As with the books, my life got impacted so I only watched one series this year, but I liked it enough that I still want to draw some attention to it. Just as with the books, there will be no asterisk (*) for my Top 3 of the year since I only completed one series.
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
This series was clearly titled to appeal to fans of the subgenre of anime involving teenage girls reborn as the villainess of a particular story, but takes a quick left turn in the first episode and the villainess part doesn't factor into the equation at all. In fact the carefree part doesn't apply either. The real story is that Rishe keeps dying for various reasons a few years after her fiance breaks off their engagement, and every time in the future the neighboring nation of Galkhein begins a war of conquest under the leadership of Emperor Arnold.
Each time Rishe revives at the moment her engagement is broken, and each time she loops she tries something else, lives a different life, learns a different trade, and because of that she becomes a very knowledgeable woman. However her seventh loop ends up in her attracting the interest of not yet emperor, but currently Crown Prince Arnold (who actually killed her in her sixth life) and she ends up accepting an engagement to him in hopes of changing his outlook on life so the war never begins. Unfortunately the series ends without any resolution, but I'm definitely interested in reading the source novels now.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Monday, February 17, 2025
My Favorite Games of 2024
I didn't mean to take another month between posts, but as I alluded to in January I'm having life issues that has made regularly posting difficult and I'll make a post about it eventually, probably after my very short anime of 2024 post. The only reason these 2024 wrap-ups even exist is because I worked on them throughout last year so I did not have to spend much time writing or editing them to post now.
That said, on to what I'd written prior to all my issues:
Having not completed a single RPG in the past two years, it felt like 2024 was the year to remedy that.
I usually designate these great games as my Top 3 picks each year by marking them with an asterisk (*) and these are the 12 games I liked the most out of the ones I finished in 2024, in the order I played them. If the game is available on multiple platforms, the one I played on is listed first. Usually I try to complete at least one game a month, but because of said issues I fell short this year.
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I got into Undernauts with its alt-1970s Japan setting and truly inspired character designs. It's a first person dungeon crawler, but with modern day quality of life auto-mapping and easier than average difficulty for a game of its type. The story is more nuanced than you'd expect for the genre and made me want to get to the bottom of what really happened. The only thing I'd fault it for is that the post-credits scene makes it clear the story isn't over, and the only way to see the story through in its entirety is to complete the punishing post-game.
Unpacking (Switch, PS4, PS5, XB1, Windows, iOS, Android)
Unpacking was a media darling when it first came out. The premise is simple. You unpack the belongings of an unseen girl/young woman as she moves from place to place over the course of her life. From what she carries with her, how she chooses to augment her belongings, and where you are allowed to place things, you learn a surprisingly large amount of what kind of person she is and what has happened in her life. I thought it was an interesting concept, but was less enamored by the actual gameplay.
Process of Elimination (Switch, PS4) *
If you need to fill the Danganronpa (or Ace Attorney) shaped hole in your gaming needs, Process of Elimination is likely to do the job. It doesn't feel as polished as the more established names, but if you want to be trapped in a murder mystery with a bunch of colorful characters who gradually get picked off one by one, it's a solid pick. Evidence collection deviates from the point and click methods of its predecessors, going for an isometric map over which you can direct a team of detectives. It's nice to see a fresh take, but the implementation feels a little clunky. I really liked that the deduction portion of the game involves putting all clues together in context, and rarely involves waving around contradicting evidence, so I really felt smart when solving a murder. Would buy a sequel in a heartbeat.
Collar x Malice Unlimited (Switch)
The fandisc to Collar x Malice. I was going to play this back when it first released, but that ended up happening shortly before I had surgery for my first cancer, and it fell off my radar. By the time I remembered I still had it in my closet a lot had changed in the otome gaming landscape so it kept getting deprioritized in favor of non-sequels. That said, it's a little hit or miss for me. The characters I liked least had the best After Stories and the ones I looked forward to the most had the weakest. The extras were just okay and the Adonis route less exciting than expected.
The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story (Switch, PS5, PS4, Windows, iOS, Android) *
Mystery novelist Haruka is asked by a friend if she would look into a hundred year mystery involving his family and a skeleton they found buried behind their cherry tree. Has a very different feel from most games being primarily told through live action segments and the player being asked to assemble hypotheses from clues obtained during those scenes rather than being in direct control over an investigation. I found the story extremely gripping even if the actual game mechanics were a bit clunky. Having the same group of actors play different roles in different time periods was a nice touch, and also made it easier to keep characters straight since there wasn't a constant parade of new faces.
