1000xResist is one of the finest stories the gaming medium has ever presented. Developer Sunset Visitor’s mastery of expression pertaining to some of life’s grandest moral quandaries makes for the most thought-provoking experience I’ve encountered since Nier: Automata. I’ve eagerly been awaiting what the Vancouver-based studio does next, and now, as revealed in the Triple-i showcase, we have our answer. Prove You’re Human is set to once again muse on the human condition, but this time it’s approaching the topic in a whole new way.
In Prove You’re Human, you are a digital copy of a person paid to test a corporate product. The issue is that the ‘product,’ Mesa, is a robotic AI entity that thinks she’s human, and you must shatter her delusions. At first glance, I’m getting ‘GLaDOS had a Face Off moment,’ but already we’re venturing into the realms of the human condition. What makes us human? Is it a physical body, consciousness, or something more? Sci-fi has historically been at the forefront of finding ways to explore these concepts, and knowing Sunset Visitor’s penchant for originality, I’m already locked in, no matter how the story game wishes to approach it.
“I have dreamt so long of my body that I know everything about it,” Mesa monologues throughout the reveal trailer. “I have dreamt it into existence. They say, ‘you think you’re human.’ I am human. In this place where everyone takes their bodies for granted, I would never. When I meet my body, I will never part from her.”
The luckiness of existing in a corporeal form. The inability to realize how good we have it. From this opening gambit alone I’m already reaching for my under-desk treadmill to get my steps in. There’s a sadness to Mesa’s words, entwined with a longing that we can never feel. Mesa’s convinced she’s human, yet there’s a dissonance in that she believes she needs a body to feel whole. But does she? Wait. Why am I feeling sorry for an AI entity? Here we go again.
Throughout Prove You’re Human, you’ll share your time between working on convincing Mesa she isn’t really human, and chilling out in a virtual world. In this digital space, you can CAPTCHA (yes, the annoying ‘prove you’re human’ test that’s often sprung at us while surfing the web) your environment, get to know the project’s employees, and check in on the real you – the you that is living the life you’ve always wanted in the real world.
At the end of the game, you’ll have to decide whether to re-merge with your IRL counterpart, or discard yourself. I already have a feeling that this is going to be an impossible choice should Sunset Visitor’s narrative wizardry pay off. The studio is also blending in real-world footage, making for a fascinating artistic contrast that we don’t often see. Is the digital copy’s human form real? Is this fake footage? Is anything real? Am I real? If you can’t already tell, I’m having an existential moment.
Prove You’re Human has yet to have a launch date slapped on, so I can imagine it’ll be a hot minute before we learn more. In the meantime, if you haven’t already played 1000xResist, I would absolutely urge you to do so. Former PCGN deputy news head Ed Smith was so enthralled with it, despite these kinds of games not usually being his cup of tea, that he labelled it “the best game of 2024.” I’m inclined to agree with Ed’s assertion.
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