Introduction

Obviously, I’m an anime fan who also enjoys VNs and adventure games. Okay, that might be obvious to those who know me but not to everyone. One thing I genuinely love about adventure games is how they can function as a fusion of numerous genres, and when done right, they scratch a narrative itch that most other games simply can’t reach. That’s why we’re talking about a demo we came across here at SunsetNerdVerse called All Our Broken Parts by developer Tin Bird. Blending various genres together, All Our Broken Parts may not be well known in the gaming world yet, but after playing through the demo, we think some of you will want to see what this game has to offer. Is All Our Broken Parts a future release worth investing in, or is this a game that needs to be quickly forgotten? We find out in our All Our Broken Parts demo review!

Gameplay

All Our Broken Parts genuinely feels like three genres bundled into one package. There’s a VN element as you click through dialogue and occasionally make choices that affect what your character says and how others respond. There’s a distinct 80s anime aesthetic filtered through a pixel art style that gives the whole thing its visual identity. And then there’s the adventure gameplay where the bulk of your direct interaction takes place.

You assume the role of Ruth, a robot doctor, and your job is to diagnose those who need your services. You do this by plugging cords into various mental modules, playing mini-games to cut and remove malfunctioning components, and following clues to identify where your robot patient is failing. It’s a minimalistic approach, but I genuinely enjoyed how All Our Broken Parts makes you feel like a cybernetic doctor with real responsibility over a patient’s wellbeing.

Most of your time, though, will be spent clicking and reading dialogue, which won’t satisfy everyone. VNs and adventure games are more popular than ever, but they still don’t pull in the broader mainstream gaming audience. In a world where most players gravitate toward fast-paced shooters or sprawling RPGs with hundreds of hours of content, All Our Broken Parts is definitively a niche experience.

My main concerns come in two areas. The in-game menu (at least in the demo) is very bare-bones for an adventure game, and I found myself wondering whether the final build will rely entirely on auto-saves or incorporate a manual save option down the line. My other concern, the more relevant one, is the gameplay loop. I enjoyed diving into robot minds and seeing how various modules shaped what are essentially their personalities, but would this become tedious over several hours? Games like Coffee Talk have deceptively robust systems that keep things feeling fresh across extended play sessions. All Our Broken Parts has numerous mini-games and adventure segments, but whether they can hold a player’s attention across a full playthrough remains to be seen.

Graphics

All Our Broken Parts is genuinely gorgeous. It reminded me immediately of games like Coffee Talk and VA-11 Hall-A. There’s a clear and loving appreciation for pixel art throughout, with plenty of unique little visual flourishes that make it feel genuinely original rather than derivative. When characters react to overstimulation or bursts of fragmented memory flood a patient’s mind, the game deploys a distinct visual style that sets it apart. Fans of pixel art will fall madly in love with All Our Broken Parts, and I can’t wait to see what the full game does with that visual language across a longer experience.

Sound

Don’t expect voice acting in All Our Broken Parts. What you get instead are bleeps, bloops, and a minimalistic sound design that I’ve come to understand is a very deliberate choice. I say this often when reviewing indie games: voice work is a genuine risk. Poor voice acting can compromise a story’s immersion, and hiring quality talent for a cast of characters can push a budget to dangerous levels. Oddly, the absence of voice work actually works in All Our Broken Parts‘ favor. It draws you deeper into this strange, robot-inhabited world rather than pulling you out of it. The music is similarly sparse, almost non-existent at times, as if the developers intentionally chose to let the world feel lonely and hollow. That’s the point. The minimalistic approach to sound design fits the atmosphere of All Our Broken Parts perfectly, and I’d wager that won’t change much in the final release.

Story

What compels me most about All Our Broken Parts is the narrative. The demo doesn’t reveal much, naturally, but what it does offer is a brief, intriguing glimpse into a world far removed from our own. Humanity is all but gone. In their place, robots and cybernetic beings have inherited our customs and our way of life. They drink. They smoke. They carry the same worries and emotions we once did. There’s an almost Blade Runner-like quality to the world of All Our Broken Parts that I desperately want to see explored further when the full game arrives. For now, though, the story is the thing that pulls me back, and I’m genuinely excited to see how robots navigate a world that was once ours.

Overall Impression

The demo for All Our Broken Parts leaves me wanting more, which is always a good sign. I have some worries that could hold the game back in the long run, but here’s the thing: All Our Broken Parts has enough going for it narratively and visually that even if the mini-games or core gameplay loop start to feel repetitive, those other pillars should hold the experience up. That said, I can’t fully judge a story-heavy game from a demo alone, so only the full release will confirm whether my optimism is well-placed.

Conclusion

I am very much looking forward to All Our Broken Parts. This sci-fi adventure/VN seems tailor-made for the themes and genres I personally enjoy most. My lingering concerns around the core gameplay loop and the menu system are real, but they’re also the kinds of things that can be addressed before launch. This is just a demo, and the full game is said to run 6 to 8 hours according to the Steam store page, meaning we’re only getting a small taste of what’s coming. I think Tin Bird may have a genuine sleeper hit on their hands with All Our Broken Parts, but we’ll have to wait for the full release to find out if that bold claim holds up.