When the Past was Around; Free Prologue for Upcoming Game

When the Past was Around – Free Prologue for Upcoming Game

“Saying “I love you forever” won’t hold us together, a dove and a feather won’t better our love or recover us ever.” – Mike Skinner

Developer: Mojiken Studio
Released: Demo – November 2019
Price: Free

Platforms: Windows, Mac
Available on: Steam, itch.io
Engine: Unity

Overview

When the Past was Around is an upcoming point-and-click puzzle game due to be released in Spring 2020. Mojiken Studio has made a free prologue available as a demo for the game along with a paid supporter pack DLC.

The game claims to be about love, loss and moving on and follows 20-year-old Edda and her mysterious companion through a series of disjointed and puzzle-filled rooms seemingly made from memories.

Gameplay

As the game begins, Edda frees her violin carrying companion from a birdcage and they proceed to the first room. Each room has a series of puzzles, none of which are especially original but all can be solved with logic and a little attention; they are satisfying to complete, if not overly challenging. The final puzzle in each room leads to a feather which is then given to the companion who then creates a new door and the pair proceed to the next area.

Narrative

When the Past was Around is clearly about a connection between two people and having to let go but these themes are loosely presented and the experience seems very much open to interpretation. The way in which rooms are used to represent fragments of time is surreal and lends itself well to the open narrative, this is magnified in the final scene of the prologue and provides an intriguing introduction to the full game.

Styling

The game has a sketchy art and animation style reminiscent of Mojiken Studio’s earlier game A Raven Monologue, both made in collaboration with artist Brigitta Rena. The visuals could also be likened to a more charming take on the Rusty Lake games’ aesthetic.

Music is a key theme in the game, this is apparent from the companion’s violin, the prominence of music within the puzzles, but also in the way that the music seems to build to a crescendo throughout the prologue. What begins as a simple piano melody gradually turns into a cacophony of instruments with the violin playing a prominent part in building the atmosphere.

Summary

Overall, When the Past was Around Prologue was a short but charming little experience. It took a mere 15 minutes to complete but this was enough to make me curious and enthusiastic about the game’s full release and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys slightly abstract, point-and-click puzzle games.

If you enjoyed this and can’t wait to play more narrative-based puzzle games now why not check out:
Still There – Return of the Obra Dinn – Maize – Goetia

From Soothing to Dissonant

Despite the soothing music, visuals, and tone of the game, something I noticed while playing is that the house you explore becomes more and more of a disarray due to your mouse-clicking shenanigans. This could just be a normal gameplay thing, yet still I can’t help but wonder if it’s perhaps a metaphor for the state of the main characters’ relationship or environment.

This is especially noticeable because it contrasts so starkly with the calm and peaceful way the pair are sitting around—when I panned over to the couple and there were knocked over plants and a spilled bookshelf in the background of their tranquil positions, the dissonance was almost tangible. I could just be getting ahead of myself, looking for analogies that aren’t there, but I’m willing to bet it does mean something given how symbolic much of this game is.

Eventually, you give a third and last feather to the man and his shadow-violin regains its color, becoming a full violin and leading to a beautiful closing scene for the prologue. As he plays the violin, the girl gets carried away by the music, literally.

As she is carried away, she floats closer and closer to the man and his violin, then at last grasps the violin. But this is where the piano music jarringly strays from its soft tones to become a mess of a melody and the girl is jolted as if with an electric shock. She drops down heavily to where she is alone, with only a door in front of her. As you exit through the door, the demo ends leaving you wondering just what happened when the past was around.

When the Past Was Around- Demo-, extra localization рџ¦‰рџЊЋ

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РґР°РІР°Р№С‚Рµ РЅР°РґРѕРЅР°С‚РёРј СЂР°Р·СЂР°Р±РѕС‚С‡РёРєР°Рј РЅР° РїСЂРѕРґРѕР»Р¶РµРЅРёРµ 🙂

the most beautiful clicker i`ve ever played. the graphics are great, but the puzzles are too simple

let’s donate the developers to continue 🙂

such a fun and cute game 🙂

Woah. really digging the art style and music of this game, which as of right now is a “taster” for the full experience.

the art in this is wonderful!

omg I loved this game so fun!

