I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is Deponia at its finest.

See. I went into Doomsday with great trepidation. I didn't know if I would like it... to the point I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play it at all. (btw I'm assuming people who are reading this review have played through Goodbye Deponia).

When I heard about the fourth game, I thought that Doomsday was a CONCERNING idea... would Daedalic be throwing away what should have been the end of a story for more money?

I love the trilogy: its characters, its art, its music, its humor, its world, its creativity, its absurdity, its story. And... I especially adore the ending. Yes, many other fans got furious, but for me, it was the perfect way to end the story. It's heavily foreshadowed, start to end, through the trilogy. It's been set up with intention the entire time. It stuck with me, and I had to think about it for several days. The fact that Deponia Doomsday, at its core, seemed to be a story that would **retcon the ending**... looked to me like a way of erasing the ENTIRE HEART AND POINT of the trilogy's storytelling.

I needn't have worried.

Needn't have worried at all.

The people who BEST knew about the importance of Goodbye Deponia's ending were the creators, and BOY did they hammer that hard into Doomsday.

See, while I had accepted the end of the third game, many fans couldn't or wouldn't accept the end... and the entire point of Doomsday is to tell the message "the ending is the right one." It might have a little bit of a retcon spin, but... Instead of erasing the potency of the third game's end, Doomsday AMPLIFIES its power. The most cry-able moments are all in here. Doomsday isn't about erasing the third game - on the contrary, it's about supporting it. I can't look at the third game's end the same way because of Doomsday, that's true, and I have a few mixed feelings about that, but I do NOT have mixed feelings about the fact Doomsday (mostly) held its ground on what the trilogy intended.

It does so by giving the most emotional heart Deponia has ever had. Deponia Doomsday is a game with all the humor and laughs you'd expect of any Deponia game. It is a game with all the ridiculous shenanigans and randomness you'd expect of any Deponia game. It is a game with the puzzles, and art, and animation, that you'd expect of any Deponia game. If you've played through the trilogy, you'll get the same sort of quality in Doomsday, there's nothing new to say there. But with Doomsday, it also comes the most emotionally resonant message that Deponia has ever offered: it's a story about the five stages of grief, and a story about the power of hope.

From start to end, Doomsday focuses on hope. We begin by seeing a graffiti message "no hope." Character conversations, interactions, locations, choices... continue to explore the idea of what hope in the future is, what its power is, and how we should act because of it. And of course, how the story ends, gives us a discussion of hope, too.

I'm not saying every scene is a deep piece of literature. We've still got disaster-on-legs Rufus and all the wild, unbelievably wacky sh!t he pulls. But I'm saying that, embedded in Doomsday, are some memorable moments that take it straight and serious.

Doomsday is, when you think about it, more about Goal than Rufus. This is the game where Goal shines the most, and where Goal and Rufus have the most meaningful interactions together. It's WHIPLASH going back to the first game after this one, going back to when the relationship was Rufus staring, horny, at an unconscious body. Not saying that Doomsday is without its misogyny moments, but GOODNESS is it night and day between how Goal is portrayed in game one versus four. Lots of complex time spent on her strengths, weaknesses, struggles, and hopes.

You can feel the growth and time spent in the creation team for Doomsday, too. It's more polished all around than the first game. I didn't catch typos in the English sub lines. The game has added mechanics where clicking fast is needed to be done in tense scenes, making climaxes feel more dramatic. The art is as good as always if not better and you go through more areas than any other game location. The game is longer (probably to help it balance out with the trilogy). The music is composed with unity, with attention to several melodic themes that get replayed with orchestrational variation throughout the soundtrack.

We can talk about its long, stretched, overly complicated ending (though I do have to give credit where credit's due... this is some of the most complicated time travel storytelling I've experienced, and the writing presented it in a way I understood everything going on start to end). We can talk about a few unintuitive gameplay solutions. We can talk about some of the jokes that cross the line - Lotti being the big one for me. We can of course talk about how Doomsday is, like all Deponia games, one with recognizable flaws. Don't make this review to be me raving to the ends of the earth about Doomsday, because yeah, it's flawed, and admittedly, I sometimes still wish I could think about the trilogy without the radio interference of Doomsday's additions.

But I'm also saying: as someone who fell in love with Deponia, Chaos on Deponia, and Goodbye Deponia... and didn't THINK ANOTHER STORY COULD EVER WORK... I am shocked to say Daedalic proved me wrong.

They knew exactly what they were doing with this story.

