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Original Published Date: 2024-05-12
Last Updated: 2024-05-12
It was probably 1-2 years ago that I incidentally came across the game "If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers" (short: IOAWN4T) on itch.io. The premise sounded intriguing and I saw all the praise that people heaped on it in their comments and reviews on itch.io and Steam. It wasn't until my recent re-discovery of adventure games through ScummVM that I took the time to play it, but boy what an experience!
In terms of mechanics, the game is like a graphic adventure "lite". "Lite" because there is no real inventory, and the puzzles that still exist in it are relatively simple. I say "relatively" because for me, they still required putting some thought into the game and putting myself in the shoes of the characters.
The characters themselves don't disappoint. They are in fact 3 people with very interesting, sad stories. Kudos to the writer for doing an excellent job at exploring deep, difficult topics that are often handled poorly in other video games. Without spoiling too much, the game touches on: loneliness, homophobia, suicide, drug addiction, mental health, and more. And each of the 3 characters is very well illustrated. It touches on the supernatural, but this never feels gratuitous. Instead, the supernatural elements are there to explore the character's psyche. And it only starts with the second character.
Besides the content, the presentation is superb. Of course, there are many AGS games with great pixelart. Unavowed comes to mind, as an example. IOAWN4T still stands out visually, not the least because it chooses the uncommon isometric perspective instead of a view from the side. There is excellent use of lighting and dynamic changes to the scenes and the interactable elements. The lighting even seems to affect the characters in the game. The rooms themselves are small and limited, but each has their own style and charm. There is a fancy hotel room in Rome in the first act, complete with furniture, large windows, luxurious bathroom, a bar... The second act has a gorgeous room with a pool and flowers that happens to be the scene of a rather sad moment. And the third act is the darkest. Most of it is poorly illuminated, taking place in an apparent basement apartment in New York City at the beginning, for then to move on to stranger and stranger locations
And then there is the music - probably one of the best parts of the game. There are several tracks of the era - the game is set in the 1920's inter-war period. At different points in the game, the characters listens to music from the era, at one point even in order to solve a puzzle. There is classical music, some central European folk music, a waltz... I can still hear the main song of the game when I think of it, and then I remember the profound sadness of the characters' stories...
The game isn't very long, but it's long enough to be enjoyed over a weekend. I put probably 5-6 hours in it, and I was definitely not racing through it. Best of all, it's a "pay what you want" game on itch.io, meaning you can get it for free, but you can also pick how much you would want to pay the game's developers.
It's rare that a game leaves me with thoughts about characters' pain and suffering, but this game managed to accomplish it which is a great feat. This is to me a superb example of "games as art", but not in a superficial, pretentious way. Instead it takes what makes great art in other media, like books or film, and meaningfully creates that experience with the interactivity of a video game. A great accomplishment and I can't wait to see what the developers will create next!