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Switch)
Third entry in the Famicom Detective Club series. It manages to modernize the gameplay from the NES remakes, keeping the unusual dialogue system for pulling out clues, while getting rid of the less sensical logic jumps occasionally experienced in the older games. The investigation part of the game is deep and a constant source of tension, but the story wraps up in a mediocre fashion that is both unsatisfying and a post-credits info dump.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows, DS) *
I played the remaster as part of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, having played the original on DS when it came out years ago. It's still a fun ride as tightly laced straight man Miles Edgeworth as he investigates crimes filled with a cast of wacky characters with a stubborn sense of logic. I don't think he needed to be saddled with a teenage sidekick, as Kay didn't feel as natural a partner as Maya did for Phoenix in the original three Ace Attorney games, but I suppose the design team felt a need to parallel the earlier games.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 : Prosecutor's Gambit (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
After many years this is finally available in English in the first time! Though I think the overall throughline of the story could have been smoother and Kay felt more stapled on than the first game, it was still a very good run with a lot of returning cameos (some of them very deep cuts!) without feeling like it was wallowing too heavily in fan service. I was particularly happy with what they did with an "annoying" character to both give him his comeuppance and then turn him around into being someone we could be sympathetic towards.
9 R.I.P. (Switch)
Misa Issihiki is spirited away as part of a supernatural plan to help her deal with her inability to stand up to her mother regarding her plans for college. Romance involving ghosts and yokai, so there's nearly always an element of separation involved in the endings, but some of them wrap up satisfactorily for all involved.
Digimon Survive (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
Strategy/visual novel hybrid that leans heavily into nostalgia. Unlike most Digimon games it takes inspiration from the anime and features a number of human characters with partner digimon rather than a single human player character who raises and collects hundreds of them. Though collecting can still be done, this is a much more narratively focused game with an emphasis on human and digimon partners. There is also a fairly strong plot emphasis on the "survive" in the title, though I feel like it hits harder in the early game than the late.
even if Tempest: Dawning Connections (Switch)
The fan disk to even if Tempest. To be honest, the fandisk was a mixed bag for me, and since it's tonally different from the original game, being more focused on romantic relationships than the drama of trying to survive, it doesn't feel as exciting as the first game. To be fair, most routes employ a non-romantic plotline to try and retain some of the tension and drama, but they don't always work the best. My favorite routes were Zenn's and the non-romantic The Fellowship due to the additional worldbuilding.
That said, on to what I'd written prior to all my issues:
Having not completed a single RPG in the past two years, it felt like 2024 was the year to remedy that.
I usually designate these great games as my Top 3 picks each year by marking them with an asterisk (*) and these are the 12 games I liked the most out of the ones I finished in 2024, in the order I played them. If the game is available on multiple platforms, the one I played on is listed first. Usually I try to complete at least one game a month, but because of said issues I fell short this year.
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I got into Undernauts with its alt-1970s Japan setting and truly inspired character designs. It's a first person dungeon crawler, but with modern day quality of life auto-mapping and easier than average difficulty for a game of its type. The story is more nuanced than you'd expect for the genre and made me want to get to the bottom of what really happened. The only thing I'd fault it for is that the post-credits scene makes it clear the story isn't over, and the only way to see the story through in its entirety is to complete the punishing post-game.
Unpacking (Switch, PS4, PS5, XB1, Windows, iOS, Android)
Unpacking was a media darling when it first came out. The premise is simple. You unpack the belongings of an unseen girl/young woman as she moves from place to place over the course of her life. From what she carries with her, how she chooses to augment her belongings, and where you are allowed to place things, you learn a surprisingly large amount of what kind of person she is and what has happened in her life. I thought it was an interesting concept, but was less enamored by the actual gameplay.
