb is my Cleric&#8217;s initial meeting with Snell, in which I choose to do a wholly inappropriate greeting that befits an &#8220;uncivilised&#8221; tribal goblin, and my charisma butts in to ask, correctly, &#8220;what the FUCK are you doing?!&#8221; In the best spirit of D&amp;D, this is a game that celebrates the very core of that question with generous comedy and a bit of camp and a lot of shenanigans, as befits a world that runs on dice and dreams and a good dose of eldritch horror. Free will is a hell of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The final scene of the game unfolds on election day \u2013 the entire city gathers to vote, and everyone you&#8217;ve met heads to the city center to perform their civic duty. Everyone is here making history; the atmosphere and impending sense of catharsis on election day gives off just-the-right-amount of resonance with regard to real-life feelings on migraine-inducing realpolitik and corporate lobbyists and the classic, helpless misery of &#8220;I have no better choices.&#8221; If 2026 somehow becomes the year of the funny election game (the other big one being Cosmo D&#8217;s Moves of the Diamond Hand \u2013 okay fine, I&#8217;m making up a trend based on two games, leave me alone), then let Esoteric Ebb be the approachable buddy comedy that gets everyone to think a little bit about their own place in the world, and the sort of useful idiot they want to be.<\/p>\n<p><em>A copy of Esoteric Ebb was provided for this review by Raw Fury.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div role=\"img\" class=\"review_rating\" data-style=\"stars\" data-variant=\"whole\" data-size=\"large\" data-value=\"4\" data-max=\"false\" aria-label=\"Rating: 4 stars out of 5\">\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"star disabled\"><\/span>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<div role=\"img\" class=\"review_rating\" data-style=\"stars\" data-variant=\"whole\" data-size=\"large\" data-value=\"4\" data-max=\"false\" aria-label=\"Rating: 4 stars out of 5\">\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"star disabled\"><\/span>\n  <\/div>\n<section class=\"synopsis\">\n<div>Weaving Terry Pratchett, Terry Gilliam and more, Esoteric Ebb is a comedic D&amp;D adventure where a waylaid Cleric is tasked with solving a crime, days before the world&#8217;s first election.<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>When I tell people about Esoteric Ebb, I mostly say that I play an idiot, because there&#8217;s something deeply comforting about being a waylaid government oaf. Sure, I&#8217;ve pledged allegiance to hierarchy and bureaucracy, but there&#8217;s always the possibility of doing something <em>naughty <\/em>or <em>exciting<\/em> or even something unexpectedly <em>brave<\/em>. As an unassuming representative of the establishment, I dance on the knife&#8217;s edge of plausible deniability and weaponised incompetency. Ultimately, though, there&#8217;s always the chance that, as a Cleric of the state, I&#8217;ll just slump back into line out of anxiety or complacency or whatever it is that keeps civil servants glued to the teat of government service, because life is hard enough, and having to worry about things like work accommodations and job safety and the respect of your fellow man is tiring.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"aside right\">\n<h2>Esoteric Ebb review<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Developer:<\/strong> Christoffer Bodeg\u00e5rd<\/li>\n<li><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Raw Fury<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform:<\/strong> Played on PC<\/li>\n<li><strong>Availability:<\/strong> Out now on PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2057760\/Esoteric_Ebb\/\">Steam<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Nevertheless, I am determined to be a useful idiot, though I&#8217;m not yet sure to whom. I roll my Cleric to be respectably wise and competently dexterous, with the strength and constitution of a sickly Victorian orphan. I have been assigned to investigate a crime \u2013 a local tea shop just blew up \u2013 in the lead-up to the world&#8217;s first-ever election in the city of Tolstad. Unfortunately, it seems that I somehow died, before being found and revived by the local mortician \u2013 the game starts as I wake up on a stone slab, bedraggled and confused, with a ruined spellbook and horribly weakened magic abilities (<em>esoteric<\/em>, in this setting, is a specific kind of magic). I have five days to figure out what happened, and more importantly, maybe make my first real friend.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Esoteric Ebb - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hPXwfbVvyDk?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/hPXwfbVvyDk\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Esoteric Ebb &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hPXwfbVvyDk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Esoteric Ebb is a game that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve, with one big obvious one; here we have a nonlinear, narrative-focused, text-heavy dice-roller that has parts of my Cleric&#8217;s psyche jockeying for dominance via said dice. We live and die (sorry) by D&amp;D skill checks, like real gamers, and collect wearable items that can enhance or diminish certain stats; simply perceiving NPCs, too, requires a skill check that reveals more information with higher rolls. There&#8217;s a tiered magic system that requires prepping spells at altars scattered around the map, with buffs for skill checks during combat encounters, and D&amp;D staples to understand languages, speak to animals, and so on. Its &#8216;feat&#8217; system, too, was a good bit of flexible fun \u2013 after completing a certain set of objectives, the player gets to choose a specific buff or gameplay advantage related to the narrative themes of said objectives. These can be swapped out through the course of the game, offering a little bit more customisation in the Cleric&#8217;s build.