Heroes We Deserve

Dispatch's titular call-dispatch hero management scenes have a frustrating control issue, when trying to select map locations using the analog stick. This is the only negative critique I can come up with.

Dispatch is a Telltale-style choose-your-own-adventure story game. Developer AdHoc was founded by Telltale alumni, and they show total mastery of the format here -- high-quality writing and scripted animations and voice acting, peppered with cinematic quick-time events and engaging dialog choices. It even recaps your choices and shows audience stats after each episodic chapter, "You and 35% of players did this thing that way" et cetera.

How Dispatch surpasses that pedigree is a little nuanced, but easy to summarize: the game is just expertly crafted in every aspect. It's got an interesting story to tell, and it tells that story so well; the entire experience is thoroughly, and thoughtfully, polished.

The game's premise centers around Superhero Dispatch Network's "Z-Team" of ex-villains, a crew of superpowered misfits and jerks - a bit of a trope in recent media, see also: The Boys, Doom Patrol, The Suicide Squad, Deadpool 2 ... - and one of Dispatch's greatest accomplishments is how every member of the cast is made memorable and compelling in their own way.

It's not "just" the story of main character Robert, a relatable un-powered "normie" going through dramatic professional and personal struggles; it's not "just" about his close interactions with Blonde Blazer, a classic do-gooder (and SDN manager) who's a slightly sloppy drunk; with Invisigal, a flippant and acerbic wildcard formerly-known-as Invisibitch; with Chase, Robert's childhood friend whose super-speed powers inadvertently super-aged him into a cranky oldster with a foul mouth.

It's also about Flambae, the flame-powered douchebag who wears sunglasses indoors and mocks Robert during karaoke. And Prism, the loud, rude illusionist pop-music star (who, uh, really is one). And Malevola, the Karlach-esque demon lady who's sick to death of her own cult followers ... and Punch Up, the diminutive brawler who's got no qualms with punching dudes in the dick ... and Golem, the malleable mud-monster with a drinking problem.

Every member of the game's cast - even Waterboy, the over-eager trainee who's eternally wet and awkward - even Toxic, a supporting hench-villain whose enthusiastic cruel commentary lives up to the name - is portrayed with remarkable charm through great humorous writing, eye-catching art direction, slick cinematic pacing, and deeply convincing voice-acting. Their personalities and their character growth throughout the story make them all genuinely fascinating, and entertaining as hell.

And! the choices you (as Robert) make during the story, favoring one team-member over another, building or breaking different relationships, feel meaningful due to the strength of those characters. For maybe the first time in my gaming career, after rolling through the ending credits I immediately started a second playthrough to experience alternatives to my first choices -- alternatives which were all satisfying and well worth the replay time.

(Although I would say, the choice of going out with Blazer was a little underwhelming compared to the alternative romantic build-up with Invisigal. The former option didn't feel like it had as much narrative relevance, or screen-time impact, as the latter's. But that side-story was still worthwhile.)

I don't want to forget to mention Dispatch's gameplay mechanics, either, because despite its unabashed story focus -- no, you know what? The call-dispatch and computer-hacking minigames work in service of Dispatch's storytelling. Responding to support calls successfully and leveling-up the Z-Team may not be "the point" of the game, but the comms chatter during these sequences embellishes the cast's personalities and backstories, kinda like Uncharted's exploration segments where Nate and Sully banter with one another; and these mechanics feel like a very natural part of Dispatch's world, like how Ace Attorney lawyers investigate crime scenes to figure out their cases.

They also help pace and structure the game, as dramatic breaks inbetween story scenes, or occasionally as dramatic emphasis! Like when an event leads to the team being understaffed, making for tenser decisions about call priority.

Also helpful to story structure: episodic chapters. It's pretty eye-opening, in contrast to past episodically-released games, that Dispatch can use episode intro and outro moments purely as narrative beats; that they already finished making the whole game, and don't need to buy more development time for still-in-production future episodes.

I just can't say enough good things about Dispatch, and oh yeah the soundtrack! Both its original score and its licensed music are full of catchy and memorable tracks. Yeah.

Dispatch is an incredible production, top to bottom; AdHoc have set a pretty high bar for their next game.

Better than: Tales from the Borderlands, The Wolf Among Us
Not as good as: nah, this is a high watermark.
Comparable to: Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, they tell different kinds of stories but are both great at it.