Change is inevitable.
In many ways this remains an undeniable truth which everyone, young as old, has to face and accept one day. Today is that day for the main protagonist in The Way We All Go, the young student, Atcchan. He has returned to his hometown during a short holiday following two-years of studies in another city. He is visiting his grandparents, and is overwhelmed with familiar surroundings and nostalgia. However nice the nostalgia may be, one cannot leave for two full years and not expect things and people to have changed. A new reality which accompanied by anxiety slowly sinks in for Atcchan. He’s worried sick that his treasured friendships might have changed – that those he once considered dear friends might not remain his friends today. The uncomfortable thought that he might have changed too occurs, too.
It quickly becomes evident that whilst Atcchan appreciates being back, although temporarily, he did leave the sleepy Japanese town with significant unfinished business. He reluctantly explains and excuses himself as it turns out that he only managed the courage to say goodbye to one friend before moving. That is despite claiming to have had two best friends; Amu and Noelle, of whom only Amu got a goodbye. Atcchan thus becomes determined to reach out to both girls – despite being almost obsessively overwhelmed by anxiety and worries. The latter to a degree which risks causing the reader to grow frustrated (and even permanently annoyed) with Atcchan due to his constant whining and severe worrying.
The insecure and somewhat incompetent protagonist is however an interesting character which, perhaps better than most other characters, genuinely manages to portrait the world through the eyes of a teenager suffering from social anxiety. The reader is in other words forced to share Atcchan’s seemingly endless stream of consciousness – for better and worse. The lengthy ramblings does however make it easier for the reader to decide for Atcchan – partly because virtually every perspective of a situation has been analysed thoroughly, and partly because you genuinely want the story to progress.
And boy, does the story progress!
A reaction I never quite expected to get prior to playing. I should stress that my experience with anime games, and thus visual novels, is extremely (almost embarrassingly) limited to just a handful of titles. This means that I’m forced to judge almost exclusively on the story and the interaction with the player. A natural question thus becomes whether the story works, or not? The short and cryptic answer to that is yes, mostly.
The vast majority of visual novels are either strictly kinetic, or relatively linear. The Way We All Go appears linear, but is delightfully different and does offer several endings. However, despite the numerous endings, the decisions left with the player are not exactly overwhelming nor overly exciting. In fact most appear harmless or even silly, however, the truth of the matter is that every decision effectively pushes the player down a slippery and irreversible slope. A path which often-times appears to take Atcchan, who’s been busy desperately piecing back the imaginary utopia he expected on arrival, by surprise.
The Way We All Go is an interesting piece of content which takes a slightly different approach to the visual-novel genre with unique artwork and several unique, and delightfully surprising, endings. Those interested in the genre will thus find The Way We All Go a solid game featuring interesting endings and bizarre plot-twists. Those new to the genre may want to enter through a slightly more traditional game, but will get a great glimpse into the world of Japanese games nonetheless.
Buy The Way We All Go on Steam here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/352610/
A press copy for reviewing purposes was kindly provided by the publisher.