The Last Time I Saw You is a visually beautiful video game that explores the supernatural side of Japan. Here, players must attempt to save a village from a natural disaster. This nicely designed side-scroller may be light on the RPG side, but I’m sure the choices made matter. I’m confident the goal is to avert another typhoon ready to assault this sea-side community!
Here, players are assuming the role of Ayami. He’s a very precocious boy who has certain tasks to do each day. But when a storm is slowly coming, Ayami must balance what he needs to do versus simply exploring. This helped me get familiar with where everything is, and that includes the friends and strangers this kid meets.
But when a mysterious older girl appears in this boy’s dreams, that can spell trouble. I thought she might be a crush at first. But as other details emerged during play, I suspect there’s more to her than meets the eye. Part of the game involves figuring out who she is, and why she saved him from attacking ghosts that look like Gastly from Pokémon. That’s how the game starts, and as for what other nasties are hiding in the forest, that’d be saying too much.
The yokai have a crucial role in the later stages. Also, there are some rather cool areas to explore, like the bamboo grove, and a meadow full of bellowing grass, and unlike the other side-scrollers, I’m glad I’m able to retrace my steps, or replay sections. The game offers nine save slots, and that’s very convenient when I fear I might have missed something.
As for combat, it’s best to avoid wherever possible. This boy has three hit points and I have yet to raise that. Any sudden death means restarting at the time I saved the game. When considering I’m fairly reckless swinging a bat, perhaps it’s time to be more Street Fighter savvy.
As for the parts where I have to jump around lots, that will take practice. The platformer elements aren’t really all that challenging but sometimes I run more than exercise precision control. With the mix of mini-games on top, I stayed rather engaged. As for which platform is best, Steam, Xbox, etc, I feel any are okay. After changing over to the Nintendo Switch, a proper controller is better than a keyboard. The bonus comes from the fact I can play on an HDTV! The graphics look even better!
Although there’s no run or speed reading option, very little real time is required to navigate through the levels or to read the dialogue. As with other games within this genre, there are no sound bytes to go along. I wished there was as I’d love to hear a voice behind what’s going on.
Also, when this game’s title makes the relationship between the boy and teenage spirit fairly obvious, I was not at all surprised that they would develop stronger feelings for each other. However, what got me hooked is in how the folklore comes into play more than the lovey-dovey. When the yokai world is not being limited and the moments of interacting with them have a dreamlike quality, I’d say this game is a certified hit.
4 Stars out of 5
Pros
- Developed for fans of yokai in mind
- Easy to understand interface
- Great art
Cons
- Not enough hearts (hit points) to start with.
The Last Time I Saw You Game Trailer
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