Closer The Distance Review — Closure

Some games we play to feel better, and most games we play when we’re bored. Others are designed to give us a good scare or are intentionally challenging, competitive, or even frustrating so that we can gain a sense of accomplishment after flexing our skill over an opponent or conquering a particularly difficult obstacle. No matter the case, at the end of the day, games generally always come back around to be a positive experience in some way or the other.

Some games can make you feel bad. Some games can have heart-wrenching stories or deep character exchanges, dredging you in a sea of bittersweet emotions and poetic lamentation of some of life’s hardest moments—stories about grief, heartbreak, failure, and disappointment. Yet, no matter how heavy these subject matters can be, these games are still a positive experience like the others. They often teach us, even if in just a small way, how to handle these moments in our real world, and can be a cathartic reminder for those who have lived these stories that they aren’t alone and that life and you can move on. Often, stories even serve as an outlet for the creators, who usually tell these tales in the first place to share and cope with their experiences and even celebrate the memories of those involved.

Closer The Distance is one of those games.

Closer The Distance tells the story of Conny, a young girl in a small town with a penchant for sewing and something of a shy streak. One night, Conny’s life, and the life of the entire village, is torn apart by the tragic death of Conny’s older sister in a hit-and-run. Everyone is shaken by the incident, nobody more than Conny and her family, and they must grieve the loss in their own way. Things are made no easier by the fact that Conny and Conny alone can hear the voice of her late sister.

If you couldn’t tell by my lengthy introduction or by my synopsis of the game’s opening, I think it goes without saying that Closer The Distance is an exceptionally emotional game. The entire narrative, along with the lengthy and thought-provoking dialogues between the many members of the village of Yesterby, revolves around the themes of grief, closure, empathy, and community. It is a game not only about making time for yourself and grieving your loss but also about helping others where they need it.

A game like Closer The Distance is carried, in no small way, by its story, characters, and the dialogue exchanged between them. It was built from the ground up around its themes, and it very clearly wants to share its messages with you and make you feel above all else. That being said, Closer The Distance could very well have been nothing more than a visual novel and accomplished this task easily. The way in which Closer The Distance chooses to deliver its message, however, is pretty interesting, and I think it makes for a unique gameplay experience.

In Closer The Distance, you only control Conny. You are constantly aware of her basic needs for food, sleep, routine, solitude, etc., and you are also privy to her thoughts. It is your job to take care of all of Conny’s needs and satisfy her thoughts and desires by interacting with the other community members of Yesterby.

While Conny is the only character you can actually control, you can also see the thoughts and needs of the other members of Yesterby and jump to their perspective at any time.

It’s not a bad comparison to say that Closer The Distance plays an awful lot like a story-driven game of The Sims. Simply replace the house building and woohooing with the grim reaper with thought-provoking, heart-wrenching conversations between the town’s cast of characters.

Something about this choice of gameplay mechanic is really, really cool to me. In a sense, it’s kind of poetic; grief can make tackling your day-to-day feel like a videogame, a series of tasks to accomplish that feels almost artificially forced. The perspective of trying to balance all of Conny’s needs and desires interspersed with these incredibly emotional conversations made Closer The Distance feel like an almost jarring yet familiar experience.

I felt that the game allowing you to see the needs of the townsfolk, but not allowing you to simulate them in the same way you could with Connie was also kind of poetic. We’ve all seen people suffer and often feel we know what they need just by looking at them. He needs to sleep more; he needs to rest, and he needs to be given space. However, sometimes all we can do is let them be and watch and wait, hoping that they find the time and will to take care of themselves.

The game’s story is not told completely from Conny’s perspective, either, which gives switching to other characters an actual purpose. As characters go about their lives, they will occasionally interact with each other, exchanging dialogue entirely out of earshot or without the context of our protagonist. When this happens, the game gives you a notification, allowing you to hop over and watch. This makes the story feel alive and decidedly not Conny-centric, which makes the whole thing feel all the more real. You begin to care about these characters outside of their relation to Conny and get wrapped up in their day-to-day.

If I could complain about anything in Closer The Distance, it would be that the game is a bit too poetic. While I mostly enjoyed the dialogue, the game will sometimes jump from incredibly deep pieces of poetry to conversations that have me thinking, “People do not talk like that.” However, this is probably something I will notice, and frankly, I don’t think it’s my place to criticize the art that deeply. That’s what Closer The Distance is; it’s an art piece with a unique presentation, and I think it is well worth your time to check it out.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Closer The Distance is available on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation.