Relooted Review

Indie games often stand out not because of how big or expensive they are, but because of how they look at things. That's exactly where Relooted gets its name. Developed by Nyamakop, the game takes place in an Afrofuturist world in the near future and was developed by a company in South Africa.

It combines social commentary, history lessons, and puzzle-platforming to make something that feels different from most new games. The trailer for the project first got people's attention when it went viral online and got strong responses from many gamers. 

I the idea behind it—getting back African items that are in Western museums—but others didn't like the themes or thought it would be fun. No matter what people said, the game made its own niche by trying something that not many games have done before: culture repatriation through interactive storytelling.

Relooted's idea is what drives everything, unlike many other independent games that only focus on mechanics or nostalgia.

Clearly, the developers didn't just want to make a fun game; they also wanted to make a talk starter—a game that teaches history while still being fun to play. The story of Relooted takes place in South Africa near the end of the 21st century in an Afrofuturist world. The story is about Nomali, a skilled freerunner who meets up with her younger brother Trevor and joins a group whose mission is to get back cultural items that were taken from Africa during colonial times and are now in museums or private collections around the world.

The story is based on real-life arguments about returning artifacts to their home countries. The game tells you briefly about the historical items you'll be recovering before each task. It tells you where they came from, why they're important, and what communities they belong to. When put in the setting of a heist, these moments are kind of like museum signs.

The crew is made up of experts with different skills, such as a hacker, a strong fighter, a rope-mobility expert, and others. Each of them helps with tasks in useful ways. Their conversations are less about the objects and more about their personal lives, relationships, and problems within the group.

That method produces mixed outcomes. On the one hand, the conversation is often casual and natural, which makes the world seem more real. On the other hand, some characters, like Trevor, the younger brother, sometimes fall into tired stereotypes and rely too much on fun without always showing more growth.

At least in the early parts of the game, the story seems more like a framework for the gameplay than a fully developed emotional trip. Even so, the idea is still interesting because it ties together fiction and real-life historical discussions.

Relooted is a side-scrolling 2.5D puzzle-platformer game that's all about planning ahead and doing things exactly right. Each task has a set pattern: players first explore the area, then plan their routes and where to place their teammates, then collect artifacts, and finally get away before security arrives.

Players can look at building layouts, find artifacts, and guess how alarms and security systems will react during the scouting part, which makes it more like a pre-action puzzle. Players take charge of Nomali during the heist once the plan is made.

She moves quickly and easily, automatically jumping over obstacles or sliding under barriers while running. If she needs to get to a certain area faster or get away quickly, she can press a button. There is no fighting in the game; it's all about timing, movement, and making smart strategy choices. When the first artifact is found, alarms go out, and the mission becomes a tense race against time.

Players have to stay to the course they planned, pick up the last few things, and then go through a last free-running escape sequence that they weren't shown during scouting. This makes things even harder and more exciting.

The options for difficulty affect how many teammates players can send to different parts of the map. This has a direct effect on how hard it is to find your way around and how strategic each heist is. In Relooted, progress is more about completing missions and getting good at puzzles than about grinding XP.

The environment is changed by the players by using the special skills of their partners. Some of these skills are opening doors, rewiring switches to change how security systems work, stopping automatic doors to make safe paths, making rope paths for long-distance or vertical movement, and throwing things or speeding up movement to get through tricky areas.

By strategically combining these skills, players can change how they do each heist and find different solutions to puzzles in the world.

This turns every level into a complex logic puzzle where timing and finding the best way are just as important as being able to jump from platform to platform. The planning tension is the best thing about this method. It's really satisfying to pull off a perfect heist after carefully planning the route. When the alarm goes off, there is a sense of pressure that tests your plan in a real way.

Platforming, on the other hand, is meant to be easy. Some players may feel like they don't have control because Nomali does a lot of parkour moves for you. Trying to manually jump or adapt can sometimes get in the way of the flow of movement.

Because of this, the game sometimes feels less like a shooter and more like a puzzle strategy game. Mission designs might not last as long as they should if they don't change enough over time. The core loop is fun, but once players get good at it, repeating it might make it less intense.

In Relooted, progress is more about completing missions and getting good at puzzles than about grinding XP.

Instead of experience points, you move forward in Relooted by learning the ins and outs of each level. Players get better by learning how levels are laid out, finding the best ways to escape, making better use of their friends' skills, and finding extra items. Each of these factors challenges players to pay close attention and think strategically, rewarding those who do so with each heist.

This design puts the game's focus on solving puzzles instead of moving up in the scores. It also supports the heist fantasy—getting ready is more important than character stats.

This method works well for a puzzle-based experience and keeps things from getting too complicated.

The way Relooted looks is stylized and 2D, with Afrofuturist inspirations. The designs of the characters are expressive, and the settings are designed to be easy to read, which is important for planning routes. Some rough spots show up in early builds and demo material, especially during cutscenes where there may be visual glitches or compression issues. The tutorial areas also feel a bit plain when compared to the task areas, which have more details.

Even though these things are wrong, the art direction is good overall. The game's future African setting gives it a unique style that you don't often see in platformers. One of the best things about the game is the music. African rhythms and instruments are used to make music that goes well with both calm planning times and high-stress escape sequences.

The sound design in heists does a good job of building tension, especially when alarms go off, and players have to use their escape paths.

Voice acting isn't all the same. Nomali's acting stands out because it is natural and full of confidence, while other characters sound like they have less experience. This lack of consistency is clear, but it's reasonable for an independent production.

Relooted is a unique type of independent game because it puts as much emphasis on ideas and points of view as on gameplay. The ways you plan heists are creative, the teaching parts are well thought out, and the Afrofuturist setting gives it a unique personality.

Not every part is strong in the same way. Some characters are written unevenly, some players may find the platforming too easy, and the game's early technology flaws show that it needs to be polished. How memorable the whole event is will probably depend on how many different types of heists there are over time.

Still, the game does something that many others don't: it combines puzzles, cultural background, and story themes into a single experience that works well. Some players may not connect with Relooted's ideas, but it shows how independent developers can change the genre in new ways, not just in terms of gameplay, but also in terms of culture and art.