There’s simply too much to cover during The Big Adventure Event, and as it draws to a close, I admit defeat and finish on one last demo playthrough: Best Month Ever!
Klabater’s latest game is a mixture of point and click and a walking simulator, but you’d never have guessed that from the trailer. Told from the perspective of Mitch, he fills us in on his mother’s predicament: she only has one month to live. How will she tackle it?
Right, here’s the first mechanic of the game that is simply superb: every action you take as Mitch’s mother, Louise, will affect the Mitch of the future. That is, her parenting skills will define his characteristics as an adult. No pressure then?
Best Month Ever! is about cause and effect, and through the choices you make, you can shape Mitch’s life to be a positive, law-abiding one or a negative, chaotic one. Those decisions are defined by his confidence, relationships and more, so having to think about the consequences of your actions is a massive standout in my book.
Actions should have meaning, that is, unless you play both Yennifer and Triss in Witcher 3. That showed me.
When we begin, Louise is returning to her place of work to retrieve monies owed to her from her former scumbag employer. How you handle the interaction with the boss is up to you, but in-between ‘takes’, you can control the younger Mitch and help shape the story. A few choices weren’t entirely clear where they would take us, but it felt like we (I) was in control of the narrative.
In the Best Month Ever! demo, the game operates as a point and click in terms of movement. Select where to go, and the character will walk that way, but there’s hardly anything to interact with. Now, that could be considered a bad thing, but the focus here is on the storytelling and the choices you make. For veteran point and click adventurers, this might be a little frustrating, but the story makes up for it.
That typically comes down to the dialogue choices, and they have that positive/negative impact on Mitch and his future indicated in the selection. There’s always a bit of give and take: boost his confidence at the risk of relationships, or vice versa.
The art style is interesting as the game adopts a pseudo-post-filter effect that makes the imagery look like digital watercolours. It looks fantastic, but my niggle is there’s a slight distance between us and the characters – a teeny bit like Twelve Minutes. Though, like the comparison, the voice acting here is stellar, with some natural, engaging dialogue exchanges along the way.
Best Month Ever! has been a highlight, and finished The Big Adventure Event on a high. It’s surprising how much of the demo we get to play in the game, and in that short space of time, the characters have stuck with me from the get-go. If I’m to be frank about it, I wish I could buy the game and continue right now; this is brilliant.
Alas, we have to wait a bit, but an actual release date is confirmed: the 5th of May. Jot it down on your calendar, or better still, add the game to your wishlist.
