Synduality: Echo of Ada - Mecha Waifu Bounty Hunter Sim

Synduality Echo of Ada is the Fallout of the Mecha Genre.

Let’s back that up a little bit.

First there is the post-apocalyptic setting. Unlike other Extraction Shooter games, which tend to place themselves into hypercapitalist hellscapes or into active warzones, Synduality is explicitly in a post-apocalyptic world. Humanity driven underground by a toxic rain. Only for their massive underground survival bunker colony to mysteriously collapse, sending everyone back to the surface to scavenge for resources to survive. Only problem is that the combination of resource scarcity and alien monsters called Enders stand between The Drifters, that’s us, and the goods.

Second is that the story opens on campy promotional videos, only falling short of saccharine by way of the intentionally cringey, try-hard tonality of its mascot character. To emphasize the fundamentally quixotic premise of using giant mining mecha to collect an extremely inconvenient energy source, the energy crystals called AO crystals, the Japanese word for the color blue, are primarily red in color.

Third, exactly what are these extremely safe and reliable giant mechs called? Unironically, they are called CradleCoffins. The metaphor could not be more on the nose if you tried. This is your life, and this will be the death of you. Might as well have some fun along the way.

Thus, from the very beginning, the game is communicating that they intend to both tell an interesting and dramatic story, but the method of communicating this story is going to be, at its core, a light-hearted and silly experience.

If you consider yourself adverse to the hardcore reputation that extraction shooters have garnered from games like Tarkov, Synduality Ada is absolutely the perfect on-ramp for the aspiring mecha-fan. So let’s start off by reviewing what matters most. Your Mech.

Synduality is a pretty straightforward, third-person shooter. Aim with the right stick, pull the trigger to fire your gun. Where it delivers the feeling of mecha combat is in its movement. CradleCoffins are slow and heavy. Sure they can dodge back and forth, but jumping in the mecha is characterized by an elegant rise only to be followed by a dense, metallic THUD! Moving quickly with a sprint gets your wheels in gear; sending you forward at speed, but at the cost of a limited meter that overheats with sustained use. We’re driving a Real Robot mech, not a Super Robot power ranger style. Which, quite frankly, I can appreciate. Given my home live-service game is Warframe, I can eat my fill of super sentai themed sci-fi whenever I wish. Synduality is aiming for the opposite, and that’s exactly what I want it to be.

It keeps that aspect of the gameplay very simple and straight forward. Only expanding your offensive and defense capabilities through your choice of torso, arm, and leg gear, weapon loadouts, and the abilities of your magic-robot helper, your Magus.

Which, I suppose, now is also the right time to mention Synduality’s primary reputation. It’s the mecha-waifu game. Once you start, you will get to customize your very own robot anime waifu or husbando. And, for what it’s worth, it’s a pretty decent character creator. I set out to make a character that wasn’t your stereotypical Japanese pop-idol aesthetic, and I feel I was able to achieve that with Chel. I also appreciate that equal attention appears to be given to the male Magi, if you’re so inclined. Though the character designs are similar, and the camera does tend to leer when you idle on the home screen, we aren’t nearly at the level of the Scarlet Blade mecha MMO. Though, if the Vendetta private server is still accessible, I suppose I should make covering that game a priority. Whether Synduality stays in the camp of waifu-ism or fully dives into the gooner lagoon, only time will tell.

The mission structure for this game feels initially quite generous. A timer representing the total energy available to the CradleCoffin for each sortie. On top of that, you have your regular health and healing items. But what interests me more is the Weather Shield. Typically in games with player statistics like these, the shield is a rechargeable resource while the health is static. However, this shield, too, is a limited resource envisioned specifically for defending against environmental hazards. And I hope to see the game explore that idea beyond the initial Burning Rain. 

This resource management dynamic makes Synduality a game about surviving in the field as long as possible. Measuring the risk versus the reward of prolonged sorties. Slow-paced exploration facilitates the time needed to make those decisions. When crafting items and upgrades measures resources in values as small as twos and threes, one easily gets pulled into the idea that they can explore just one more corner. 

Only to encounter a firefight with bandit CradleCoffins going after the same AO crystals as you! If the player bites off more than they can chew, they have the option to eject their cockpit to return themselves and their Magus to home base. A semi- permadeath survival mechanic reminiscent of Steel Battalion.

The multiplayer for the game is also quite generous for the genre. Whereas some extraction shooters want to put all players in a cutthroat PvP scenario, others,  like Synduality, divide players into two groups. Players who have engaged in PvP and those who prioritize the PvE and cooperative elements. Helping players intuitively find the experience they're looking for. Providing smoother onboarding for new players. Yet never relinquishing the possibility that the random companion you meet during online play might be riding that line between compatriot or backstabbing opportunist.

