*SPOILERS*
Developer: Ovosonico
Available on: PS4, Steam, Nintendo Switch
PS4 Review
Would you do anything to go back in time and save the life of a loved one? This is a question that fits perfectly with the Last Day of June, at first it looks like a simplistic yet beautiful game that just involves a view option but as the game goes on it's a lot more than that, your actions can change everything and it would always end up leading to the death of the main characters (Carl) wife June, which is why the game is given its name. I didn't clock about this until halfway through the game as I thought it was referring to the month of June, but you never know it could also have been that month. Some may be put off by the lack of dialogue but there isn't any need for it, the actions and words on the screen tell you everything you need to know in order to get through the game.
You will be taking on the role as the main character in the game first of all and your main task is to go back in time with the help of photos (how much does that sound like Life is Strange) to stop the crash involving Carl and June from happening. the game starts off with June being given a gift by an old neighbour and from what I gathered the gift was to let Carl know she was pregnant and she wanted it to be a surprise in a romantic place, for this part of the game you get to walk around as June and decide the best place to put the present for Carl to see it, he is asleep so June is sneaking around quietly. Eventually, whilst upstairs June see's a picture of the Lake and hides chooses to have a picnic there with Carl so she can give him the gift, they set off together with no questions asked.
When they get to the lake June starts to get cold, at this point you are able to stand up and walk to the car, on the way there you can pick flowers to give to June which I chose to do and then went back to the car to get the blanket for her, you will find that even though you click one side of the car Carl won't just be able to slide over and grab the blanket on the oppiste seat you as the player will have to make him wal around the car to get it on that side, this is something I liked because it forces you to explore a little bit more instead of solly getting the blanket, the art work and the use of water colours are stunning espically the way the sun light bounced off of the water. It starts to rain and Carl and June are forced to go back to their car and drive home, unfortunately on the way home they crash and June loses her life, Carl wakes up in the living room and we now see he is a wheelchair user and is pining for the love of his life.
If there is a way would you go back and save the one you love? I would.
Carl goes to the kitchen to get something to eat but needs a can open in order to open it, he remembers one of his neighbours gave them one when she was moving out of her house and it was in June's painting studio, Carl goes to look and the material over a picture of June falls down he puts his hand on it and is able to go back in time but as a little boy who is he's neighnour, whilst playing as him you must do different actions in order to change the course of time whilst also collecting bubbles which are memories there are 5 in total for 4 different characters who you play as. Throughout the game, you will be going back and forth as each of these characters until you are unable to change the course of time using them any longer.
There is only one way that Carl was able to change time, we see this happen after he makes his way upstairs using a wheelchair lift, he goes into a babies room, the room would have been his unborn child's room, the child he lost alone with his loving with June, as he is looking around we see her behind him looking into the room, it hits you a little at how determined he was to have her back. Infront of him is June's sketchbook he looks through it and see's all the possibilities of bringing her back to life than on the last page it's him dress as a superhero a picture she drew for him before she died whilst at the lake. he places his hand on the picture and goes back in time. They are back at the lake and Carl knows what he has to do when they get back in the car, he can't stop the crash happening but he can be the one sitting in June's seat and sacrifice his life to let her and their baby live.
No word of a lie, I ended up crying when I saw June at Carl's gravestone pregnant, it was such a selfless act that he did without hesitation. I really enjoyed this game but my main issue was how long some scenes tended to take, especially when you have to repeat a lot of the things you do in order to change time. The puzzles were pretty easy to solve and don't take long that to realise that in order to get to certain parts of the village you will need to play as a different character and open a gate or throw a ball to move flower pots out of the way. It didn't take me very long to finish, there are about 5 chapters that take around 30 minutes each to complete so it can be finished in just under 3 hours. The use of watercolour and Coraline style character's made it unique and stand out to me when it was on sale in the PSN store and it's become the 9th game I have been able to finish this year, I'm trying to finish a total of 30, fingers crossed that I can do it! I give this game 4/5 for being able to make me cry and the use of time travel, the story was easy to follow and was well worth purchasing, there is a nice little scene at the end of the credits of the game where June is at the lake with her son who looks a lot like Carl, he gives her a flower just like his dad and it was really touching.
Elle May
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