| 5 star: | | (2) | | 4 star: | | (5) | | 3 star: | | (0) | | 2 star: | | (0) | | 1 star: | | (0) |
| Average Rating: 
Number of Ratings: 7
Write a review |
1-7 of 7 - E.K., September 18, 2023
- Edo, August 17, 2023
3 of
3 people found the following review helpful:
Entropy of a marriage, September 19, 2022A man enters his house. His ex-house, to be more precise. One more tour through the once-familiar, now-empty rooms. Regrets come alive, memories ask for attention.
A throughway opens to a past where cracks could perhaps still be mended, before it all irrevocably broke apart.
Funny that this is called the “living room,” as it’s now so bereft.
The writing in Past Present emphasizes the lonesomeness of the rooms and contrasts it with the vividness of the memories of times past. Painful memories.
The game is written in the usual second person perspective, but it feels very close to the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. A lot of sadness and anger and self-pity comes through. Fortunately, there are also flashes of dark humour to lighten the mood...
Although Past Present has a very small map, I loved the use of space. The feeling of spatial exploration from "normal" text-adventures is replaced by an exploration of the mind and memories of the protagonist. Even with only six rooms, there is much to discover in the responses to objects and details in those rooms.
The central mechanic of the game, moving from present to past and back to make things better, suits the exploration of memories very well. The player gets to unravel the protagonist's backstory and think about what would be a better outcome.
The medium of IF is used brilliantly in this game for the exploration of memories. However, that othere staple of IF, puzzles, is hard to get balanced in a deeply psychological/emotional game like Past Present.
Most of the puzzles do try to flow with the story, but where the game shines in the free exploration of the memories, they often seem like obstacles. Because text-games are supposed to have puzzles...
While the ending is totally appropriate and keeping in tone with the rest of the story, I wish it were drawn out in a gradual revelation rather than the abrupt cut-off it is.
Treat this game gently, read every description carefully and let the words go to your heart.
This is a deeply touching piece, inviting the player to think deeper about what is, what could have been, and one's perception of what should have been.
- Kinetic Mouse Car, August 20, 2022
5 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
A game about divorce and loss told through shifting perspectives, February 16, 2022This is a well-coded TADS game about coming to grab your things from an empty house after a divorce.
Play primarily revolves around exploration and discovery of key items that advance the story in some way.
The theme is about divorce, loss, and 'what might have been?' I took these themes seriously, as I am recently divorced and could understand some of what the narrator was going through.
This is a pretty messy divorce, though. Unhealthy events and actions abound. The narrator is regretful, of course, but regret can only take you so far, and I think that's one of the main themes here.
Overall, the mechanics and story work for me, but there are a few sticking points here and there. I had a lot of difficulty getting started. The game provides no hints, and takes the position that players should take careful notes and that some info won't be repeated. I figured things out in the end but I was frustrated (spoiler for main mechanic: (Spoiler - click to show)more specifically, I noticed that some objects wouldn't go through the shadow, so I thought none could, and didn't try taking the soil through. I thought I had left the shards behind and the pot appeared, so it too me a while to realize what was going on).
For the story, I felt like things were perhaps spelled out a bit too much for my personal taste. This is a real, visceral story, but I feel like a lot of art that I find 'magnificent' has a sort of ambiguity to it that allows you to draw many interpretations from it. Having our feelings and reactions to everything and the 'meaning' of it all spelled out at the end felt somewhat restrictive.
Overall, I think people who play this will be pleased, especially for those looking for mild but non-trivial puzzles mixed with emotional storytelling.
- oddnaan, February 7, 2022
6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
Past / Present - A Winter TADS Jam Game, January 18, 2022by fos1 (Under the Rainbow) The author this story is one that might have been a Twilight episode. Very true indeed.
The opening intro starts immediately in first person. That is unusual enough in interactive fiction (IF) that it stood out clearly. After that opening, you are drawn into the story as that person. This not so subtle opening drew me in.
As a hopeless romantic, I kept pulling for a solution that would solve the issues in the evolving relationship. The solutions were there, I just had to find them. They had to lie just outside the front door and always somewhere in another room – maybe? Will I win – lose? … Always drawn in further.
You see shadows of a former time. I wanted to find, no had to find the nascent characters: a nameless wife and Toby, a young son. The search leads on but memories just out of reach. I really wanted to find Toby!
As you explore the empty, dust filled house, you are led down a pathway searching for answers, memories that become more and more clear as you visit each room again and again: searching.
The wife’s art lays a theme that provides answers if you could only solve them. If you could have seen them, found the right questions and provided the correct solutions.
This a journey of transition that we all go through at times in our lives, not necessarily this transition but always one that starts and ends and can never be solved. Maybe - sometimes?
1-7 of 7 | Return to game's main page