Process of Elimination (Switch, PS4) *
If you need to fill the Danganronpa (or Ace Attorney) shaped hole in your gaming needs, Process of Elimination is likely to do the job. It doesn't feel as polished as the more established names, but if you want to be trapped in a murder mystery with a bunch of colorful characters who gradually get picked off one by one, it's a solid pick. Evidence collection deviates from the point and click methods of its predecessors, going for an isometric map over which you can direct a team of detectives. It's nice to see a fresh take, but the implementation feels a little clunky. I really liked that the deduction portion of the game involves putting all clues together in context, and rarely involves waving around contradicting evidence, so I really felt smart when solving a murder. Would buy a sequel in a heartbeat.
Collar x Malice Unlimited (Switch)
The fandisc to Collar x Malice. I was going to play this back when it first released, but that ended up happening shortly before I had surgery for my first cancer, and it fell off my radar. By the time I remembered I still had it in my closet a lot had changed in the otome gaming landscape so it kept getting deprioritized in favor of non-sequels. That said, it's a little hit or miss for me. The characters I liked least had the best After Stories and the ones I looked forward to the most had the weakest. The extras were just okay and the Adonis route less exciting than expected.
The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story (Switch, PS5, PS4, Windows, iOS, Android) *
Mystery novelist Haruka is asked by a friend if she would look into a hundred year mystery involving his family and a skeleton they found buried behind their cherry tree. Has a very different feel from most games being primarily told through live action segments and the player being asked to assemble hypotheses from clues obtained during those scenes rather than being in direct control over an investigation. I found the story extremely gripping even if the actual game mechanics were a bit clunky. Having the same group of actors play different roles in different time periods was a nice touch, and also made it easier to keep characters straight since there wasn't a constant parade of new faces.
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Switch)
Third entry in the Famicom Detective Club series. It manages to modernize the gameplay from the NES remakes, keeping the unusual dialogue system for pulling out clues, while getting rid of the less sensical logic jumps occasionally experienced in the older games. The investigation part of the game is deep and a constant source of tension, but the story wraps up in a mediocre fashion that is both unsatisfying and a post-credits info dump.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows, DS) *
I played the remaster as part of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, having played the original on DS when it came out years ago. It's still a fun ride as tightly laced straight man Miles Edgeworth as he investigates crimes filled with a cast of wacky characters with a stubborn sense of logic. I don't think he needed to be saddled with a teenage sidekick, as Kay didn't feel as natural a partner as Maya did for Phoenix in the original three Ace Attorney games, but I suppose the design team felt a need to parallel the earlier games.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 : Prosecutor's Gambit (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
After many years this is finally available in English in the first time! Though I think the overall throughline of the story could have been smoother and Kay felt more stapled on than the first game, it was still a very good run with a lot of returning cameos (some of them very deep cuts!) without feeling like it was wallowing too heavily in fan service. I was particularly happy with what they did with an "annoying" character to both give him his comeuppance and then turn him around into being someone we could be sympathetic towards.
9 R.I.P. (Switch)
Misa Issihiki is spirited away as part of a supernatural plan to help her deal with her inability to stand up to her mother regarding her plans for college. Romance involving ghosts and yokai, so there's nearly always an element of separation involved in the endings, but some of them wrap up satisfactorily for all involved.
Digimon Survive (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)
Strategy/visual novel hybrid that leans heavily into nostalgia. Unlike most Digimon games it takes inspiration from the anime and features a number of human characters with partner digimon rather than a single human player character who raises and collects hundreds of them. Though collecting can still be done, this is a much more narratively focused game with an emphasis on human and digimon partners. There is also a fairly strong plot emphasis on the "survive" in the title, though I feel like it hits harder in the early game than the late.
even if Tempest: Dawning Connections (Switch)
The fan disk to even if Tempest. To be honest, the fandisk was a mixed bag for me, and since it's tonally different from the original game, being more focused on romantic relationships than the drama of trying to survive, it doesn't feel as exciting as the first game. To be fair, most routes employ a non-romantic plotline to try and retain some of the tension and drama, but they don't always work the best. My favorite routes were Zenn's and the non-romantic The Fellowship due to the additional worldbuilding.
Monday, January 13, 2025
My Favorite Books of 2024
I didn't end up reading much in 2024 for reasons I'll eventually post about at some point, but suffice to say there's a reason I stopped posting on my blog for months and the only reason these 2024 wrap-ups are coming out now is because I work on them throughout the year so I did not have to spend much time writing or editing them.
