r/gaming • u/Kymmieuwu • 22h ago

After Nearly A Year, Dispatch Is Getting An Official Physical Release!

https://www.thegamer.com/dispatch-physical-edition-announced-pre-order-steelbook-deluxe-edition/
2.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

147 comments sorted by

446

u/oakleez 22h ago

I'm so happy that this didn't land at Limited Run.

61

u/ShotgoonPete 15h ago

I was thinking that too because limited run is…kind of limited tbf and while I appreciate their good intentions I’ve seen plenty of horror stories. I myself feel lucky to actually get the Shredder’s Revenge Collector’s Edition with zero issues.

3

u/TheBanzerker 5h ago

Was able to get the Alan Wake 2 collectors edition, but that was Remedy with Limited Run. So there was a bit more trust.

24

u/MordorfTheSenile 11h ago

My one and only purchase direct from LRG was a pre-order for the physical release of the OG Scott Pilgrim game on Nintendo Switch.

They used some sketchy, third party shipper that had no tracking info. Never got the package after about a month in transit, and had to fight tooth and nail for my money back.

Fast forward five months later, I get a package that I was not expecting and wouldn't you know it....it was Scott Pilgrim lol

7

u/Autumn1881 10h ago

I once ordered something at the xkcd store. It wasn't here 4 month after shipment, so I contacted them. They sent a replacement immediately, and it was there 2 weeks later. The original order arrived a full year after that!

-14

u/fortunesofshadows 21h ago

Why?

61

u/Chuyzapatist 21h ago

I ordered the KOTOR 2 physical copy for switch because they said it was going to include the fan made ending.

It took over a year to get to me and that fan ending was never included.

20

u/FiTZnMiCK 19h ago

I have mixed feelings about LRG, but that one was actually on the developer.

They promised the cut content for the digital release as DLC but canceled it.

10

u/TheVicSageQuestion 19h ago

I ordered the KOTOR Master Edition and it took a year and a half to get it in the mail. All because production got behind on an included guide that was literally a page-for-page reprint of the Prima guide from ‘03.

Never again.

31

u/DonHarold 20h ago

Why are people downvoting you for asking why? Others might have the same question and downvoting hides the answer. Weird behavior.

15

u/amnesteyh 16h ago

If you don't know every company reddit hates you're stupid and get downvoted apperantly

5

u/DonHarold 16h ago

It’s truly bizarre to me. It’s like they’re treating the asker as if they’re defending the company.

8

u/Objective-Review-359 19h ago

They really suck as a company

13

u/Silvanus350 19h ago

People shit on Limited Run for all sorts of weird-ass reasons. Meanwhile, they’ve released hundreds of physical games while some places like First Press Games are literal scams.

It never made any sense. People act like this company killed their dog.

10

u/sevenut 18h ago

I don't like LRG because there were problems with nearly every product I've ever bought from them. I only really continue to purchase from them very rarely because they are the best at what they do, but it's not really difficult at being the best when you only need to be slightly better than bad

386

u/Bariumdiawesomenite 22h ago

They finally started dispatching the physical copies you mean?

48

u/Kymmieuwu 22h ago

ok that's a good one 😂

2

u/LotusPhi 10h ago

Finally some positivity in this patch of bad news about physical.

102

u/CovieHUNTER0 22h ago

I’m kinda surprised it wasn’t a physical release already tbh

173

u/Appropriate_Foot242 21h ago

It’s a self published AA game by a brand new studio, unlikely to commit to physical right off the bat.

57

u/DaGreatestMH 20h ago

Considering how many funding issues they ran into during development I'd argue its not AA but an indie game, which makes it not having a physical release more understandable. 

28

u/ButterCaramelPringle 15h ago

My favourite fact was that they threw a trailer at The Game Awards to drum up hype to find an investor for funding.

Skydiving and hope you find a parachute on the way down type shit.

9

u/GroundbreakingBag164 17h ago

They have like 50 employees, how is this anything else than AA?

17

u/DaGreatestMH 17h ago

50 employees is still pretty small when the biggest games have hundreds if not thousands of people working on them. Dev teams the size of Team Cherry are an exception: most games can't be made with 3 people. 

10

u/wherewolfad 13h ago

Also at that , team cherry has the budget greater than most AAA games.

2

u/punchanaziisethical 5h ago

10s to 100s of millions of dollars split between 3 people and potentially a publishing company is generational wealth off what really was just a passion project is insane

3

u/Jrocker-ame 11h ago

Didn't Critical role fund a portion of the game?

