Fragments of Him REVIEW
By Edwin Velez
Reviewed on Xbox One
A Tragic Story of Love and Loss
Losing a loved one is a punch to the gut that is hard to explain. I lost my mother to cancer over a year ago and the void that she left in my life is still something that is hard to explain. Dealing with loss is certainly different for everyone it effects, but something that is felt almost universally is regret and love at the same time. Was there somethings we could have done differently? Is it best to linger on what is now wrong or remember what was so right about the person you lost? That is the story that Fragments of Him takes you through. It is a remarkable look into the lives of a group of people all connected by the loss of a single person they cherished dearly, presented in a minimalistic point and click sort of experience. Further proving that games are much more than their traditional definitions, Fragments of Him is a moving experience of love and loss.
At the start, we are introduced to the story centric character Will. He is at a turning point in his relationship with his boyfriend, as is evident by his inner dialogue. Will reflects on the redundancy of patterns and routines, while simultaneously noting their necessity to a degree. He worries that if something does not change, he and his boyfriend Harry will cease to exist. While continuing his morning routine, he comes to conclude that he will never feel happier than he does with Harry and wants to marry him. Will is ready to start a new chapter in their lives, a chapter that sadly will never come as his life is abruptly brought to an end in a car accident. This is where the true depth of the title begins to unfold in an intertwined, exceptionally cohesive narrative.
At the start, we are introduced to the story centric character Will. He is at a turning point in his relationship with his boyfriend, as is evident by his inner dialogue. Will reflects on the redundancy of patterns and routines, while simultaneously noting their necessity to a degree. He worries that if something does not change, he and his boyfriend Harry will cease to exist. While continuing his morning routine, he comes to conclude that he will never feel happier than he does with Harry and wants to marry him. Will is ready to start a new chapter in their lives, a chapter that sadly will never come as his life is abruptly brought to an end in a car accident. This is where the true depth of the title begins to unfold in an intertwined, exceptionally cohesive narrative.
What follows after is an in depth look into Will’s life through the eyes of the three people who loved him most in his lifetime. These people are his old girlfriend Sarah, his grandmother Mary, and of course Harry. While bouncing back and forth from the perspective of Will during his final hours before the crash and these loved ones, we learn more about who Harry is and where he has come from. Whether it is his bisexuality, his upbringing as a child, or his time spent at college, there is a lot of fragments presented for the player to build a more a tune profile of Will with. You also learn about those in his life of course, and how they each loved Will in their own special ways. They all overcame differences with Will in their time with him to prove that true love wins in the end. The game really hits a lot of strides well, pacing the story between lows and highs in his short but eventful life. The artistic style even has meaning with how players interpret the entirety of the story.
Much of the visuals are gray with minimal color, and the characters themselves carry no facial features. They really are clean slates, with hair and clothing being the only defining physical features. This notion is a testament to how when physical looks are set aside, you realize much easier that it is what is inside a person that defines them. The pen is mightier than the sword, and the writing in Fragments of Him back that up. The game essentially boils down to being a slightly interactive romantic-tragedy movie. Much of your interactions will consist of moving around and activating narrative scenes by clicking highlighted objects. So it is not meant to be a fun experience by any means, but a narrative one that has much deeper meanings than many games on the market. The writing is powerful and elegant, and you could easily believe all the characters at hand were real people.
Much of the visuals are gray with minimal color, and the characters themselves carry no facial features. They really are clean slates, with hair and clothing being the only defining physical features. This notion is a testament to how when physical looks are set aside, you realize much easier that it is what is inside a person that defines them. The pen is mightier than the sword, and the writing in Fragments of Him back that up. The game essentially boils down to being a slightly interactive romantic-tragedy movie. Much of your interactions will consist of moving around and activating narrative scenes by clicking highlighted objects. So it is not meant to be a fun experience by any means, but a narrative one that has much deeper meanings than many games on the market. The writing is powerful and elegant, and you could easily believe all the characters at hand were real people.
Its cohesiveness is great, and it is a truly fine-nit game. The musical cues strike at just the right moments to make the spoken words of these characters that much more resounding with the players. The pacing and layering of how we learn about Will is excellent as well, and makes completing the title in one setting an easy gesture to do. The only directional decision I would disagree with is that at one point you have to replay the opening segment again. Though I understand why the team at Sassybot did it, it was personally unnecessary for my playthrough. I had already understood the emotional distress they were trying to remind the player of before having to replay the segment, so it hindered what was otherwise a perfect narrative structure.
Fragments of Him is one of those rare titles that will resonate with you long after you played it. It hits many heights as far as emotional involvement and strong writing goes. The title continues the trend of proving that games are art and meaningful, and while am not downplaying the meaningfulness of more traditional titles, I commend Fragments of Him for being something wholly unique in scope and delivery. Surely it is not something every audience will understand, but for those who do and can appreciate it the game is without a doubt noteworthy. Fragments of Him is an emotional journey that is worth taking the time to appreciate, and one that I think will make its players appreciate the time they spend with their loved ones a little bit more.
*Note: A copy of the game was provided by the developer for the purposes of the review
Fragments of Him is one of those rare titles that will resonate with you long after you played it. It hits many heights as far as emotional involvement and strong writing goes. The title continues the trend of proving that games are art and meaningful, and while am not downplaying the meaningfulness of more traditional titles, I commend Fragments of Him for being something wholly unique in scope and delivery. Surely it is not something every audience will understand, but for those who do and can appreciate it the game is without a doubt noteworthy. Fragments of Him is an emotional journey that is worth taking the time to appreciate, and one that I think will make its players appreciate the time they spend with their loved ones a little bit more.
*Note: A copy of the game was provided by the developer for the purposes of the review
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
|
+Touching and Tragic Story
+Artistic Style +Musical Cues |
-Minimal engagement
-Repeated Segment |
Release Date: 6/1/2016
Developer: Sassybot
Publisher: Sassybot
Developer: Sassybot
Publisher: Sassybot