In life, death comes knocking at the door for everyone and for some unfortunately when it's least expected. Death can be devastating, but the latter usually results in a lack of closure. The “what-if’s” can come and eat away at you. The sadness of never being able to speak or see the person again is haunting. As a family man, the thought of this happening to myself is my worst nightmare. That being said I knew I would have to be in the right mood when I started the game, but The Last Day of June takes this very personal theme and tackles it beautifully.

Going into The Last Day of June all I knew about it was what was in the trailer. You play as a man who has lost his significant other in a car crash. I don’t want to say a lot about the story as this game is very narrative driven. I will just say that as I continued through this game and as the story unraveled, I teared up and some of the more joyous moments made me laugh out loud.

The game is simple in nature. You play as 4 different citizens in the small town, each with their own story. Your overall goal is to fix the day so that the accident never occurs. You do this by changing little things that lead up to the event. Replaying the same day over and over can lead to a little repetitiveness but the developers did a good job of speeding up the progress so you don’t see the same cut scenes over and over again. When playing as one of the townsfolk you are free to explore the small town and collect memories for that specific character. These are still images that reveal the background of the character being played. I spent a little under 3 hours in this world, which felt like the perfect length for the game.

The Last Day of June also has the most effective use of trophy notifications that I have seen in a long time. There was one moment towards the end of the game where I was left speechless as I read the trophy name. This is often something I don’t even pay attention too, but I’m glad I did with this game.

It would be a crime if I didn’t mention the music and sound design as well. The characters don’t talk they just make Sim like noises but they were perfectly captured and helped resonate what the character was saying without actually saying it. The soundtrack is beautiful but unfortunately the track names I’d consider to be spoilery and I’d recommend staying away until you have completed the game all the way.

Unfortunately, I feel this game didn’t get the recognition is deserved when it came out in 2017. I believe if more people had gotten around to playing The Last Day of June, that they would enjoy it. When I saw the trailer I knew it was a game I would want to play but I also knew it would a difficult game to go through. I would recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a short, story-focused game, with some very memorable moments. 4.5/5