Fragments of Him

The captivating narrative is enough to see past the flaws. Hankies at the ready; this is a true tear-jerker. [Dec 2017, p.93]

It is a good story and is touching. It’s just not going to be for everyone as a game.

As a videogame, Fragments of Him falters far too often, providing very little interactivity, and dragging things out to pad the brief runtime. Yet there’s something here worth experiencing from a narrative perspective. This is a well-written eulogy of a recently deceased man by the people whose lives intertwined with his, covering his flaws, strengths, and sexuality in frank and brutal fashion.

It was difficult for me to give a proper overall score for the game. Despite my many criticisms of the game, Fragments of Him definitely succeeded in leaving a lasting impression. At its core, Fragments of Him is a hopeful reminder that death and existence are not mutually exclusive — the fragments we leave behind transcend the border between worlds.

If you can forgive the technical faux pas, the somewhat creepy mannequin people, the absence of any memorable music and the bare bones gameplay, there's a fantastic story buried underneath the rubble. All of the characters are three dimensional and real, the voice acting feels authentic, and the writing is smart but never preachy. At its core, Fragments of Him is just a poignant story of love and loss. It showcases Will and his partner's relationship as normal and pedestrian. It's almost mundane. But this approach is all the more effective when something that should just be normal and average is treated as such. Based on the title of the game, you can kind of assume where the narrative is likely heading to, but the journey there, while bumpy, is one worth taking.

Even though it has lots of shortcomings and it’s not suitable for everyone, Fragments of Him deals with sensitive subjects in a delicate way and offers a unique two-hour journey to the human emotions.

Fragments of Him is a well thought out story that ultimately is undone by its gameplay choices. By trying to make gamers interact with the story more, the story became even more inaccessible. While I can appreciate the sentiment that Sassybot was gunning for, the delivery ended up being the undoing of a compelling storyline.

Storywise, this could've been an animated feature film. Maybe it even should have been, since the game's severe lack of interaction is its biggest flaw, offering - when push comes to shove - a rather boring experience.