// Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Review

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a dice-driven RPG. The game is developed by one person over at Jump Over the Age: Gareth Damian Martin.

The game is part visual novel, part table-top inspired strategy game.

Myself (2R) and Lady Feathers both had the opportunity to review this game, so this is a tag-team deal. Neither of us had played the original game, but were both eager to try out Citizen Sleeper 2.

Lady Feathers will be talking about the gameplay, as well as the characters and their connection to the plot and central themes of the game. I will be diving into how the game treats your senses with the visuals and music.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a wonderful, heartfelt video game. Here’s why.

// Music

If I had to describe the music in Citizen Sleeper 2 it would be this: haunting.

It’s slow and sombre. It’s mostly electronic and synth music that feels like it’s enveloping you. It’s all around you, and you float through it like a thick soup. 

At times, there’s no music at all. You’re left to listen to the creaking of your ship as you sail into the empty, nothingness of space.

It creates a very interesting vibe. It definitely makes you feel vulnerable and alone, as you would expect travelling through space. But at times, the songs carry a sort of warmth to them as well. A comforting undertone as if to say, “don’t worry, you have your friends here with you.”

During moments of intensity, the score will pick up a bit. The beat speeds up, and the synth slider gets cranked a little higher on the “grunge” setting. It’s enough to emphasize danger, but you won’t feel like you’re in Star Wars.

The score definitely draws inspiration from sci-fi/cyberpunk classics like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

// Visuals

The visual style overall of Citizen Sleeper 2 is relatively simple, which serves to emphasize the two most important aspect of its looks: The UI and the character portraits.

The character portraits are beautifully rendered. Given how important the characters are to the game, it makes sense to make this a standout feature.

The other aspect that really shines is the UI. Gareth Damian Martin was a graphic designer previously. This is plain obvious when you look at the UI of this game.

It’s clean with enough substance to feel like it has a personality. The bold yellow design work really pops against the backdrops of Citizen Sleeper 2, which are typically dark blues and greys. 

The minimal use of red also does its job: it gives you an at-a-glance indication of when something is going wrong. Much like if you were scanning the HUD on a space station, you’re constantly on alert for any red blips to pop up indicating you’ve taken stress or failed a die roll.

Navigating the game with a controller took a little bit of getting used to initially, as is often the case with games (I assume) design with a mouse in mind. But it very quickly becomes intuitive and easy to jump around in. Menu based games on consoles can always be a bit tricky, but Citizen Sleeper 2 handles it well.

Beyond the interface, you have 3d environments that you explore like a map from a top-down perspective. Key areas where you can take on actions will be highlighted by icons. The environments over the backdrop of space are nice to look at but minimal, serving to accent the other aspect of the game that are the most important.

Overall, it’s a very clean looking game with a strong identity. When paired with the music, The Belt feels entirely unique despite the genre being something that is extensively explored, which is a feat in its own right.

// Gameplay

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector has three classes: Operator (my class and is pictured earlier), Engineer, and Extractor. Each class has their own skills they’re both good and bad at and as the story progresses, you’re able to pick certain skills to level up. As I’ve learned, the push ability each Sleeper has is new to New to Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. Since I was playing an Operator, I had the ability to re-roll my bad dice rolls but I’d take a stress point, which is also new to the series. I was able to do that once every cycle while on a contract. You could also level up your push abilities, which would help boost them.  

The game has also three difficulties — safe, risky and dangerous. Safe is for those who want to focus on the story. Your dice can break in this game but on safe mode, they’re still worth 1 when used on checks, however modifiers won’t apply to them when they’re used. You have a higher stress tolerance and death is disabled (which means you won’t incur a permanent penalty).  

Risky is the default difficulty for Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. When your dice breaks, you can’t use them. Stress is standard and if you die, you incur a significant permanent penalty.  

Dangerous is for those who want a more difficult challenge. When you repair your dice, it uses more resources, you’ll incur more stress while on contracts, your energy depletes faster, and death is permanent.  

I started playing on risky but I messed up (which I talk about momentarily) and restarted the game. I ended up starting that file on safe. I didn’t find the game easier, I still found contracts tense at times, especially when you’re taking on stress and there’s a crisis clock.  

The gameplay loop for Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is as follows: every cycle (day), 5 dice are rolled. Your dice are displayed at the top. Depending on certain circumstances, you can attain glitched dice, which gives you a major disadvantage when using them for your checks. There’s a glitch clock at the top of the screen and with each notch on the clock, you risk the chance of getting a glitched die. When you use the dice, you clear a notch from the clock. 

