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Esoteric Ebb Review
- Taylor Rioux
- 1 hour ago
- 8 min read
More Esoteric Bullshit (Positive)
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD. It seems a bit silly, in retrospect, that I didn’t really put together that my constant loss of focus and memory lapses might have been abnormal. That there may be more to how difficult it was to read a book or article for more than a page at a time. Playing games that required a lot of reading has always been difficult, and I’ve found myself skimming through conversations I know I should not have. It has hampered my enjoyment of text-heavy games in the past. Still, I’ve found some ways to work around it, like playing in shorter bursts of time or taking more frequent breaks between dialogues or journal entries.
But thanks to my recent diagnosis and subsequent treatment, Esoteric Ebb is one of the first text-heavy games I’ve been able to dive deeply into in years, at least in the way I've always wanted to. Those long conversations and asides are all laid bare for me to read, interpret, and enjoy. I can open the journal or quest log and take in the world in earnest, without spending weeks working on it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was quite an emotional thing for me.
Publisher: Raw Fury Developer: Christoffer Bodegård Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released Mar 3, 2026 for PC. |
Set in a Dungeons & Dragons-adjacent setting, Esoteric Ebb sees us playing as Cleric Ragn Hemlin, whose mission is to solve the mystery of a tea shop explosion. The influences for Esoteric Ebb are immediately obvious upon starting, drawing comparisons to the games Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment — and for good reason. The intro itself is an homage to Planescape, with The Cleric waking up in a morgue, unsure of how they were revived.
For the Disco Elysium comparisons, the similarities are much more extensive. Both are viewed from a third-person isometric view, they each explore complex political and philosophical themes, and they share many gameplay mechanics, such as an internal monologue and ability checks (both passive and active). While these specific mechanics are not Disco-exclusive, Esoteric Ebb’s end credits explicitly thank the creators of Disco Elysium and note the influence.
That said, while the influences are strong, Esoteric Ebb finds its own voice through the combination of its homebrewed world and excellent character writing. This is exemplified in the character of Ragn himself. While The Cleric, as he is most often referred to, can be guided and shaped by the player in many respects, he does have some personality traits and quirks that shine through, regardless of the player’s decision-making. He is always a bit blundering, awkward, and off-putting, even when the associated ability scores are high.
These ability scores do shape him in many ways, however. At the beginning of the game, you’ll have the opportunity to set your scores and choose a background that aligns with what players want to prioritize in gameplay. For example, on top of the numerical bonuses to wisdom-related rolls, a high wisdom score will make The Cleric more observant, with dynamic dialogues and events that showcase this facet of his being. In truth, the backgrounds are all parts of Ragn’s story, as each has taken place or relates to his current belief structure. By choosing a single background, you are tacitly pushing Ragn into a philosophy going forward.
These scores do more than confer statistical bonuses. Much like the aforementioned Disco Elysium, they manifest as The Cleric’s inner thoughts, providing insight and differing perspectives on the events of the game. Strength is a devout nationalist, eager to use might to influence those around Ragn. By contrast, Wisdom is a compassionate socialist and takes an empathetic approach to every situation. These inner selves also speak with one another, giving voice to the myriad ways in which The Cleric can act.
While these aspects of personality do speak to The Cleric’s moment-to-moment thoughts, he is shaped by the choices you make along the journey. The dialogue you choose and the quests you complete (and how you complete them) matter in fleshing out this character both internally and externally, with NPC perception of The Cleric being equally influenced by his notoriety. Additionally, completing quests grants feats to help power up your character—though there’s no need to agonize over which feat to take. I forgot about it and neglected it until I was nearly done with the game, and still managed just fine.
Perhaps the most endearing aspect of Esoteric Ebb is the world that developer Chrisroffer Bodegård has brought to life. The Esoteric Coast is an oddity in a world full of them. It simultaneously deals with tense political matters and philosophies, and humorous dialogues and absurd events in equal measure. In some ways, it feels like a realistic account of how a world would be shaped by the realities of magic and insane esoteric events popping up wherever and whenever they wish. All of which ties into the adventure itself, with character quirks and world history being aspects that need to be navigated in conversation as you try to decipher a timeline of events leading up to the explosion you’ve been sent to investigate.
This investigation will inevitably lead to crawling the depths of the City Below — a more traditionally dangerous part of the city that holds traps, monsters, and ancient ruins to explore. There are many secrets to uncover here, and a plethora of good gear to find, but doing so may lead you into combat with monsters or local wildlife. The way combat is handled specifically is so interesting. Rather than a grid-based, battle of might, it is handled entirely through text, with players making dice rolls to avoid attacks, devise a plan, or subdue enemies. You can also use spells to hamper foes, heal yourself, or improve your chances of making another check.