Normally I would list the twelve books I enjoyed the most, and mark my three favorites with an asterisk (*), but this year because I didn't read that much, I'm just listing the four I finished and will not be marking any of them.
Krieg by Steve Lyons
I'm not a Warhammer 40,000 player, nor am I really a reader of the franchise's numerous books, but when I found out they had a faction inspired by World War I trench warfare, and they had a book based on these fanatical soldiers who were willing to hurl themselves into certain death in the name of the God Emperor, I realized I had to read it and the book did not disappoint. I still have little interest in any other Warhammer material, but I think I would be inclined to pick up another book about the crazy yet oddly mysterious soldiers of Krieg.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol 6: Flight by Yoshiki Tanaka
Yang continues to be my favorite character in this series as he ends up retired due to circumstances of the last book and he goes about doing exactly what he wants to do with his pensioner's lifestyle. But of course things can't remain that way and there are still too many people who misunderstand him and what he would actually do versus what they think he'll do. Reinhard has his problems too, but I didn't find his side of the volume as compelling as Yang's.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol 7: Tempest by Yoshiki Tanaka
I found this to be a pretty exciting volume, with relationships starting to fracture on Reinhard's side and Yang's crew making a play to keep the Free Planet Alliance alive even if the FPA isn't exactly their biggest fan. We also get to see the payoff for a gambit Yang set up back in Volume 5.
Baccano!, Vol. 11: 1705 The Ironic Light Orchestra by Ryogho Narita
One of the one-offs set in one of Baccano's non-1930s settings, this time following Huey Laforet and how he came to meet and reluctantly become friends with Elmer Albatross. Set in 1705 Italy, it's an unusual story about what seems to be a serial killer targeting children, but ultimately leads to a much bigger conspiracy about how their small town functions. Likely skippable if you don't want to read every volume since Huey tends to be a distant figure in the main 1930s setting, Elmer hasn't shown his face except in flashbacks, and prominent third character Monica has not been seen at all until this point.
Normally I would list the twelve books I enjoyed the most, and mark my three favorites with an asterisk (*), but this year because I didn't read that much, I'm just listing the four I finished and will not be marking any of them.
Krieg by Steve Lyons
I'm not a Warhammer 40,000 player, nor am I really a reader of the franchise's numerous books, but when I found out they had a faction inspired by World War I trench warfare, and they had a book based on these fanatical soldiers who were willing to hurl themselves into certain death in the name of the God Emperor, I realized I had to read it and the book did not disappoint. I still have little interest in any other Warhammer material, but I think I would be inclined to pick up another book about the crazy yet oddly mysterious soldiers of Krieg.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol 6: Flight by Yoshiki Tanaka
Yang continues to be my favorite character in this series as he ends up retired due to circumstances of the last book and he goes about doing exactly what he wants to do with his pensioner's lifestyle. But of course things can't remain that way and there are still too many people who misunderstand him and what he would actually do versus what they think he'll do. Reinhard has his problems too, but I didn't find his side of the volume as compelling as Yang's.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol 7: Tempest by Yoshiki Tanaka
I found this to be a pretty exciting volume, with relationships starting to fracture on Reinhard's side and Yang's crew making a play to keep the Free Planet Alliance alive even if the FPA isn't exactly their biggest fan. We also get to see the payoff for a gambit Yang set up back in Volume 5.
Baccano!, Vol. 11: 1705 The Ironic Light Orchestra by Ryogho Narita
One of the one-offs set in one of Baccano's non-1930s settings, this time following Huey Laforet and how he came to meet and reluctantly become friends with Elmer Albatross. Set in 1705 Italy, it's an unusual story about what seems to be a serial killer targeting children, but ultimately leads to a much bigger conspiracy about how their small town functions. Likely skippable if you don't want to read every volume since Huey tends to be a distant figure in the main 1930s setting, Elmer hasn't shown his face except in flashbacks, and prominent third character Monica has not been seen at all until this point.
Monday, June 10, 2024
VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 3: Tyril
Tyril is an inquisitor whose job it is to ferret out witches and mete justice upon them. He's an uncompromising individual and known as the best in his organization. Since Anastasia's knowledge of future events due to her Fatal Rewind ability can make her seem like a witch, conflict between her and Tyril should be ripe with tension. If he found out, would he believe her? Or would he follow his duty and treat her as a witch?
