And, given the pandemic, you’re more likely to own one than at any other point in your life. Principal among the game’s features is a blink mechanic, which goes beyond just a press of a button and asks you to plug in your webcam. The brisk pace at which everything flies at you keeps boredom away, while light gameplay gives you just enough to latch onto. The soothing music, equal parts melancholic and hopeful, provides cozy accompaniment. The low-poly, vibrant visual aesthetics complement the childlike sense of wonder conveyed in each memory. It’s an hour-and-a-half rollercoaster of stimuli and emotion from there. Joining them are Benny’s parents and childhood friend, whom most of the vignettes include. The kicker is that Benny never speaks, and so the two take a trip into his memories and relive the defining moments of his life instead. The ferryman asks Benny to retell his life to appease the gatekeeper and earn his spot in the afterlife. The goofball of a Charon stand-in explains that you’re dead, and on your way to be judged. The game opens up on a boat, where a newly deceased character named Benny is trapped in a one-sided conversation with the ferryman. It’s difficult to discuss without spoiling the plot, but Before Your Eyes nails all the right beats, and manages to turn a tried-and-true, if not cliché, tale into something with much more weight. It asks you to make decisions, to relate to its characters, and to see life through the eyes of the protagonist, hopefully seeing a piece of yourself in him too. The story is raw, authentic, powerful, and invites you, the player, to engage with it and become part of Before Your Eyes’ narrative. It’s a compilation of the greatest joys and pains of life, distilled, bottled, and thrust onto the screen. The game’s got heart, and none of those flaws can really take that away. Each of its individual parts is nothing to write home about, but everything pulls its weight in the end to create a compelling experience that resonated with me the way few games have. The game is nothing like what I expected it to be it let me down in some aspects, but despite everything, its touching story and presentation moved me in ways I was not ready for.
#BEFORE YOUR EYES GAME FULL#
It certainly doesn’t break any new ground, and it doesn’t draw out the full potential of its signature mechanic. The writing is sharp, but it could stand to be better. Before Your Eyes is not the most polished game.
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