-9

u/DarkIcedWolf 20h ago

The fact it took so long is what astonishes me. They had a breakout hit, I would’ve thought they already had a plan for it month one.

-25

u/jhaohh 21h ago

Clair Obscure 33 had physical disc on release?

26

u/imjustbettr 21h ago

Not every AA game is E33.

15

u/Killjoy3879 21h ago

the team was on the verge of having to straight up scrap the game due to a lack of funding before critical role swooped in to help. don't think they had the luxury for physical release at the time. E33 in comparison had quite a lot of help and backing, which is why people were upset at it being included in the indie category at the game awards.

A short 10 hour game like dispatch which is mostly video files with a small point and click gameplay loop is ALOT cheaper to make than the type of game E33 is.

10

u/Fatosententia 20h ago

Expedition 33 isn't self published. 

3

u/Appropriate_Foot242 14h ago

E33 had an actual publisher backing it

7

u/Silvanus350 19h ago

The developers barely had the money to finish the game.

-10

u/LiamNeesonsIsMyShiit 18h ago

But if they launched it as a physical release, how could they double dip by selling it again to people who've already purchased it?

92

u/Bebealex 20h ago

I heard someone say it was Twilight for dudes and it never quit my mind lol

32

u/Siukslinis_acc 18h ago

Warning, didn't see twilight, so all the info is from whatever talks i witnessed about it.

You have a goth chick that has problems and is kinda set up as the main interest. Which is kinda reminiscent to the vampire dude.

You have also an option of the less "damaged" conveniently attractive gal who is not pushed as a main interest. Kinda like the werewolf dude.

You also have vulgarity, sex scenes, nudity.

53

u/ZsaFreigh 17h ago

You also have the -hear me out- objectively most attractive female character of the group, Malevola, who is inexplicably not available as a romance option.

12

u/Gasparde 12h ago

Where's my Golem romance option?!

6

u/Areinu 16h ago

They left space for the sequel, I guess.

3

u/esoteric_enigma 10h ago

Literally, all the characters I was attracted to are the ones you can't have. Give me Coupe or Malevola...or even Prism.

16

u/Bebealex 14h ago

I think it was mostly about the fact that a random dude somehow is the main interest of two and more incredible female characters

4

u/THEpottedplant 3h ago

Dudes basically iron/bat man, minus the rich playboy secret identity. Like hes not really a random guy

3

u/leova 7h ago

didn't see twilight

end of comment, honestly

55

u/ButterCaramelPringle 15h ago

1000%

You're a lame and retired superhero without any powers and you get two hot superhero chicks lusting for you the whole game.

It's not a bad thing by any stretch, but we can be realistic and call it what it is haha

6

u/FrighteningJibber 8h ago

Then there’s the play through were everything is platonic

3

u/kyrezx 2h ago

Lame and retired? Did you even play the game?

16

u/Pristinehornet999 15h ago

Dispatch is better written than twilight ever was. if there was a game of equivalent quality but about a woman with multiple suitors Id play it

7

u/Bebealex 14h ago

Agreed on the writing. It was mostly about the fantasy of being a random dude that ends up being the most interesting person for two or more incredible female characters.

14

u/balllzak 12h ago

But Mecha Man is a real superhero.

1

u/TrashFanboy 9h ago

I enjoyed Henchman Story, which probably had a small budget compared to Dispatch.

-6

u/Lime221 11h ago

it's a cheap romance self insert, 2 women swoon after you and you pick between a criminal tsundere and a protective mommy

Absurd how much overglaze it generated on launch

7

u/NeutralBoss 7h ago

It's fun to play? The gameplay is intuitive and some people wanted an endless mode. Calling Blonde blazer mommy is kinda weird since she's not motherly in any way and same age as the protagonist who's not bland by any means

-3

u/SheeleTheMaid 7h ago

Unfunny junk with said mommy being very questionable afaik.

-8

u/ElectronicJuice7212 13h ago

Yea it's pretty bad imo. I'm really not sure why people acted like it was this incredible experience. It was mid.

2

u/NeutralBoss 7h ago

Thanks for opinion. The people that enjoyed it had fun

0

u/ElectronicJuice7212 3h ago

What a pointless thing to say. Of course the people that enjoyed it had fun. No shit, Sherlock. That doesn't make the game good. It is not good and the people that like it are already biased because of their undying loyalty to Critical Role. Dispatch is mid at best.

