Dear Future, developed by the straightforwardly named Dear Future Production committee, is in short an interactable internet archive in which you take photos of ones own surroundings and leave notes for the future players to come and see, and if you choose to perceive this game as simply that there would be no way in which to deny this shorthanded take upon it. However, to look further into the games meaning and its portrayal is to recognize it as more than that, and instead, as I perceive it to be, as a time capsule and a microcosm of the internet and life itself.
The game itself takes less than half an hour to complete, tutorial lasting about 5-7 minutes to get you into the swing of things and then your limited time upon its barren lands begins its 12 minute cycle, giving you just enough time to walk around and explore but always less time than you wish you had. The world itself is a dark and abandoned land overshadowed by a pillar off in the distance, overlooking the long forgotten hot pot of the city and its cultures, surrounded with messages from its own residents from a time long past.
In modern day internet archives are no unknown resource, many sites and online places have set themselves to these roles in order to preserve what is and was in order to to develop the future and continue to reserve the knowledge of life. To give a bigger scale in terms of the universe itself in 1977 Voyager 1 was launched into space, along with it a disk named the Golden Record, a message to the universe and to any life that may be out there that we were here; messages written to these otherworldly beings giving a friendly greeting, from one life in this world to another. Dear Future I believe is to be not only a microcosm of life in itself, but especially an archive and preservation of life to say that we were here, to give thanks and a pat on the back to simply 'being'. This preservation of life isn't just a focus point within its gameplay but its main message, I believe, to anyone and everyone that happens to stumble upon it. Just as videos, reviews, and websites like Backloggd are logs and messages of your life and your activities, constantly stating your place upon this world and your likings within it, this game in itself is a message of life and our place within it.
Whenever conversations of games pop up, mainly in a mainstream sense, the value of replayability is always brought up as if to assume anything you can infinitely replay instantly means it's better than another. I myself can agree with this sentiment to a certain degree, however some games I believe that this focus upon needing to go back again can simply ruin the experience. I highly doubt I'll ever replay Dear Future (or Before Your Eyes, another game I have this same feel towards), and that's perfectly okay, it's better than okay, it's better that way.
I would highly recommend this game towards anyone with time to spare.
There is no set goal for you, only a promise of an end to come and what you wish to do with your time.
The game itself takes less than half an hour to complete, tutorial lasting about 5-7 minutes to get you into the swing of things and then your limited time upon its barren lands begins its 12 minute cycle, giving you just enough time to walk around and explore but always less time than you wish you had. The world itself is a dark and abandoned land overshadowed by a pillar off in the distance, overlooking the long forgotten hot pot of the city and its cultures, surrounded with messages from its own residents from a time long past.
In modern day internet archives are no unknown resource, many sites and online places have set themselves to these roles in order to preserve what is and was in order to to develop the future and continue to reserve the knowledge of life. To give a bigger scale in terms of the universe itself in 1977 Voyager 1 was launched into space, along with it a disk named the Golden Record, a message to the universe and to any life that may be out there that we were here; messages written to these otherworldly beings giving a friendly greeting, from one life in this world to another. Dear Future I believe is to be not only a microcosm of life in itself, but especially an archive and preservation of life to say that we were here, to give thanks and a pat on the back to simply 'being'. This preservation of life isn't just a focus point within its gameplay but its main message, I believe, to anyone and everyone that happens to stumble upon it. Just as videos, reviews, and websites like Backloggd are logs and messages of your life and your activities, constantly stating your place upon this world and your likings within it, this game in itself is a message of life and our place within it.
Whenever conversations of games pop up, mainly in a mainstream sense, the value of replayability is always brought up as if to assume anything you can infinitely replay instantly means it's better than another. I myself can agree with this sentiment to a certain degree, however some games I believe that this focus upon needing to go back again can simply ruin the experience. I highly doubt I'll ever replay Dear Future (or Before Your Eyes, another game I have this same feel towards), and that's perfectly okay, it's better than okay, it's better that way.
I would highly recommend this game towards anyone with time to spare.
There is no set goal for you, only a promise of an end to come and what you wish to do with your time.