Perfection
Absolute cinema; an episodic, branching story you will binge.
I went into Dispatch expecting a solid single playthrough and came out having run it back three times, with a bonus quick save replay thrown in for good measure. My first time through was a genuinely captivating experience. The story, voice acting, characters, animation, and soundtrack all pulled their weight from the very start, and while the gameplay itself is admittedly straightforward, there’s a surprising amount of fun buried in its puzzle-like wordplay. I got attached to my team of misfits as they leveled up, and the story pulled real emotion out of me more than once, to the point where I’d catch myself missing quick time prompts because I was too locked into what was happening on screen.
Round two is where things really clicked into place for me. The story held up remarkably well on a second pass, and the puzzle-like gameplay only grew on me with more reps under my belt. What stood out most was just how much additional dialogue and how many extra scenes were waiting behind different choices. It wasn’t just filler either, the branching paths actually revealed new sides of the characters and carried real narrative weight depending on which direction I took things.
By the time I wrapped my third playthrough, and dabbled in a fourth through a quick save replay, I had seen every ending and every major branch the story had to offer, and I walked away thoroughly satisfied. AdHoc Studio clearly built this narrative with real depth and intention, because each path felt meaningfully different rather than reused with minor tweaks. The gameplay never wore out its welcome either, which says a lot for something as simple as its core loop. If you love strong storytelling or well made animated superhero fare, Dispatch delivers a complete package worth sinking multiple runs into. I’m hoping we get a Dispatch 2 someday, but even without one, I’d happily welcome another original title from AdHoc Studio, ideally with Critical Role along for the ride again.