These scores do more than confer statistical bonuses. Much like the aforementioned Disco Elysium, they manifest as The Cleric’s inner thoughts, providing insight and differing perspectives on the events of the game.
How conversations had been handled up to the point of combat can also affect DC checks in a fight. If you were kind to someone, maybe the charisma or wisdom check DC is a bit lower, or if you started the engagement by punching a person, convincing them may become more difficult. This extends to spell effects as well. Spells like grease can hamper mobility for friend and foe alike, causing enemies to miss attacks, while also making your own dex checks easier or harder depending upon circumstance. Though combat isn’t the only way for The Cleric to be hurt — he can also die of embarrassment. Conversations may lead to failed checks or cutting words from an interlocutor that Ragn then internalizes, causing real damage to him.
A tired point in many Dice roll-reliant RPGs is how much they make “failure” fun, or even preferable. It has never really been true in most cases, even something like Baldur’s Gate 3 rarely had an outcome from a failed dice roll that wasn’t abjectly negative. Esoteric Ebb stands out in this regard. While it is true that, most often, failing at a task just means a conversation has beccome more difficult, or you missed out on an item, there are also some genuine surprises, such as events that can only take place if a roll is failed or a failed roll changing the tone and tenor of a conversation in a way that makes the immediate following events more exciting or interesting.
During your travels, you’ll be required to speak to an eclectic assortment of individuals. Giant trolls, wizard dentists, and even giant seagulls populate the wonderful city of Norvik. Each entity has its own distinct personality and purpose, breathing life into a setting that runs the risk of feeling derivative when taken at face value. There are just so many little side quests and secrets to find that really flesh out the City of Norvik and its cast of characters. I find myself deeply drawn to this place in a way that I am struggling to comprehend.
In many respects, it is a particular connection with The Cleric that has captivated me so. Beyond his similar airheaded demeanor and general awkwardness, his preoccupation with masculinity and being a man has struck a chord. Strength in particular frames things in terms of what a “man” would do, getting hung up on both the societal expectations of what it means to do manly things and the aesthetics of doing so.
For all intents and purposes, Ragn is a man in the traditional cultural sense, and can even flirt with multiple women in the game. But what is being a man, really? I’ve asked myself the same question in the past. The expectations that society places on men and women to perform specific, gendered roles or for people to have tastes and desires on explicitly gendered lines has never felt quite right, like I’m a square peg being shoved into a round hole. Ragn himself feels this pressure internally and externally, with Strength providing that peculiar brand of performative masculinity for the game’s other voices to bounce off of.
NPCs play into this aspect, as well, with many questioning their place or role in society or even in relation to other characters on the lines of gender. In practice, all of this discussion about gender and societal norms feels like a direct player to GM conversation. As the only writer on the game, Christoffer Bodegård speaks to players through these dialogues, imparting his own thoughts and ideals while pushing the player to question their own.
As part of that conversational aspect, Christoffer addresses to players directly at the end of each day as you rest, and also when loading a save. The omnipresent DM recounts the things you did during your waking hours, offering commentary and advice. It adds a nice personal touch, but also serves as a reminder that this is presented as a tabletop game. This does make some of the more idiosyncratic elements make more sense, such as the inclusion of an orientalized interpretation of Japan, which comes across as commentary on the way people see and use the storied nation in media, rather than as a true accounting of how Christoffer Bodegård actually views it.
Esoteric Ebb is an absolutely worthy successor to its inspirations. It effortlessly manages to be both intellectually rigorous and deeply, humanly messy, blending its philosophical questions with the overarching narrative and tea shop mystery, elevating all aspects in the process. The ways in which the people and ideas are presented feel so refreshing, with Christoffer Bodegård showcasing not only his understanding of the subjects being written about — feminism, capitalism, and more — but also his own willingness to explore that understanding, and to also have us explore those thoughts with him.
In truth, I cannot decouple the personal victory of being able to stay present for all of it from my enjoyment of the material. It feels like the first time in a long while that I have been able to engage with and sit with a game in the way that I really wanted to. It’s the first time I could just play a game without getting distracted or feeling the urge to skip through some text along the way. Of course, being able to immerse myself in such a world would be useless if it weren't worth engaging in. Thankfully, Esoteric Ebb is phenomenally funny, philosophically rich, and just damn fun to play.
Verdict  |
Image Credits: Raw Fury
Disclaimer: We received a copy of this game from the publisher.