While that fear is there from Anastasia's side of things, Tyril is entangled in an entirely different mess that ultimately did neither his route nor the main plot any favors. In fact many of the items I'm going to discuss in my later "dropped plot" thread originate in Tyril's route, and the result was that his route is very busy with details that end up going nowhere. And ultimately I had to question his competency as an inquisitor at all.
Monday, June 3, 2024
VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 2: Crius
But how? Would there be a new story branch ahead where Anastastia could make a different decision?
As you probably know from my overview post or having played the game yourself, Anastasia experiences every rewind. Regardless of whether a given timeline still exists, she remembers it, and Lucien's route, being the final one, wraps up the overall story--for everyone.
So while I normally do a critique of each love interest's route, it just doesn't make sense for even if Tempest, and I knew that would be the case as soon as I finished Crius's ending. Spoilers ahead, but I have to say that dang I loved the end of his route.
Monday, May 27, 2024
VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 1: Overview
Platform: Switch
Release: 2022
I was originally skeptical about playing even if Tempest because writer/director Ayane Ushio is the same person who wrote and directed Norn9: Var Commons, which struggled with its overly ambitious narrative, so I didn't pick it up until it was on sale. Now that I've finished it, I have to say it may well be one of my favorite visual novels of all time, with the caveat that I can still see signs of what were likely aborted plot threads.
Thankfully most of those are easy to overlook due to the strong central narrative, so I'll save the bulk of them for another post. For now, I'll just leave it at this: The story definitely changed during production, and the signs are there if you look, with the biggest indication being the fact that the title screen prominently depicts a monster holding Anatasia that never appears during the game itself. This is the title screen which you will see every time you start up the game, and a heck of a thing to leave in if it was never supposed to play a role.
But despite whatever changes may have been made, even if Tempest is an excellent dark fantasy of revenge, sacrifice, and discovering the truth no matter the cost. Though Anatasia's ability to rewind time by dying is occasionally played for a dark laugh, the deaths of others are never taken lightly, even if she theoretically can revive them if she rewinds far enough. In fact one of the burdens she carries is making sure that any sacrifices made can be corrected by the time she finally pulls free of the meat grinder she's trapped inside.
Monday, May 13, 2024
Why Unpacking Didn't Work for Me
I finished Unpacking recently. It was an indie and critical darling, wearing so many awards on its Steam page it'd rival a military general. I'd wanted to play it for a while, but found the list price too steep for a 3-4 hour game, no matter how well reviewed.
Still, I really liked what I'd heard about it. I'd read reviews where journalists were impressed by the game's subtle storytelling and how the player would learn about this girl/woman's life from the things she unpacked as she moved to different places in her life.
I like good storytelling. I'm a writer after all. And I like seeing novel forms of storytelling in games that can't be accomplished through conventional fiction. Learning this woman's story through her possessions sounded up my alley.
When I started the game, I quickly realized that the person whose belongings I unpacked was clearly a person of her own and not me. Though you can turn it off, by default there are only certain locations an item can be accepted. So you can't leave a book under your bed's pillow even though the game will physically allow you to put one there. (I can't be the only kid who slept with a book under their pillow…)
It was a little jarring at first. Since I was unpacking a child's belongings I figured I'd unpack it as I probably would when I was a kid, but the game's demands made it clear this was not me.
Though this is a "cozy" game I actually found it rather stressful as the game increasingly has this unnamed person move to ever larger habitations with more rooms and a more complex set of belongings. I didn't like to end a play session in the middle of unpacking. I wanted to finish.
And I think that's where Unpacking started breaking down for me.
The act of unpacking dozens of rooms, the actual moment to moment gameplay, wasn't that appealing. You open a box and you can't see what's inside of it. Items come out one at a time and you have no idea if there are ten books in there or one, because our unnamed woman accidentally packed something in the wrong box. It annoyed me finding something in the wrong box. I'd be unpacking living room items and suddenly find something for the bathroom. It'd make some logical sense if it was at the top of the box, maybe she forgot to pack it and needed to find a place for it really quick, but lots of these mispacked items would show up in the middle.
As a result I found the unpacking tedious instead of relaxing. By the end I was trying to optimize my placement time rather than trying to put things away based on aesthetics, so the only thing that held my interest was the story and the novelty regarding how the story was told.
