Dispatch Episode 3 and Episode 4 Review in Progress

Dispatch's first two episodes started strong, drawing us into its superhero-filled world with solid humour, phenomenal voice acting, and fun management sim gameplay. Now, I’ve officially hit the halfway point, having played Episode 3 “Turnover” and Episode 4 “Restructure”, which have left me itching for the next batch.

Unsurprisingly, Robert Robertson’s Z-team is still suffering growing pains that persist across both episodes, from their lack of respect for authority to competitive (and dangerous) sabotage. Now that I think about it, Robert’s day-to-day at SDN isn’t that different from his former career as Mecha Man: villains are still a pain in his backside. He also has the added problem of his ongoing suit repairs and new potential sparks in his love life.

Episode 3 primarily focuses on discord within Robert’s group of misfits, as Blonde Blazer (Robert’s boss and possible romantic interest) has declared that one of the former villains will be cut from SDN’s program if they continue to perform poorly. There’s a leaderboard in the office, and Invisigal happens to be at the bottom, which is definitely expected after you’ve played the first two episodes.

What stood out is how that team-wide unrest bled into the first shift of the day, affecting how well I could do my dispatching job. Each mission required two heroes, but every time I sent them off, one of them would be delayed by their partner. For example, Golem trapped Coupé in an alley, and I had to select from three options to get her out of it. These moments of sabotage weren’t without consequences either, as Coupé suffered an injury when she failed the skill check to get away unharmed.

Decisions also seemed to have more stakes in Episode 3 than in the introductory section. In one instance, I had to decide how Robert would handle insubordination, and later, who to cut from the Z-team altogether. That latter choice carried over into Episode 4, removing that hero from my list and from my shifts completely. Will they return, or are they forever gone? I can’t answer that, as I still haven’t played the next batch.

Episode 4 does deal with the aftermath of your decision, and you get to add a new member to your squad to fill the hole, but there’s also an ever-present sexual tension throughout this entire chapter. Robert’s romantic interests are brought to the forefront, resulting in what seems like a defining decision by the end of this section.

I’ve continued to enjoy the character interactions, writing, animation, and voice acting throughout this batch. The dialogue gets better and better. That said, I’m still concerned about the pacing. While AdHoc is balancing the visual novel–style choices with management gameplay well, these episodes fly by. We’re already at the halfway point, but it feels like we should only be 25% of the way through.

I wish it’d slow down; give us more one-on-one interactions with the rest of the cast and/or introspective moments for Robert. It definitely would have been interesting if the two choices for Episode 3’s Survivor–esque elimination were characters we had become closer with, as it’d be a tougher decision. At this point, I think that choice came too soon.

Gameplay-wise, the dispatching is so enjoyable that I’d play it as its own endless mode. It doesn’t deviate too much from what you see in the first couple of episodes, as you’re still assigning the right hero or heroes to calls for help, which vary from dealing with a baby kaiju to investigating cults. You’ll have more opportunities to send multiple team members to a mission, which usually reveals a special ability for those characters. For example, I learned that Prism duplicates the hero to her left when she’s placed in the second slot on a call.

Blonde Blazer also shows up as a call icon where you can send a hero for training during a shift, which lets you choose between two abilities for them to learn. I let Invisigal learn Wolf Pack, which doubles XP rewards whenever she’s on the mission’s team. Flambae also learned Supernova, which sets his Combat and Mobility stats to max and removes rest time after two successful calls. Utilising each character’s unique abilities really makes dispatching engaging. Every skill point also feels like it matters, as your success can sometimes come down to a one-point difference.

What I’ve come to like less is the hacking mini-game, as it feels more tedious each time I need to do it. You simply move a sphere to various nodes where you have to input a code displayed by a series of arrow keys. In these episodes, you’ll be frequently chased by orange anti-virus orbs, adding a bit of challenge, though each time I’m just itching to get back to the dispatch map.

I’m always curious to see how my decisions match up to other players at the end of the episodes, but unfortunately, Dispatch got my stats wrong this time around. When the credits rolled for Episode 4, I was told I correctly answered brainteasers when I actually got them wrong and that I didn’t warn a co-worker about an outfit malfunction when I did! Aside from that being frustrating, it makes me worried that the actual decisions I made won’t carry over to the next batch, but I'm crossing my fingers that they will.

For those who like to replay episodes, I should note that there’s no skip option, so be prepared to sit through the chapter’s entire runtime. Hopefully, AdHoc includes a dialogue skip as a quality-of-life feature in the future.

Dispatch Episodes 3 and 4 are out today, the 29th of October. You can expect the next batch on the 5th of November. Stay tuned for our upcoming reviews in progress!