Exactly my kind of game. I love a slow, contemplative walking simulator. However, there are times where this feels too ambitious. I don’t know if this is the right term or if I'm letting my anti-intellectualism spill, but it felt like navel gazing, where we’d just spin off these philosophical sentences one after another without much leaving an impact. It's like the game is trying to say so much (or maybe says so little to invite the player to do all of the interpretive/thematic work), but it didn't always land with me. The game is about everything from growing up, refugees, environmental ruin/climate change, depression, religion, post-war society, community, the creation of art as a means of preservation, grief, and friendship. It's even got tons of statements about the very nature of time and memory. It tries to ask all these big questions in maybe 4-5 hours of gameplay, and I don't think it quite stuck the landing. And it got my brain going for sure, but I guess I simply got exhausted at times.

The gameplay is crazy simple and centers tactility. I think this is so key to the game because it's about observation. Of course when it's a game asking you to be present, it's cool that basically the only actions you can do are take out a camera or take out an audio recorder. The story is serene and meditative. The graphics are consistently gorgeous. I loved this game, but I don't think I'd play it again.