Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector uses an explosive beginning to rip the amnesiac Sleeper protagonist away from any familiarity, forcing them to endure a journey through the stars riddled with stress, unrest, and a foe constantly on their tail. But it’s those feelings, that unavoidable discomfort, that push Sleeper into new friendships, communities, and trials of trust that ultimately prove it’s not about the destination – it’s about the journey. Buoyed by the excellent returning dice gameplay, incredible sci-fi writing, and a fantastic score, Citizen Sleeper 2 is a worthy sequel, even if its UI and finale didn’t quite match the heights of the rest of the package.
Citizen Sleeper 2 begins with your Sleeper unaware of who they are because of a failed reboot, giving players a clean slate to work with, save for the initial decision of which class you want your Sleeper to be. I went with Operator, meaning my Sleeper had a big advantage when completing Interface actions. But the other classes – Extractor and Machinist – have equally advantageous action specialties (and disadvantages, too).
Those disadvantages set the stage for one of the biggest additions to this sequel. You’re no longer responsible for every action in the game because you can bring crew members with you during contracts, which are like side quests but often integrated into the main narrative. They have dice advantages and disadvantages, too, so you can build a team around your anticipated actions. Both contracts and crew members, which double as well-written NPCs to build relationships with, are welcome additions to a formula I already loved.
The failed reboot at the game’s start is the catalyst responsible for everything that follows. You set off to fix yourself and escape a yakuza-like character named Laine, who is slowly taking over your body and constantly following your every move. Because Laine is hot on your trail, you’re rarely able to grow comfortable with a location and are quickly forced to move on to the next. Unfortunately, the UI associated with the map is unwieldy, leading to frustration when selecting my next destination. Those frustrations also popped up during contracts when selecting crew dice wasn’t as seamless or smooth as the rest of the game.
Still, those annoyances melted away when I reached a new location and discovered engaging tasks to complete, NPCs to meet and help, and colonies to save. I was always excited to dive deeper into a character’s storyline, never once selecting the option to dismiss someone’s need. Lacking a tangible place to call home, it felt right to build nests of safety throughout the star system with those I’d meet, and sometimes they’d even become part of my crew, expanding my chances of success during contracts.
I had hoped these connections and relationships would have a place in the stakes of the finale, but strangely, the climax came and went, feeling isolated from the themes present in the rest of the game. And though an epilogue-like batch of final missions provides some of the community-built comfort I hoped the finale would provide, I still felt like something was missing. Looking back on my 244 cycles as a Sleeper, though, it’s not the finale I’m thinking about but the journey to it, the people I met along the way, and the safety net of friends my Sleeper now has in the system.
This network wasn’t built on pure success, though. Citizen Sleeper 2, like its predecessor, is an extremely stressful role-playing game where I felt constantly pushed to the edge of complete failure, only to be given a lifeline the exact moment I needed it. New but underutilized mechanics, like Glitch dice with an 80-percent chance of failure and a Push ability that allows you to reroll dice at the cost of gaining dice-damaging Stress, add to these stakes. They never felt fully integrated into the experience, however, leaving them easy to ignore. Still, every mistake was a lesson, and every success was almost a failure… until it wasn’t. Until stress became joy, discomfort became comfort, and running became home.
As the game reminds players, “[Mistakes] can so often become the most powerful and meaningful of emblems. They can guide a being more strongly than success ever could.” The strength of the Citizen Sleeper series, especially in this sophomore release, is realizing this very message. Home isn’t where you await the next cycle to begin but where you have the freedom and space to make mistakes.
This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.
