Remit: Decapitation (2018 video game)

Remit: Decapitation
File:Remit boxart.jpg Original box art
Developer(s)	Refraction Visuals
Publisher(s)	Camden Games
Artist(s)	Adam T'ang James Trace
Composer(s)	Charlie Meem Donna T. Ressimier
Series	Remit
Engine	Reflect V5
Platform(s)	Doors 7, 8, 10 WhyBox PayStation uOS Sandroid
Release	Feb. 20, 2018
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player Multi-player On-line

Remit: Decapitation is a video game published and produced by Camden Games and developed by Refraction Visual Studios, both of Themiclesia. The game's implied setting is the world about ten years into the future; the plotline has the protagonist (implied to be a member of the OS, Dayashinese, or Hanhaean armed forces) participating in a decapitation strike against an unstable and aggressive state intervening unscrupulously in foreign states and possibly developing nuclear weaponry (implied to be Maracaibo). Decapitation is the most recent installation of the Remit series, following Remit: Nobody Left Unturned (2016).

According to multiple sources, the development of Decapitation was both rushed and chaotic, perhaps linked to corporate disunity revealed by employees at Refraction Visuals, hired to develop the game by Camden. Originally, the game was slated for a Jul. 2018 release, but in Nov. 2017 Camden announced that Refraction Visuals had made headway with unexpected ease, and consequently Decapitation was to be launched over four months ahead of schedule. As released, the game's unprecedented asset file size (522.31 GB) shocked buyers and reviewers alike. Only a single day into its release, the game has become viral across multiple social media for a vast array of severe technical imperfections, many of which break suspension of disbelief or cause the game to crash.

Plotline

Prologue

The main protagonist, Tokiminami Hubber Masaiko (辰南・フベル・正彦), a 25-year-old soldier from a fictionalized state most likely representing OS or Dayashina (Hanhae has been forwarded as another plausible origin), has been assigned a part in a large-scale operation whose ultimate objective is to eliminate or paralyze the leadership of another fictionalized state uncontroversially interpreted as Maracaibo. Tokiminami is from a soldiering family, his paternal grandfather having fought for the Imperial Army (interpreted as the Imperial Dayashinese Army) and maternal grandfather having served as captain in what appears to be the Tyrannian Navy. His father has been a professional soldier and by the start of the game is retiring as Master Sergeant. Tokiminami's childhood (scattered throughout the game as flashback scenes) is filled with quasi-military activity. Before the start of the game, he is already decorated with "a fistful of major honours", though an erroneous judgment on his part has also costed the lives of two cherished friends and at least three civilians.

Depending on initial settings, the player will have Tokiminami either as a Private 1st Class or Sergeant. If Tokiminami is a sergeant, he will have a detachment of five other soldiers. The main plotline begins with Tokiminami being briefed about his upcoming mission. The protagonist then receives a day off, which the story dictates he spend with his girlfriend, Nakayoshi Tamatori. Tokiminami then has a choice between leaving early for gym or staying the night with Nakayoshi. If Tokiminami chooses gym, a cutscene is played, in which Tokiminami does some stereotypical gym activity and then practices some hand-to-hand combat techniques, accidentally injuring his partner. If Tokiminami stays with Nakayoshi, it is implied that Tokiminami proceeds to have sex with Nakayoshi. No explicit consent is shown, and Tokiminami is seen as a silhouette holding Nakayoshi down while she seems to be uttering unintelligible words or is simply screeching. At dawn, they are shown again having sex again. Afterwards, Tokiminami changes into uniform and stares at himself in a mirror, with a army-issue knife tightly in his hand. The game allows the player the choice to turn suddenly and face Nakayoshi; if taken, Nakayoshi will shudder.

After Tokiminami returns to his garrison, he joins his squadron in a walled complex, standing at attention. An anthem (fictional) is played with bugle and brass pieces. An older officer then delivers a passionate speech (actual words drowned out by piano music), which stirs emotions in the unit, causing fists to be balled. Some sort of ritual is then shown with each soldier sinking a knife (of the same style that the protagonist held before the mirror) into a dummy, from which blood splatters. The group then collect their equipment and board an airplane.

Battles sequences

Because of the design of the game itself, the protagonist can experience a large variety of storylines, leading to one of 19 endings. It is not possible to describe all of them exhaustively, though the main battle formats are summarized below.

Landing & engagement

The team lands by parachute after dusk, in a nondescript urban location. A storm has caused parts of Tokiminami's unit to use an alternate location, but after landing communication equipment fails to function properly under standard stealth requirements. Depending on player input, the team may encounter enemy fire, which Tokiminami is ordered to repel. They are numerically inferior to the defence, but better training and equipment selection permit the player to overcome the enemy with intentional ease, as this is meant to be a trial area. It is also possible to pause the game here to read pop-up boxes about the nature of various enemy units and their capabilities. Later in the game, information can only be collected by reconnaisance or interrogation of prisoners.

