Steam Review Key Provided By Humble Grove
While I enjoy kicking back and relaxing by mindlessly playing games with smooth combat gameplay and unique online experiences, I just as equally love a great story-driven experience that makes me feel something. Humble Grove’s No Longer Home did just that for me as I grew to know the game's main characters, their friends, and the situation that they were going through. The story is resonant, relatable, and doesn’t linger too long to wear out its importance.
Story
No Longer Home revolves around the main characters of Ao and Bo, a couple who are dealing with the responsibility of adulthood and them having to spend time away from each other due to an expiring visa.
Through the story, you learn more about them and see them learn more about themselves as they try to navigate their feelings. Leaving behind college and friends, everything feels like it’s moving so fast that days seem to blend together and it’s getting harder to deal with the impending separation.
The game is a semi-autobiographical experience coming directly from the developers of the game, Hana Lee (they/them) and Cel Davison (they/them). Ao and Bo, like their creators, are non-binary so we get to learn about how they’re feeling not just in their own skin but how they feel in the eyes of the world around them and the pressure they feel.
Their thoughts and feelings even materialize at points, with heavy exposition through metaphoric creatures. It’s such a universal feeling to be isolated in one’s head, and I think that Humble Grove communicated this perfectly. The subject matter is handled maturely and with obvious passion.
There’s some pretty deep dialogue and it’s refreshing to see characters be so vulnerable. They aren’t afraid to talk about how they’re feeling and it truly creates a real connection not just between the characters but between the player and them as well.
Gameplay
While playing the game, I was very appreciative that there isn’t too much to do. The characters are the main attraction. You can walk around the apartment and interact with things when prompted, or click through dialogue and make your choices. Dialogue can be triggered through objects around the apartment or by starting a conversation with a nearby character.
There’s a good back and forth where you don’t necessarily choose dialogue for who you’re playing as at the moment. You can choose dialogue for people participating in the conversation. I was blown away by how much exposition there is in this game. Playing once, you still don’t even get the full picture of how these characters feel. I love the fact that the story is what was front and center.
That’s not to say that the devs didn’t get a little creative. You can turn the apartment around using the A and D keys, so you can get a better view of it and uncover a potential object you didn’t see before. There’s also a really cool sequence that allows you to partake in an RPG game of sorts. No Longer Home just has this free-flowing vibe to it and yet still remains melancholy.
Visuals and Audio
The remaining ingredients of what made No Longer Home so good to me were its geometric art style and its indie-influenced sound. The colors in this world really bring out the atmosphere that the characters are going to miss so deeply. You get the feel of the good memories that they’re so deeply tied to.
The soundtrack is fantastic and moves beautifully with how the title looks and the life of Ao and Bo. They’re young, curious about life, and are depressed with the fact that they’re going to be apart while also trying to find themselves as well.
Sounds are also very good as well. Dialogue has a beat to it as each character talks. It matches quite well with how each of us has our own beat of talking in real life. It’s a creative design choice that I’d like to see more in games like this where there are no actors portraying the characters.
Replayability
As I said above, because there are so many different choices in dialogue, there’s an opportunity to play the game over and over. It’s especially important as I was able to finish the game in under 2 hours. This length lends itself perfectly with the fact that you can and should play it more than once, at least.
What It Could Have Done Better
My only complaint about this title is that I experienced an issue at the end where the credits didn’t crawl across the screen. It’s a small issue and even though it happened, Steam did give me the achievement for completing it. So anyone worried about that should be A-ok.
Verdict
No Longer Home is a game that everyone can relate to. No matter who you are, you can play this game and see yourself through these characters in some aspect. The story is beautifully done, the characters are solid, and I’m so glad that it was made. If you’re looking for a true narrative-driven title with characters that are worth spending time with, No Longer Home is for you.