<\/p>\n<p>It weaves political intrigue and personal failure into a charming web, mixing in humor and comedy that echo literary fantasists like Terry Pratchett, Max Frei, et al., a touch of Terry Gilliam, and all the messy frivolities and anxieties that pervade contemporary culture (we do find, at one point, the esoteric equivalent of Ozempic buried in a mound of smuggled goods, because why wouldn&#8217;t a culture of magic users do that). This is, after all, a game about meeting and learning about people, pathologically riddled with universal idiosyncrasies and insecurities that transcend space and time and genre.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Intelligence page on the character creation screen where the player sorts out their stats\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260409173401_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Intelligence page on the character creation screen where the player sorts out their stats\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260409173401_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My first concern in Esoteric Ebb was the immediate and unavoidable comparison to gaming&#8217;s most punished pariah of discourse, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/disco-elysium\">Disco Elysium<\/a>. A wrong, but common cursory assessment of what made Disco Elysium&#8217;s writing so effective was a matter of verbosity, rather than a deeply rhizomatic approach to narrative design; that some players were simply starstruck by the sheer reams of prose and lyricism and brute force rhetoric. Now, there is (ironically) a lot to be said about how people perceive text in games, and in an ideal world, we wouldn&#8217;t be in a place that conflates &#8220;many words&#8221; with intellect and eloquence. We can do better than this sort of dichotomy. And we can certainly do better in how we tend to shackle profundity to cynicism and self-loathing and gravitas. Still, to be honest, I was a little worried that Esoteric Ebb wouldn&#8217;t be able to clear this hurdle, but it does, capably, on its own terms.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>What Ebb does really well is this: it has some fantastic moment-to-moment writing and an excellent overall approach to tone and consistency in its humour. This is the sort of game that makes the concept of agency simulation feel seamlessly fun and instinctive within the first five minutes of experiencing the starting area vibes (did I attack the tutorial zombie for no reason? Yes. Did I fail shamefully and keep going back for seconds and even thirds? Also yes). The scale and interconnectedness of this entire narrative setting is genuinely lovely to behold, even when I&#8217;m just reading snippets of arcane history and theology or learning about the powers that move in circles far above me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315222325_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">4<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315222325_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing a wide shot of the player character standing in a church, dropping a ballot into a voting box\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315222325_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260315005606_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the player character\u2019s profile and inventory, specifically highlighting a Bottle of Milk that reduces his constitution\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260315005606_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the player character\u2019s profile and inventory, specifically highlighting a Bottle of Milk that reduces his constitution\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260315005606_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314233138_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the character profile for an NPC named Youth Azagal Modissa\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314233138_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the character profile for an NPC named Youth Azagal Modissa\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314233138_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314232746_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb that shows the game\u2019s black-and-white linework city map with location names labeled\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314232746_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb that shows the game\u2019s black-and-white linework city map with location names labeled\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314232746_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ebb simmers in a great stew of situational comedy and classic pathos that nudges my Cleric toward unlikely solutions and useful indignance \u2013 if I can&#8217;t get something done because I&#8217;m too weak or clumsy, I can lean into my ineptitude with aplomb. I can have a crisis of faith and purpose while contemplating running a side hustle to deliver milk for a questionably little amount of money, or spend a questionably large amount of money to supposedly buy the property rights for an underground lake. I embarrass myself horribly time and time again, conjuring real-life PTSD from younger years when I still had the sort of fortitude and survivalist shamelessness that I&#8217;m trying to cultivate in my Cleric like a resilient little seed. When I fail at assessing NPCs because the dice don&#8217;t behave, that opaqueness and frustration build wonderful tension between characters and in the overarching mysteries and objectives that make up my journal.