Keep Driving
Developer: YCJY Games
Publishers: YCJY Games, Kepler Ghost
Platform: Xbox Series X (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PC, Switch
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $17.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
For many people, getting their driver’s license is their first step into being something of a free person, someone who can step outside of their family and explore the world for themselves, even if they don’t feel like going far. Combine that with a vehicle entirely of their own and the road of possibilities lies wide open ahead of them and that is what YCJY Games’ Keep Driving aims for, by providing a roguelike-esque style game all about driving with a blend of a cozy atmosphere all while seeing what potential route a player might take along their journey.
Story
Seemingly designed as a flashback from an unknown time in the future, the player is fondly remembering a road trip that they had once they obtained their license and first vehicle, choosing to take their summer break and take to the open road with whatever cash they had on hand and selectable care package of starting items to help get them on the road. Initially, the player will only have one task, head to the Way Out Festival before the end of the month and party with their friends at one of the grandest concert venues that the location has seen in some time. Of course, that isn’t the only thing that players can do, but at least initially that is their goal. It is worth noting that other than selecting the gender of their driver, name, and a few minor traits including if the player has a good relationship with their family or not, which can mean they may bail players out of a jam should they run out of gas, cash, or crash, but it’s not a guarantee.
Once the wheels hit the road however that is where the story can flow freely in absolutely any direction. Players will find themselves traveling from location to location, most likely selecting roads leading closest to their initial destination and encountering various obstacles, distractions, and other things along the way, including hitchhikers. Hitchhikers are their own brand of storytelling as each character has their own unique flavor and it is entirely random who players may come across, on their trip. One of my first adventures saw my first hitchhiker being a loving pair of foreigners who couldn’t speak English but loved to travel and another being known as “The Hurricane” who would constantly dare me to do something stupid during a trip, such as drinking and driving which resulted in the first failure on the road.
Other times the trip can go a completely different way, with players finding a hippy woman who is eager and chatty, a mechanic that wants to help soup-up the player’s car, a convict that is on the run from the police and seeking a ride, and even a songwriter looking to make it big with his next gig, once he figures out what his next big hit song will be. These characters all will chatter amongst themselves and the player as they drive along even if the player can’t select any direct dialogue options themselves, outside of random thought bubbles that appear here and there and can trigger bonuses or debuffs depending on the player’s selection.
It is also through many of these hitchhikers that they will also obtain other potential endings other than the Festival. Encountering a man promoting a race will give players the option to equip their car with enough gear to challenge the race and try to win the rally, another might see the player trying to help the convict escape to freedom, or even simply taking on side-jobs such as hunting down a missing cat for someone to try and gain some cash or stumbling upon a lost child and having to drive around to find her father after they got separated by getting on the wrong bus. These types of variations make it so players will often see something new almost every time they play through the game, really emphasizing the concept of it being about the journey, not the destination, though the Hurricane does seem to be the most common hitchhiker in my journeys.
Gameplay
Keep Driving is the type of game that does its best to avoid sticking into any one single “box” of a genre even though it is basically a roguelike at its core. Players will select their vehicle, with sedan being the first one available at first, truck unlocked upon completing a single run, and musclecar seemingly unlocked upon completing the great race ending, or at least in my case, and then set out on the road with their little chosen care package, selecting different pathways and roads to drive down and “complete” as they make their way to their destination all while encountering various obstacles in their path. Plus at the same time, players must manage their inventory by cramming items into their trunk in unique ways to try and carry everything they might need and more for the journey ahead, while keeping useful items in the glovebox for quick use during obstacles.
These obstacles are what the game considers “battles” and while it is possible to accelerate past them, players will suffer every hit from them to do so which means dealing with a problem is usually far safer. Battles are handled through selecting skills that the player has and matching the icons of the skills with the “threat icons” from the obstacle. Players may also use items within their glovebox to do the same and any time that a skill or item is used “perfectly” by lining it up properly players will also get an extra turn to remove more threats. These threats range from those that drain the player’s energy, gas tank, car durability, and even wallet somehow. Not every threat is going to attack every time, meaning players can prioritize which icon to eliminate first, especially since the player must manage their own energy level and “skill uses” to finish an obstacle. Only upon sleeping, either inside the car or at an inn, can players regenerate their skill uses.
