With the awards season upon us, which games should win each category of the Game of the Year awards is being heavily debated. In the Japanese gaming community, the 2D platformer SANABI has become many people’s personal nomination for Indie Game of the Year.

Released on November 9 for the PC (Steam) and the Nintendo Switch, SANABI was developed by WONDER POTION, a team of five university students from South Korea. Describing itself as an “exhilarating stylish dystopian action-platformer,” the game features highly detailed and immersive 2D backgrounds. Unusually for an action platformer, it has a strong focus on story.

The game tells of a veteran who just wants to live in peace with his daughter but is called out of retirement to find out what has befallen a mega-city called MAGO. The main character has a Castlevania-worthy cloak and a prosthetic arm with a chain hook, which lends itself to some acrobatic jumping mechanics. As you swing through the dystopian cyberpunk mega-city, you will meet various colorful characters. You can also play as Mari, a hacker who can open locked doors and uncover encrypted information to aid the veteran’s quest.

SANABI gameplay screenshot showing the detailed 2D environment. The veteran and his daughter stand in the foreground next to a laundry line. In the background is a pink sky and mountains covered by white fluffy clouds

The game has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, receiving an outpouring of praise from Japanese users of X. Many posters said it was their Game of the Year and some even went so far to say that it was among the top games they have played in their life.

So, what impressed Japanese players about this indie offering? Regarding gameplay, commenters praised the enjoyability of the stylish, high-speed chain-swinging action. Many people mentioned the high quality of the soundtrack and visuals, in particular the pixel art characters.

『SANABI』20%offhttps://t.co/PT8dD4limp

数々の名作が出た2023年、個人的GOTYはサンナビでした。
恐ろしいまでに磨き上げられたシナリオ。音ハメと同時に襲い掛かってくるピクセルアニメーション。その全てが一級品。ゲームも完成度高く、衝撃的な面白さにただただ涙しました#Steamオータムセール
— のす (@nosunosu) November 24, 2023

Post Translation: In 2023, a year of numerous masterpieces, SANABI is my personal GotY. The story is insanely well polished. The pixel animation hits you in time with the engaging sound/music. Everything is first-class. I cried simply because of the game’s high level of perfection and impactful interestingness.

The majority highlighted the quality of the game’s story, emphasizing how moving it was, with numerous commenters being reduced to tears. Gamers were awed at how well the pixel art characters expressed emotion and hinted at tragic, heartbreaking twist in the story. The negative point some users brought up was the translation quality in the mid and latter parts of the game. Others emphasized that it was only a slight flaw (“like minus 10 points out of 500,000,000”, as one person put it).

ワイヤーアクション部分も楽しいけど、とにかくストーリーが良かった……基本は一本道なんだけど、こんなに「ゲームであること」を生かしたストーリーは（自分的に）FF7以来かも。終盤は「待って待ってそういうこと！？」の連続で最後はボロボロ泣いてしまった。ドット絵キャラの演技がまた良くてな～
— てっけん🎃Hayato Ikeya (@tekken8810) November 29, 2023

Post Translation: I finished SANABI on the weekend! People around me were praising it very highly, so I decided to play it and it’s definitely a masterpiece. I think it’s THE must play indie game released this year.
The wire action sections were fun but it’s the story that was good. It’s linear, but for me it’s probably the first time since Final Fantasy VII that a story has made this good use of “being a game.” The last part was a series of “Wait, wait, so that’s how it is?!” moments and I cried a lot at the ending. The pixel art characters’ ‘acting’ was also good.

SANABI is currently playable in nine languages including English, Japanese and the original Korean. A beta version of the game won a few awards including Best Indie Game at the Korea Game Awards 2022 and 2022 Best Game from Indie Craft. Unfortunately for fans, it is not an official nomination in any of The Game Award’s Game of the Year categories this year.

SANABI is available for the PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch.