This review contains spoilers
Like all other Japanese games I play, this was played on the Japanese version
A major appeal of this game is the ability to relieve your childhood in a sense. Unfortunately, I can't remember much of my childhood, and what I can remember is, without being personal, shit. And without the relatability to the main character, the entire game sort of...falls apart. Yeah, there's scenes that touch on deeper issues, such as the war and moving out and the death of a familial figure. But those are only moments, too brief and too hurried, in the azure landscape of a perfect, reflected sky. And in this landscape of perfectly pristine idealism, pastel colors, and snow-white painted clouds, those brief respites of realism and explorations of longing, loss, and struggle feel...lilliputian. While their rarity undoubtedly makes those special moments stand out, I shouldn't have to trudge through the meaningless wonder of a childhood dream to get there. The entire game should stand out to me, and this simply doesn't.
Perhaps it's just my bias as someone who experienced a childhood full of abuse, depression, trauma that I prefer games about childhood abuse, depression, trauma (case in point: the entire Hello Charlotte series, which is arguably miles worse mechanic-wise than this) over games about childhood wonder, innocence, and joy like this game. When the vacation ended, I felt nothing. After all, what was I supposed to feel? This wasn't my childhood; this wasn't even close to my childhood. This was Boku's childhood, Boku's summer, Boku's story, and Boku's joy. I was merely a visitor to the spectacle, able to see but not truly participate, and certainly never truly connect to those pastel colors and sunny skies. When I view characters, I want to view them extensions of my lived-in self, or unique, breathing people. I couldn't connect with the former, and Boku is written nowhere near well enough for the latter.
The game tries to compare the levity of the summer to the bitterness that followed in the pursuit of a notion of nostalgia. And it does so in an extremely self-decadent, saccharine way that makes it easy to gulp down, bite after star-laced bite, assuming you're into the childhood charm this game provides. It's one of those titles where the appeal is immediately evident, which is why I'm so hesitant to give this a low score and criticize it so harshly.
Unfortunately for the game, I'm fructose intolerant. I'm no longer a child, it seems.
Overall Rating: 1/5 (Dumpster Fire)
*this review is a personal opinion of mine and not objective in the slightest
A major appeal of this game is the ability to relieve your childhood in a sense. Unfortunately, I can't remember much of my childhood, and what I can remember is, without being personal, shit. And without the relatability to the main character, the entire game sort of...falls apart. Yeah, there's scenes that touch on deeper issues, such as the war and moving out and the death of a familial figure. But those are only moments, too brief and too hurried, in the azure landscape of a perfect, reflected sky. And in this landscape of perfectly pristine idealism, pastel colors, and snow-white painted clouds, those brief respites of realism and explorations of longing, loss, and struggle feel...lilliputian. While their rarity undoubtedly makes those special moments stand out, I shouldn't have to trudge through the meaningless wonder of a childhood dream to get there. The entire game should stand out to me, and this simply doesn't.
Perhaps it's just my bias as someone who experienced a childhood full of abuse, depression, trauma that I prefer games about childhood abuse, depression, trauma (case in point: the entire Hello Charlotte series, which is arguably miles worse mechanic-wise than this) over games about childhood wonder, innocence, and joy like this game. When the vacation ended, I felt nothing. After all, what was I supposed to feel? This wasn't my childhood; this wasn't even close to my childhood. This was Boku's childhood, Boku's summer, Boku's story, and Boku's joy. I was merely a visitor to the spectacle, able to see but not truly participate, and certainly never truly connect to those pastel colors and sunny skies. When I view characters, I want to view them extensions of my lived-in self, or unique, breathing people. I couldn't connect with the former, and Boku is written nowhere near well enough for the latter.
The game tries to compare the levity of the summer to the bitterness that followed in the pursuit of a notion of nostalgia. And it does so in an extremely self-decadent, saccharine way that makes it easy to gulp down, bite after star-laced bite, assuming you're into the childhood charm this game provides. It's one of those titles where the appeal is immediately evident, which is why I'm so hesitant to give this a low score and criticize it so harshly.
Unfortunately for the game, I'm fructose intolerant. I'm no longer a child, it seems.
Overall Rating: 1/5 (Dumpster Fire)
*this review is a personal opinion of mine and not objective in the slightest
Diugo
2 months ago