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Occasionally, though, it  feels bloated by uneven writing and scenario design, and at times, briefly veers into excessive self-indulgence that crosses the line from neurotic self-effacing banter to tedium; one example is the cat-people gauntlet corridor in the catcombs which I felt was, in theory, an interesting exercise, but in execution, unsatisfying and unwieldy. A couple of times, the barrage of bantery one-liners don&#8217;t fully hold the weight and tension they need to maintain the whole concept of containing multitudes; this doesn&#8217;t happen often, but it&#8217;s such a load-bearing part of the gameplay that it&#8217;s really noticeable when it does. In part, Esoteric Ebb is an exercise in information maximalism due to its tooltip\/wikipedia-style interface that lets the player click on various terms and names in the game text to show summaries of important concepts and figures in the history of this world. This in itself is not the problem; I actually quite liked this system as a means of information delivery, mostly because I love good, dense, borderline overwhelming worldbuilding.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the Cleric player and his goblin companion explore a secret room with a chest that may or may not be a mimic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314203547_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the Cleric player and his goblin companion explore a secret room with a chest that may or may not be a mimic\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260314203547_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I try my best to avoid the word &#8220;cringe&#8221; as a descriptor, but sometimes there&#8217;s no better way to encapsulate the feeling of awkward, gnawing disappointment when you&#8217;re having a nice time exploring a neat fantasy world and bump into one of the most pernicious guarantees of western genre storytelling: casual, jokey, self-deprecating orientalism. There is, in a pile of books in the Cleric&#8217;s living quarters, a tome about the various peoples of this world \u2013 all fantastic folktypes like Urthfolk, Diminorians, Certs, and People of the Mountain. Keep in mind that we are in a D&amp;D homebrew setting that is rooted in magic and theocracy and dragons; it is fantastically detailed and incorporates real-life languages into its various mythologies (Tolkien, among others, did a ton of this \u2013 his Elven is heavily Finnish-coded, and in this game they are straight-up just Finnish).<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this list of people is &#8220;the Japanese.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Japanese, in this world, are more or less described with the same sort of feverish hyperoriental allure that made people like James Hilton a celebrated author, that turned isolated East Asian locales into a butchered run-of-the-mill trope across movies and comics and pulp stories. &#8220;An almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym \u2013 the so-called \u2018Japanese&#8217; have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era,&#8221; reads the book&#8217;s chapter. Reading this extract triggers my Cleric&#8217;s wisdom \u2013 a successful roll \u2013 to further clarify that the Japanese are &#8220;mysterious human people of Ym, who live in an isolated kingdom upon great plateaus, deep inland.&#8221; My Cleric&#8217;s charisma comes forward, now, to offer up a piece of self-reflection, as the game informs me that &#8220;You, too, were swept up in a Samurai-phase during your early years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure data-count=\"2\" role=\"group\">\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the text from an in-game book which says, \u201cAn almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym - the so-called \u2018Japanese\u2019 have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era.\u201d\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313222458_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the text from an in-game book which says, \u201cAn almost mythical human peoples of the secretive realm of Ym - the so-called \u2018Japanese\u2019 have been a popular topic of fiction since their discovery in the early mid-Arcane Era.\u201d\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260313222458_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt='Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is looking at a pile of books in a room. The on-screen text description for one book lists nine chapters of different folktypes, all fantastical, with the final option as \u201cCheck the chapter on the Japanese.\"' height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313222454_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt='Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is looking at a pile of books in a room. The on-screen text description for one book lists nine chapters of different folktypes, all fantastical, with the final option as \u201cCheck the chapter on the Japanese.