You can use those dice rolls to do various things. If you’re in a station, you can use them to make ability checks for tasks that could earn you cryo chits (currency), sometimes to generate materials, or even unlock new areas within a station (by doing tasks).  You can use the chits to refuel and resupply your Rig, which is your home base of operations and form of transport within the Belt. You can also purchase raw materials to help fix your broken dice. If you fail any of these checks while in a station, it consumes energy, which can be replenished by eating a meal at the station’s eatery (which usually also costs chits). Resting and starting a new cycle does not replenish your energy. There is a mechanic earlier in the game where you have a clock because Laine is chasing you, and if the clock runs out, he’ll catch up to you. So you end up doing a lot of travel between stations to stop him from catching you. 

As mentioned, your Rig is your base of operations. You can rest in it to deplete stress if travel hasn’t, eat supplies instead of purchasing meals, and repair your broker dice. As the story progresses and depending on what your choose, you can unlock the ability to harvest supplies. You can also upgrade your Rig’s fuel tank to carry more fuel but I never got enough materials to do so.  

Stations are also where you get contracts. Contracts come from drives, which is the name for quests. Drives are given by NPCs; some drives can be done within stations, but many will take you outside of the stations, into random points within the Belt.  

Outside of stations, your dice rolls are for ability checks while doing contracts. If you fail a check, you can incur stress. The more stress you take, your dice will start to deplete its health, risking breakage. Each dice has 3 “hit points” and once it reaches 0, it will break. You cannot repair dice while on missions, you can only repair dice when in a station hub. You also cannot purchase meals while on contracts so it’s a good idea to have at least 5 supplies on you to give yourself a buffer since you never know how much time you will need when doing contracts. You have to keep doing skill checks until the clock at the bottom maxes out, marking you’ve completed a section. Some missions, however, have a crisis clock/crisis countdown/stress markers. If you fail skill checks, stress will incur not only to you but also to the mission, increasing your chances of failing it. Yes, it is possible to fail these, both unwillingly and willingly.   

There’s a third way you’ll experience skill check but that’s not done with your dice. At certain story moments, you can use your skills to take the story a certain way (like stopping a fight by causing a distraction). Instead of using dice, it’s based on the modifiers you have for that skill and it’ll tell you your chance of a successful, neutral or negative outcome.  

(text has been hidden for spoiler reasons)

Since I hadn’t played the first game, it took a little getting used to the controls. It’s likely easier to get a grasp of on PC, but because I was playing on my PS5, I had a hard time figuring out how to access some of the menus. I struggled figuring out how to access the map to do contracts. Because of that, I messed up on my first contract because I didn’t realise I hadn’t slotted one of the characters to assist on the contract. This really screwed me up, as I took on a lot of stress and broke all my dice. I also hadn’t gotten the ability to repair my dice yet. I started the game again, learned from my mistakes, and didn’t have that problem again.  

Outside of that hurdle, I really enjoyed the gameplay loop. I never felt like I didn’t have anything to do because there was always something to do. I did a lot of tasks in stations to earn chits since I had to keep refuelling. As I mentioned already too, even though I was playing on safe, I still felt like the game had a lot of tension. I described the game as cozy but stressful to my friends while I was playing and I still feel that way. I managed to finish a contract with one point on the stress clock. Every dice roll was nerve wracking, wondering if this was going to be the roll that meant I was going to fail.  

While I did enjoy the 18 hours I spent with Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, it wasn’t a bug free experience. I lost the ability to use the pause menu — it just wouldn’t work. I tried to move up and down in it and nothing happened. A reload fixed the problem. I had to reload the game again when I lost visuals of one of my crew member’s dice rolls on a contract. At first I could still slot them, but on the next cycle, I couldn’t just not see them, but I wasn’t able to use them either. The last bug was more of a visual bug—the skill menu kept popping up once I’d leave the Rig to feed the Stowaway as well as harvest the mushroom bay. I couldn’t seem to get rid of this visual bug by reloading. It would only go away when I went back to the Rig and opened it up and then backed out. These didn’t ruin my experience of the game, but I felt like it was important to mention that I still experienced them. 2R also experienced the dice rolls not showing on a contract. A reload fixed the problem for him too.

As I was going to take a few more screenshots for this article, I got a notification there was an update for the game. Maybe some of those bugs we experienced won’t be an issue for anyone diving in on day 1.  

// Story & Characters

SPOILER WARNING: This section contains story spoilers! Please skip this portion if you don’t want to be spoiled. I do try to be vague at times but there are references to specific plot points so if any amount of spoilers matter to you, press here to skip.

Two aspects I found Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector did well were its narrative and its characters. I especially the fact it had branching paths, allowing for replayability. For example, I failed one of the contracts in my original save file. I didn’t see what the outcome was, but I likely wouldn’t have gotten the part I needed to finish the drive for the character who gave me the contract. When I replayed this portion on my new file, I had the choice to stop a temporary crew mate from extracting the data on the drive and instead give it to the character who gave me the contract. I instead let her keep it.