As players finish various each stretch of road they’ll gain skill points and any hitchhikers they have with them will also gain EXP for every obstacle players complete. Players will use skill points obtained to unlock additional “attacks” that can be used during the battles and the hitchhikers, as they level up, will also gain unique attacks of their own that can generally be beneficial such as the ability to remove one of every type of threat, disarming an attacking icon, or even shifting icons around to better fit the player’s skills. For the most part, every skill, both the player and the hitchhikers’ have a limited number of use and cost Energy to use and this means players will need to manage things like their energy level and also use their cash to keep their car repaired and fueled up for the road ahead.
In fact, cash can sometimes be one of the hardest aspects of the game to deal with as players will find that they will need to always be growing tired and hungry as they approach a new location, requiring eating and a cup of coffee or a solid nap at the cost of a bit of car durability. That being said, players can also obtain various traits as they progress through a run that make certain elements easier, unlock additional skill trees that remain unlocked in every single run in the future, and purchase car upgrade parts that are also permanently available for future runs, though they’ll lose any other items in the vehicle. This means that while players may not make it their first time around, they will likely have a far easier time the next time through once they’ve gotten a few upgrades and the hang of things.
One thing that is worth noting is that while Keep Driving is far from a difficult game, it also feels like it starts to get a bit too simple at times unless players end up doing something drastically awful such as drive drunk or find themselves trying to negotiate with a cop with a convict hiding in the backseat. This is especially true on subsequent runs where players will have stronger vehicles right out of the gate, with higher durability due to improved brakes or tires, headlights to lower night time threats, a roof rack for extra luggage, a complete heating and cooling unit that makes players immune to cold and hot statuses, and even padded seats that provide armor to tank a hit or two at the start of every encounter.
Also, thanks to the game’s random factor, it is entirely likely players will find themselves running into the same type of encounters over and over again, sometimes on the same stretch of road, like two sets of fallen rocks or literally three skating children on the same road, or never encountering a certain hitchhiker they’ve never met before which might encourage replayability but is also discouraging.
Audio & Visuals
It is nice to note that YCJY Games has handled the art of Keep Driving excellently as it not only manages to keep a retro style aesthetic but also manages to make everything completely legible and easy to see at the same time. The characters that players come across and their unique portraits are more detailed than one would expect and the various objects that players encounter in the road are also as ridiculous looking and as common as one would think when traveling long distances, especially when driving through country roads or busy city streets. The cars themselves also have some decent variety to their appearance and players can customize the look of their car for cheap with spray paint and various decals. One nice touch is the fact that the player’s car can even get caked up with mud and be stuck that way if driving through a muddy road, only coming clean if it is repaired, even if there is no actual damage.
There is no voice work of any kind throughout the game but Keep Driving more than makes up for it by packing a massive collection of background music for players to swap through and unlock as they make their way through their numerous journeys. Initially players will start with only a small collection of CDs that they can have shuffle or create a setlist of six songs of their own choosing, unlocking more CDs by randomly encountering people in rest stops, buying them in shops, or even getting them as gifts or upon completing certain endings. These songs range all over the place from zen driving music that is easy to go with the flow of to hardcore heavy metal.
Overall
Keep Driving is the type of game where players can sit down for a moment, saying they’ll only do one run or maybe only part of a run, and look at the clock only to find out they’ve spent the last few hours not only completing a run but starting yet another one with how simple but enjoyable it is. It is entirely possible to fall into a simple rhythm of clearing obstacles and selecting destinations all while a wonderful soundtrack plays in the background, giving players plenty of reason to sink hours into the game. Unfortunately those that do will find themselves seeing that some of the challenge vanishes and the randomness of encounters and hitchhikers is a bit more annoying than some may prefer.
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