Esoteric Ebb GBAtemp review
Computer
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): March 3, 2026
- Release Date (EU): March 3, 2026
- Publisher: Raw Fury
- Developer: Christoffer Bodegård
- Genres: CRPG
Game Features:
The city of Norvik is holding its very first election in 5 days, but this is not the only event of interest. An explosion has occurred in the local tea shop, and to investigate, the Urthguard has sent you, its very capable cleric. It's up to you how, what and even why to investigate this incident while you navigate Norvik’s clashing political ideologies and esoteric events.
A CRPG with a unique flair
As Bodegård and collaborators’ first game, Esoteric Ebb’s presentation leaves a lasting impression. Its quirky, post-Arcanepunk fantasy setting, intriguing quest (and side quests) and playful attitude make for a memorable experience. It leans into its unique setting to offer a universe that feels lived-in thanks to an elaborate lore that's up to you to discover through conversations and environmental elements.
The scenarios it offers also leverage its post-Arcanepunk fantasy world to its advantage. You'll team up with a trusty goblin sidekick, strike up conversations (and, sometimes, flirt) with celestial beings, solve riddles thrown at you by a heavily drinking gynosphinx, and get sucked into a sand-filled barrel while trying to investigate its contents. The game is filled with such encounters that inevitably encourage the player to poke around and engage with NPCs and the environment, easily letting you forget your main quest.
The stylistic, cel-shaded aesthetic endows the game with some added personality. Esoteric Ebb’s 30+ areas are varied and detailed, ranging from residential quarters to a convoluted system of underground tunnels. It often feels like playing through a cartoon, and this art direction lends itself well to the game's overall tone: light-hearted on the surface with some darker undertones.
Esoteric Ebb is surprisingly polished for a debut title and really complements the gameplay. Despite being available on PC only for now, it is optimised for controller support. This is a very welcome feature as the game plays well on handheld gaming PCs.
However, voice acting would elevate the presentation even further and also entice a broader audience. On this note, the soundtrack also feels lacking in variety. The occasional tunes that play in the background are atmospheric and fitting, picking up the tempo during combat and mellowing down during exploration. However, they often die out as you engage in lengthy conversation and exploration, making the soundtrack less memorable. It’s one of the few downsides of the game that I’ve noticed.
A TTRPG-inspired quest in Norvik
As a CRPG, Esoteric Ebb is very much narrative-driven and text-heavy. In this sense, it is comparable to the likes of Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium, and Bodegård cites those games as inspirations for Esoteric Ebb. If you’ve played those earlier titles, you will have an idea of what awaits in Esoteric Ebb.
It adopts an isometric perspective with a fixed camera angle, with text appearing on the right-hand side of the screen. There's a handy feature to highlight environmental elements or NPCs you can engage with, doing away with mindless clicking to see what you can interact with. With most items and NPCs, you can either Behold, Engage or Trifle. Behold will describe the item or character. Trifle lets you pick items from the environment or even steal from NPCs (subject to a skill check). Engage will involve more interaction than the other options.
As The Cleric, you are free to roam across Norvik and strike up conversations with its inhabitants in pursuit of leads for your investigation. In doing so, you can unlock side quests and lean into particular political factions (or stay apolitical if you wish). Such exploration can even lead you to uncover secret areas and quests, which the game isn’t lacking.
The gameplay feels more like a TTRPG than the other CRPGs Esoteric Ebb drew inspiration from. Practically everything takes place via dialogue, text and visible dice rolls. The latter is even involved in the game’s turn-based combat, which is also more textual than visual. This results in the experience feeling more like a TTRPG campaign than a classic isometric RPG, and it's an interesting approach that works well here. In this regard, Esoteric Ebb might be more comparable to Citizen Sleeper than Disco Elysium, and it’s not at all a bad thing.
With its text-heavy nature, you’ll often need a refresher of the terms used in this post-Arcanepunk fantasy world, especially when starting. Luckily, there is a handy glossary that you can peruse to get up to speed with the in-game jargon and lore (which is quite extensive). There’s a mind-map that keeps track of your leads and doubles as a quick refresher for some quests. Bodegård also includes on the start-up screen a short recap of your progress so far before you continue your adventure.