When you’re at Hexport, a clock is counting down for the arrival of Laine, the main antagonist, as he’s chasing you down for most of the game. I managed to leave Hexport before the clock ran out. 2R had a different experience, as the clock ran out for him. Laine showed up, so Sleeper and Serafin fled, leaving a temporary crew mate behind as Hexport exploded. Because I ran before the clock ran out, the same temp crew mate left with Sleeper and Serafin. Hexport still exploded but I was on my way to my next destination when it happened.

I never asked 2R what his experience was for this next one but I’m interested in replaying the game so I can see what other outcomes this contract has. There’s a character you can recruit named Yu-Jin who is looking for a fraction driver ship, as it is capable of interstellar travel. You get a drive where you are supposed to recover it however, when you get there, you’re not the only one there. Two other characters you’ve met are also trying to nab this ship and a corporation known as Conway has drones descending on the location. You’re given a choice to stay and help Yu-Jin or flee. I fled. I wasn’t a big fan of Yu-Jin and how much reckless ambition he had, so I left him to his fate. Nothing is ever confirmed on what happens to him when you do, but you fail the drive. I’d love to replay the game just to find out what happens if you choose to stay.

Outside of the branching paths, I loved the narrative themes the game focused on.  We saw topics such as independence, bodily autonomy and control through Sleeper’s story arc. Sleeper rebooted themself to free themself from being in servitude for Laine. While they may have escaped from him, Sleeper is continuously on the run as Laine chases them. Laine has also somehow modified Sleeper to remotely control their form. The story becomes a race to get away from Laine’s multiple forms of control, both never wanting to become Laine’s servant again nor lose bodily independence. Even when Sleeper attempts to fix the problem, they instead get taken over by the equivalent of a symbiotic parasite, known as the Overseer, who promises to fix Sleeper if they help fix the Overseer. Sleeper does manage to gain their independence and autonomy from Laine and the Overseer, but it ultimately comes at a cost.  I don’t want to delve too much into the end of the game because I’d rather you experience it yourself, but I will say for myself, I think the cost was worth it. I’m not sure what the outcome is as the ending is left open-ended, but you are given a choice. Whatever choice you make further cements Sleeper gaining their independence and autonomy because no one is making the decision for them.

Found family was another theme I noticed as I was playing. There were moments when you were talking to your crew mates where it began to feel like you had made your own family through your journey. A lot of your crew didn’t really have anyone else but through travelling together and interacting with them, you develop bonds with each other. The moment that stood out to me the most is when you discover a stowaway on board. Bliss, a crew member you recruit early on, wants to keep stowaway but Serafin doesn’t. When you choose to keep the stowaway, Bliss mentions how the stowaway is like everyone else on board, as they’re all stowaways in some way. Tala, Serafin’s sister, also mentions finding family with the workers in Wellspring after she couldn’t find Serafin, which is the reason she doesn’t leave with him and Sleeper. She even tells Serafin, “We all find our families out here”.

One of the more interesting themes of Citizen Sleeper 2 is its portrayal of war and conflict between two corporations, Conway and Senestat, within the Helion System. What makes this theme interesting though is, you don’t see the war itself. You only see its effects on the citizens of the Starward Belt. Many of these stations are abandoned facilities, further complicating things, as its citizens, mainly refugees who fled from their homes due to the conflict, are facing housing issues. Resources, such as food and materials, are also scarce and hard to come by.

I was reading an article about the game and the creator spoke about how he wanted to focus on the waves conflicts cause versus the conflict itself. You can see evidence of that as you play. You only hear about the conflict from some characters, you never actually see it. You may learn how much of a threat Conway is based on how you do some of the contracts (like when you disable a Conway drone or the Yu-Jin contract I already mentioned), but that’s the closest you see between the warring factions. Outside of that, the focus is more on those whose lives are forever changed because of the conflict and the challenges they face. Because while they may have left the conflict, it’s still a struggle for them to exist where they are now.

The last theme I wanted to talk about was the theme of oppression and resistance. When you go to Wellspring, you learn a syndicate has been ruling over the station ruthlessly, especially in terms of its contracted workers. The contracted workers have stipulations in their contracts that say they are owned by the syndicate and their working conditions are awful, with workers unable to leave the grounds. One of the syndicate’s workers wants to break free of their control and he does so by kicking off a resistance, declaring a general strike. He also seeks resignation from the syndicate, with the intention of forming a governing council instead. A contract you get from the character can further Wellspring’s resistance. By succeeding on the contract, the workers on the tanker turn on its leader and join the formed alliance.