\"' data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"20260313222454_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<\/figure><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Esoteric Ebb&#8217;s writer\/developer Christoffer Bodeg\u00e5rd probably meant this as a joke, as a tongue-in-cheek jab at how East Asians, particularly Japanese people, are often fetishised into objects of western adoration and worship. It is ostensibly supposed to be a bit of silly self-referential fun, but after all the care and effort that went into crafting this whole setting, it comes off as sloppy and self-indulgent. The fact that fantasy has traditionally been built on a rock-hard foundation of weaponised Othering, racism, and xenophobia isn&#8217;t news; this is simply something that fantasy enjoyers can either choose to acknowledge and engage critically with, or pretend they&#8217;re still eight years old. The fact that Ebb cares enough about racism in fantasy to directly address it in other subplots and character dialogue \u2013 second-class citizenship, for one, and open discrimination against birdfolk, for another \u2013 makes this whole Japanese attempt even more disappointing, as if there&#8217;s some sort of reverse-weeb exceptionalism here, that only smart and respectably self-aware westerners will understand and find relatable or even endearing. One wonders why this is even endearing in the first place, and to whom, and if western pop culture writing can ever be a little bit normal about Japan.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"3\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Omitting this whole entire situation from the game would have diminished nothing, but including it left such a bad taste in my mouth it was hard to forget. My first playthrough is about fifteen hours, so it&#8217;s not like I could memoryhole that particular bump quickly, but it wasn&#8217;t hard to move on because Ebb is good at momentum. Halfway through my second playthrough right now, I&#8217;m still an idiot, albeit a more constitutionally robust one with a better sense of the game&#8217;s systems, and I&#8217;m still not fully confident in the game&#8217;s hybrid class system that lets me choose another role (say, a Druid or a Warrior, which must be unlocked by talking to relevant NPCs).<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314193422_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">3<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314193422_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player\u2019s goblin companion, Snell, describes a box of potions you just found as the equivalent of fantasy world Ozempic\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314193422_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260314184929_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Cleric player trying to have a relatable moment with a teenager in a tavern, with the first dialogue option being \u201cHells yeah, kid\u2026 I\u2019m also scared of women.\u201d\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260314184929_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing the Cleric player trying to have a relatable moment with a teenager in a tavern, with the first dialogue option being \u201cHells yeah, kid\u2026 I\u2019m also scared of women.\u201d\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260314184929_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311205033_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from a cutscene in Esoteric Ebb where the player is talking to a human kid manning a magazine kiosk who makes a \u201cpassively racist comment\u201d about birdfolk\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311205033_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from a cutscene in Esoteric Ebb where the player is talking to a human kid manning a magazine kiosk who makes a \u201cpassively racist comment\u201d about birdfolk\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311205033_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But this low-key muddledness goes well with how the game forces the Cleric to commit to his own identity through verbalisation and articulation \u2013 the more I identify myself to people as, say, a Cleric, or as apolitical, the more it affects my alignment in said categories. I end up trying to be a sort of Cleric-Druid, though I don&#8217;t fully utilise the build in my first playthrough; it is also probably relevant to add that the Cleric is canonically some kind of arcane savant, and though we&#8217;re not exactly operating on &#8220;chosen one&#8221; levels, the game is explicitly clear that my precious buffoon of a holy lawkeeper has a preternatural gift for the esoteric. It&#8217;s hard not to enjoy a game that extends double-edged grace and questionable opportunity to even the biggest fool, especially when I don&#8217;t deserve it.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"4\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Finessing political alignment is arguably one of the most fun parts of the game \u2013 this is, after all, an election period \u2013 because it does the lord&#8217;s work by roasting my Cleric whenever I describe myself as apolitical. I feel the withering disdain of my fellow voters as I proudly describe myself as <em>apolitical<\/em> to anyone who will listen \u2013 the dwarves who fight for labor rights, heavyhanded Freestriders who use power and coin to shape democracy in their image, and my long-suffering companion, Snell, a goblin of many talents and inhuman patience. It&#8217;s shame all the way down when I, a seemingly incompetent instrument of the state, talk to passionate stumpers about my indifference to the material problems that plague our city. I am a waste of space, and when I finally hit rock bottom and commit my Cleric to a cause, even I feel less ashamed of him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313223632_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" data-autosize=\"bounds_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"loading spinner large\"><\/span><\/p>\n<nav class=\"pagination--hoverable\">\n<div class=\"previous\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Previous\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-left.