A Storied Life: Tabitha

This is really one of those games where I wish I could rate it "meh" instead of good or bad. It's fine, and I think it would have been better if I had known what to expect, and didn't listen to all the "it'll be fine" text that exists at the beginning of the game. When I went into it, I expected something cozy and chill. The game even gives you the option to turn off the weight limitation. I played one level with them on, decided they were absolutely horrendous, and then turned them off. It really limits you A LOT in terms of what items you can take with you, which means you either can't take the things you actually want to build the story with (you need items to get choices that effectively act like a mad libs game) and if you don't get enough you'll be met with the saddest "nothing" choices you've ever seen. The game really wants to tell you at the beginning that there aren't necessarily good choices or bad choices, and that everything will be fine - spoiler: it won't. There are bad endings/ The one I ended with basically equated to me not creating a story that is coherent enough, a story about a woman's whole life mind you. In the end, if you do get that ending, you basically do fail (as in the story won't be published) and you get an ending which... honestly, infuriated me to the point that I didn't want to replay it. There are themes throughout the game, items that go together, and it wants you to pick those. And if you do get the kind of "All over the place" ending, you get met with final choices that had nothing to do with anything of what you picked in the story. For instance, it's clear there is a cat central to some of the choices, at the end you can then choose from my greatest joy was my dog. It felt very much like a punishment for exploring more than one avenue. I'd at least love to had an ending that at least matched some of my chaotic choices, rather than their opposites. And I think, perhaps, if you go into this game with that knowledge: You are meant to explore one path and one path only at a time - I.e. pay attention to all the magical items on a run, then you'll better know how to play and you might find it more enjoyable than I did. It is, first and foremost, a puzzle game in that regard. And seeing the story fall apart by just choosing the items that felt the most interesting and watching the whole mad-libs story fall apart, made it much less of the "relaxing" tag that the game was given, for me. There are hidden snippets of story things, like if you put specific items in the auction box, it might trigger storyline. There are hidden achievements, so depending on how much replayability you plan to have with it and how much a completionist you are, there is that to note. The music was fine. Nothing to write home about, nothing annoying. I was a disappointed that there was no audio in terms of the actual story being created, as the video I saw about it had voices reading the letters which felt quite lovely. So then going straight into it after purchasing, my heart was a little sad. The other small annoyance was that the menu did not feel intuitive. Even at the end of the fire play through, I was still sometimes hitting Esc to get out of things, that didn't get you out of things. Luckily everything is labeled well so if you find yourself in a moment you feel automatic pilot is failing you, you can find the right button easily. The one thing I will say, as annoying as it is being guided on how to play and how that made it difficult, the actual finding of items is very easy. So.. depending on your opinion, that could be a good or bad. You basically just click enough and you'll find them all. What I appreciated most was that it clearly let you know when you found all the items available so that you didn't accidentally leave behind anything. That was really thoughtful. Also, the premise is really great, I just didn't fall in love with the follow through.

Overpriced in terms of the overall experience. Negative: - Not enough to guide the player in the early chapters. - Finding the items in the rooms was too easy. - The story never made me feel interested in the characters. - Trashing something should not be labeled as recycling. Positive: + The weight and size limitations made the game more interesting. + The paintings were beautiful. + Multiple endings. Comments: We build the story of the lady by selecting what to keep. But this is not enough to get to know her. More extensive object descriptions or a letter here or there summarizing her in term of our decisions every few chapters would have helped me care to build a traditionally concise story for her. Our character makes no comments. I guess this mechanic was intended to not influence our decisions. But, why did we need a vacation? Why did we need to try to make money out of selling this lady's belongings? A little more information about ourselves would have helped in making me care about my decisions. A lot of time passed between chapters. This was only evident when looking at the auction dates. But the dates play no role on the mechanics. I can't tell if we were in control of the auction or if someone was messaging us. If someone was messaging us, that character could have added to the story to keep me engaged. Conclusion: I completed the game once. I do not see myself returning to the game to get the other endings because I do not feel attached to the characters. I usually aim for reaching 100% completion.

Not a big fan of being told by the game that I could have fun picking whatever ad lib options I wanted to complete the memoir and that there are no wrong answers, spending three hours playing the game and fighting to fit items into the box to unlock interesting words, and then getting this kinda crappy rejection letter at the VERY END saying my memoir was all over the place and that I should do better next time. The whole dog leash thing when the character clearly only ever owned a cat really felt like the devs wanted to make a point of punishing me for how "all over the place" my choices were. What's the point of trying to keep items that will give you interesting words if you HAVE to just put whatever as long as it fits one of the eight categories to get a real ending? So I could have just put one cat item in the box, reuse the same four words over and over, and then I have a memoir worth publishing now? I could have been done with the game in like forty minutes if I knew I could just do that.

