Though its premise may seem simplistic, Techno Banter is an absurdist concept reveling in its weird characters, simplistic approach, and goofy self-awareness. Experimental yet captivating, this is one that defies labels in the best way.
Often a video game is more enjoyable when it’s harder to pin down precisely what makes it so appealing to the cerebral cortex.
Based on that obvious lead-in, Techno Banter is one of those games.
Perhaps that’s a bit poisonous of a thought when working to justify the prowess of a game. But I stand by the thesis. As a quick example, let’s take something like The Last of Us. It is universally acclaimed as a masterpiece but many would argue that it isn’t “fun” in the traditional sense. A visual novel is more book than game. And yet this medium allows us to construct entertainment around a variety of pillars, regardless of whether they make us laugh or cry, be uncomfortable, cause us to read more than press buttons, or have us bouncing around imaginary realms blowing things up or stomping mushroom monsters.
Techno Banter‘s ambitions are simple. Like so many games, it was cooked in a cauldron of ideas and has now come to roost on console and PC. And while it is undeniably weird, short, uncomplicated, and honest, I had so much fun with it. I laughed. I took momentary pause to ponder a thing that had just happened. My character walked around a busy street naked. I fished in a dirty city river for a government job.
Disparate elements aren’t a bad thing. We as players simply never see them too prominently because silly concepts and experimental approaches would merely buckle under the weight of gargantuan blockbusters. Techno Banter is not an “anti game” in the sense that it’s so artsy it eludes common criticisms. There is a game here and honestly, the game parts could have been pared down slightly and it would have likely focused developer Dexai Arts’ vision a few hairs more.
Yet here I am having played Techno Banter, a game whose puzzle pieces intentionally don’t fit together at each intersection. But there’s still a picture here. One that I went back to just because it was so quick, different, and funny.
Techno Banter exists at a kind of crossroads between Hotline Miami, Ace Attorney, and Papers, Please. Other influences exist and players familiar with a smattering of genres and the popular titles therein should be able to identify some similarity, even if spiritually.
Players are Nill, a humanoid feline who was ejected from his promising job as a bodyguard to one of the wealthiest men in town. Despondent, Nill is forced to crawl back to his old job as a bouncer for the Green Door club, operated by the toad Gunthy.
Almost the entirety of Techno Banter takes place on Rainbow Drive, a semi-seedy but lively bit of street in a futuristic town flooded with skyscrapers, corporate dredge, and neon lights. Barely cyberpunk, slightly Blade Runner, Rainbow Drive begs to be futuristic yet in spite of the setting, is rundown like many strange back-alley-adjacent streets in bustling metropolises. This is the kind of place where the best food you will ever eat is at a greasy spoon, but you risk food poisoning. Here, the guy in the trashcan is a personality just like Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.
Techno Banter‘s populace is that Bojack Horseman blender of humans and animals. Players aren’t meant to discern anything out of it outside of being for the purpose of artistic flair and a distinguishing personality. That is… until a side comment by an omniscient narrator makes players question the reality of everything. There’s a bunch of your Hotline Miami.
As a bouncer of a flailing club, it’s Nill’s job to reject or accept the right kind of people into the Green Door. The wrong kind of people will sully the club’s reputation, causing it to lose money and guests. While its tutorial may seem daunting, Techno Banter is a cinch to understand.
Players are meant to use Nill’s powers of observation to study a guest when they approach him from the queue. Doing so will normally pop up a handful of attributes. Cross-referencing a list of “Red Flags” provided by Gunthy, players are meant to accept or reject those who meet that rigid list. Red flags include being aggressive, too drunk, creepy, and wearing blue jeans… because why not. Most of the hopeful attendees that are up for rejection will be aggressive or blatantly disorderly, the HUD indicating as much after a player chooses to observe them.
But it’s when rejection comes that players are in for the primary gameplay of Techno Banter. Most hopefuls will become angered by the prospect of being turned away from the Green Door and launch a verbal assault at Nill. Players should select the sole choice from a dialog wheel meant to be the perfect comeback. It’s relatively simple stuff and is based on the exact thing an angry person says. Plus their line of dialog remains at the top, giving the player enough time to choose before time runs out and the comeback is ineffective.