One of the things that really got my attention in an early review was a scenario when the woman moves in with a boyfriend after graduation. It's clearly his apartment when she moves in, because his stuff is already in place and the dresser drawers are haphazardly used. At first glance, there's not much space for her belongings, but with some work you can get everything to fit sensibly. Except for her college degree.
There is no wall space. Her boyfriend has used up all of it and you are not allowed to take down his things. You can rearrange, but 100% full is still 100% full even if the game did allow you to pick up and swap items. There are, in fact, only two places the degree can be hung; over the toilet in the bathroom (which the game will tell you is not an acceptable location) or under the bed.
It's probably not surprising that the relationship doesn't work out, and the next move is back into her childhood home.
I loved this. I loved seeing all the small details. The girl has dreidel toys, so I wondered if she was Jewish or had simply gotten them as part of a lesson in school, and then later in life I unpacked a menorah, confirming her religion. I know that she's an artist, but worked as a store clerk just out of school, and that she likes to add plush chicks to her chicken collection. She's a gamer with an affinity for Nintendo platforms, moving about with a GameCube when she's younger and adding a Wii when she ages up. When a new girlfriend moves in, I conclude she's Asian, likely Chinese. Those details are great.
But those are details. They're not a story.
When I got the game, I wondered how it would end. How long would we follow this woman? Would our final unpacking be a retirement home? Or would the final unpacking actually be a bookend to her life with perhaps her grandchildren packing up her belongings after she passes away?
Those are both end of life scenarios, but that's the problem. Where should Unpacking end? Since this isn't an endless game of randomized unpacking scenarios, it has to end at some point, and it does.
The problem is, the ending is not telegraphed. I finished a particularly long and complicated unpacking late at night, so I figured this was a good stopping point. The game transitioned to the photo album interface with the right arrow button highlighted to turn the page to the next unpacking, just as it always does, but I decided not to hit it and turned off my Switch.
I came back the next day, ready for another round, and clicked the arrow to continue. The credits rolled. It was one of the most anticlimactic starts to a play session I'd ever had.
In retrospect, I can see that the multi-story house with a baby on the way was clearly going to be a transition point in our woman's life, but all her moves have been transition points. Why was this move in particular the last one? Families move all the time. Is it because she's now a home owner and this is the place she intends to live out her days?
That would be fine if there was some inkling that was going to be the case. It would probably be difficult to telegraph that in the unpacking itself, but she always concludes each move with a note in her photo album, and she doesn't say anything that suggests that this is a final move. It's looking forward to the baby, which is appropriate, because it's another start for her, but for the player it doesn't signal an ending. So, I expected the story to continue, but it didn't.
And that has left me with a rather grumpy feeling.
The gameplay didn't do it for me, and because of that ending, the story left me unsatisfied as well. It wasn't horrible, just disappointing. That the mechanics didn't click with me wasn't really the issue. I knew this was a short game so I wasn't worried that I'd eventually chuck the game out of irritation. It was just how anticlimactic the ending was. Here are the credits! Here's a look at the backsides of the happy couple as they start their new life with a baby! But I thought I was going to do another unpacking…
Generally a game, or any creative work really, wants to go out on its best foot, to leave the audience with a favorable impression. Surprise credits isn't the way to go, and the way I came back to my final "play" session is an impression of Unpacking that is never going to leave.
Still, I really liked what I'd heard about it. I'd read reviews where journalists were impressed by the game's subtle storytelling and how the player would learn about this girl/woman's life from the things she unpacked as she moved to different places in her life.
I like good storytelling. I'm a writer after all. And I like seeing novel forms of storytelling in games that can't be accomplished through conventional fiction. Learning this woman's story through her possessions sounded up my alley.
When I started the game, I quickly realized that the person whose belongings I unpacked was clearly a person of her own and not me. Though you can turn it off, by default there are only certain locations an item can be accepted. So you can't leave a book under your bed's pillow even though the game will physically allow you to put one there. (I can't be the only kid who slept with a book under their pillow…)
It was a little jarring at first. Since I was unpacking a child's belongings I figured I'd unpack it as I probably would when I was a kid, but the game's demands made it clear this was not me.
