The Quiet Things

This is one of those rare games that's hard to put into words. It's heavy, emotional, and deeply human, and it stayed with me long after I finished it. It made me reflect, it made my heart ache, and ultimately it left me feeling inspired and empowered. So few games have affected me this deeply; It's a reminder of how games can be used as a powerful medium, in this case, making people with trauma feel seen and understood. Definitely read the content warnings and take breaks throughout the game; Definitely worth a full playthrough!

I think it's quite difficult to talk about the game without dipping into specific spoilers, but with The Quiet Things - the way that the story is told, how it's structured and what you have to do to follow what goes on is fascinating. It's less a narrative and more a slice of life and experiences that the character of Alice goes through. There's genuine unease and threat throughout, but it doesn't go for shock value. It doesn't try and over-sensationalise or try and use normal narrative techniques. There's no jump-scares, no music stings to heighten dramatic moments - all you do is wander around environments, clicking on things to advance an audio story that's played out. Sometimes you get context clues in the environment to help aid the world building, as well as diary pages to help as well. It's an experience that tough to go through, but one that you will yourself to finish. There's unanswered questions - but that is life. Unresolved threads that you'll have to deal with. It's not without it's flaws. At times it feels the pacing slows down, and the UI doesn't help at times. There's a strong nostalgic element to the areas being very 00s-Britain, but sometimes the areas can feel a bit too big - and it's very easy to lose or struggle to find the next thing you need to click on. More often than not I was doing laps of houses, school yards and warehouses trying to find something to click. There's also a few potential technical glitches. There's several moments of subtitles being out of sync with the audio, at one point subtitles appeared for a couple of chapters ahead and spoilt a plot development before it happened. There's also graphical errors I've found: sometimes things feel a sparse, with some elements missing. There's sections where you find posters, or see a magazine that has no graphic on them - one just had the word "front cover" which I suspect was a placement. Some environments have real care to build a world out of windows. Houses are on streets. But in others it looks like they're looking out to just cloudy skies. Those things do distract and take you out should be a fully immersive experience. You feel for Alice, you'll get frustrated, you'll understand Alice. It's not a game that will appear to everyone. Hopefully some issues can get patched/resolved - because if you think you'll get something from this - you'll get something from this.

I've never played a walk-through game before, and this one made me fall in love with them. However, the emotional rollercoaster it sends you on is overwhelming. You have to have a strong heart to play this game. This is the only game I have been playing the last couple of days and I adore it since it makes you feel like you're Alice and you aren't just playing another boring game. The story of Alice is horrible, but this game shows the true darkness of some people's lives and it is really eye opening. It makes me feel seen in some aspects too which I appreciate so much because not everyone can speak up for themselves, so the game being able to speak up for others or show others' stories for them is truly a beautiful thing. Throughout the game I had to take some breaks because it really got to me so if you can't deal with that then unfortunately this game isn't for you. However, it does warn you at the beginning to not play if you are sensitive to certain topics, and the warning is definitely needed in this game due to its heavy topics. This game will affect those who have experience a life similar to Alice, but it will also help them to speak up for themselves which is amazing. No words can explain the experience of this game because it is different at different times. Sometimes you will feel proud of Alice, other times sympathetic, other times confused, and the whole point of the game is to send you on an emotional rollercoaster just like Alice experienced, so it really does draw you into the story. I don't know what more to say because I am happy that I got this game but I really don't know how to describe it. Unfortunately there was some technical difficulties as I did get stuck on some chapters and I couldn't restart a chapter or go back a chapter (developers should add that!) or I wouldn't understand where to go next so I'd be running around for 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do. I just think the game needs a check-up, but I will cut some slack as it was released like two days ago, so it won't be pitch perfect. But please, do give this game a go if you think you can handle severely sensitive topics and a game that will quite literally drag you through a journey that crumbles your heart in ways you thought weren't possible.

Great story

I would recommend this game. It's a beautifully crafted experience that explores some very heavy and deeply personal tops with care and compassion. While this story can be emotionally intense at times, I appreciated the way it encourages empathy, understanding, and meaningful conversations. I would suggest taking breaks if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed and giving yourself space to process the story at your own pace. Most importantly, if any part of this game resonates with something your carrying, remember that you don't have to carry it alone. There are people who care, people who listen, and support is available. Reaching out can make a difference. Overall, this is a powerful and memorable game. My personal recommendation and Specs: Age - 18+ (16-18 with adult supervision) Operating System - Windows 11 Home (64-bit) CPU (Processor) - Intel Core i7 - 12650H (12th Gen, 2.30 GHz) RAM - 16GB GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU

The story is worth experiencing, and I really liked the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the constant search for the next trigger ruins the flow. The game has a lot of potential, but at its current price it could really use an update.