HEADLINER: NoviNews Review for Nintendo Switch

What appears in the news and media is the result of a long production line, where many hands have sifted through and decided which occurrences in the world become stories and make it to the forefront of people’s attention. News possesses the ability to inform and impact the range of topics that fill people’s heads and how they engage with those topics. Headliner: NoviNews puts the player in that driver’s seat, giving them the power to influence the world surrounding them. Navigating through the fictional setting of Novistan, the player puts on the mantle of the Headliner, the editor in charge of deciding what stories, events, voices, and opinions are presented to the general populace. Unbound Creations’ award-nominated and winning choose-your-own adventure game makes it way to the Nintendo Switch, and the fate of Novistan and its citizens rests in the player’s hands.

To explain Headliner: NoviNews, one needs to understand how the game works mechanically. The game is somewhat bisected into two sections of gameplay. At one point, the player is being presented with stories and scrolls through them at their desk, approving or throwing away stories. Sometimes there are limitations on what can be published, such as suggestions from the other characters, or a certain quota of stories having to be approved or discarded. Having a restriction means bringing more attention to certain voices and issues more so than others, regardless of intent. Those choices then have residual ripple effects in the other half of the game. In that portion of the game, the protagonist walks through the streets of Novistan on their way back to their studio apartment. On this walk, they can engage coworkers and local shop owners, even your own sibling, who’s trying to kickstart their stand-up career (aren’t we all?) It’s in these interactions that the decisions made at work come to fruition on a personal level, often times in conflict with the well-being of these people. Outside of those conversations, many visual clues portray the manifestation of those decisions, including random passersby on the street gossiping about the latest news, all the while a mysterious illness plagues the people of Novistan.

The ramifications that the player experiences, both on an international governmental and immediate personal level, become evident in the way that characters treat the Headliner and what happens in the overworld, even including certain events triggered by choices made, best experienced firsthand. The consequences of what happens in the office feels real, even going so far to impact the player’s income and their standard of living. The game becomes increasingly difficult, as the power and sway that the news has becomes more intimidating. This is the part that carries the most weight in the game, pushing the player to contemplate which of their companions to screw over, which parts of the populace to gaslight, and which policies to influence. It brings attention to the issue that people are facing in daily life right now; how the media and news influences those aspects of life and brings awareness to just how powerful filtering the news can be. Which makes you raise an eyebrow at how our news is run.

8.6/10

Check Out the Headliner: NoviNews Trailer:

Headliner: NoviNews is available in the Nintendo Switch eShop for $13.99.