"A Winter's Daydream"
Reviewed by: Elias S. Lutes
Developer: Sometimes You
Publisher: Sometimes You
Platform: Switch (Also on Steam and"A Winter's Daydream"
Reviewed by: Elias S. Lutes
Developer: Sometimes You
Publisher: Sometimes You
Platform: Switch (Also on Steam and Vita)
A Winter's Daydream follows the story of a teenager coming home to visit from college. Spending time in the big city of Tokyo, the protagonist, Yuu, finds that his priorities have changed. Since losing his grandfather and realizing that he never really bonded with him, Yuu decides to spend time with the grandmother he has left. This quickly leads to a wonderful slice of life story rife with tender moments.
A Winter's Daydream is a visual novel, characterized by beautiful backgrounds and wonderful character portraits that embody the spirit of the story at hand. This title does a fantastic job at animating the world of the protagonist, spurring the imagination of the player/reader to visualize the world of the story.
The music does a great job at portraying the emotions of each scene, and the sounds themselves can set the tone for each interaction among characters. The art direction is fairly stunning, a familiar art style that can't be seen as anything less than appealing.
For those unfamiliar with visual novels, gameplay is not a central focus, but rather the narrative of the media -- a very large change to what most console owners are used to, but one that proves time and time again to be relaxing and relatable.
A Winter's Daydream's tale is a heartfelt one, fueled by family love and the need to bond, while exploring the complex relationships between siblings and other family members. Its hard not to relate to this in some way, and older gamers may find this title particularly dear to the heart.
Pros:
-Beautiful Visuals
-Great story
-Easy suspend/continue
Cons:
None, really. I would like to see other points of view in the future, though!
Score: 9/10
Overall, this is a great first foray for those who may be curious about visual novels but are put off by the amount of adult content available in the genre. This particular entry is very tender, and can appeal to a wide range of people. At a price less than that of any new release paper novel, you can get a hold of this experience to peruse at your leisure, and I highly recommend it.… Expand