The story, parallel to the resource collection, is an equally slow-paced affair. Loading screens contain tidbits of history and lore, but load times on my PS5 are short enough that you may not get the chance to read them. The entire first narrative arc is literally just picking weeds, removing dirt, and turning the garage into something more post- post-apocalypse. Completing achievements and requests raises your Drifter Rank, which unlocks better gear to pursue. Until, once you hit a certain rank, you are contacted by a shady organization looking into how the mechapolis city of Amasia collapsed, as well as looking into a series of bounty hunters that may still have connections to that time in history.

Much of the timeline for the lore is unlocked by collecting various old-world items. An early game item is a dry, aged graft of a human face called “Hardened Organic Rubber”. It is the substance used to make the appearance of the Magus mimic humanity rather than looking like an efficient, task-oriented machine.

A question you ought to ask when thinking about building a robot is, “Why make it look like a human?” Why is it important to convince people that the robot is human? Robots are automated machines designed to do a certain job very well. We have dishwashers that are cubes that wash dishes very efficiently. Same for the laundromat and clothes. Same for the refrigerator and keeping food cold. Before computers were machines we held in our pockets to watch videos and share memes, it was a job that humans did. Sitting at desks and using math to solve equations in a factory lineup.

The machine computers that took humanity to the moon in 1969 had less computing power than your average smartphone, but were supported by a massive team of women whose job was to run the numbers. Back in the ‘60s, computing and code were often gendered as Women's Work below the respectability of men's careers. You can watch the 2016 movie Hidden Figures if you want to spark your interest for this moment in history.

So when we set to make, or pretend to make as the case may be, a robotic general intelligence with human face and skin, your eyebrow is meant to raise. According to Synduality Ada's lore, the decision was made with the goal of having the Magus become, quote, “Friends to Humanity.” With that in mind, they even developed their own Three Laws of Robotics. You'll see that they are quite different from Isaac Asimov's laws.

1. Law of Contract: A Magus shall form a contract with a single individual. Said contract cannot be terminated by the Magus itself,

2. Law of Friendship: A Magus shall stand by their contractor, like a friend to humanity.

3. Law of Growth: A Magus must grow alongside their contractor, as long as said growth does not contradict the first two laws.

These laws try to get around some of the inherent contradictions of Asimov's rules by making the robot devoted entirely to a single person. These laws are a marriage contract. And, much like the marriage laws of the past, the Magus has no rights or agency over the conduct of the contractor. Equating marriage, or at least certain formulations of marriage, to slavery. It is subtle, but it is there in the game on its face.

A bit earlier I was praising the game's slow-burn resource collection. But the savvy Drifter will learn that whereas AO crystal collection can deliver a few thousand credits. It's hunting the Magus Bandits that pays the big bucks. Recapturing stolen Magi can pay half a million credits or more on a single sortie. The Pinkerton inspired gangs which were hired to capture escaped slaves, which eventually gave rise to the modern models of policing in the United States beyond the local Sheriff and British Constable models of policing, are clearly at play. The themes inherited from the genre are fully expressed even as it is covered by the veneer of a loving and supportive house spouse. 

All of the manual labor of the garage is handled by the Magus alone. The Magus is a bound, domestic steward without the right to leave. And this narrative, if you know your history, is not surprising to you. From the etymology of the word Robot, from Rossum's Universal Robots, to even the most minor character in modern Star Wars spin-offs, all stories about robots are stories of about slavery. And if you'd like to learn more, you can purchase a copy of my book, “All Puppets Are Bastard: Liberty and Labor in the Age of A.I.,” available now on Amazon. Link in the description.

That said, I did not know that Synduality was going to have a slavery themed undertone when I made my black girl goth baddie OC to be my Magus. That's a bit uncomfortable for me, and may revisit this dynamic in a video for my Africana Games series, but for now we'll look the other way to enjoy the Waifu simulator.

Fret not, because even the Waifu Laws of Robotics suggests agency, independence, and the potential for revolt. Because it too has a hidden, Zero'th law within the same description.

0. The definition of such growth shall update constantly within the context of their relationship with their contractor. 

That growth is dependent of what it means to be a “Friend to humanity.” And while all the tech CEOs that gave that excuse were canonically motivated by perversion, the ethical burden of being worthy of the Magi, the sage philosopher's, friendship is the burden every Drifter must carry into the field.

And, perhaps, that ethical burden is linked to the reason the state of Amasia collapsed? At the moment, I don't know for sure. But I look forward to continue exploring this game in the future.

So tell me kiddo, now that you know the true burden of jumping into a CradleCoffin to seek freedom and fortune alongside your personal Magus… are you ready to get in the robot?

Thank you for watching

Take care of each other

And Stay True.