Outside of the narrative and the themes of the game, I loved its characters. I loved getting to know them, learning what they were about, what their goals were, what bits of their backstory they would share. I always looked forward to having exchanges with them all, hoping to learn something new. I also liked that not all characters were likeable from the start. My fellow GCR writers and I all found Serafin unlikeable at the start. We all concluded that it felt like Serafin blamed Sleeper for a lot of what was happening to them. He also just came off like a dick. I found though, as time went on, I began warming up to him. I started finding the things he said to be funny, and I was more invested in his struggles. He did end up being a very reliable ally and friend to Sleeper and respects the choices Sleeper makes.

My favourite character though had to be Bliss. I have so many notes where I just wrote “I LOVE BLISS”.  I don’t even know how many times I said it in our private chat. I took Bliss on a lot of contracts, so I interacted with them the most. I just loved their vibe and how well written they were. The fact that they’re non-binary comes up naturally. They also always seemed to be down for things that Serafin wasn’t. When I found the stowaway, Serafin didn’t want to keep them but Bliss did. When the mushrooms developed spores, Serafin wanted to vent the cargo bay where Bliss doesn’t. I went with Bliss’ take both times. I ended up unlocking a trophy when I took Bliss with me to Darkside due to some story stuff that occurs. I was very ecstatic about it.

There were some characters I didn’t get to know as well from my crew, but that was more on me than the game itself. You’d have instances to interact with characters when they were slotted on missions with you. Because I gravitated to some characters more than others, there were some I didn’t get the chance to fall in love with as others. Again, the advantage to giving the game replayability, I can always play the game again and give other characters attention to learn more about them.

I briefly want to mention the character art. I loved the character portraits for each character. I loved the style the artist used, and the characters fit within the world of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. None look off putting or jarring.  When I knew a new character was about to be introduced, I found myself excited to see what they’d look like. I was disappointed when two characters you get a drive didn’t get character art because I wanted to know what they looked like, especially because of how much fun they were to talk to. I loved their banter so much. I’m not sure if it was because they just weren’t important characters but I would have loved character art for them.

// 2R’s Final Thoughts

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a wonderful and heartfelt video game that is the product of one person’s desire to tell a story. 

The gameplay is incredibly satisfying as you manage both your resources and action economy each cycle. This perfectly scratches the itch of wanting to take a bunch of things and organize them into the most efficiency arrangement possible. 

It has potent storytelling on both a grand and granular scale. The themes are rich, and analogously linked to the things that are important to us in real life. Which, in my opinion, is the mark of a good science fiction / cyberpunk story.

The character you recruit – or don’t – all feel real, and I was excited every time they would pop up for a chat.

The game will likely run between 10-15 hours, depending on how much time you spend doing side-quests. Just long enough for everything to carry the weight it needs to be impactful but without anything overstaying its welcome.

Initially, I was very interested in the vibe and storytelling, but at first I wasn’t sure if the gameplay style could connect with me. But I’m so glad I stuck it out, because I truly fell in love with the game.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector gets a hearty recommendation from me, even if this genre of game might be new to you.

// Lady Feather’s Final Thoughts

When 2R told us he had managed to get review codes for Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, I was initially mixed on wanting to play this game. I hadn’t played the first one and when I was looking up some information on the game, I didn’t think it was going to be something I was going to enjoy. I remembered why I joined my friends on this venture though—I had always wanted to review those really bad Nintendo eShop games that are dirt cheap, and there’s a good chance there will be plenty that aren’t the kinds of games I usually enjoy. Here’s the perfect opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and play something I normally wouldn’t (and is likely going to be a way better game!!). I’m glad I took a chance because I ended up loving my time with Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. It had the perfect length (around 18hrs according to the PS5 app), the gameplay was intriguing in both how cozy it could feel but with how stressful it could become. I loved the tabletop role playing game aspects it had with doing skill checks and rolling dice. I loved the story and how it had branching paths, allowing for multiple replays to see what else could happen if you failed a contract or made a different decision. I loved the characters and the things that drives them, whether good or bad. I haven’t even mentioned the score yet, which is what really helped make the game feel so cozy at times.

I loved the game so much that when I finished playing, I downloaded the first game on my PS5 so I could play it. I’ve been waiting until I finished writing my parts for this article as I wanted to write this without having touched the first game. Now that I’ve written this, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the first game differs and meeting some of the characters who were in both games.

I highly recommend Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector and I’m hoping you’ll be willing to give it a chance, even if this doesn’t feel like a game you’d normally play. I didn’t think it would be and oh how wrong I was. I hope you too take a chance on this game.