When I Was Young

[h1] No amount of bootcamp training could ever prepare you for the sh!t you see in 'Nam. [/h1] Even being a Vietnamese myself won't even save me from getting smoked in 'Nam 😐. As someone who really enjoy learning about the Vietnam War period, I love that every single detail even the tiniest are taking reference from what actually went down. For the story of the game, you'll be playing as Ben Russell who decided to enlist after hearing his brother went missing in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, his main goal is to find out what happened to his brother, but the obstacle of surviving 'Nam constantly derailed his goal. Gameplay is very fun and has variety what reflect the life of US soldiers at the time. And yes the game is quite challenging, you will get smoked by the guy named Charlie very fast, and the jankiness isn't helping either, sometimes you will get bugs or crashes that make you have to do the whole run again and it can gets quite annoying, but the game is playable nonetheless and very enjoyable when things went well. Also the soundtracks in this game go hard af, they really capture those 60s~70s rock really well, from the instruments to the style. The BGMs really elevate wha…

When I Was Young is a side-scrolling action adventure that seeks to capture the grim atmosphere and emotional turmoil of the Vietnam War through a distinctly retro presentation. Developed by WallRus Group and published by Art Games Studio S.A., it tells the story of a young American soldier who enlists in the army after learning that his brother has gone missing in action. What begins as a straightforward search for family quickly evolves into a desperate fight for survival across a hostile and unforgiving landscape. The game immediately immerses players in the raw intensity of war, contrasting the patriotic fervor of enlistment with the suffocating reality of jungle combat. Its narrative ambition is evident: instead of glorifying warfare, it highlights the futility and personal cost of violence. This story-driven approach gives the game an identity that goes beyond its surface as a retro platformer, evoking a sense of melancholy and nostalgia that mirrors the protagonist’s loss of innocence. Visually, When I Was Young embraces a pixel art aesthetic that combines vintage simplicity with expressive detail. The environments are richly layered, capturing the dense foliage, murky rive…

How far must you go after completing a level before the game ever saves? Who knows. Playing for a while, finishing a level, gaining the achievement for completing it, closing the game just to go back to the prior level after restarting the game is just absurd. The translation work could be better, but as a non-native English speaker I understand the struggle and the game is pretty much understandable, nice story. I would never judge also how the whole mechanics of the game function, it's not a triple A game. My game simply crashes after pressing continue, so I am stuck to replaying it from scratch or reload a whole new level (which is not remotely fun, as the replay factor in this game should never be considered). I am not finishing it because I'm already stressed out about every detail that bothered me. I hope I can try it again and enjoy it.

Simple concept but hard and engaging game. I loved the art style and how the plot develops.

Boot camp was so tedious, I could not finish.

i watched a few videos about this game, but when i actually got to it myself i had a bit of an issue. On the bootcamp part, in the very first obstacle you have to dodge abunch of sandbags on a log, but every time i try to walk on the log i just fall through. Is it just me or is this game-wide? If it's just me let me know how to fix this!!