A heavy narrative experience with unique use of camera and perspective.
Reviewing something that is almost entirely story-based is never an easy task. Hindsight is a narrative experience with little to no gameplay interruptions, but the camera controls is used in an interesting way to showcase each scene of the woman’s past and present. The game itself is short and not meant to be replayed, but the way it imbues the story with melancholy, nostalgia, and sadness makes it worth a second look.
The story of hindsight centers on an adult woman and her recollections of returning to her old parental home to collect her mother’s possessions after she died. In between the happy memories she recalls, there’s no getting around the fact that there are moments of sadness and regret for the choices she’s made in life and the loss of connection with her parents, especially her mother. The way it deftly traverses between the past and the present allows you to tell a poignant story, divided into eight or so small chapters so you don’t have to complete them all at once. Good idea.
In terms of how the game is controlled, the left stick controls the on-screen cursor and the right stick moves the camera. However, camera manipulation adds its own agency to your time in Hindsight in terms of searching for prompts to click and adjusting angles to see new, sharper images. Move the camera up and down until the on-screen object reveals a new scene behind it, much like you would see a pattern on your face or adjust a telescope to focus a photo. If you click on that object with the A button, you can go to the next scene and advance the story. Sometimes you’ll encounter puzzle pieces you can manipulate, drawers and cabinets you can open, and even candles you can lower and raise to fast-forward or rewind time in the dinner scene. And sometimes frustrating) is trying to find objects with subtle glows in each scene. Luckily in most scenes there is only one at a time while trying to move from one scene to the next.
Much of the game’s storytelling is visual, but each chapter has some dialogue that highlights the emotions the narrator experiences as he goes through his mother and reflects on their lives together. It’s delivered in a realistic way, but it’s also very strong, adding to the story’s moving emotional impact.The background music is subtle, fading in and out when necessary. This is great for giving a story some breath or evenly emphasizing certain moments. The art style doesn’t stand out for its simplicity, but the use of light and color is nicely combined with the pseudo point-and-click gameplay.
Hindsight offers choices at the end of each chapter. Which set of small items, each with some sentimental value, should you put in your suitcase? That’s the point. Hindsight isn’t always 20/20. Looking back, we don’t always see something completely as it is, and we can’t carry on all parts of the past. There will always be questions to ask and riddles to solve. His Hindsight as a game is neither difficult to play nor frustrating to understand. Rather, it asks you to consider what questions you’ll ask when your loved one is gone, and urges you to start doing that meaningful work now, perhaps while you still have time. If you’re looking for an experience that’s light but heavy on your heartstrings, Hindsight is quite the eye-catcher.
