Home is Where One Starts...

I really wanted to like this, as I'm a sucker for narrative-driven, melancholic games, but Home is Where One Starts ended up feeling a bit too shallow for my taste. I understood the story and could even relate to parts of it, but it just didn't resonate with me. I think it could have been much more impactful with stronger, more polished storytelling. I also had a pretty big WTF moment when I managed to pick up an item through a wall. It's a minor issue but definitely caught me off guard.

It really needs/needed save states. The description says it can be completed in 15-30 minutes in a single sitting, but I had to get up and was unfortunately gone for half an hour, almost doubling my playtime, which annoys me. It is also frustrating that even when holding down the button to sprint (which grows physically tiring and means your thumb can't use the stick to control the camera), your movement speed is incredibly slow. I understand that from an artistic standpoint this is to [spoiler]contrast with a faster movement speed later, when you get the bike[/spoiler], but it makes walking around the big yard sections excruciatingly dull, and it is the reason I decided not to go back and 100% the achievements. However, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and story. Strongly calls to mind Gone Home, though of course on a much smaller and short scale. The voice acting is very good. And as someone born and raised in the south, the visuals in particular felt very real and true to life to me. I also managed to grab this on sale for a mere 59 cents, so it was an excellent value! I enjoyed it far more than The First Tree.

I'm glad I got it for free because there is no way I would have paid for it. Dear Ester was very profound and meaningful whereas this game was simple and just nice. It isn't bad, its pretty but its depth is just so small. Still, its good to play an artistic game from time to time but this should have been a free demo. No one should have to pay for this game, it just isn't worth it.

The memories we leave behind.

TLDR: "A very short, 1 hour walking simulator" Transparency Statement I got this game after playing the very cool demo "We Harvest Shadows" by the same developer. I wanted to see some early work he did. He sure has come a long way. This is an updated review after playing this for the second time to get the 100%. Positives: I did like the environment, non-graphically. It reminded of the small town I grew up in. I also really liked the narrator's voice; it was nice and fitting to the story and setting. The music, minus the triggering. was good as well. It also didn't stutter at all my second time through the game. ---Negatives--- The game looks and feels very dated. It also had two stutters on my 5080 for the first playthrough. That should never happen on my rig. It didn't have any on the second achievement run. In conclusion. I was very hard on this game initially due to how dated it looked and performance. I thought it should be free. I still think this is a game, if you do try to get it, get it under a buck. It doesn't have enough content, story, or meaning to it for anything more. Now, I am going to change my vote to upvote for the fact this was a indie guy first foray int…

A short (took me about an hour to get all achievements) but immersive and for me at least, a somehow relaxing experience (despite its story, I just like being around some trees) that decently succeeded in putting me into the shoes of its main character. 7/10