There are even moments where the game asks you to close your eyes, tuning out everything else so you can focus on conversations behind closed doors from your parents, learning of their hidden struggles through a child’s lens. These do well to evoke a child-like sense of wonder as you’re simultaneously playing through such ages. Playing a toddler and clearing clouds out of the sky, choosing the scribbles you draw on an easel or even simulating taking pictures on a camera are all achieved with these blinks. This often lets you do a number of things such as making choices in the game, shifting your environment or the like. Frequently you’re met with little points of a memory you can aim towards with your cursor and then blink at. Where does the time go?īefore Your Eyes uses your real blinking in other ways, too. Seeing yourself once as a teen with your own problems, then you blink and your parents are getting old before your very eyes. Before you know it you’re days, weeks and maybe even years in the future. Then you blink before you want to and you’re cruelly ripped away from that moment, much like real life. Often you’ll find yourself in a sweet memory you never want to end. These moments are brutal (though magical) to behold. Representing true to life themes and ideas with accurate human stories and impactful moments of beauty and misery, this is a game that should absolutely be on your radar. Without spoiling too much of its twists and turn, the game will be quite the ride that’ll evoke strong emotions out of players. Running at just over two hours long, Before Your Eyes bows out exactly when it should and is expert in doing so. From his commanding introduction of waxing poetic and barking and howling at spirits in the form of seagulls, to his big role in the latter half of the game that has him guiding you even more so through your more hidden memories, he plays a big and important role. However, it’s the Ferryman who’s absolutely the show-stealer. While you play a non-speaking role, just about every voice performance in the game is quite solid for a project of this scale. The way it achieves this is through a striking art style, vivid colouring, a beautiful soundtrack and strongly voiced performances. Instead, it quite aptly toes the line between poetic melancholy and the lighter, bite-sized parts of life. Not all is rosy behind those white picketed fences.īefore Your Eyes could’ve very easily been a dark and dreary video game. In doing so, moments and beats like these help to paint not only the beauty and downfalls of life but the nature of a nuclear family in the suburbs. Other later moments have you living out the life of a tortured artist in adulthood.Īll of these examples are displayed to you and then ripped away in seconds, highlighting the idea of fragmented memories. Being a failed musician herself, she projects these dreams onto her son so she can live vicariously through him. Otherwise, players will experience heavy-handed moments such as the ever-growing pressure of Ben’s mother pushing him towards becoming a pianist. These can be simple, sweet moments like meeting your childhood next-door neighbour who very likely can become your first love. In some moments you’ll witness protagonist Ben as a child facing the trials and tribulations of growing up. Instead, the game is invested in evoking emotions out of you through the concept of fleeting memories. Narratively, there’s not too much to Before Your Eyes.

I’m pleased to report that as a fully realised game, it’s as enchanting and moving as ever. I was already excited about this release after witnessing a preview build of this game last year back when it was called Coda. On your journey to the final judgment required to fully pass on, you’ll recount the story of your life, provided to you through vignettes promising emotive storytelling. Accompanying you is an anthropomorphic mythical ferryman. Players control an individual at the end of their life, on a boat ride to the afterlife. Seeing the world pass by Before Your Eyesīefore Your Eyes is a narrative adventure that takes place in the first-person perspective. It is also a journey that’s well worth taking. It quickly became clear that Before Your Eyes is a very emotive journey. Witnessing a tender moment on a beachside with the protagonist’s mother that’s over before I’m ready for it to be – the game had me crying in less than five minutes. Ever played a game that’s charmed you and moved you so much that its entire experience is hard to fault? Before Your Eyes, a game all about exploring the fleeting memories in life, be it milestones or everyday interactions, was that game for me.

Before your eyes game story