As with most things in life letting go is never the easiest thing, how do you start over? Understandably Ao and Bo have a lot to say about the situation they're facing, I was able to look in on their hopes, dreams and fears and see exactly where they're coming from especially as someone who has had to start over more than once in life. The game is broken down into chapters which all eventually lead to the inevitable end to their life in their flat, you swap between both Bo and Ao choosing dialogue options that you find most fitting each delving into what ifs and maybes that could occur as well as looking back at the past.
It's a very simplistic game with a lot of dialogue which is the main element of the game, you need to pay attention to get the point of what's going on, it's not something you can quickly skip through in the hopes there would be something exciting happening, you're quite literally living out 2 people leaving each other behind. Humble Grove did a fantastic job of showing anxieties through a point and click game, I know some may find it boring but others who love a narrative based game like myself might see it as living out a book.
Ao and Bo seemed to be in a relationship, it looks more casual than anything on the outside, i'm not sure if this is accurate or not, it definitely felt as if they needed one another but chose to do what was best for both of them in this situation. Exploring the house felt like I was just a fly on the wall, intruding and looking in on somes private life, I would come across strange creatures which felt like they were filling the void or even the manifestation of themselves in the home that Bo and Ao were leaving behind. It's both sad and exciting because I wondered what would become of them after they both went their separate ways, even down to the neighbours cat, which new resident would it meet and would they also feed it?
The point and click parts of the game gave little insight into who Ao and Bo are, rotating the room gives a better perspective of any items in rooms that you can click or have missed before. I made sure I clicked everything in the hopes I didn't miss out on any information. You use the rotate method in different rooms and corridors to find more doors you can go in, sometimes the rooms remain the same other times there are little surprises like the creature I told you about or the neighbours cat sleeping soundly at the end of a bed. Accessibility options were taken into consideration which is what we like to see, some of which are bigger text options and audio descriptions.
I found the graphics to be very simplistic and mostly low poly, I put this down to the main focus being dialogue, the graphics and soundtrack did a wonderful job of conveying emotions with elements that surrounded the characters as well as the added bonus of plants unfolding in front of our eyes, I will let you discover how this happens. I loved this game, it felt very personal to me and it's clear No Longer Home was deeper than I first expected, it had me thinking back to my life in London and the choice of staying in Cornwall permanently which turned out to be the best choice for me even with all the fears I had. Just like Ao and Bo I was sad, anxious and scared over what could be. One other thing I loved was the mention of places around London they would hang/live, I myself have a personal relation to this as I hung and lived in the same places, it felt very nostalgic for me. Let's just say things are good and life has a funny way of throwing things your way.
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