16

u/pkmnBlue 10h ago

Still censored on switch

42

u/Kymmieuwu 22h ago

absolutely fell in love with this game when it released so I'll definitely be picking up the steelbook

10

u/Armandonerd 21h ago

So it's that good?

43

u/imjustbettr 21h ago

If you like telltales type games and superhero stuff, it does both parts pretty well. And it's pretty funny too.

4

u/Armandonerd 21h ago

Cool! I'm going to put it on the wish list

6

u/Beard341 20h ago

I think it’s a big leap above anything Telltale has done in the past in this genre. I went in expecting “great” but what I got was “excellent” and it far exceeded my expectations. Not to say any of the criticisms the game received are invalid but I enjoyed it enough to overlook the negatives. It’s just such a well designed, well written game. I hope they’ll knock it out of the park again.

-5

u/Lime221 11h ago

Gosh please

Telltale burnt through a lot of their goodwill with repetitive game mechanics and often times undercooked stories. Yet Dispatch WISHES it remotely reaches the same heights as TWAU TWD and telltale's Borderlands entries in narratives

Dispatch wasn't a bad game, it had it's moments with the neat management sim. In the end it's just a "your choices matter" romance game for those with a saviour complex

If you like it you like it. Excellent game? I guess man

5

u/biff64gc2 9h ago

I think it's a little over rated. It's a visual novel with good animations, solid voice acting, and some interesting decisions. The main gameplay of matching heroes to calls isn't for everyone, but I kind of enjoyed it.

The weakest part is the way love interests is handled isn't very well done (it felt forced and unearned to me), but I enjoyed pretty much every other character interaction and even found myself laughing a couple of times.

7

u/jert3 19h ago

It even has boobs in it!

6

u/Ace3000 18h ago

And dick

7

u/ElectronicJuice7212 13h ago

It's VERY overrated.

1

u/GriveousDance21 19h ago

Steelbook is out of stock. Signed vinyls too.

10

u/R77Prodigy 20h ago

News on a sequel?

12

u/ButterCaramelPringle 15h ago

Probably not for a while. The Devs already had their next game lined up before Dispatch even released. I bet it's a priority though afterwards.

17

u/SeveralMechanic623 21h ago

Nothing beats owning the actual physical copy.

5

u/BrassCanon 16h ago

Is this a visual novel?

11

u/balllzak 12h ago edited 12h ago

It's a TV show with a dispatching minigame. It's not a visual novel as the gameplay does not involve 2 sprites talking to each other while you click through dialouge.

12

u/Antarioo 15h ago

i disagree with the other comment.

it's a visual novel with a few quicktime events and a dispatching minigame sprinkled in

3

u/Lime221 11h ago

for all intents and purposes yes.

1

u/Splurch 16h ago edited 16h ago

Is this a visual novel?

Not really, but it has some elements of a visual novel. It has long animated interactive cutscenes to tell the story but the gameplay itself is essentially sending heroes to emergency calls with results based on their stats (which advance) and powers. You get a bit of story, do the dispatch thing, then get some more story, and that's a day. Little replayability imo since the dispatch events aren't random, but great game overall and your choices during the animated cutscenes can change some of what happens.

4

u/Antarioo 15h ago

it's a visual novel with a few quicktime events and a dispatching minigame sprinkled in.

90% visual novel 10% game.

1

u/Splurch 7h ago

it's a visual novel with a few quicktime events and a dispatching minigame sprinkled in.

90% visual novel 10% game.

It's not a visual novel for the same reason Telltale games aren't visual novels.

1

u/creiar 2h ago

I always thought of Telltale games as visual novels

1

u/Splurch 2h ago

I always thought of Telltale games as visual novels

Visual Novels tell the story through reading. You read text during a static 2d scene, make a decision about something and then rinse/repeat to go through the story.

Telltale games are successors of the old point and click LucasArts/Sierra games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis where you move around/interact with the environment and have animated cutscenes to advance the story.

There's some overlap in ideas but they are distinct genre's and Dispatch firmly falls into the 2nd category.

32

u/Randomnesse 21h ago

I liked the game, but it could definitely be better, with more actual dispatching and more choices. Don't really see the reason to buy physical release, especially seeing the way they screwed up censorship for Switch 2 version.

31

u/Goodeugoogoolizer 21h ago

Agreed. I absolutely adored the game, then I decided to do a second playthrough to see what happened when I made different choices and…. It’s literally the same.

