Closer the Distance Review (HTSeptentrion)
Closer the Distance is one of the more beautiful games I have played in a long time.
The design, visual and auditory, is spectacular and both create a powerful ambiance that perfectly suits the game's themes.
The gameplay itself was not always my favorite. Managing the Sims-esque moodlets/needs of the characters was sometimes difficult given the pace that some of the games days require to try to complete goals and tasks. There were certainly characters that I felt I had let down by the end, largely because I was trying to juggle so many plates in a compressed timeframe.
But really, the gameplay isn't the point of Closer the Distance. The story is sober, touching, painful, and beautiful all at once. It presents a tapestry of the different ways that people grieve, and it doesn't shy away from the pain that comes with both healing and failing to heal. In my playthrough (or at least my first playthrough) I got to watch some strained families come together in ways that would let them move forward. I also watched one particularly hard hit individual drag down her closest partner, isolating him from his friends and insisting that he share her misery.
Closer the Distance is far from trite or cliche. The story does not blindly insist that everything will be okay, that the ones we've lost are always with us agreeing with our every decision, or that loss isn't really loss at all. The characters and the story feel the grief, the longing, the anger, and the absence all the way through. Some find peace more easily, others, it's clear, will always carry the scars. The game offers a frank, beautiful look at the meaning of community, the nature of love, and the kaleidoscopic web of entanglements by which we impact the lives of those around us. It gives weight both to the major choices in life (whether to proceed with a business venture or to leave home, etc.), as well as the little moments that color reality (watching old favorite TV shows or taking a sun bath). A raw, honest humanity resounds through the story and leaves behind a picture of life that most media shies away from, embracing the heaviness and hurt that coexist with the beauty of of life, love, and community.
Closer the Distance is a heavy experience. It is saturated with powerful feelings and moments that will hurt. It can also, sometimes, be a frustrating game where the mechanics will stand in the way of accomplishing everything you would like. But it is, above all, a beautiful, touching experience that compellingly covers one of the hardest parts of human life. I strongly recommend this game for those who feel that they can overcome the emotional challenge that it comes with.