If all interactive stories are like this, then sign me up. While If Found…starts out slow, it picks up the pace and draws you in with the personal journey of Kasio that is complemented by the beautiful artwork from Liadh Young. It’s a story that everyone, especially younger gamers, should experience.
This was my first interactive novel, so to be quite frank it’s new reviewing territory for me. How does one review someone’s art? The typical formula for reviewing games is based on gameplay design, presentation, story, and simple things like mechanics (simple? Lol). It’s straightforward and easy to breakdown. For If Found…all of those categories really don’t apply to the experience. That said, I will do my best to represent.
If Found…is a fascinating journey through the life of Kasio, a young girl who is just trying to figure out so many things in life. Her journey starts with leaving her verbally abusive family, a tough decision for a young person to make, though made easy through the toxicity of her parents driven by their own struggles. She soon finds herself meeting up with Shaan, a young man rebelling against his own family, and also lives with a band that accompanies him. While with the group, Kasio begins to realize that there is more to her than just another cog in the life machine. She discovers her real interests, explores her sexuality, and generally feels frustrated and trapped with the person she is expected to be versus the person she wants to be. It’s a definite feeling that most 18-19-year-olds go through while trying to bloom into the person they will ultimately become. The journey Kasio goes on is interweaved with a metaphorical space exploration that Kasio is also involved with where she is helped by a person named Control that is just trying to get her back to earth and not wander through a spiraling time surge. Artsy? Definitely, but nonetheless relevant for Kasio’s story. The space journey represents her struggle to move forward when she is consistently being trapped in the past, a common problem every human on earth at some time or another suffers from in life.
The story here is a bit rough at the beginning, as it starts out confusingly slow, where you might be unsure what the hell you’re watching. Kasio is introduced in space struggling to gain control of her situation but then shifts to earth, where we are introduced to her family and personal problems. Sticking with it and after about 20 minutes, the story and purpose really get on track to show a girl’s intriguing journey through life. What’s amazing about this interactive story on the Switch is that it hits home for a lot of people. The common themes of being alone in the universe, feeling like you’re not quite you, and exploring and feeling out life’s routes without seeing an endgame are relatable on so many levels. Developer DREAMFEEL captured all of this exquisitely and magnified Kasio’s personal journey with such accuracy and profoundness. If interactive stories on video game consoles are like this, sign me.
To help out with the story, the design of the journey is just essentially revolving around Kasio’s past and literally erasing it. Your job as the reader is to help get Kasio to where she needs to be. To do that, you have to help see her story, then push her along to where her journey should end up. You have little to do with how things unfold, but by accompanying her through her journey, you get to see how she finally gets to where she needs to go. It’s beautiful on so many levels and it’s a journey you want to take with her.
One aspect of the game that helps out the story is the art. The artwork in this game is done by Liadh Young and it pays so much visual respect to the story from DREAMFEEL. It drives home so many moments and keeps the viewer engaged with the journey. Young’s contribution to If Found… is as important as DREAMFEEL’s story construction. They dance with each other with grace and candor. It’s remarkable and beautifully haunting at times.
If all interactive stories are like this, then sign me up. While If Found…starts out slow, it picks up the pace and draws you in with the personal journey of Kasio that is complemented by the beautiful artwork from Liadh Young. It’s a story that everyone, especially younger gamers, should experience.
