Game: Last Day of June
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Ovosonico
Release Date: 31st August 2017
Last Day of June was first brought to my attention when it was announced that Steven Wilson's music would be featuring in the game. As one of my favourite musicians, it was interesting to see a game based around the visual style from one of his music videos, and containing his music. Aside from this though, I had little idea of the actual content of the game before I was able to dive in. From the outset it's fairly obvious that Last Day of June is a story-driven puzzle game based on exploration, changing timelines and using logic to change events.
Thanks to the melancholic mood of Steven Wilson's music, the game feels as if it'll be sad from the start and not long into gameplay, Carl, the main character is involved in a car crash which kills his partner, June and puts him in a wheelchair. Through June's old paintings, he is able to explore a ghostly world of memories and unlock the ability to live the day once again as his neighbours who all have their own ways of causing the tragic accident.
The main gameplay in the game is split between exploring memories as Carl and seeing his frustration at not being able to change the course of events so that the crash never happens, and changing the actions of Carl's neighbours which lead to the crash. For example playing as a young boy who initially causes the crash by attempting to retrieve his football from the road where Carl is driving, players can instead amuse him with a kite, which leads to their neighbour who is moving out spilling boxes all over the road, since the rope she needs is being used for the kite. This knock-on effect continues as players attempt to solve the situation.
There's a final section with a twist which makes for a fairly emotional ending, but at its heart it's a short game which is definitely able to be completed in a single sitting. The issue with this is that there's not a whole lot of replay value since it's a puzzle game which when solved has the same solution every time. As a logical challenge it can be fun, but it felt similar to other puzzle games which use changing time and events as a concept.
Graphically the game is as its most impressive with a distinct visual style and feel. It works well with Steven Wilson's music to create a world which is enclosed but relatable. The lack of voice acting in the game means that all emotions are conveyed through hums, grunts and other noises. This is both a pro and a con since adding any words seems unnecessary but it can be a little hard to grasp who each character is at the start of the game.
Overall Last Day Of June is an experience that's worth playing once, especially if you're a fan of Steven Wilson's music or Jess Cope's visual style. While there's little replayability to the game, it might be nice to come back to after a while and play through to collect all of the extra memory cards hidden in the game, augmenting the story and character relationships.
Rating: 73/100
Grade: C