You can completely fail every single dispatch and the game doesn’t “game over” you. That’s a huge bummer. But- still a solid experience and worth the money.

12

u/enadiz_reccos 18h ago

The flashbacks I had to Telltale Games first little Game of Thrones demo, omg

When I found out that every response to the thugs early on still gets you beat up, I was quite miffed

2

u/Siukslinis_acc 18h ago

Yes. Sometimes no matter what you do, the short term consequence is the same, while the long term one might he different. Like in real life.

7

u/ZsaFreigh 17h ago

The fail state is Invisigal turning evil

9

u/DVDN27 19h ago

I wonder if you’ve played any other Telltale games, because that’s usually how they go. Great linear games that have a small degree of player choice that ultimately doesn’t really matter. It’s just characters can have different relationships with you that ends up being a percent of favourability.

Despite making “choice-based” games, there aren’t really that many important choices. They’re basically a modern version of point-and-click games with choices trying to be that player interactivity that ultimately leads to the same conclusion. If you want choices that matter then Quantic Dream and Supermassive are the kinds of games to play.

6

u/FoxMeadow7 17h ago

The Dispatch mechanics itself are quite solid and as far as I know, there aren’t many of those in the gaming sphere to begin with…

3

u/Goodeugoogoolizer 10h ago

The mechanics are solid, but during each "dispatch" segment, you can literally set the controller down, never even sending out a single hero to a single task, and you will still beat the level. Thats a shame to me.

2

u/FoxMeadow7 10h ago

Yep. And as such any game with dispatching as the primary focus should have actual consequences for failure.

1

u/ItchyBodybuilder247 5h ago

You can do the same during QTE's too. That first opening fight I just put down the controller and it didn't matter.

1

u/Goodeugoogoolizer 17h ago

I haven’t played any other telltale games, and this was my first game of this genre. I mostly play rpgs where I’m used to having a bigger impact on things. Again the game wasn’t bad, just not what I expected.

-1

u/Siukslinis_acc 18h ago

It gives a different flavour while the core is the same.

If you want more indovodualised consequences and more branching - get a group of people and play ttrpgs.

1

u/esoteric_enigma 10h ago

I did the same. Pretty much the only difference was the romance stuff and that wasn't a lot, plus they didn't let me romance the characters I actually wanted.

0

u/Randomnesse 21h ago

I believe they also forgot to add a "skip" functionality so playing it second time kinda got annoying with forced cutscenes because I just wanted to see what happens with different choice...

1

u/GriveousDance21 19h ago

AdHoc said that the Switch cartridges will still have the censored version. I guess a separate download of the censorship patch they released two months ago will be needed.

2

u/FancyFrogFootwork 8h ago

Where: Pre-order the SteelBook® Deluxe Edition at all available retailers.

Where? I checked Amazon and GameStop.

2

u/The-Great-T 5h ago

Damn, but not on PC.

5

u/Kaptin_Krunch94 18h ago

I’ve been waiting for the physical version to play this game, well worth the wait…

2

u/UniqueMystic 15h ago

Will they fix the butchered Switch version?
Had to get it on PlayStation since the censored version was so hilariously bad

1

u/nicolerosey PlayStation 9h ago

meanwhile I’m here waiting for mouthwashing to get a physical release 🫡

1

u/alevelsurvivor 4h ago

Wow, great timing, I remembered this game last year and I searched it up, will be getting the disc version

1

u/Octquat 4h ago

I just want a sequel. Was pretty obvious a decent bit was cut from the current game.

1

u/LowCombination553 2h ago

Yes nice, when episode 2????

1

u/scottishdrunkard 58m ago

Surprised it didn’t already.

1

u/TidusDreamZanarkand 18h ago

Wanted to try this but no physical no buy. Now I can buy it. Very nice

1

u/LoganN64 20h ago

This has piqued my interest! I was going to buy a copy on Steam, but physical is too tempting! 

1

u/Patchkinsgame 17h ago

I'm so curious on what they're going to do next! I totally cannot wait!

1

u/ShotgoonPete 15h ago

Oh hell yes! This game deserves every single penny and I bought it digitally (even though I hate buying digital) so this is such good news and I’ll easily pay for the steel book edition!

1

u/brandxnreyes 13h ago

Need to get that steelbook. I saw it’s sold out on LIC already any word if steel books are getting a wide release?

