New "SEASON: A letter to the future" game review!　Atmospheric adventure game about a journey to record the changing seasons

The main character travels around the world on a bicycle to record the seasons.

The story takes place in a world where "seasons" have ended and a new era is about to begin. The protagonist sets out on a journey to deliver what he recorded during that season to the "Palace of Art and Memory. The only movements required to play this work are moving, dashing, piloting a bicycle, and recording using a camera and recorder. There are no enemies and no elements of puzzle solving. The game is a true adventure, specializing in recording and movement.

The storyline develops rapidly from the beginning. Before setting out on a journey, the first thing you need to do is to focus on the pendant that will protect you, but to do so, you need a memento of the protagonist. If he uses it, the memory of his mother associated with the item will disappear. There are many memorabilia in the family home, and the player must choose which one to use as the price.

Each of them has its own episode, and the player can ask the protagonist for more details. If the storyline is that the children are deprived of their property, it is easy to give up on the story. However, in the case of this work, since the player is allowed to choose, the responsibility naturally falls on him or her. It is a game-like performance, and at the same time, I felt the weight of the choice.

The protagonist's mother

After leaving his mother and leaving home, the protagonist travels to various places to record the sights and sounds. In the area I visited this time, there was Caro village, the protagonist's hometown, illuminated by the bright red sunset, a marshland where a huge crane had been abandoned, a coast where a thunderstorm was raging, and a dam filled with fog. Although the gameplay of this game is simple, a series of moves and records, each area we visited had a very different impression, so we could explore the area with a fresh mind each time we went there.

Perhaps due to the use of toon rendering, the blue sky and the setting sun are as vivid as a watercolor painting, and the shadows are clear, so the light well expresses the depth of the world. The light was very effective in expressing the depth of the world. It stimulated my adventurous spirit, making me wonder what was over there, or what would happen if I looked at this place from a different perspective.

The records left on the camera and recorder are kept in a diary.

The camera and recorder are indispensable in this film. A camera allows you to capture the scene on the spot, so you can take pictures of nature, buildings, objects, and many other things. When you hold the camera, you can zoom in and out of the view, as well as adjust the focus. Filters such as monochrome and sepia tone can also be inserted, so even the same scene can be recorded in a variety of ways, depending on your ideas.

One of the author's favorite photos

The other recorder can record sounds such as the murmuring of a river or the chirping of insects. It is very simple to use, as all you have to do is point the microphone in the direction of the sound and press the record button. The closer the player is to the microphone, the louder the sound gets, so it is nice to know that you will not miss anything.

When certain recordings are obtained, the main character's impressions are included, providing clues to the story and worldview. Since this work has the style of a so-called "atmospheric game" with few specific explanations, it is recommended to actively examine objects that seem to be related to the story and worldview in order to deepen your understanding of them.

Nevertheless, as already explained, this work is also characterized by the fact that each place you visit offers a very different landscape. Even if there is no game advantage, you can explore as your interest leads you. You can use your bicycle as your travel companion to express the history of your journey, or you can take pictures of every plant that grows and see the differences in the ecosystems of each place. In this game, which allows a high degree of freedom of play, it is better to find your own way of playing and enjoy it in your own way than to aim for the goal and proceed in an indifferent manner.

Information collected can be freely kept as a diary.

The photos, sounds, and comments from the main character can be freely pasted into a diary as mementos. There is a page spread for each place you visited, and you can decide the layout as you like as a testament to your journey.

The mementos can be enlarged, reduced, and rotated, and the main character's comments can be adjusted in size, and line breaks can be adjusted to some extent by the user. In addition, there is a wide range of customization options, including stamps that resemble animal footprints and other decorative items. You can also arrange photos in small rows to make a photo album, or tilt them slightly to give them a handmade look. You can also combine stamps to create a picture, like a little sketch. The high degree of freedom reflects the creator's sense of style and attention to detail, so it will be fun to compare your work with that of other players.

Each time a souvenir is pasted into the diary, a gauge in the upper left corner of the screen accumulates, and when it is full, a monologue by the main character is inserted along with an image of him looking at his diary. Since the diary is a part of the story, the player who is thinking about the layout of the diary will also be fired up to create it.

One thing that bothered me a bit while creating the diary was how the gauge was accumulating. To accumulate inspiration, one only needs to attach four or five mementos, which is easy to do. However, that is not enough to fill a double-spaced page, and the diary at the time of the protagonist's monologue was often still lacking in content.

A worldview rife with time misconceptions and other disturbing elements

Filming with a camera and recording with a recorder are essential elements not only for creating a diary but also for understanding the story. There are many mysteries in this work, such as the "seasons," which are revealed from the beginning of the story, and the decadent cityscape where civilization seems to have died out. Diseases such as "time miscognition disease," which disturbs one's sense of time, are prevalent in many places, and despite the idyllic impression of traveling by bicycle, there is also a mysterious aspect to the film.

The village of Caro, where the protagonist was staying, is characterized by the fact that almost no one is around, and the only person he found after leaving the village was a man dressed in work clothes. As the story progresses, not only do new characters appear, but we also hear stories about the previous season through recollections, and it seemed as if we were gradually learning about the inner workings of the world, but we were unable to get a full picture during this test play, so we encourage you to play the full game to find out.

In terms of gathering information, players are required to work diligently. However, one of the objectives of this title is to unravel the mysteries of the world, and the system of recording the sights and sounds around you as footprints of your journey meshes well with the game's emphasis on steady accumulation of information.

Although not as flashy as the AAA titles produced by major companies, this title, which focuses on story and exploration, has a profound style that is appropriate for an atmospheric game, as well as an ease of use that allows the player to enjoy the game with simple controls. This title can be recommended not only to those who enjoy adventure games, but also to light users who do not usually play games.

• About the title
• SEASON: A letter to the future
• Compatibility: PS5/PS4/Steam/Epic
• Genre: Adventure
• Release date: 1/31/2023
• Price:
• PS4 & PS5 version: 4,389 yen (tax included)
• PC (Steam&Epic) version: 2,800 yen (tax included)
• Publisher：Scavengers Studio

Season © 2023 Scavengers Studio.