>> A Mortician's Tale
A Mortician's Tale PC lets the player see how a remains is prepared for a funeral. It has two main mechanics: embalming and cremation. Since the player is responsible for the remains in the funeral, paying respect to the family and deceased is required. The game loop is simple but it evokes meditation or feelings about the physicality of death. What importance and rituals do we place? I appreciate this game for tackling a morbid subject which takes around an 1 hour to finish.
>> Thoughts
The game's short and linear experience will stay with me; however, I do feel it is lacking to fully sell the experience or meditation. The game does not have failure states which is fine but I cannot perceive the quality of my work or any narrative complication. What if an accident occurred and seeing those repercussion play out? As it stands, I do not have to put effort in the gameplay aside from its morbid context. When other characters in the game praise my work and empathy, it feels disconnected.
While having a simple story is fine, the player character's motivation or story is not explained which is a shame. Is it out of charity or poverty? Is it a stressful to terrifying job? I want to know their perspectives. Using a silent protagonist suggest role-playing but even some dialogue options or scenes would add color or texture to a blank character.
Aside from the story and price, those two issues prevent me from recommending the game. While letting the player draw their own conclusions is admirable, it feels abstract or hollow in the end without a strong direction to guide it. This may be the game's scope or intended limitation, so I am excited for a more polished and cohesive game to follow.