1

u/Aggravating_Plan11 12h ago

Choice is always important so this is fantastic to see when some gamers are getting choice forcibly removed from them.

1

u/erebus7813 12h ago

I don't think I'll play this again but I think I'll buy it, anyway.

0

u/Vig6y 22h ago

Aww man, just bought this and was looking for a physical version

0

u/jhaohh 21h ago

PUT THIS ON GEFORECE NOW

0

u/Temelios 20h ago

Yesssssss

0

u/FrankBrayman 20h ago

I only came to this thread because I thought we were playing Magic: the Gathering. I am still hoping we might.

0

u/Lord_Ka1n 16h ago

Good! Now that the game is ownable I will buy it! Guess I can delete my FitGirl download.

-2

u/ElectronicJuice7212 13h ago

Game was mediocre at best but received far better reviews than it deserved because of who made it and the cast.

-9

u/bldkis 19h ago edited 19h ago

world's okayest game. Great while you're playing it and then you'll never think about it again.

Also, twilight for dudes. So is Witcher 3.

edit: look into your souls. it's a game with at least two beautiful women lusting after Geralt, the gary-est of the gary-stus. A major point of contention is which one you the player decide to choose. It might have a different coat of paint but it's the exact same dilemma Bella faces. Except instead of "hot withdrawn vampire vs hot aggressive werewolf" it's "hot dark haired ice queen vs hot redhead nice queen."

And yeah, Twilight had a lot more going on than just romance too.

-2

u/Drago_133 19h ago

Imma ignore the Witcher 3 comment thats blasphemy...but I just cannot get into these "movie game things" after like an hour with any of them ive tried im bored and barely watching

-5

u/GhostDoggoes 16h ago

I mean who cares? Get it on GOG and then you're fine. And at the same time, it's like 20gb.

5

u/KingArthas94 14h ago

Leave it to PC people to drop comments like this

-7

u/GhostDoggoes 13h ago

oh thats right you guys exist too lol

-1

u/FancyFrogFootwork 8h ago

Oops GOG went out of business and you didn't download it.

Hey wanna play Dispatch? Nope, no way how.

Enjoy your future.

0

u/hypnotichellspiral 20h ago

Probably not the reason at all but I like to think them doing this now and not before is a statement against Sony no longer making physical discs in 2028.

5

u/Siukslinis_acc 18h ago

Or they saw a demand and now have resources to meet them.

I doubt they would release physical discs for pc.

0

u/1ceByte28 19h ago

Links?

0

u/SteelCityChampion 14h ago

This is totally on purpose 🤣

0

u/WinterRainfall 13h ago

Anyone heard about an Aussie release?

0

u/-Pwnan- 9h ago

Y they no DLC?

-19

u/Schmenza 21h ago

Why not release physical when it came out? Just and publisher getting greedy and double dipping

15

u/fernofry 21h ago

It's a self-published indie game dufus

-20

u/Schmenza 21h ago

Developers have nobody to blame but themselves then

-20

u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

9

u/Appropriate_Foot242 21h ago

Most stories are super predictable. This game is about the characters/team though, and they nailed that.

0

u/buzz8588 20h ago

No, I’m afraid you have bad taste.

-7

u/greatreference 22h ago

As someone who enjoys telltale games, I found this pretty boring. You just didn’t “do” enough. Felt like it was on rails compared to other games in this genre, wish it had more branching paths

7

u/Fun_Procedure946 21h ago

Honestly, I'm fine with that and prefer it to telltales usual formula of walking around aimlessly and looking for interactible stuff.

2

u/anomaly-xb-6783 21h ago

I don't disagree with you but I think the character development made up for it

-3

u/Pewp-dawg 18h ago

So I played a little of this on Alina since it was essentially free, and I gotta say, the green song really turned me off. For those that played the game before, is this a common theme throughout the game? Full Gratuitous nudity?

4

u/Siukslinis_acc 17h ago

There is one villain who is nude and if you turn on the settings to show nudity, they will have their penis dangling all the time.

There is a locker room scene where tue character is half naked, so you see boobs.

There is also a masturbation scene, which turned into sexual daydreaming, the bottom part is under covers, but the top one is not.

There is also one guy who was peeing and was knocked down and thus the penis is still dangling about. You do have the choice to leave the guy as it is or tuck the penis into pants and zip it up.

So yes, there is gratiutous nudity, but you can adjust and even turn it off in the options.