What’s missing is a conversation log that lets you easily check previous conversations. You do have a similar feature while you are engaged in a conversation, allowing you to scroll back past text, but it would be handy to access at any time, such as via the character menu.
The Mystery of the Tea Shop that Blew Up
As a CRPG, Esoteric Ebb adopts a corresponding gameplay that has been popularised by iconic games in the genre. This means that it offers you a staggering freedom of choice. The game not only lets you venture across Norvik but also take a range of action and dialogue options during nearly every interaction. This can result in you taking surprising pathways and even neglecting the main campaign altogether (which is, and don't forget, solving The Mystery of the Tea Shop that Blew Up), and all this is by design.
When starting the game, you get to allocate points to your Ability Stat (between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma). These abilities will lead to internal, often conflicting, monologues during gameplay and can also provide modifiers to your dice rolls depending on the situation. There is a direct parallel with Disco Elysium here, but Esoteric Ebb adds its own spin to this formula without feeling like a rip-off.
Indeed, most decisive action will rely on a skill check, enacted by a visible dice roll. Even if you roll unfavourable checks, you can try later, use a shard, or the game progresses through alternative routes. This mechanic makes for an immersive experience, encouraging experimentation. For the most part, the game has continuity, even if you receive unfavourable dice rolls. In fact, these often lead to more interesting outcomes than passing a skill check with a predictable result.
However, there are a few instances where you can get a “game over” screen, especially when engaging in a tough combat encounter. The game still tries to prevent this, for example, by having “Death Saving Throws” that can give you a new lease on your quest. Exploring some options before taking combat head-on can also ease the encounter. For example, examining a trap and how it functions can lead to a lower skill check requirement, thereby increasing your chances of a successful roll.
Further drawing from TTRPGs, Esoteric Ebb has a deep skill progression mechanic. The Cleric will earn experience points by exploring and engaging with the world. When the EXP gauge is filled, you will be able to allocate new points to your Ability Stat. You will also be able to equip your character with diverse items and weapons, which can give additional skill boosts, sometimes with trade-offs.
Furthermore, The Cleric can learn new spells by finding (or stealing) scrolls. These can open new progression options, giving you an edge in combat and conversation alike. For example, some spells will let you control the mind of NPCs while others will let you talk to animals.
Esoteric Ebb also includes a day/night cycle where some characters, areas and actions are accessible during the day while others are at night. You also need to keep an eye on The Cleric’s life gauge and exhaustion level, and the latter can negatively impact your rolls. You should ideally sleep every night to refresh, but this will cost 8 in-game hours.
The inception of the “Ebb-like” genre?
There’s literally a ton to do in this game, but it never feels overwhelming. This is because of its excellent pacing, intriguing nature and reward for exploration. It’s best to go in knowing little and probe the game for yourself. It’s also a game you’d want to take your time with, instead of rushing through. It has so much to offer, from quaint NPC interactions to secret locations, that you likely won’t uncover everything on your first try. The “what if” scenarios always linger, encouraging new playthroughs.
There are a few downsides to note. As a PC-exclusive, it offers surprisingly little in terms of graphical options to tweak to adjust to your individual specs. While Norvik isn’t a massive open-world map, you will be walking across the whole map quite a bit. Unfortunately, there is no fast travel (for most of the game), meaning frequent backtracking.
That said, there’s surprisingly little to fault with Christopher Bodegård’s debut game. The little that is there can be overlooked in favour of the engaging experience it offers. Esoteric Ebb draws inspiration from CRPG greats to offer a truly captivating experience. We’re only a few months into 2026, but Esoteric Ebb will likely remain among my favourite games of the year.
Among recent CRPGs, it is the most Disco-like game I’ve played since Disco Elysium, without itself being mired in the drama of spin-off companies claiming to have Disco creators on its board. That might be for the better as Esoteric Ebb stands on its own, even maybe hinting at an “Ebb-like” genre in the making.
Esoteric Ebb | Launch Trailer
Verdict
- Captivating and well-written CRPG experience
- Well-executed TTRPG-inspired mechanics
- Vast freedom of choice
- Original post-Arcanepunk fantasy setting
- Soundtrack could be more varied
- Limited graphical options despite being a PC exclusive
