Item: When The Past Was Around
Rating: 6.5
Author: Casual Tap

When the Past was Around is developed by Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio and published by Chorus Worldwide Games (eShop link). The main protagonist in this game is Eda, a 20ish girl. The game will invite you to explore her mind and deep memories of love, joy and pain. Obviously, the story is being told in a subjective way, and it rather lets you come to your own interpretations. If you are good with puzzles, you can beat it in an hour or so. At its core, When the Past was Around is a point-and-click puzzle game. That said, it does not take the same approach as those classics made by Lucasfilm Games. In this game, you don’t explore a vast world and do a lot of backtracking to solve puzzles. The puzzle itself is usually presented through scenes and is quite linear. However, you still have to solve them by interacting with objects in order to find feathers that belong to a mysterious owl guy that you will meet throughout the game. Also note that some of the puzzles require you to find a key, which is well implemented but also appears to be overused especially in the early game, while the rest seem either fun or okay at times. What stands out the most is the art direction and violin music. Emotions are expressed through music, and I could feel it in my bones. Some music feels especially haunting as intended. However, I’m not a fan of the sound choice for the X button used for showing clickable objects. While I was investing into the game, it felt rather annoying all of a sudden whenever I pressed that button. In my conclusion, although the game let me experience a unique hand-drawn art alongside brilliant music, the puzzles did not manage to make it stand out from the crowd. That’s a step-down. For me, it’s a 6.5/10 game, overall.

When the Past was Around is developed by Toge Productions and Mojiken Studio and published by Chorus Worldwide Games (eShop link). The main protagonist in this game is Eda, a 20ish girl. The game will invite you to explore her mind and deep memories of love, joy and pain. Obviously, the story is being told in a subjective way, and it rather lets you come to your own interpretations. If you are good with puzzles, you can beat it in an hour or so.

At its core, When the Past was Around is a point-and-click puzzle game. That said, it does not take the same approach as those classics made by Lucasfilm Games. In this game, you don’t explore a vast world and do a lot of backtracking to solve puzzles. The puzzle itself is usually presented through scenes and is quite linear. However, you still have to solve them by interacting with objects in order to find feathers that belong to a mysterious owl guy that you will meet throughout the game. Also note that some of the puzzles require you to find a key, which is well implemented but also appears to be overused especially in the early game, while the rest seem either fun or okay at times.

What stands out the most is the art direction and violin music. Emotions are expressed through music, and I could feel it in my bones. Some music feels especially haunting as intended. However, I’m not a fan of the sound choice for the X button used for showing clickable objects. While I was investing into the game, it felt rather annoying all of a sudden whenever I pressed that button.

In my conclusion, although the game let me experience a unique hand-drawn art alongside brilliant music, the puzzles did not manage to make it stand out from the crowd. That’s a step-down. For me, it’s a 6.5/10 game, overall.

When The Past Was Around

Review Title

Player Score

Casual Tap