Once Again is an intriguing little story that seeks to justify itself as a game rather than as an audiobook or a short piece of literary fiction. This is a difficult line to walk: even as video games become recognized as a more and more prominent fixture in the artistic world, the word “game” is intrinsically linked, and thus you have to expect certain amounts of “play” to be present. Otherwise, you’re doing little more than viewing a cinematic that inexplicably asks you to interact when it’s convenient rather than necessary.

As a massive supporter of visual novels, it’s odd to have a stance against Once Again in any capacity. With kinetic visual novels being some of my favorites and the extreme amount of patience needed in order to get through the entirety of a visual novel, the fact that Once Again takes a similar but different approach should gel with my own core tenants. RB Wolf, the developer, has presented an intriguing sentiment: a boy who lost his mother at a young age suddenly finds that he can see snapshots of her on his birthday. Not just sudden images, but actual, honest-to-goodness time rifts where he appears to be with his mother in some long distant place.

Adding to the interest of the concept, you are not her child in these flashbacks (and it’s not that kind of game, so change your mindset immediately). Instead, the protagonist appears as a sort of companion or acquaintance that the mother recognizes, but never gives full identity to; at least, not at first. As awareness grows, so does their relationship strengthen, creating a bond that, tragically, wasn’t established in the living years. The pauses in reality only last for a short time, and then our hero regains consciousness in his bedroom, carrying something new from the moment, both metaphorically and, in some cases, literally. Through these moments, he gets to better know and understand his mother and his own existence, exploring ideas of what love, relationship and memory means to an individual and to people as a whole.

Once Again is charming in both brevity and presentation. I really enjoyed the soundtrack and the art styling, which aptly captured the aging and changes of the protagonist as time moves forward. There’s something very aware about having the boy slowly morph into a young adult, even in annual snapshots, because we, ourselves, never feel like we’ve grown up as much as others who view us externally say that we have. In that same vein, there’s also a deep sadness that I don’t feel is ever properly resolved in that the starting point is always the same, as he lies in his bedroom, listening to an incredibly dating iPod classic (that somehow can tell the weather?) and either waiting for the time of the flashbacks to come or bemoaning that the flashback was so brief.

The concept and thought behind Once Again is genuinely sweet, but I feel that the execution itself is rather clunky. For better or for worse, nothing about this game feels like it was crafted for the Nintendo Switch, and I say that as someone who’s up to play almost everything on the Switch. The controls are adapted from a mouse cursor to either a touch screen or a joystick to move a reticule approach, and the latter is rather horrid. A lot of the game asks you to mimic fine motor skills – opening an envelope and extracting a letter, wiping away the darkness on a scene, assembling a puzzle – and this exceedingly short game feels like it gets dragged out because it’s a pain in the ass to do some of the aspects needed to move the story forward. I try not to default to the touch screen if I can help it, but, with Once Again, I felt like I had no choice.

Once I was into the gameplay of swiping and poking, the whole thing felt very smooth but also rather silly. None of the moments of “gameplay” were eureka times of excitement and satisfaction. We use the term intuitive to describe actions or controls that feel natural, but these moments were intuitive to the point of obviousness. Of course I’m going to rub the picture in the developing solution. Naturally, I’ll move the arm of the photograph to start the record playing. It’s all so over the plate that it just felt silly to act like it was a gaming moment and not just what you do. It almost felt like my parents telling me that I get to play a game called “sweep the floor” and then acting like it’s some big deal that I’m clearing dust bunnies out from under the stove. This is the intent and you’ve just tricked me because neither of you want to do it, bravo.

As a result, Once Again, in spite of some good looks and pleasant music, really isn’t much of a game. I advise people to buy ANONYMOUS;Code and play it themselves because the pacing and the delivery moments of action and time control make it a worthwhile and unique engagement. With Once Again, this is a fire and forget piece of personal storytelling that, while touching, isn’t wildly unique or mechanically extraordinary. I like it, not love, and I’m not confident I’ll even think about it after a couple of weeks. If games were still in rental shops, I’d say pick this up for a rainy afternoon and return it the day after, but, with such a low price, I’d just say grab it when you’re ready for a slice of melancholy. It’s a clever bit of frission, but I don’t think it’ll leave a mark on your soul.

Graphics: 7.5 The artistic direction has a distinctive feel: imbuing color and detail into the lapses in time rather than the “real” world, and the effort is noticable. I enjoyed the character portrayals and the careful aging of the protagonist as the story moved forward.	Gameplay: 5.0 Clearly meant to mesh with a mobile version, the swiping, clicking and rubbing just made me incredibly bored for the most part. While some are clever executions (solving summer homework, for example), a lot of it just felt like a stopgap in the storytelling.
Sound: 6.0 Plenty of solid but repetitive stings of music, mostly piano, that aid in the melancholy feel. One of the transitional tunes felt wildly out of place (very zesty in spite of the somber moment), and I can’t tell if that was intentional or not. Weird that this wonderfully artistic and offbeat mother would play classical music on a record player for her son.	Fun Factor: 6.0 An appreciative take on the concept of getting to know someone you’ve lost, Once Again has a wonderful tale that can only be told once. The explanation is straightforward and the mechanics never vary, and, once it’s done, it’s done. Ironically, I wouldn’t consider playing this once again.
Final Verdict: 6.0

Once Again is available now on Steam, the Google Play Store, the App Store and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Once Again was provided by the publisher.