Against: A Surreal Concept That Struggles to Find Its Footing

Overview

Against presents players with one of gaming's most bizarre concepts – a girl with a claw weapon battling flying eggplants and sentient grocery items. This Japanese-developed title leans heavily into surrealism but struggles to transform its eccentric premise into compelling gameplay. While the sheer absurdity sparks initial curiosity, the experience quickly reveals itself as a repetitive loop with little narrative context or mechanical evolution. It's the kind of game that makes you question what you're playing within minutes, and not necessarily in a thought-provoking way.

The Eggplant Tossing Simulator

At its core, Against offers a straightforward but peculiar mechanic: players control a girl who extends her claw to snatch airborne eggplants, then propels them into other eggplants or objects. This central action forms the entirety of the gameplay loop, with no significant variations or layers added as you progress. The initial amusement of watching purple vegetables collide gives way to repetition surprisingly fast, with only minor visual changes breaking the monotony. The lack of environmental diversity or evolving mechanics makes each level feel like a slight variation of the first.

Grab eggplant (or object) and throw repeatedly into the boss. But get this... the boss isn't just a boss. It could be a carton of milk - which shoots at you.

Gohst

Narrative Void

Against's most significant shortcoming emerges in its complete absence of narrative structure. Within the first ten minutes, players will likely abandon any hope of discovering character motivations, world-building, or thematic coherence. The game presents its surreal elements without context or explanation – why is a girl with a claw fighting produce? What connects eggplants to milk carton bosses? These questions remain unanswered, creating a disconnect that prevents any meaningful engagement. The surrealism feels random rather than intentionally designed, leaving players without emotional or intellectual hooks to maintain interest.

Boss Encounters: Missed Opportunities

The boss battles introduce a flicker of potential with their unconventional designs – imagine battling an aggressive milk carton that fires projectiles – but fail to capitalize on their novelty. Each encounter reduces to the same repetitive pattern: grab nearby objects (usually eggplants) and hurl them at the enemy until its health depletes. The lack of distinct attack patterns, phase changes, or environmental interactions makes these showdowns feel like slightly more annoying versions of regular levels rather than climactic challenges. What could have been memorable absurdist moments instead become exercises in tedium.

The Curious Case of Playable Absurdity

Against's sole redeeming quality lies in its sheer audacity. There's something perversely fascinating about a game that commits so completely to such an inexplicable concept. The developers clearly embraced absurdism without hesitation, creating a title that defies conventional genre classification. This commitment to weirdness makes Against briefly intriguing as a curiosity piece – the gaming equivalent of an avant-garde art installation that makes you wonder "What were they thinking?" rather than "What's next?"