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Replaced looks like everything you could want from a retro-futuristic side-scrolling beat-'em-up (yes, that's a lot of hyphens), but its developer isn't worried about players coming in with expectations set by Cyberpunk 2077.
"It's a very thin line where you have to convey the narrative right," Sad Cat Studios co-founder Igor Gritsay tells GamesRadar following a hands-on preview of the twice-delayed action platformer. "You can definitely feel that there is a retro-futuristic cyberpunk [feel], but at the same time, there's post-apocalyptic vibes."
Set in a gritty sci-fi reimagining of 1980s USA, Replaced tells the story of an AI that finds itself transplanted into a human body. If that already sounds a little bit Johnny Silverhand to you, I can't fault you for making the jump – but the clincher here is that Replaced envisions a world where humanity has become divided following an apocalypse-level biological event some twenty years prior. Phoenix-City has walled off its outer territories, creating a breeding ground for lawless behavior and gang-like factions sprouting up to seize control.
"You also have this in Cyberpunk 2077 – they have this area outside of Night City related to that," Gritsay says. He's either talking about Nomad stomping ground The Badlands or Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's militaristic city-state, Dogtown. "But basically, I would say that we think that it's actually not a concern. It's actually something of a trump card," Gritsay says, allowing Sad Cat to play on but also defy players' expectations to avoid offering a "super traditional" cyberpunk story.
After just a few hours with the demo, I have to agree. Sure, Replaced also deals with some heavy, philosophical themes – in Gritsay's own words, it's a game "about what it means to be human" – but the land beyond the wall feels far more optimistic than CD Projekt Red's thoroughly bleak Night City. Humans band together in solidarity, finding sanctuary amid the chaos, and our AI-out-of-water protagonist discovers that perhaps not all people objectively suck.
"It's something that we can use to our advantage," Gritsay says, "where we show that this is not your cookie-cutter [cyberpunk] thing. So yeah, I think we can use it to our benefit."
Replaced launches on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC platforms on March 12, 2026. Check out the other upcoming Xbox games landing this year while you're jotting things down!
