The latest game from Tale of Tales is less of a game, like Vanitas and The Graveyard, and more of an exercise in reflexion. Right from the start its starting menu is a giveaway to how different this experience is, as you find yourself zooming through the stars and planets as a mysterious counter goes on and on. You get to decide the gender of your avatar (the man looking straight out of "Assassin's Creed" and the woman a "Laura"-lookalike) and you find yourself on a beach, looking out to sea. You're encouraged to walk along the seaside, and as you do, words, phrases pop out. The beach however, is not endless, and as you reach its matrix-like wall, you'll see the avatar of the opposite sex looking at you. Furthermore you can experience a sort of vision if you close your eyes facing one of the objects that might be in the beach (anything from a dead dog to a tennis court) and, when you tire of this, there's a cafe where you'll meet other players. Here, you'll use chess pieces (which you collect after each vision) to communicate. This is surely the best part of the game, as not only are you attempting to communicate with this other player using an avatar, but at the same time trying to understand more about the respective relationships. The meaning of this detachment and layering of communication is central to the unraveling of the mysteries in this game.
This is, in the end, a game about relationships (or a relationship), with, certainly, no straight answers, but rather an attempted dissection. The simulated reality, the communication-based chess game, and the necessary introspection are the basis of this experience. From here, one makes as one wilt. On this basis, it's probably the purest and most thought provoking multimedia art form I've encountered. (Meaning any sort of entertainment was chucked out the door!) Unfortunately, since it has hardly any engaging gameplay or narrative it's very hard to recommend if your mind is not set up for it. One way or another it's best experienced for just a couple of sessions at a time.
On the technical side, it is certainly a treat, with a glorious day and night cycle with great use of colour, changing tides and very realistic animations. The music, while minimalistic is spot-on, and is by Belgian composer Walter Hus.
http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete/
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