Regardless of how well the player completes the trial area, the player is then commanded to "incapacitate" a local garrison. This mission is played out short-handed, and speed of completion and control of accessways and communications devices will determine how well-prepared subsequent enemies will be. If the player is too slow, he will be ambushed on his way to the next objective. If the player is captured, he is shown taken prisoner, tied with ropes, and promptly shot. If the enemy fends off the attack, the player is then assigned a new mission as part of another group.

Interrogation

After the player's character secures his objective (whose specifics influence if and how well NPCs in the protagonist's unit complete theirs), the player is then dispatched as a guard in a makeshift prisoner-holding facility. A mid-ranking enemy officer has been captured along with his family of three. Another member (later revealed as Asatsuka Kitanamaro) of the protagonist's unit interrogates the officer, asking for locations and security arrangements. The officer initially is defiant and dares the interrogator to shoot him; Asatsuka then instead directs the player to "do" the officer's youngest child. Asatsuka smirks at the player, who then has the choice of objecting or complying. The child is kneeling with hands tied behind back; then the player chooses between "just get over with it" or "stomp and crush him first".

If the player shoots, the child dies, and the captured officer becomes enraged; in an attempt to free himself, he is killed in the commotion. If the player selects the other option, he must kick the child several times and proceed to "curb stomp"; however, just as the player is about to step, the officer suddenly capitulates. After an unspecified amount of time, an enemy assault is heard, and the player is drawn to fight. Before he can leave, he is ordered to eliminate the captives, as others promptly exit. Next, the officer begs to be killed in exchange for his family's lives. The protagonist will die from a projectile if he stays to kill the captives, whose fates are not shown.

Urban warfare

After the player leaves the interrogation chamber, they find themselves surrounded on three sides, limited to an area within the enemy capital city not more than a few square miles. This is the first "open world" episide, in which the player has complete control over his actions and may explore streets, buildings, and other structures. It is also possible to interact with every NPC and to perform a variety of things with them, such as "loot" or "interrogate"; some NPCs can be hostile from the outset. Each of these interactions has a small but cumulative effect on the outcome of the game. If the player selects his dialogue options recklessly, he may unintentionally reveal secret information, which may find its way to enemy commanders. If he becomes too abusive, a mob may form to kill him. Certain members of the public will be enemy spies; most of the time, there will be tell-tale signs that this is the case, e.g. wearing a military shoe or sock, using too much codewords and jargon, or wandering around aimlessly for too long. If the player commits too many public atrocities, a friendly combatant will eventually ice him from behind.

The player maintains contact with the remainder of his unit, whose actions are partly based on the results of the interrogation in the last segment. As they report on their progress, the player's list of objectives change. Targets such as radio stations, government agencies, communications, electrical, and energy infrastructure, and access points may all appear in this timeframe. The enemy will grow more numerous as time progresses, and Tokiminami must ensure his unit secures a number of key targets to trigger the next episode. Certain targets, though not key per se, will by their acquisition demote key targets to ordinary targets or make key targets easier to acquire. The player can also assist a nearby friendly unit by launching another attack or sabotage to draw attention away. The play has the option of asking for aerial reinforcements from his commander. This does not always happen, and if it does, it does not always make objectives easier to acquire directly. They are mostly confined to the function of holding enemy at bay.

HQ raid

A keystone in completing the plotline is control over the defence's military HQ. It is linked to the nation's government buildings via an extensive network of tunnels, and without securing this HQ enemies will continue to materialize from city limits as the game implies the enemy government would continue to summon reinforcements. There is no single correct route through this stage, and regardless which building the player chooses to attack first, casualties will occur, and implications happen on the availability of other entry points. At a given point, Asatsuka will breach the HQ and begin collecting information. Then, enemy reinforcements will arrive, and the player's mission is to detonate a bomb above that underground route to block it, which happens to be under a middle school dormitory. If detonated, the dormitory will collapse in on its residents, killing hundreds; if not, then the enemy may be able to overpower Asatsuka's position in the HQ, as other units are still fighting above ground. The best option is to trigger the fire alarm to evacuate the students then detonate the bomb; however, if the player does not evacuate the building, the enemy will still be blocked. It is later revealed that if the player failed to trigger the alarm, Tokiminami will be handed over to the new government as a war criminal and hanged, though it is still considered a successful playthrough.

Capture of Parliament

After the HQ has been captured, orders to cease fighting in other Meridian states and return to base are sent out. Meanwhile, information from the HQ guides the player to track down the nation's leadership itself, which is now taking refuge in the houses of parliament, amidst a sea of legislators. The player's mission is to search each room for hidden members of the government and, if found, to escort them into the debating chamber. The number of legislators found depends on the player's speed at reaching this stage; if more than a given limit, fewer legislators will remain in the building. Since the house is inquorate without at least half of all members in attendance, the player may need to accept a mission to search the surrounding area, which has been placed under quarantine by Tokiminami's unit.

