Which is annoying, because I think it’s great, but my internal criticism of the preview becomes the things that aren’t actually relatable to me, having never lived in London, being single and not really worrying about what my parents think (three threads that are important to the game). It’s both important and strange then to remember that though an artwork feels so close to you in this way, it also, naturally, is not about you, and generally isn’t meant for you in the sense of being able to say good things about it… (which is not what I believe this type of writing should be, but which it inevitably becomes when you vibe with something and want to tell everyone to experience it)… it’s all just way too much to deal with to tell someone that this game is reflective of how you feel, and you feel you’ve become, instead of an audience member, part of its internal mechanism. Perhaps, outside of the preview, it unfolds into something that offers a path out of this specific rut. It’s a remarkable reflection on what life actually feels like sometimes, right now, as an unemployed, non-binary art graduate with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and relationships being stretched across countries by Visa laws. The reflections of the characters, Ao and Bo, are realistic, grounded and sober, and describe kind of perfectly certain relationships that I’ve had, especially with queer partners, of common understandings that build train tracks around the voids that the things you are scared to talk about leave. Environmental exploration in the game requires mechanically gaining a sense of linear place first, before being able to rotate and explore its environment in a holistic sense. Outside of that, No Longer Home is this elegant and gorgeous magical realist point and click game about non-binary graduates moving out. This is connection on a level that is more unsettling than comforting, especially considering the mood it takes on in its opening, which is in line with the foggy depression I’ve lived with for over a decade. In the prologue Friary Road, and accompanying game preview, the life of Bo is revealed to be disconcertingly similar to mine, a white, English, student/graduate artist who says ‘I don’t think I’m a man…’, who doesn’t know what to do after years of university, is depressed and hazy, can’t work up to sending off job applications or learning French properly, has to move out (I’m currently bumming around on sofas), doesn’t want to be perceived and has to deal with fruit flies. Humble Grove’s No Longer Home, a work itself intimately about ‘place’, feels like that to me. It’s kind of like community murals on the walls of the street in your area, there it is, that’s the thing, the piece of art that stands for where you are and its difference from the place half a mile down the road. It’s hard to write about art that reflects closely, objectively, your experience. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. Development duo Hana and Cel chose this project as a way to explore and express the emotions that came with saying goodbye.Ī life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. No Longer Home was born when the developers were similarly forced apart after university, and decided to stay in touch by working on a game together. Get to know Lu, the multi-eyed, animal-like new flatmate. Follow the day to day activities and conversations of two queer, non-binary students and their friends. Have BBQs, play video games, and stay up late just talking in bed. Wander through an intimate flat and examine the everyday belongings of Bo and Ao. And deep under their South London flat, something grows…Īs they pack their belongings in the home they’ve shared, they’ll unleash more than just memories Disillusioned by post- educational life and shoved aside by a government who doesn’t want them there, both are trying to come to terms with their uncertain futures. Thanks to visa limitations, Ao is forced to return to Japan, leaving Bo in England. View the PS5 and PS4 release date trailer below:īo and Ao are graduating university and preparing to leave the flat they’ve lived in together for a year. The game first released for PC in July 2021 and for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in October 2021. Publisher Fellow Traveller and developer Humble Grove announced No Longer Home will launch for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on March 3 for $14.99. By William D'Angelo, posted on 07 February 2023 / 936 Views
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |