The Way of Life: DEFINITIVE EDITION

[h1] Where's the Way outta here [/h1] So let me quickly adress this: I backed this game back in 2015, my name is actually in the credits. I did so because I though the visuals were really appealing and from the demo, it had a nice message, but clearly needed some development. The only difference after 3 years is that the game looks nicer. [h1]Short version [/h1] [u]Pros[/u] + Beautiful visuals + Espressive animations + Quick loading times [u]Cons[/u] - Kindergarden writing - Very few forgettable songs that get annoying real quick - Some choises make absolutely no sense - B o r i n g [h1] Long Version [/h1] [h1] STORY [/h1] You'll be taking part as an old man, his son and his grandson, to experience various small stories divided in hub worlds, all unlocked from the getgo, giving you the possibility to start wherever you wish from. Every story can have different endings depending on your choises, and you'll learn more and more from the family until the last event that will unlock once completed every stage. On paper, sounds fine even if a bit messy, the execution sadly its very poor: the writing on these stories is beyond kindergarden level, with morals going from "I should never cheat and take shortcut!" to "war is bad". It's not discussed on a serious plain, it almost feels like it was targeted towards very young childrens. In other words, it states the obvious without taking any risks or applying some interesting twists. Which I have to admit, I'm sad to criticize in such way, because some stories could have really carried a stronger moral. I'll have to spoiler this part to explain myself better: [spoiler] In a stage from the old man you're taken to an Art gallery, and from the getgo you notice that the artist is one of your childen. Each painting will make you relive a part of your life, for a better understanding of what happened between you and your son. Some key points are that you never supported his artistic choises, he started abusing drugs, and got involved into a car crash that killed your wife. So at the end of the stage you're hit with the choise to forgive your son or walk away. Now, imagine how much more hitting would have been if you did not knew as a player that it was about your son. That you slowly came to realize who this artist was. The final approach would have meant so much more if you played it like a twist rather than spill the beans from the start. Especially if your choises actually meant something for the ending: what if you did not forgive him, and he simply would have not showed up at the end of the game? But that would have required for the stories to be in a linear way, rather than a messy hub world.[/spoiler] [h1] GAMEPLAY [/h1] In these walking simulators type of game, gameplay is usually discarded for an experience. This one tries to add some minigames to keep the player engaged, at least, most of the times. Some stages are fun, requiring you to do small tasks like a platforming section or a quick heist. Some stages are borderline frustrating, with ruthless quicktime events that ask you to do all right in 1 try, or else you'll have to start from the beginning, or just repetitive snorefests of minigames like "say yes if those 2 pictures are the same" for 5 minutes. I've noticed that the worst stages are mostly on the Adult side of the game, while for the Child seem to be a bit more energetic, while for the Old man it requires brain or patience. It was probably intentional, but sometimes you have to make your game fun to play rather than "realistic". Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. [h1] GRAPHIC & MUSIC [/h1] Like I said eariler, the game visually looks gorgeous. It uses vector artstyle, nothing too original but it feels like a spin on the one used on "That Dragon, Cancer". It might just be a coincidence, or maybe the devs wanted to try something similar. The music is forgettable. Honestly can't remember a single track, and for what I remember I got so annoyed by it I just muted it and had something different playing in the background. For what I remember I can definaly say that most of the times the track playing did not even matched whatever was happening on the screen. [h1]CONCLUSION[/h1] It tries so hard to be deep and having a meaningful message, but it falls on his face after the first step. If it was structured in a more linear way, if the dialogs were more realistic rather than talking like a Dora the Explorer episode and if your choises actually mattered in the end, it could have been a better game. But it seems something impossible to fix. I'm giving it a [b]3/10[/b] just because it looks pretty, and maybe the devs can work on a more fun game with the experience they gathered from this. Just stay away from story driven stuff if you're not going to hire better writers.

I forget how I heard of this game but really only picked it up because Steam gives away discount cards like they're going out of style. If you're on the fence about this one: skip it. I understand that it's supposed to be a "deep" game about the lessons and themes of the storyline but it really just gets frustrating. The controls are rough to say the least, the movement is slow, and the minigames get repetitive. I cannot stress this last one enough. I really thought on a few missions that I was doing something wrong because I would end up doing it 5+ times and then out of nowhere I would pass? It doesn't seem to make sense and I'd uninstall it even if it was free.