Though this is a "cozy" game I actually found it rather stressful as the game increasingly has this unnamed person move to ever larger habitations with more rooms and a more complex set of belongings. I didn't like to end a play session in the middle of unpacking. I wanted to finish.
And I think that's where Unpacking started breaking down for me.
The act of unpacking dozens of rooms, the actual moment to moment gameplay, wasn't that appealing. You open a box and you can't see what's inside of it. Items come out one at a time and you have no idea if there are ten books in there or one, because our unnamed woman accidentally packed something in the wrong box. It annoyed me finding something in the wrong box. I'd be unpacking living room items and suddenly find something for the bathroom. It'd make some logical sense if it was at the top of the box, maybe she forgot to pack it and needed to find a place for it really quick, but lots of these mispacked items would show up in the middle.
As a result I found the unpacking tedious instead of relaxing. By the end I was trying to optimize my placement time rather than trying to put things away based on aesthetics, so the only thing that held my interest was the story and the novelty regarding how the story was told.
One of the things that really got my attention in an early review was a scenario when the woman moves in with a boyfriend after graduation. It's clearly his apartment when she moves in, because his stuff is already in place and the dresser drawers are haphazardly used. At first glance, there's not much space for her belongings, but with some work you can get everything to fit sensibly. Except for her college degree.
There is no wall space. Her boyfriend has used up all of it and you are not allowed to take down his things. You can rearrange, but 100% full is still 100% full even if the game did allow you to pick up and swap items. There are, in fact, only two places the degree can be hung; over the toilet in the bathroom (which the game will tell you is not an acceptable location) or under the bed.
It's probably not surprising that the relationship doesn't work out, and the next move is back into her childhood home.
I loved this. I loved seeing all the small details. The girl has dreidel toys, so I wondered if she was Jewish or had simply gotten them as part of a lesson in school, and then later in life I unpacked a menorah, confirming her religion. I know that she's an artist, but worked as a store clerk just out of school, and that she likes to add plush chicks to her chicken collection. She's a gamer with an affinity for Nintendo platforms, moving about with a GameCube when she's younger and adding a Wii when she ages up. When a new girlfriend moves in, I conclude she's Asian, likely Chinese. Those details are great.
But those are details. They're not a story.
When I got the game, I wondered how it would end. How long would we follow this woman? Would our final unpacking be a retirement home? Or would the final unpacking actually be a bookend to her life with perhaps her grandchildren packing up her belongings after she passes away?
Those are both end of life scenarios, but that's the problem. Where should Unpacking end? Since this isn't an endless game of randomized unpacking scenarios, it has to end at some point, and it does.
The problem is, the ending is not telegraphed. I finished a particularly long and complicated unpacking late at night, so I figured this was a good stopping point. The game transitioned to the photo album interface with the right arrow button highlighted to turn the page to the next unpacking, just as it always does, but I decided not to hit it and turned off my Switch.
I came back the next day, ready for another round, and clicked the arrow to continue. The credits rolled. It was one of the most anticlimactic starts to a play session I'd ever had.
In retrospect, I can see that the multi-story house with a baby on the way was clearly going to be a transition point in our woman's life, but all her moves have been transition points. Why was this move in particular the last one? Families move all the time. Is it because she's now a home owner and this is the place she intends to live out her days?
That would be fine if there was some inkling that was going to be the case. It would probably be difficult to telegraph that in the unpacking itself, but she always concludes each move with a note in her photo album, and she doesn't say anything that suggests that this is a final move. It's looking forward to the baby, which is appropriate, because it's another start for her, but for the player it doesn't signal an ending. So, I expected the story to continue, but it didn't.
And that has left me with a rather grumpy feeling.
The gameplay didn't do it for me, and because of that ending, the story left me unsatisfied as well. It wasn't horrible, just disappointing. That the mechanics didn't click with me wasn't really the issue. I knew this was a short game so I wasn't worried that I'd eventually chuck the game out of irritation. It was just how anticlimactic the ending was. Here are the credits! Here's a look at the backsides of the happy couple as they start their new life with a baby! But I thought I was going to do another unpacking…
Generally a game, or any creative work really, wants to go out on its best foot, to leave the audience with a favorable impression. Surprise credits isn't the way to go, and the way I came back to my final "play" session is an impression of Unpacking that is never going to leave.
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