A story about kids, thrust into great responsibility, who learn that their ultimate enemy is the inevitability of change, both on a personal and a cosmic level. Linear to a fault, forcing you to keep your head forward as you leave the remnants of old civilizations behind you. Like a creation myth for the late 20th century that treats world history — from the pyramids to the airplane — as a patchwork folklore that tells us how we got here.

It feels like it would've been even better if the story had gotten another pass. There are thematic elements that never quite come to the surface; there are pieces of the narrative, like the human slave trade, that are persistent but never fully developed. The English version of the game is hamstrung by an awkward translation, though it also results in some outstandingly weird phrases ("True genius is a violent thing!").

There are so many moments of beauty, sadness, and joy, all at the same time. In the final scene, miles above the earth, Kara and Will look out over a changed world and realize that wherever they go next, it will not be the home they knew, and they can never return to this moment together. Even their greatest triumph is tinged with an awareness that their world is finite.