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"next\">\n<button class=\"button pagination-button\"><br \/>\n<span aria-label=\"Next\" class=\"icon\" role=\"img\" style='--icon-mask-image: url(\"\/static\/solid\/angle-right.svg\")'><\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<div class=\"details_overlay\">\n<div class=\"counter\">\n<span class=\"current\">1<\/span> <span class=\"of\">of<\/span> <span class=\"max\">3<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"details\">\n<div class=\"button-wrapper\">\n<button aria-label=\"Toggle information\" class=\"toggle button outline\"><\/button><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"Close fullscreen gallery\" class=\"close button\"><\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails-wrapper overflow-shadow-x\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\">\n<button class=\"thumbnail active\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260313223632_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb showing an NPC vendor, Oyugui, and her gargoyle, talking to the player\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260313223632_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311222925_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is staring at an overflowing garbage can on a street and contemplating whether the pastry he took out of the can was actually in the garbage, above the rim of the garbage, or adjacent to the garbage\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311222925_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from Esoteric Ebb where the player is staring at an overflowing garbage can on a street and contemplating whether the pastry he took out of the can was actually in the garbage, above the rim of the garbage, or adjacent to the garbage\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311222925_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"thumbnail\" data-attribution=\"Raw Fury \/ Eurogamer\" data-uri=\"20260311201407_1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot from the opening credits in Esoteric Ebb where the player character, a Cleric in knight\u2019s armor and helmet, is sinking in deep water\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/20260311201407_1.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Screenshot from the opening credits in Esoteric Ebb where the player character, a Cleric in knight\u2019s armor and helmet, is sinking in deep water\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"20260311201407_1.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1920\"><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fullscreen_info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nCaption          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"attribution\">\n<span class=\"label\"><br \/>\nAttribution          <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-gallery-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"advert_container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"aside right\">\n<h2>Esoteric Ebb accessibility options<\/h2>\n<p>Text size and font options, UI size options, colourblind mode.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Probably the most succinct way I can sum up the essence of Esoteric Ebb is my Cleric&#8217;s initial meeting with Snell, in which I choose to do a wholly inappropriate greeting that befits an &#8220;uncivilised&#8221; tribal goblin, and my charisma butts in to ask, correctly, &#8220;what the FUCK are you doing?!&#8221; In the best spirit of D&amp;D, this is a game that celebrates the very core of that question with generous comedy and a bit of camp and a lot of shenanigans, as befits a world that runs on dice and dreams and a good dose of eldritch horror. Free will is a hell of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The final scene of the game unfolds on election day \u2013 the entire city gathers to vote, and everyone you&#8217;ve met heads to the city center to perform their civic duty. Everyone is here making history; the atmosphere and impending sense of catharsis on election day gives off just-the-right-amount of resonance with regard to real-life feelings on migraine-inducing realpolitik and corporate lobbyists and the classic, helpless misery of &#8220;I have no better choices.&#8221; If 2026 somehow becomes the year of the funny election game (the other big one being Cosmo D&#8217;s Moves of the Diamond Hand \u2013 okay fine, I&#8217;m making up a trend based on two games, leave me alone), then let Esoteric Ebb be the approachable buddy comedy that gets everyone to think a little bit about their own place in the world, and the sort of useful idiot they want to be.<\/p>\n<p><em>A copy of Esoteric Ebb was provided for this review by Raw Fury.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div role=\"img\" class=\"review_rating\" data-style=\"stars\" data-variant=\"whole\" data-size=\"large\" data-value=\"4\" data-max=\"false\" aria-label=\"Rating: 4 stars out of 5\">\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"star\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"star disabled\"><\/span>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home Reviews Esoteric Ebb Esoteric Ebb review &#8211; camp and cutting political comedy in a D&amp;D Disco Elysium wrapper Flow state. Image credit: Raw Fury Review by Alexis Ong Contributor Published on April 10, 2026 3 comments Follow Esoteric Ebb Weaving Terry Pratchett, Terry Gilliam and more, Esoteric Ebb is a comedic D&amp;D adventure where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1876148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1876148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1876148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1876148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1876148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}