CorpoNation: The Sorting Process Review

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Fast Facts

An Invitation to the CorpoNation

CorpoNation: The Sorting Process is a simulation title that highlights the monotony of working. It follows a company employee as they strive to make a difference in their life. Did this game make a significant impact on me? Find out in this Rapid Review.

To begin my playthrough, I was inducted into CorpoNation. I was a new employee, and I needed to learn how things worked. The first thing that stood out to me was the dialogue. There was a lot of it. From corporate emails to chats with coworkers, I was constantly engrossed in comments about my current living situation and my working environment. To me, this was a major part of the experience. CorpoNation: The Sorting Process put a large emphasis on its storytelling, and thus, I primarily played the game to get immersed in the world.

Unfortunately, while understanding the world was somewhat interesting, the writing did not move me. As I read through more content, I became less interested in the world and characters, as I struggled to find anything that stood out from what I knew already. This mediocre text stood out most in the character dialogue.

Throughout the game, I was introduced to a few different characters. They each talked to me, which was nice. I enjoyed getting to know different people in the world. However, the characters themselves are not very interesting. A few lines here and there resonated with me, but I never felt connected to anyone. Many of their lines were generic, which ultimately prevented me from having a deep relationship with the characters.

Building the Nation

I believe my disinterest in the characters was exaggerated by CorpoNation: The Sorting Process’ structure. Every day I underwent the same routine. I woke up, went to work, checked the news, communicated with friends, and ultimately went to bed. Every in-game day was practically the same. In premise, this is fine. However, since I did not find the writing overly engaging, I kept wanting to do more work, which contradicts how my character feels. This put me in a bit of an awkward position.

On the one hand, I genuinely enjoyed the sorting process. It was fun to test my memory and engage with the different rules. However, and honestly, more importantly, most of the moments I spent checking the news and communicating disinterested me. Sometimes information would be novel, but often, it felt redundant. While in theory, this cycle works well, the bland dialogue made it tedious.

Despite not loving every moment of the gameplay loop, the gameplay itself was great. In my role, I sorted different things. It was a simple task, but it was fun to optimise. I specifically enjoyed the sorting because the various rules involved slowly got more complex over time. In the beginning of the game, sorting, while not easy, was not very complex. I often would only have to sort with one feature in mind.

However, as time went on, there were multiple types of items that fit into the same categories and even more things to consider when evaluating samples. For example, during some of the later levels, I had to consider a correlating range of acceptable values, expiration dates, whether to mix or splice things, and of course, the type of item. I enjoyed the way each of these components came together.

What am I Fighting For?

Though the section about sorting in this review is not overly lengthy, I do not want to undermine how much I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. Moreover, CorpoNation: The Sorting Process did a great job of getting me through the learning curve of the game. As things were added, I was able to practice in safe environments to learn their mechanics. This made it easy to recognise exactly what changed and what it meant for my sorting process.

In addition to my sorting responsibilities, I was also tasked with stimulating the economy. This meant that I had to buy things from my employers such as housing, food, and maintenance. Throughout the story, characters kept complaining about how challenging it was to keep up with these expenses, but I did not struggle with them. Perhaps it was the way I played, but this money management aspect did not engross me much during the game. This was not a huge deal, as it was relaxing to be able to pay for everything easily, but it certainly did not add to my experience.

CorpoNation: The Sorting Process also features a couple of minigames. These were alright to play, but once again failed to revolutionise my experience. One was a fighting game where I faced off against competitors in a fake video game. It came equipped with fake in-app purchases that I could use my wages for in the game. While I am grateful I did not have to spend real money, even playing pay-to-win games with a nearly bottomless wallet is not very fun. These minigames, while cute, did not resonate with me at all.

Blue for You

Though I was not overly enthralled with many elements of CorpoNation: The Sorting Process, the presentation of the game exceeded my expectations. Despite some minor issues interpreting some of the game’s UI design at the beginning of my playthrough, once I got accustomed to how the game worked, the game functioned seamlessly. There are countless visual indicators for key activities, the text is clear and legible, and I never felt strained when reading the dialogue. All these elements combined to improve my experience with CorpoNation: The Sorting Process.

Moreover, I truly enjoyed the art style the developers went with. They chose a very select palette, and I found this enhanced the visuals. I enjoyed seeing how far they could push their art with the limited scope of colours. The game features stunning displays with decorations I could use in my room. I even enjoyed simple designs like the labels on the items I sorted. Overall, CorpoNation: The Sorting Process is very aesthetically pleasing.

I also enjoyed the music. Though nothing revolutionary, I found myself bobbing along with the beat from time to time. Moreover, despite seemingly only having a few songs, they never got stale to me throughout my playthrough. Artistically, the game is designed excellently.

Overall, while I did enjoy CorpoNation: The Sorting Process, the game feels bloated. For starters, it is bogged down by its dialogue sections. I wanted those components to be fantastic, but unfortunately, since I did not get captivated by the writing, they felt like a chore. Moreover, while I enjoyed the primary gameplay of sorting things, the strategy elements surrounding money management and the optional minigames did not resonate with me either. The game certainly has a lot of fantastic components, but there are just as many, if not more, mediocre ones.

3 out of 5

3

You can purchase CorpoNation: The Sorting Process on the Nintendo eShop here.