The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

“This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are.” The Missing is difficult to judge. On one hand, it’s an extremely audacious game that weaves its mechanics with its story, one that it tells without a hint of hesitation. On the other hand, its gameplay is slow, janky, and frustrating. I DO believe that it deserves accolades for dealing with tough subject matters earnestly and with sincerity, but I’d be lying if I said that I enjoyed actually playing it. The Missing is primarily a sidescrolling puzzle platformer where you play as the titular J.J. Macfield. She has the ability to maim herself using the environment and then regenerate. If this concept sounds macabre, that’s because it absolutely is and the game doesn’t try to pretend that it isn’t. You’ll see J.J.’s limbs fly everywhere, her bones break, and her body burn up, all accompanied with horrifying screams. Naturally (or not), you’ll use this ability to solve puzzles on your journey. I think the game’s largest setback is the game feel. The Missing has a lot of animation priority (a la Prince of Persia or Limbo) but the animations are too long - the act of just crouching or standing up takes a long time. This design philosophy applies to everything in the game: damaging yourself, regenerating, jumping, using switches, picking up items… all of it. This includes when you die and have to restart, where you’re infuriatingly thrown back 10 minutes because of poor checkpointing. Add in some baffling decisions, like being locked in a certain direction when you’re trying to throw something, makes for a game that does not feel responsive at all. As a result, the actual puzzle solving just isn’t fun. The plot of The Missing is pretty simple: it begins when J.J. and her best friend Emily arrive at an island for a camping trip. Emily quickly goes missing and J.J. sets out to find her. The unique thing about the story is almost all of it is told in text messages that J.J. had received in the past. These conversations, for the most part, feel real and organic, and they color in her personality. I don’t want to spoil anything but the subject matters that the game deals with are ones that you don’t see often in the industry, and it tackles them with honesty and compassion.

玩完之后我竟然很难凝练出一个短句来概括这作留给我的具体第一印象。我有很多平台跳跃和平台解谜的基础，因此算玩得比较快的；几个机制让本就机动性不高的JJ小姐姐（小哥哥）尤为举步维艰。这作在情感基调上跟魂系游戏有那么一点点渺远而淡薄的联系，比如那看似谜语人、而在玩完之后豁然开朗的剧情，也比如那极度的黑暗与压抑所带来的极度的救赎。环境叙事虽不是顶级，许多背景剧情依赖文本交代，但关键意象给得很足，结构上非常自洽。 这作的视觉风格基本擦着我接受度的底线低空掠过，直到最后那章之前，审美风格用“变态”形容都不为过——也许最浓墨重彩的就是各种意义非常露骨、不带任何忌讳的自杀描写（[spoiler]讲真，这几年玩了上百部游戏作品，这作对自杀的描写真的是最露骨的；更露骨的就得去读太宰治了。另外，如果这作的血溅效果是红色，恐怕连上架都难[/spoiler]）。死亡也许没有那么痛苦，但一次次的复活、然后再将自己反反复复粉身碎骨，这种轮回之苦才是令人汗毛倒竖的。 然而在长时间的精神攻击之下，有一种新的理智似乎悄然浮现。这当然可以是很恶趣味地用自己的尸块解谜、通过让自己炎上来穿越火场等。但是 J.J. 跟玛德琳和凯茜奥不同，她（他）的策略不是谈判和解、更不是呼喊求援，而是忍耐。家人十分保守也拒绝理解，社交圈里支持的人寥寥无几，社会氛围更是十分压抑、让人无法倾诉心声。当JJ忍耐那濒死的恐怖之感许久，神经那侧求生的本能和心灵那侧压抑的自尊合而为一，她（他）迎来的也许并不是周遭任何人的改观，而是[b]一个开端和一个机会[/b]，不必扼杀心灵深处的那个声音、去让自己坦坦荡荡承认自己与拥抱自己。[spoiler]至于之后会发生什么，那就让其他作品帮 J.J. 讲完吧[/spoiler] 另外说一点杂七杂八的吧。这作似乎不只是日系，好像是个实打实的日本作品。能从这作里窥见的社会氛围非常不像西方，比如通过严加管束来对孩子表达爱意的母亲、比如非常注重学业表现的老师同学、再比如那左思右想都很日系的女朋友等。

The gameplay is flawed but the game mechanics are interesting to mess around with. A few puzzles are frustrating but most of them are cleverly designed. The writing is irregular and sometimes lacks subtlety but still manages to be deeply moving. A game full of contrasts and contradictions that I'd still wholeheartedly recommend. We desperately need more games that tell this kind of stories.

One of the most important games ever made.

The gameplay is pretty ok. It can be rather clunky at times and annoying at some points, but holy ♥♥♥♥ the story. Everything works so well even if the symbolism can overt at times. I highly recommend going into the game blind as the story does a great job slowly unraveling the themes it is exploring

The "game" part is a solid 7.5/10 experience. Possibly the best "game" SWERY ever made. The story and presentation I have, mixed feelings on? Its violence feels voyeuristic and exploitative but it can be argued that that's part of the lived experience it's trying to convey. SWERY's track record with this subject matter before and after also has me ambivalent. Ultimately, I lean positive on JJ Macfield, though. It was bold, creative and has a strong message to share, through its weird and intimate violence. Just keep in mind, all the trigger warnings.

A horror/narrative platformer game that feels like a cross between Clock Tower and Prince of Persia. Super cool dismemberment mechanics and physics. Feels really good to play and collect donuts throughout the levels. Story is very touching too. If you like Celeste or similar titles then you’ll enjoy this quite a bit. I’ve played every port of this game, Xbox, PS4, Steam and Switch. They all run pretty well but I had the least issues out of the Xbox version I’d say. Steam port is perfectly fine.

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