Reliving a Memory || When the Past Was Around [DEMO] (PC)

"Past is a nice place to visit, but certainly not a good place to stay." --Unknown

Title screen

When the Past was Around is a unique point and click, puzzle solving tale created by Mojiken Studio.  I played and wrote about another game by Mojiken Studio a while back called A Raven Monologue. Mojiken Studios branches out into these experimental types of story telling that are charming and wonderful to behold. If you haven't played A Raven Monologue, I suggest you do so because it too is quite a tale. 

In When the Past was Around, you unfold the tale of a young woman and a beast in a surreal world where the woman’s memories play out in vignettes. This game is still just a demo, so the game will be build up and things might change in terms of how the game plays, but for now we’re going to talk about the demo.

The art style used in this game is absolutely stunning. The colors are soft and gentle, the characters and the environments are crafted lovingly with great care. Everything flows together nicely from scene to scene, lead along by the beast. I have to say, it feels wrong to call him a beast. This game feels so gentle and loving that using a harsh sounding word like beast feels wrong.

Photos of Memories

The music and sound design are also delightful and add to the overall gentle and relaxing flow of the game. The puzzles are rather simple, and you can manage your way around simple by clicking on everything if you get stuck. Good old trial and error. Nothing was too difficult, and the game focused more on the journey than creating a struggle with the puzzles or mechanics.

There is no spoken dialogue in this demo, all of the story telling is told through the imagery and puzzle solving. This game manages to do that very well, particularly towards the ending of the demo when we get a small idea that perhaps not everything is sunshine any rainbows(and also a small assault on my ears). It reminded me that this was a demo and that there was something more to come.

Where will they lead us to next?

Overall, I think I fell in love with this demo. The art style was enchanting, the music was relaxing and the story was told in a beautiful way. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what more comes from this game in the future.  I definitely recommend that you pick up the demo and experience it for yourself. You can grab the demo free from Itch.io HERE.

How do you feel about a game that uses the art to tell a story as opposed to words? Have you played a game that plays in a similar way before? Comment down below and let me know what you think. Until next time, happy gaming, friends!

A Silent Story || A Raven Monologue (PC)

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” –Dr. Seuss

Starting off all alone

A Raven Monologue is a bit more of a story than it is a game, but I wanted to let people know about it anyway. A Raven Monologue was created by Mojiken Studio and is describes as an experimental silent story about a Raven who does not know how to croak, and his relationship with the townspeople.

What stands out most about A Raven Monologue is the artwork. The art is hand drawn and animated, which is something that I personally enjoy and appreciate. Clicking through the story has the feeling of reading a comic book. It’s a very relaxing and enjoyable experience.

We're off on an adventure

The music is phenomenal, and really compliments the game as you play. As for the meaning, I’ve seen a lot of different opinions on what the meaning of the story is, though the creators seem to have left it up for interpretation. It can mean what you need it to mean, I suppose. There is even a discord channel open for discussion on it, and you can find the link to that n the Itch.io page.

When I first played the game, my impression was related to materialism. During the first half of the story, the Raven seems to be collecting things from the people that he meets. When the Raven begins his journey back, he ends up alone. It made me think about how people are more important than things, that the Raven should have spent the time with the people rather than collecting the things.

A friend!

However, I was reading some comments and another thought occurred to me. Mojiken said in their description that the Raven didn’t know how to croak, and someone else pointed out that the things the Raven takes, with the exception of the pinwheel, are all taken from speech bubbles. Could it be that the Raven is actually taking their speech for his own? When I thought of the game like this, it changed the overall tone of it.

Those were my thoughts on it, but perhaps you can interpret it in a different way. Feel free to download the story for yourself, it’s free on Itch.io *here*. Let me know what you thought down below! Did you take something else away from the story that I didn’t?

Thank you, as always, and until next time,

Bellannmae