Sometimes, you just know you'll enjoy a game before pressing 'any key to continue', and that's what happened with the Last Time I Saw You demo - a game by Maboroshi Artworks and Chorus Worldwide Games.
A coming-of-age story set in the Land of the Rising Sun, this tale of first love, family issues, and yokai (all pulled from the store page) is beautiful in its execution and, in its short runtime, will reel you in almost immediately.
In Last Time I Saw You, you play schoolboy Ayumi as they juggle their life of homework, potential crushes, baseball buddies, and a recurring dream of a mysterious woman...
Last Time I Saw Your Demo - Carrot Fetchin'
Wouldn't it be nice to have personal telephones? Wait... is this the 1980s? Yes, it is, and I recall that naivety when watching Hollywood movies with the teens having landlines in their rooms and how good it would be to have one. Now we have pocket phones that never leave our side or... we die. Well, almost. Ayumi doesn't have their own phone, so he wields the old-fashioned past-time: conversation.
Setting out to get some carrots for tea, he bumps into his friends, almost gets coaxed into buying some cigarettes for underage peers, and walks past an ominous torii gate that signifies... mystery. 'Nobody ventures out into the forest' gives off a hint of The Children of Silentown. After completing his errand, Ayumi catches up with his friends once more for some pitching practice as his pal has upcoming baseball trials.
Back at home, he completes his homework, hits the tatami and goes off to the land of Nod to find out who the broad in the cocktail dress is. It isn't revealed, but there's a connection, which could spell an omen. Speaking of omens, the threat of the typhoon hits home sooner rather than later and now relocating to school, Ayumi and his classmates need to head to a safe point as the typhoon is more dangerous than expected.
Yokai Watch
Ayumi wanders off on his own, and it becomes clear that the bat and ball practice will soon come in handy. Hints of yokai are much more prevalent now, and as the lady in the cocktail dress comforts Ayumi after the typhoon has passed, we witness the biggest reveal of Last Time I Saw You yet: a cliffhanger! Damn, it's a demo after all and having got carried away in this blissful 80s Japan that's reminiscent of Fall of Porcupine, I'd got lost in the story for the immersion bubble to pop right in my face, stings and all. Don't end here!
What a marvellous first impression. After the initial relay with the wife for Japanese fact-checking: "Isn't Ayumi a girl's name?" "No", she says, "it can be a boy's name too. Are you sure you're reading it correctly - it could be Ayumu?". My Japanese isn't that good, and I'm reading it in English. Putting that revelation aside and the nostalgia for the innocent 80s without any sign of hairspray, neon, Reagan or Thatcher, I was courted by the world that Maboroshi Artworks has built and thoroughly wooed.
Last Time I Saw You is, so far, a narrative-driven side-scroller of mesmerising proportions. Dream sequences, the beautifully mundane slice of life boasting homework, peer pressure, curry rice, and a little bit of combat are all part of this demo, and they serve the purpose: we want more.
Last Time I Saw You is due out this year, and quite frankly, it's not out soon enough. Add it to your wishlist now.
