4.5/10
I want to give this a passing grade because the emotional high points are effective. Unfortunately, there's too much padding and gameplay annoyances to say I outright enjoyed it.
Fragments of Him tells the tale of loss, love and bigotry, from the point of view of a few characters. The story revolves around Will, but we hear the stories of the other characters who are close to him; what is originally seemingly all about him expands and shows what makes the others tick as well. There is pain, there is joy, there is love and there is death, and when the game gives itself to the narrative it's potent.
However, this is one of those "walking simulators" that shoehorn the gameplay in just to make it a game. It's a slippery slope whenever you attempt this genre, but we've seen a plethora of examples that did it correctly. Generally there is exploration and a reason to examine your surroundings, but Fragments doesn't allow that. There's not much opportunity--or reason--to dig deeper here because the game isn't set up that way -- objects that you can interact with are highlighted and that's it. Click the mouse, move on, hear people narrate.
You are pushed along to the next section, sometimes absurdly so. I got a Heavy Rain feel from a lot of it, actually, in the way the game attempts to involve the player. Now, I like Heavy Rain because of the choices you make and the story as a whole, but I can play that game in 15 to 30 minute intervals before I need to close it down and take a break. Why? Because having to tilt a controller in such a way to open a door is not compelling, and having to do every boring thing a human would do does not entice me. Fragments has a similar feature, except it's just you clicking. If making tea by clicking on all the appropriate instruments is enjoyable to you then great.
It also takes it to lengths I hate. Sometimes you have to keep clicking on a character to make them progress to the next area, which is 2 feet forward. I thought maybe it was a limitation of a small team, but then I realized, why am I trying to justify the fact that NPCs can't just walk?
Even so, I can't deny that the story got to me when it unfolded, but I still can't say that it's good writing. Characters repeat, ad nauseam, the same shit over and over again. Whatever clever musings there are throughout are hammered into the ground, seemingly just to justify the price. However, there are diamonds in the rough and during those moments I was engaged by it, wanting to see what happens next, feeling for these characters. I'm inclined to agree with anybody who says that this would be a better game if it was trimmed, because the philosophy and ideas present are noteworthy when not crippled by being long-winded.
But hey, it has a good message and an impressive ending. Be good to each other, cherish those you care for, and remember what Kurt Vonnegut said in The Sirens of Titan: "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