During this process of rejection, a comeback by Nill usually results in health being shaved off the opposition. It will also rally the crowd of the queue, giving energy for Nill to use a special response. Using easily acquired skill points, players can invest in Nill’s silver-tongued abilities and literally counter an unruly potential patron. Something like insulting or unmasking are meant to directly counter the specific mood of the aggressor.
In other scenarios, “attacks” will come at Nill that result in quick, simple minigames. Maybe it’s dodging punches, avoiding an evil gaze, or maneuvering past fiery passion. Mostly it will ask the player to control a circular representation of Nill and have it dodge around very obvious screen hazards. It’s painfully simple but entirely goofy and lasts only a few seconds so players won’t get annoyed or bored.
This gameplay of Techno Banter is unserious and not in a bad way. Mechanically sparse is never an issue if it’s implemented in a clever way. I would argue that Dexai Arts perhaps included too many “skills” for Nill to have as players might forget the arsenal and just constantly chip away at a patron in a verbal sparring match. Over the course of the story and its numerous side quests, other opportunities exist to play with this system. At one point, players must learn a process of inspiring a coworker to achieve their dream of lifting 300 pounds of weights at a local gym. To do so they are taught the F.O.R.C.E. method which includes insulting the person and encouraging them. In a separate scenario, players press a button to “cut” through the lies of a cult leader trying to manipulate them.
Quests and the narrative in Techno Banter are not meant to be impeded by arbitrary gameplay. Instead, the player is meant to have fun and engage with the narrative. By the end of the second night of work, I had enough skill points to upgrade Nill completely because I was doing everything I could and continued to earn more and more skill points. It’s as if the concept of being a game is so lackadaisical that some of the tropes are being poked fun at. Points can be used to upgrade the Green Door but there’s only four of them. Cash can be earned but the best use of it is to unlock an optional ending.
And the whole time, Techno Banter kept selling me on its existence. I chuckled every single time a new character popped up at the front of the queue, knowing that it could be a surprise. A guy claimed he was from the future and I should stop his past self from going in the club… but also that I shouldn’t “eat the cookie.” Then a girl scout rolls up. Sadly the Green Door isn’t supposed to accept people soliciting goods and services. Chaos ensues.
Would Techno Banter be moderately goofy and not trying to constantly subvert players’ expectations, it would be a lesser product. The strength in Dexai Arts’ vision is that multiple narrative wheels are firing at all cylinders. The end of the first day of Nill’s job leads into a strange, surrealist interpretation of violence. “What’s going on here?” one might ask. And the message remains fuzzy for awhile. A throwaway line by the Green Door’s bartender in a tender moment implies that the city has been ravaged by war. These little bits tossed into the script allude to something more profound and up for interpretation.
This is a clever product that is ripe with the fruits of dark humor, drama, and sincerity. Techno Banter should make you laugh. As personal as humor can be, it might not work for every single person but if you don’t laugh out loud a few times, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you. A strange cult is both mocked and taken seriously and it is up to the player’s empathy to determine how far those emotions go.
Over the moon would be an emotion I felt often when tackling each new strange task one of the numerous denizens of Rainbow Drive asked of me. But Techno Banter does have a few flaws. Likely due to a bug that needs to be patched, there were numerous instances where the dialog wheel would not let me highlight and select an option. A few times this meant not being able to choose the response I wanted. Thankfully this never seemed to occur during Nill’s bouncer activities, mainly in side content. And the game is very minimalist in presentation, which isn’t always welcome.
However, the character to be found here undeniably trumps most of the qualms I would normally have. As an obviously independent game, Techno Banter still stands tall because of its sheer artistry. The simple, flat characters who constantly match the player’s gaze are reminiscent of old DOOM enemies or greenery from Super Mario 64. But there’s still so much vibrant color here. Beating through the game’s heart is also a fantastic soundtrack that truly captures a rave subculture, not just the joy of synthwave that has become so prominent in games. It’s fitting, then, that the developers at Dexai Arts also apparently moonlight as DJs in Berlin’s clubs.
Techno Banter deftly expresses that bleary-eyed, frenetic atmosphere of an all-nighter. Betwixt all the madcap quests echoing the lasers and blacklights piercing the foggy dancefloor is a thrumming beat. This is not as simple as just being a game. In fact, the gamey bits are more of a vehicle delivering players to the true charm of its writing, which is both humorous and sincere. And much like that 4am rave, Techno Banter will linger on the senses long into the daylight.
