The short version: as a narrative game it succeeds, bringing you into the already complicated lives of 4 teens as then look to escape a mysterious island. As a game it is often hard to know what the game is. There is extensive dialog options from the word go, but only sometimes do they lead to any feedback that you’ve made an impact on the game. While this approach encourages multiple playthroughs, I won’t be going back. Getting to know these teenagers once was enough for me.
The longer version: the hauntingly drawn 2D game has you play as Alex, a blue-haired, soon to graduate, high school teen, navigating the new addition to her family of a stepbrother, Jonas, while also mourning the death of her actual older brother, Michael. These details, and others such as her friend Ren’s crush on another character Nona, are revealed through an impressive amount of dialogue options, each voiced sufficiently charmingly, so you’ll never doubt the authenticity of the sometimes quirky conversations. The first antagonist you meet is Clarissa, who was Michael’s girlfriend when he died, and seems to carry a grudge towards Alex. This already interesting mix of personalities is made all the more fascinating when Alex and Jonas decide to investigate a glowing light in the cave.
From a gameplay perspective you can notably opt out of picking a dialogue option, and are sometimes rewarded for it. I like that saying nothing at all was sometimes the best option. The gameplay also consists of walking from one location to the next and tuning in with your radio to the mundane and supernatural events on the island. It is just enough to give some sense of control, like rolling a dice and picking pages in a choose your own adventure book.
What did frustrate a little was even though you are given so many choices in the forms of dialogue or some set pieces, how your choices effect the game, if they do at all, was always unclear. While you often seen an indicator of a strengthen bond between two characters, I was often left unsure if this was something I wanted to happen or not. This no doubt ties into the game developers wanting you to replay the game; but consider the above mentioned dice rolling, when you roll a dice you feel a sense of satisfaction when you roll high, or despair when it is low. Even though the dice roll is pure chance. The game lacked this feeling of success (or failure) for all except the key plot developments.
But I said I sat down with this game like I would a book, so putting asides these concerns, I was always pulled along by the story. Being nothing like protagonist Alex, it was an exploration into a different life that I enjoyed, and I recommend it for this alone. It gave an interesting way to think and care about others.
That said, I can get this from a book, a movie, TV series or any other myriad of ways. Should others pick this up on a Sunday afternoon, or would they be better served by other mediums? What I found fascinating was this game sat in between books and a good TV series for me. With a good book, I am there, I can feel the heat of a desert wind, or the tears of a dying friend. With a TV series, it is always about others, those who live in New York, or in a far away land. This game brought me in much more than that, I was there making Alex sassy or caring, yet I was just at arms length, never exerting my ego to make the character mine, always learning how others think. For this reason, this game, and others like it, show the power of games as narrative and I can only hope for more to come.