Once the house is quorate, Tokiminami is ordered to hold the legislators at gunpoint in order to "pass" a piece of legislation that surrenders the entire country to the protagonist's nation. The house has no choice except to follow instructions. One legislator will attempt to take Tokiminami's pistol, and the player has the choice to shoot him, to stare him down, or to turn away to deny the pistol. Each choice leads to a range of different results that depend on the player's prior actions.

Endings

• If Tokiminami shoots the legislator, the house will quickly concur in terror and pass the measure. Asatsuka will confront the defiant president, draw blood from his wrist, and force the president to put his fingerprint on the measure, using his own blood as ink. It is later revealed that the gunshot triggers a personal health device on the dead legislator, which begins to transmit live audio to a hospital server that has been left online by omission. This recording later becomes public and reveals Tokiminami's role, scandalizing the world. His government is forced to apologize and punish Tokiminami and Asatsuka as criminals.
• If Tokiminami stares him down, the protagonist will succeed if he chose to turn to face his girlfriend at the beginning of the game, to acquire a more intimidating visage. The measure passes as above, and the game completes successfully. Tokiminami is revealed to be stationed in the occupied territory as a member of the occupation authority, widely feared due to his impeccable and pitiless conduct. Tokiminami obtains the rank of Lieutenant. If Tokiminami did not turn at the beginning, the legislator will whisper "Please" as he begs to leave. Tokiminami is temporarily mesmerized because he resembles Nakayoshi. The legislator attemps to escape, but Tokiminami instinctively shoots him. If Tokiminami has been a good shot in the game, the legislator will survive the injury; if not, the legislator dies. He is later revealed to be Nakayoshi's uncle, and if he dies, Nakayoshi will break up with Tokiminami.
• If Tokiminami turns from the legislator, the measure passes as usual. He is reprimanded for not taking action when he discovered the legislator's intentions. Tokiminami returns to find his girlfriend in a particularly good mood and having prepared dinner, something she never does. Tokiminami does not realize that the legislator that day was Nakayoshi's uncle, until they are married years later.

Development

Decapitation entered production in early 2016, according to Camden Games' own announcements. The developer hired for the task was Refraction Visuals, ultimately a subsidiary to software developer Attic (est. 1970). From an early stage, Decapitation was esteemed as a problematic project by the studio's staff, who found the game's concept, in particular the large open-world setting, to be a challenge to their platform's "skeletal framework". In June 2016, General Manager Duncan D. Sommers was dismissed by the Board of Governors. In October 2016, Sommers' replacement Terry Ossington resigned due to persistent difficulties in tackling the game's "framework", even though the graphics department had no trouble curning out large amounts of textures and models. Director of Kernel Development Debby M. L. Timko took over as General Manager in Feb. 2017, publicly announcing her plans to "ford through all difficulties and produce a worthy title to the Remit franchise". During this time, Refraction released a large selection of posters to foster public anticipation; reaction was highly enthusiastic, citing the "incredible graphics" that the new game will boast.

Under Timko's leadership, preliminary footage was leaked, showing that a stable kernel had indeed been developed. The kernel determines how objects react to each other and calls for textures and models to be applied or spawned as necessary.

Reception

While the game received positive reviews from beta-testers that included editors of major gaming magazines, it was severely flawed even on launch day. By the following day, complaints innundated the official website of Camden Games, causing it to become temporarily unavailable. On Bluit, a global record of 12,232,010 down votes was documented on a link that showed some of the game's most glaring problems.

Daily Gamer, a leading reviewer, gave Decapitation a 0.5/10, calling it "beyond terrible and unplayable, but a half mark for good graphics".

Competitve gaming

Camden had hired e-sports guru Tarisaki Marokama to manage the game's e-sports scene. Marokama quickly resigned after it became obvious Decapitation was dysfunctional. Nevertheless, his replacement still stage several tournaments based on the game; these tournaments saw highly unconventional gameplay, frequently exploiting the game's many flaws to win at the game's online multi-player mode. The following is a highly incomplete list of the game's problems that affect fairness and enjoyability.

• By shooting an automatic rifle into a quickly-moving target, the game de-renders the entire ground on which both teams stand; if managed correctly, the team exploiting this glitch could hold onto a surface and watch as their opponents suffer "death from altitude negative overflow". This is a tricky exploit, and tournaments revolve on teams attempting it very frequently.
• The game auto-loads certain animation sequences in expectation of a future state of on-screen assets. By standing in areas supposed to be solid, the game misjudges the hitbox of many other figures, enabling the hidden player to kill at an opponent while the bullet has clearly sailed well-clear of him.
• Blast force sometimes triggers the "inverse gravity" glitch, where everything starts to "fall" towards the sky; this eventually results in overflowing the altitude register, causing the victims' games to crash.

See also

• Video games