Wonderful and unique Game. Pure poetry. I played with my sons and they were really engaged, a pleasure to discuss with them all choices we made in the game. I was a backer of the project since day 1, and I can tell that the game is now a videloudic art opera.

I LOVED this game in early access; I've been extremely intersted in what it has to say, & the unique style. That being said since I've bought this game I CANNOT GET IT TO WORK. I can't select anything so I can't start or even exit without puling up tast manager. I'm extremely frustrated. I would really appreciate some help as it's slightly likely this is purely my own ignorance.

This game is weird. I am not sure if I like it or not, and that is after playing through all of the free version and now the paid only levels, too. In The Way of Life you are given several situations, all of which can be played as the child, the adult man, and the old man. Each situation has a unique vignette for each age and is thematically related to the other two ages, but otherwise unique. There will usually be two, sometimes three, unique endings for each of these vignettes and while you can replay them all to get all endings, only the first one chosen 'sticks'. I believe that by playing through each situation you build the life of a person as they are young, adult, and old -- although choice is limited and actions taken as a child do not affect the adult, nor does the adult affect the old man. It's possible I am misinterpreting this though, and they are supposed to be different characters, in which case you are living three lives. Typically the child stage is all about playing and fantasy, the adult stage is about dealing with the stress of family and work, and the old stage is dealing with unreliable, shaky controls as you struggle to complete otherwise simple tasks. Sometimes though, things go completely off the rails. As an example, in one child stage you start doing your homework and then it suddenly becomes a stealth section in wartime. As an adult, you are suddenly in an absurd grab-the-money race, etc. I would recommend trying the free version first and playing through all the situations offered there. If you like it or are intrigued by it as I was, give this paid definitive version a try. Pros: - Interesting, relatively short gameplay sections - Unique art style - Good sound and music design - Full gamepad support Cons: - Annoying, slow controls on both keyboard/mouse and gamepad - Gets absurd at times in ways that don't seem to fit the rest of the game - Unclear goals At the current discount price ($/€ 5) I can at least recommend it because it is a rather unique experience.

A very interesting game. "How can you resolve an ethical (and emotional) problem?" I think it's the most important (and engaging) question here. Also the artistic choices fit very well the different moods (IMHO). Good Job!

I think this game is quite good. The core of the game is the choices you need to do on each level. This game talk about several serious topic and in more than one occasion this game make me think about this topics, and some choices it's really hard to take. Of course this game can be improved in some aspects, but I think this game should be played by almost anyone. I really recommend it.

The graphic was like a kid game. Basic and colourfull. Very beautiful. But the story, the gameplay is the things that contradict with those kid graphic. The music they use, the story line, they really doned a great job in bringing peace and harmony into our mind. The game, the story is full of sorrow ... but also brings a beautiful story. It makes me think every time i play this game, what feeling should i really feel right now. Its such a great wonderfull game .... This game really change the definition of game. I didnt realise a simple game can be as meaningful as this. This game really teach me a very im portant lesson that is TO APPRECIATE LIFE ...... . . Graphic : 10/10 Sound & music : 100/10 Story & gameplay : 1000/10 Overall : 101324809348768701/10 . .

以前玩过免费版，因为很喜欢OST里The Adult那首曲子所以还是买了 玩了一个小故事，我扮演一个男孩跟一个女孩在一个男孩面前争宠，最后我牵着男孩的手送女孩回家，心里想：“虽然感觉怪怪的，但既然你喜欢跟她那我也不是不能忍受三个人一起”，谢谢你，上来就让本姬佬体验不知道什么同人小说里的基佬故事，给我整不会了都 从游戏的角度来说非常不推荐，场景设计大而无当，剧情设计肤浅仓促，交互设计混乱不便，除了BGM以外可谓一无是处，难怪只有66%的好评率

This game hits you in the head with a club to get its messages across to the point where they tell you exactly what their trying to say in 1 sentence summaries at the end of every scenario. It's also very black and white with its decisions and their outcomes. It has the subtlety of a bull in a China shop Also it's not fun