If you’re in your teens or beyond, chances are you’ve probably found yourself falling head over heels in love with someone at least once in your life. We all know the feeling: you see a stunning stranger out of the corner of your eye, someone who you’re absolutely sure is way out of your league, but your eyes lock, and they smile at you, and all of a sudden the idea of striking up a conversation becomes a very real, albeit very scary, possibility. Your hands start to feel sweaty, your stomach turns into a miniature, biological rollercoaster, and your brain plays out a million different scenarios at light-speed.
Half Past Fate, a rom-com adventure title from developer Serenity Forge, throws you head first into this kind of scenario. Following the lives of six characters as they chase their very own ‘quest for love’, the game is an endearing look into how it might actually feel to be face-to-face with the potential love of your life. It may feel a bit overly idyllic at times, but it often nails the dialogue and quite frankly looks absolutely gorgeous to boot.
The game is split into chapters, each of which consists of a single scene - rather like a vignette - focusing primarily on a single pair of the game’s handful of main characters. You’ll directly control one character, and the gameplay is largely an exercise in miniature fetch quests and dialogue options. Just the words ‘fetch quest’ may incite fear in some folk, but the mechanic is implemented quite nicely into the game. You’ll be collecting items, swapping them with NPCs, placing them within the environment, and more. It's very ‘gamey’, in a way, but simultaneously feels like a natural fit in the game's world.
You’ll genuinely want to explore every nook and cranny of the various environments too, because Half Past Fate looks stunning. It’s a perfect blend of 2D sprites and 3D environments, and everything from the character models to the tiny cups of coffee burst with personality - it’s one of the most beautiful pixel art games we’ve seen in a good while. Similarly, the music is wonderfully upbeat, and the combination of this along with the colourful visuals make for an incredibly pleasant gaming experience.
Our only major complaint with the game is that it's often quite stubborn in pointing you in the right direction. The environments themselves are quite contained, so you won't ever be stuck for too long, but there were certainly multiple occasions in which we felt like we'd spoken to every NPC, investigated every possible avenue of exploration, and yet we still couldn't quite figure out what to do to progress the story. Of course, the solution is always there, but often felt rather hidden away; some kind of subtle hint system would have gone a long way in assisting with this.
Comments 16
Actually pretty cool. And I'm loving the art, it looks amazing. Falling is love can be very stressful and depressing, a game that expresses these diffuclties sounds like a breath of fresh air.
That first paragraph prolly alienated like 85% of this site's audience tbh
Man, reminding me of Steven Seagal would be a bonus for me. Watched a movie he directed and starred in himself with a friend and it was a great laugh. We still karate chop the air in rapid succession when relevant to conversation and get a giggle.
Steven Seagal is Half past fate would be an awesome movie.
Steven Seagal IS...
Once Bitten, Twice Dead
Killing Up The Wrong Tree
Raining Cats And Death
Well, it does look kinda nice, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it looks gorgeous. I suppose it's a taste thing, but it looks kind of simplistic to me, and I've seen other pixel-art based games that (in my opinion) look either just as good or far better.
But having said that, even if this game isn't for me, it's good that it arrives on Switch, so that there's even more to choose from, which is never a bad thing, and there's bound to be plenty people that actually WILL like this.
On a side note: I think that most of us on here are already far beyond that first infatuation, to the point that it has become a distant (although possibly still fond) memory. I'd say that those in their twenties or beyond would rather be reminiscing about drinking, partying and screwing their way through college.
And if that's the case, then they might definitely want to be taking a look at a screwball comedy-inspired game called "Being A ΔIK", of which the first season is now available on Steam...
@ThanosReXXX
I'm 35, but I still remember when I was younger (20ish) and I was with a friend of mine on the tube. This very cute girl was staring at me and I was playing the shy one. Then she got off at her statio and I jumped out the train right before the doors closed leaving my friend behind. Ended up having a coffee with her and... Nothing but I still remember. If the game will make you live situation like that could be funny even for an old woman/man
@Sunanootoko I'm not saying it won't, I'm just saying that it's a feeling/sentiment that is further of for most of NLife's members, and as such, they're more likely to have recent memories of college or maybe even work-related flirtations.
It's probably just my usual weirdness. But at 28 I can easily say I've never fallen in love. Never remotely experienced what's described in countless songs, movies, games, stories etc...
There are countless women I find physically attractive of course and I've been on dates. But fallen in love? Such a resounding no that I question if the whole idea of falling in love is even real. Or if it's just a collective illusion based on a fantasy that the majority of people buy into.
@Heavyarms55 Love is something that starts off very small and grows rapidly. You being physically attracted to someone is just the start. Then you have an urge to progress things further. You start by fantasing in your head.
@mesome713 Never felt that. Nothing remotely like it.
Very legitimately excited for a feel-good game like this! I miss pixel-y games, not enough remarkable ones nowadays...
@Heavyarms55 Honestly Love is a variety of things/feelings. Well in my perspective.
So it's basically just another lame visual novel that practically plays itself. Hard pass. If I want a romance story, I'll read a book or watch a movie; not run around, pick some dialogue, and watch some cutscenes while this thing tries to fool me into thinking it's an actual "game."
@TeslaChippie Not as much as the third paragraph, in my opinion.
@Wolf_Link This Summer... Steven Seagal is... getting ramen noodles and a mocha for his girlfriend in...
Half-Past fate. Rated PG-13
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