What I'm Playing, part 22
Fragments of Him is a beautiful, four part story about a man named Will and his relationships with his boyfriend Harry, his friend Sarah and his grandmother Mary. Each part of the story is filled with a lot of harsh, bitter truths about love, loss and forgiveness that I won't spoil here. I just think it's a game that you owe to yourself to play. Just make sure that you have a box of tissues handy.
I do have some commentary on a couple of the stories, particularly the grandmother and his boyfriend.
His grandmother is, of course, old fashioned and doesn't understand or agree with who Will is. Her reaction when she discovers that he's gay is negative, but not overly so. Not in comparison to some other stories (both fiction and non) that I've heard. When someone that's close to you finds out you're gay and has such a negative reaction to the point where they cut you out of their life or they say something negative...that sort of thing is hard to hear, and it hurts. I'll never understand, for the rest of my life, why people feel like they have failed as a parent if their kid turns out to be gay. I'll never understand why it has to matter so much either.
As far as his boyfriend's story, speaking from personal experience, they really hit the nail on the head. When someone that's been a part of your life for so long is suddenly gone, nothing matters anymore. At least not at first. When Harry starts to remove everything in their apartment, I knew what he was feeling. I did the same thing after my mother died. I had all this stuff that she had bought me over the years, but I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, so I got rid of it. Material possessions can never replace someone. You learn to go on without them, but it takes time to heal. How much time depends on the person. You pick up the pieces and continue on with the fight, no matter how much it hurts at first. You get used to the pain until it eventually stops hurting.
Final Verdict
I very much enjoyed this game and completed it from beginning to end in one sitting. I like the monochromatic art style and the minimal glowing effect that shows around objects in the game that keep the story flowing. The play controls are very simple and the music and writing are both beautiful. This was very much a perfect rainy day game, and a good reminder that love is worth having even if it's for a short while.
% of trophies at the time of writing according to PSN: 100%