Your mileage may vary on Doomsday, of course. But as for me? I say this is just as worth playing as the rest of the series. Give yourself a good month's break between the end of 3 before you hit 4, let 3's end sink in... and then just go in to have a good time and enjoy more hours with Rufus, Goal, and the wild world of trash planets and platypuses.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is Deponia at its finest. See. I went into Doomsday with great trepidation. I didn't know if I would like it... to the point I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play it at all. (btw I'm assuming people who are reading this review have played through Goodbye Deponia). When I heard about the fourth game, I thought that Doomsday was a CONCERNING idea... would Daedalic be throwing away what should have been the end of a story for more money? I love the trilogy: its characters, its art, its music, its humor, its world, its creativity, its absurdity, its story. And... I especially adore the ending. Yes, many other fans got furious, but for me, it was the perfect way to end the story. It's heavily foreshadowed, start to end, through the trilogy. It's been set up with intention the entire time. It stuck with me, and I had to think about it for several days. The fact that Deponia Doomsday, at its core, seemed to be a story that would **retcon the ending**... looked to me like a way of erasing the ENTIRE HEART AND POINT of the trilogy's storytelling. I needn't have worried. Needn't have worried at all. The people who BEST knew about the importance of Goodbye Deponia's ending were the creators, and BOY did they hammer that hard into Doomsday. See, while I had accepted the end of the third game, many fans couldn't or wouldn't accept the end... and the entire point of Doomsday is to tell the message "the ending is the right one." It might have a little bit of a retcon spin, but... Instead of erasing the potency of the third game's end, Doomsday AMPLIFIES its power. The most cry-able moments are all in here. Doomsday isn't about erasing the third game - on the contrary, it's about supporting it. I can't look at the third game's end the same way because of Doomsday, that's true, and I have a few mixed feelings about that, but I do NOT have mixed feelings about the fact Doomsday (mostly) held its ground on what the trilogy intended. It does so by giving the most emotional heart Deponia has ever had. Deponia Doomsday is a game with all the humor and laughs you'd expect of any Deponia game. It is a game with all the ridiculous shenanigans and randomness you'd expect of any Deponia game. It is a game with the puzzles, and art, and animation, that you'd expect of any Deponia game. If you've played through the trilogy, you'll get the same sort of quality in Doomsday, there's nothing new to say there. But with Doomsday, it also comes the most emotionally resonant message that Deponia has ever offered: it's a story about the five stages of grief, and a story about the power of hope. From start to end, Doomsday focuses on hope. We begin by seeing a graffiti message "no hope." Character conversations, interactions, locations, choices... continue to explore the idea of what hope in the future is, what its power is, and how we should act because of it. And of course, how the story ends, gives us a discussion of hope, too. I'm not saying every scene is a deep piece of literature. We've still got disaster-on-legs Rufus and all the wild, unbelievably wacky sh!t he pulls. But I'm saying that, embedded in Doomsday, are some memorable moments that take it straight and serious. Doomsday is, when you think about it, more about Goal than Rufus. This is the game where Goal shines the most, and where Goal and Rufus have the most meaningful interactions together. It's WHIPLASH going back to the first game after this one, going back to when the relationship was Rufus staring, horny, at an unconscious body. Not saying that Doomsday is without its misogyny moments, but GOODNESS is it night and day between how Goal is portrayed in game one versus four. Lots of complex time spent on her strengths, weaknesses, struggles, and hopes. You can feel the growth and time spent in the creation team for Doomsday, too. It's more polished all around than the first game. I didn't catch typos in the English sub lines. The game has added mechanics where clicking fast is needed to be done in tense scenes, making climaxes feel more dramatic. The art is as good as always if not better and you go through more areas than any other game location. The game is longer (probably to help it balance out with the trilogy). The music is composed with unity, with attention to several melodic themes that get replayed with orchestrational variation throughout the soundtrack. We can talk about its long, stretched, overly complicated ending (though I do have to give credit where credit's due... this is some of the most complicated time travel storytelling I've experienced, and the writing presented it in a way I understood everything going on start to end). We can talk about a few unintuitive gameplay solutions. We can talk about some of the jokes that cross the line - Lotti being the big one for me. We can of course talk about how Doomsday is, like all Deponia games, one with recognizable flaws. Don't make this review to be me raving to the ends of the earth about Doomsday, because yeah, it's flawed, and admittedly, I sometimes still wish I could think about the trilogy without the radio interference of Doomsday's additions. But I'm also saying: as someone who fell in love with Deponia, Chaos on Deponia, and Goodbye Deponia... and didn't THINK ANOTHER STORY COULD EVER WORK... I am shocked to say Daedalic proved me wrong. They knew exactly what they were doing with this story. Your mileage may vary on Doomsday, of course. But as for me? I say this is just as worth playing as the rest of the series. Give yourself a good month's break between the end of 3 before you hit 4, let 3's end sink in... and then just go in to have a good time and enjoy more hours with Rufus, Goal, and the wild world of trash planets and platypuses.