Great start for you guys! I love it already! I’m looking forward to the full-release version! 🙂

I absolutely LOVED everything about this! ESPECIALLY the art! It is just gorgeous all around, with great atmosphere and gameplay. I love love loved it. Can’t wait for a longer version, though I thought the demo length was really good and gave you a few levels to get the feel of the game.

Pros and cons are down below) Check out me vid (the game is the 1st there):

Advantages:

1. The art style is amazing! Very wholesome and heartwarming! I like the pastel colors you chose especially!

2. The concept of interacting with objects and revealing the story is cool. I love how many little interactable things there are!

Disadvantages:

1. I didn’t quite get the story and the. owl? It’s not necessarily a disadvantage. It was personally for me. I would like a bit more clarity.

2. The piano puzzle is strange. It has excessive hints that repeat themselves. I think you could do without shapes. It just seems out of the place because you expect something more complicated seing the shapes.

Overall:

I enjoyed this a lot! It was a brief but bright experience that made me smile. Very beautiful! I wish to see more of your works!

Hope my feedback was useful!

What a beautiful experience! I teared up while playing. The art is an absolute delight, music is touching, and the storytelling is great. I look forward to any continuation on this game, and your others!

It was a great game.

I loved that! Cute, beautiful style and I the visual direction in general. I would totally play the full version of this.

This reminded me so much of a raven monologue. Going into this one, I had actually forgotten this was the same studio, I played RM for the first time in April of 2018. Playing this gave me a great impression of what this dev team can do. I like the approach both games shared in which the narrative is not told in words but rather in music. Just all around a great work of artistry. I’d like to wish you luck in your future projects, Team Owl is a great example of how animator giants become popular as well how hard animation can be. Keep making things you love and the rest will follow.

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What an absolutely gorgeous game! Thanks so much for working in this, I was hooked from beginning to end! Can’t wait for a full release!

oh i hope there will be more! the art is so cute and pretty

Absoulutly amazing! can’t wait for more

A really beautiful demo, can’t wait for the full release.

stunning visuals, great game, loved the music. I can’t wait until the full release! (в—Џв™Ўв€Ђв™Ў)

Beautiful narrative and excellent hand draw. The music has a charm, notes of nostalgia. What I liked most, without a doubt, were the drawings, what they express.

Very beautiful game.

Do you use GRIS for reference?

thank you for the support!рџЌ‚
yes! GRIS is one of our greatest influence as a silent game with great visuals.

Hello.
I played this demo version.

Everything is great in this game!
Everything is great, including pictures and music !!

Although I am writing with the help of Google Translator.
But I want to say this.

Thank you for making this game.

Beautiful. I loved every single moment of this game. Absolutely going to be following your studio!

Really liked this little intro but I really have to warn people about the loud beep in the game. I’m a composer with pretty sensitive hearing and that noise made me have a beep in my ear. Please take note of this.

Beautiful game, I look forward to playing the full version.

Loved the game!! The music, along with the puzzles were fantastic. can’t wait to see more 🙂

Beautiful game.. I probably ruined it with my weird sense of humor though lol XD

My experience with Mojiken Studios so far has been one of wonderment, discovery and delight, mixed with a vibrant handful of apprehensiveness and paranoia. When The Past Was Around is no different, a point and click puzzle game about a relationship that came and went.

What we don’t know is why it came and why it went, and maybe we don’t need to know. All we know is that what happened in between those two points was something wonderful, and perhaps that’s why we’re stuck thinking about those particular times, only to come back down to earth with a bump in the end.

Gameplay-wise, this is a great little scenery exploration game with some puzzles added to the mix, which aren’t super hard to overcome, but give the game a bit more of a challenging aspect.

The whole thing is so pretty to look at, with breathtaking visuals and a melodious soundtrack. Everything I’ve come to expect from these devs and I honestly can’t wait to see what they do next!

