Carry Onward

I don't enjoy dunking on a solo dev's passion project, but the 100% positive reviews swayed me to buy and try this and the disconnect between those existing reviews and my experience convinces me to voice my dissent for the sake of consumers like myself. This game will take a half hour, tops, to complete. Whatever, that's fine. As I get older and busier, I am more and more appreciative of short games of high quality. But that last part is key. The "gameplay" consists of walking back and forth, picking up boxes, interacting with objects and exploring the protagonist's memories with some internal dialogue options. They are "choices" only really in the sense that you can choose what to focus on or how the character feels about some things. It's very minimalistic to the point of being barely interactive. Again, whatever, that's okay if the game tells a good story. But that last part is key. So here's the real issue: for about a decade now, various pretentious indie game devs have gotten it into their heads that exploring serious issues (in this case, grief) in games is all it takes for a game to be great and deserve praise. The actual execution doesn't seem to be given much thought. And (as evidenced by the reviews for this) there are a lot of gamers who have never read a book in their lives or seen serious subject matter actually tackled well, so they will praise any mere attempt as brilliant. I'm sorry if the game is based on personal experiences of the dev so it all really hits home to him. But this game just doesn't have anything important to say, and doesn't say anything well. Losing a loved one sucks. Everyone can agree upon that. And? All the game offers is this extremely banal observation, delivered in a completely pedestrian way. There's nothing insightful or moving about the writing in this game, and the voice acting is mediocre. Reviewers who described this game as touching, deep, or emotional need to touch grass and read a book some time. I'm happy to see more entries in the video game medium attempt to address serious subject matter and themes. But that doesn't mean the critique ends there and they automatically deserve praise. Having decent gameplay and/or decent writing should still be a standard we as consumers ask for.

[h3]"과거와 현재의 스토리와 감정을 선택하여 결말에 다가가는 짧은 시뮬레이터"[/h3] Carry Onward는 주어진 선택지 중 어떤 선택지를 고르냐에 따라서 결말이 달라지는 게임입니다. 한국어를 지원하지 않기 때문에 영어 원문을 온전히 이해할 수는 없었지만, 추측하자면 주인공으로 추정되는 한 남성이 자신이 관심 있는 여성과 연애를 시작하지만, 모종의 이유로 순탄치 않았던 연애 생활로 슬럼프를 겪습니다. 그리고 현재로 돌아와 과거 있었던 일을 추상하며 짐을 정리하기 시작합니다. 선택지를 고를 때마다 내레이션으로 상황과 주인공의 감정을 묘사해 주기 때문에 과거에 어떤 일들이 있었는지 하나씩 알아볼 수 있습니다. 모든 짐 정리가 끝나면, 각각 다른 결말에 도달하는 매우 짧은 게임입니다. 괜찮은 결말이 궁금하시다면 몇 번 처음부터 다시 시작해 볼 수 있을 것 같습니다.

This is an experience. Sure, the game is short, but that doesn't matter to me. The impact is what counts. I have been grieving the loss of someone very close to me for nearly a year, and I am also struggling to find my way forward. Carry Onward showed up at just the right time. I cried while I played it, not because of my sadness, but because I felt like someone understood. Andrey, thank you again for making this game.

in carry onward you follow the story of thomas who, well, without spoiling, has to carry on. i like short, narrative games that feature emotional stories and try to support small devs, but in this case, i unfortunately can't recommend the game. + no bugs or technical issues + looks fine (with default polygon assets tho) + story is in itself ok - the writing is not good enough to carry the non existant gameplay - the voice acting is flat - it's a 20 minute game, which makes 5 € definitely excessive if this was a game jam entry, i'd applaud it. as a full game, it unfortunately falls short. @ andrey: i don't mean to bash you, it's still well-made. maybe get some support on the game dev aspects that aren't your forte.

I'm not normally one for atmospheric, emotional titles, but something about this really captivated me. The premise, whilst simple, really engages you from the outset and makes you form a really close connection with these fictional characters. But the game really shines with its voice acting. The voice of the protaganist seems so... real? With such a sombre tone, the VA really captures the essence of what the game is about and really carries the story forward. For the record, I think I'm also going to call my house plant Oscar...

This is a passion project about the meaning of life and how to move forward. There are no achievements to get and it matches the game's tone. It can be played in 1 sitting - 15 to 20 minutes. You make choices in the game and it will show a different ending cut scene. This game tells a story that we are human beings with flaws, have struggles/regrets in life, and how to use memories/connection to find motivation. If you want a game about finding deeper meaning in life, try this game.

Quite emotional narrative game! Can recommend!

This game touched my heart, it really made me cry. A short emotional narrative adventure where the hero deals with difficult feelings of loss and tries to move on. Moving to another place is never easy, so Thomas is easy to understand in his feelings. Interesting that choice of hero's thoughts affects game’s outcome. The plot and beautiful voice acting create an atmosphere that pulls on your heartstrings.

Эта игра по-настоящему прекрасна. С каждой минутой проникаешься историей, и вот уже не хочется отпускать данный шедевр. Игра не так уж длинна, но успевает задеть самые тонкие ниточки в сердце. Определенно, это лучшее, во что я играл за последние несколько лет

A short emotional story. Nice visual style and music. I recommend everyone to try it