I first noticed this game when I was pre-ordering Life Is Strange: Before the Storm. It came up as a “recommended” game. At first I ignored it as all I wanted to do was pre-order Life is Strange, but I later found myself drawn to it. What did it mean and what was it about? So, I went and looked at a few different trailers for the game before finally deciding to pre-order it. I didn’t know what I was about to get into, but I figured it was worth a try.
Last Day of June is the story of Carl and June. It’s Carl’s birthday and June has a gift that she wants to give him. What’s the best place to give Carl this gift? At their favorite spot by the lake. They enjoy a beautiful day together that gets cut short by some rain. Not having enough time to open his gift, Carl and June head back home only to get into a car accident that will kill June and leave Carl paralyzed. Not being able to cope with anything since the death of June, Carl has become a shell of his former self that is until he finds out that he can alter time and possibly save June.
From about five minutes in, I knew that I loved this game. I loved the concept of the game and the thought of loving someone that much that you would do whatever possible to try and save them if they died. I found it interesting that throughout the game you’ll be able to play as the people who had an affect on June’s death and you’ll do this through paintings. While searching for these paintings you’ll also learn about Carl and June’s history. You’ll see the blossom of a new relationship between the two of them to happy times when June finds out that she’s pregnant, to horrible times when June loses the baby, and then watch as they both recover from the loss of a child that they both wanted. When you find the images of the towns people, you’ll get to play as them and see how to alter their day to save June. First you’ll get to play as the little boy. The little boy just wants someone to play with after losing his best friend. He’s left in a town with no one his age and is also hurting. Put him in the wrong place at the wrong time and he’ll be the cause of June’s death. Then you have the best friend. The best friend is desperately in love with Carl even though he only has eyes for June. Knowing this, she knows that the only way to alleviate her pain is to get the hell out of dodge. Put her in the wrong place at the wrong time and she’ll be the cause of June’s death. You’ll also get to play the part of the hunter who is obsessed with his family’s legacy that when a little bird steals one of his most cherished possessions he’ll do anything possible to get it back and because of it he can also play a part in June’s death. Then there’s the old man who gives June the gift to give to Carl. What part does he play in all of this? All of this combined tells the most emotional story that I’ve ever experienced in video games.
You will totally need a whole box of Kleenex for this game. You really can’t help but feel for Carl because throughout the game who can see how much he truly loves June. He’ll do anything to save her and when he realizes that altering one action in time changes another and it results in the same thing, June’s death, you can’t help but feel for him. You feel his frustration because he’s doing everything he can even though he’s causing a ripple in time. There are few games that have made me feel emotionally wrecked after playing a game and this is one of them as I cried my way through the last half hour of this game.
The playabily of this game is super simple, but it gives you a lot of difficult puzzles to solve. This was an interesting aspect of the game as you try to find a way to make the day end perfectly and hope to save June. If you feel like you’ve messed up you’ll be able to rewind and go back to that character and try something different. The only problem that I had was that after unlocking the boy, the best friend, and the hunter that you couldn’t switch between them in the same scenario. You had to play as one character, set them in place, and then go back to the picture room, rewind to another character put them in the proper place, and then go back to the picture room again to go back to the last character, rewind, put them in the proper place and see how things turn out. I think the transition would have been a little more smoother if you were able to change characters while playing out a scene instead of having to go back and rewind on each character separately. Other than that the game ran smoothly and there were no bugs of glitches.
The graphics were one of the highlights of this game because they were just amazing. They looked a hell of a lot better than a lot of AAA games out there and were fitting for the game itself. You could tell that the graphics were crafted with love and care and that they weren’t just thrown together. The game was full of subtle little details in the graphics that probably took a long time, but in the end worked out perfectly and just enhanced the story as a whole.
Finish this game and do everything it has to offer in order to get yourself 21 trophies. It was a little disappointing that there wasn’t a platinum trophy for this game, but that can be overlooked because the story, which is why you should be playing this game, is amazing. The trophies are super simple too as you aren’t really meant to concentrate on them. This is one of those games where you shouldn’t just play because the trophies are easy because you’ll be missing out.
This is strictly a single player game and it’s done that way for a reason. It’s done like this because you’re supposed to be experiencing what Carl is going through and how he’s feeling. There’s no reason to have someone else in your game with you. Not all games have to have multiplayer and this proves it.
Overall I give this game a 5 out of 5.
What’s Great:
+ The story for this game is just amazing and will draw you in and keep you there after the first five minutes of the game.
+ Challenging puzzles throughout the game that will keep you on your toes.
+ Simple playability that will help you concentrate on the story.
+ Bug and glitch free playing experience so you could play this game in one sitting and not have one single problem.
+ Beautiful graphics that a lot of time and effort went into and it really paid off as it fits the game and the setting.
What’s Not So Great:
– As I mentioned before there was the slight inconvenience of not being able to switch up characters during one scene and having to finish the day and go back to another character to start their day. Things would have been a little smoother if you were able to switch between unlocked characters.
– Unfortunately, there is no replay value to this game and having missed two trophies, I went back to get them but felt emotionally drained that I got them and stopped playing.
Although this game suffers from some minor flaws, it’s still an amazing game and worth every single penny. The ending of the game is bittersweet and it’s just one of those games that has a lasting effect on you when you play. This game as an absolute gem and I’m so happy that I found it and got the chance to experience it. I’m going to say that this is one of those games that can’t be missed and it shouldn’t be missed.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 