Please give this game a playthrough, you really won’t regret it! =)

Daily news (November 18, Round 2): Minecraft Dungeons / When The Past Was Around

Today’s Daily news: trailer for cross-platform play in Minecraft Dungeons, but also…

When The Past Was Around
Sniper Elite 4
Overwatch
Fatland: Prologue
Pokémon GO

Minecraft Dungeons

Here’s the latest trailer for Minecraft Dungeons, showcasing cross-platform play (now live via the latest Software update):

When The Past Was Around

Chorus Worldwide have announced that When The Past Was Around has been delayed to mid-December (it was previously slated for a November release).

Here’s some more details and the list of key features:

When the Past was Around, a whimsical point-and-click puzzle game about love, loss and letting go. The game offers a wordless yet profound narrative experience and features heart-wrenching moments to move players of all ages. When the Past was Around invites gamers to gather clues, solve puzzles and unravel secrets buried deep within the protagonist’s memory. Award-winning violin music accompanies you as you explore Eda’s world, as she re-traces the steps of her lost love within her memories.

Pictures Paint a Thousand Words – Experience the game’s story not through words or dialogue, but through beautifully hand-drawn art created by talented Indonesian artist, Brigitta Rena.
A Short, Sweet, Whimsical Journey – Explore a bittersweet tale between a girl and her love in disjointed rooms of memories through time.
Personal and Relatable – A game about overcoming the past and finding yourself.
Brain Teasing Puzzles – Solve intriguing puzzles to uncover the story.
Award-Winning Music – Atmospheric violin music accompanies you from moments of peace to heart-wrenching sadness.

When The Past Was Around (Switch – eShop) comes out in mid-December worldwide.

Source: Chorus Worldwide PR

Sniper Elite 4

Here’s the latest video for Sniper Elite 4:

Sniper Elite 4 (Switch) comes out on December 24th in Japan.

Overwatch

Here’s the preview video for the latest limited-time event in Overwatch, Symmetra’s Restoration Challenge (now live):

Fatland: Prologue

Here’s the launch trailer for Fatland: Prologue (now available in Europe and North America):

Pokémon GO

Niantic have announced various major changes coming to Pokémon GO next month:

Level-up redesign coming soon; level cap increased to 50! [more details]
Experience Pokémon GO in a new way with Seasons [more details]
Pokémon originally discovered in the Kalos region are coming [more details]
12 Days of Friendship event [more details]

Here’s a promo video:

The Upcoming Games page has been updated!

← Vigil: The Longest Night (Switch): Software updates
The Survivalists (Switch): Software updates (latest: Ver. 1.1) →

Lite_Agent

Founder and main writer for Perfectly Nintendo. Tried really hard to find something funny and witty to put here, but had to admit defeat. Also known as Maintenance Guy by some. Twitter: @lite_agent

When The Past Was Around – Prologue

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When The Past Was Around – Prologue

This is the prologue chapter of “When the Past was Around”, an upcoming adventure point-and-click puzzle game about love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between.
Store | Hub | SteamDB
Developer: Mojiken Publisher: Toge Productions
Genre: Adventure, Casual, Indie
Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish – Spain, Korean, Portuguese – Brazil, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Spanish – Latin America
Tags: Casual (78), Indie (78), Adventure (65), Puzzle (63), Beautiful (62), Point & Click (62), Hand-drawn (60), Hidden Object (60), Great Soundtrack (59), Philosophical (59), Free to Play (58), Relaxing (58), Female Protagonist (57), Cute (56), Mystery (56), Touch-Friendly (55), Emotional (55), Surreal (55), Singleplayer (48), Atmospheric (43)
Category: Single-player, Remote Play on Phone, Remote Play on Tablet
Release date: Nov 4, 2019
Free
Old userscore: 95% Owners: 20,000 .. 50,000
Followers: 1,492
Peak concurrent players yesterday: 1
YouTube stats: 129 views and 8 comments for top 50 videos uploaded last week, 1 new videos uploaded yesterday.

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