My review is more mixed both from cozy gaming and achievement hunting standpoints, but if I had to choose, it's a soft recommend purely for the gameplay concept. (I wish there was a mixed recommend button for Steam.) PROS: - There are two modes of play: one for those who want a relaxed, cozy gameplay, and one for those who want a challenged puzzle gameplay. What I love is that the gameplay mode does not affect earning achievements. - This game makes me think about what I value the most in life. I quite like the meditative introspection I had in each chapter. Granted, at times I got incredibly whiny because valued items were pitted against each other -- I ABSOLUTELY saved the teddy bears by whatever means necessary -- but it made me think about what I can cherish in person and what I can cherish from afar. - Great life lesson: you gotta know when to hold 'em....know when to fold 'em....know when to walk away..... (ok, I'll stop now) - The graphics are soothing, like a warm blanket. - The integration of classical music -- and telling the player the title of the piece and the composer -- brings me such joy. I work in education, and I've noticed students knowing or even recognizing iconic pieces less and less. This is a nice way of keeping them relevant and weaving them into gaming. CONS: - I absolutely detest that I have to replay the story numerous times to get the numerous endings for all the achievements. There comes to a point in the game where you cannot go back and replay chapters. Once you get your endings, that's it. I've become so connected with the Tabitha I created that it feels wrong to change her story to anything else. I don't think they shouldn't have the option to get different endings, no. But I don't like that there isn't simply a "Complete Tabitha's Story" achievement that you get regardless of which ending you get. - Despite matching the dots, the mad libs many times didn't make sense. Yes, there is the direction to try and put like items together, but people classify items together for different reasons. It's why "A Little to the Left" has different acceptable solutions but doesn't punish you for thinking differently. This does, and I don't like that feeling as if me valuing certain items over others is "wrong." - I do understand the reasoning behind the ending I got. (Spoilers in other reviews, so be warned.) I do wish that instead of a publishing company for a memoir that THAT ending could have resulted in the publishers recommending the estate to rework the memoir as short stories instead (of course with the disclaimer that they are based on true story). - The painting. Still salty. No further comment. - The amount of items you can put to auction vary for each level. It wasn't until Chapter 12 (?) that I accidentally discovered that I could have put multiple items at auction. I distinctly remember not being able to do so in Chapter 1, so I never tried again, especially because it will say "Box 1 out of 1" until you try to put a second item in. I spent so much time going back to previous levels to see when I was able to start doing so. I think I went back all the way to Chapter 6 before giving up and just letting it be. (I had well earned the really nice vacation by then, so I just let it go.) Unless I missed something, the game should tell you how many auction slots are available upfront. - Hovering to read the item and, after two seconds, getting the ding and mini menu. That got annoying way too fast and didn't give me time and space to think. - I earned all the gold stars for each level, but then when I checked the book at the end, it said that I didn't. Not sure if a bug or if I actually missed items. At this time, I'm not going back to see. (See first con.)

I want to like this, but it's too clunky in interface and storytelling to really click for me. -Cannot hit Esc and go to the main menu, leading to me finally just closing the game via the taskbar to escape. -Box weight limits seem really low (4 books in one box? Too heavy! Trash them.) -The menu wheel pop-up of "hover and wait to get a menu" is annoyingly slow and bogs the play down. -Cannot auction more than one item, but can't pack much, so you toss a lot of stuff you'd have saved. -The madlibs section is badly explained and I had to look up a guide to figure out that broken hearts were not "wrong" choices, just a story option to take. Plus just the overall "hey this old friend of yours died, go figure out what you can sell on ebay" premise is just exhausting. Even in a video game, I apparently should prioritize a side hustle over genuine human connection. Blegh. Not cozy, imho. Unpacking did it better. So did Spirit of the House.

毫无玩法性，打包物品后填空的游戏，不同物品有不同单词，没逻辑，完全不知道游戏乐趣在哪里。。。。。

建议玩个demo就好了，20以上不推荐入手。 遗物收纳小游戏，我以为是有点断舍离成分在里面的，结果每个物品只有简略介绍，还得留下指定的物品才能收集金星星，我请问呢？自由发挥受限，纸质物品在箱子里不能叠放，拍卖只能拍一件，怎么一个人的闲鱼只能上架一个东西是吧？ 而且后面那个填词挺尬的。学人家unpacking抄都能抄错来，人家一个整理游戏的叙事性拿满分。你游让玩家在一关20个物品里了解一个故去的人生平故事，让玩家填空小日记。 流程很短，十分钟能玩完两张图，第一不能沉浸整理，第二格子给太少一直纠结要扔掉哪些。 如果只卖十块，我甚至会懒得退款，但它这个定价我只能说是史，不是贵，是不值。 估计得有人攻击我穷了，那我问你，大牌奢侈品永远有人在消费，那花西子79的眉笔被喷是因为贵还是因为不值？

Is it cozy? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes. BUT NOT FOR THE PRICE. I paid 50% off at $~7.50, GET IT FOR LESS. Not even 4 hours of content in the initial playthrough (I'm not the type to replay.) It is very wholesome and well told imo, I got really sentimental throwing things away T_T & felt like I got to know Tabitha through taking care of her things, I really like this idea through other characters, the Devs could even turn this into a mystery/detective type game with some of the elements of items found. I'd play another from them, but again, consider the price.