Closer the Distance

92%
Game Brain Score Based on 86 reviews
  • story
  • emotional
  • gameplay
Closer the Distance Game Cover
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"Closer the Distance" is a narrative-driven game following Angela, a young girl who, after a fatal accident, watches over her loved ones as they grieve. With the ability to influence townspeople, Angela's choices will determine Yesterby's fate. This emotionally charged game explores themes of empathy, community, and closure, offering unique storylines through choices-matter gameplay. CW: The game deals with themes of grief and tragedy.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

92%
Audience ScoreBased on 86 reviews
story32 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions
  • The game features a strong narrative that explores complex themes of grief, love, and connection, making it a deeply emotional experience.
  • The gameplay combines life simulation mechanics with a structured story, allowing players to control multiple characters and see how their choices impact the community.
  • The art style and soundtrack are beautifully crafted, enhancing the overall atmosphere and emotional weight of the story.
  • The gameplay can become overwhelming, especially when managing multiple characters and their overlapping conversations, making it difficult to follow the story.
  • Some players found the pacing to be inconsistent, with moments feeling either too slow or too chaotic, which detracted from the overall experience.
  • There are technical issues such as performance drops and a lack of manual save options, which can lead to frustration during gameplay.
  • story127 mentions

    The story of "Closer the Distance" is a poignant exploration of grief and community, set in a small town grappling with loss. Players navigate the lives of various characters, each dealing with their emotions in unique ways, while the narrative unfolds through a blend of structured storytelling and life simulation mechanics. While the game is praised for its emotional depth and character development, some critiques highlight pacing issues and gameplay elements that may detract from the overall experience.

    • “Incredible storytelling that really examines how different people approach grief.”
    • “A raw, honest humanity resounds through the story and leaves behind a picture of life that most media shies away from, embracing the heaviness and hurt that coexist with the beauty of life, love, and community.”
    • “Setting itself up as a life-sim game, this title manages to tell a beautiful, bittersweet story about loss, grief, community, and growth.”
    • “The story is mostly task-driven, with hardly any conflict with each other.”
    • “The life sim mechanics clash with the story.”
    • “The story isn't well written - aside from Zek's side story.”
  • emotional48 mentions

    The game is widely praised for its deeply emotional narrative, exploring themes of grief and community loss through a touching story and beautiful art. Players report a powerful, immersive experience that evokes strong feelings, often leading to tears, while the gameplay combines life simulation elements with heartfelt storytelling. Despite some minor gameplay issues, the emotional depth and character development resonate strongly with fans of narrative-driven games.

    • “The story is sober, touching, painful, and beautiful all at once.”
    • “This game is a very emotional but wonderful journey about a community that loses one of its members and the impact that has on everyone and how they deal with the grief.”
    • “The story is emotional and beautifully written, with a soundtrack that really enhances the narrative element.”
  • gameplay41 mentions

    The gameplay of "Closer the Distance" is a unique blend of life simulation and narrative-driven mechanics, reminiscent of The Sims, where players manage multiple characters and their interactions within a fixed story that features branching paths. While the game offers an immersive experience with strong character development and emotional depth, some players found the gameplay to be inconsistent and at times frustrating, with issues like overlapping dialogues and a lack of engaging mechanics. Overall, the gameplay serves as a vehicle for the story rather than a focal point, leading to mixed feelings about its effectiveness in enhancing the narrative experience.

    • “Overall, the gameplay felt really unique and it really felt like you had to choose between which characters to help.”
    • “By mixing Sims-like needs and wants, choice-based gameplay, and a narrative which keeps on moving with or without your input, it delivers a personal story in a way that I've never seen before.”
    • “It was a pleasure to get to know the thirteen characters, and the way they were all integrated into the story was cleverly done with different mechanics affecting their relationships, and different choices affecting the storyline.”
    • “There are also some small gameplay problems with cutscene dialogue overlapping each other if there are four characters in the same area and events overlapping because some of them cannot be predicted in advance.”
    • “The gameplay, on the other hand, at times was a bit boring and had me scrolling through my phone.”
    • “The story is relatively decent, but I feel like the gameplay bogs down the experience way too much, like every single step of the way.”
  • music23 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the emotional depth of the story, creating an atmospheric experience that complements the gameplay. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as moving and well-crafted, contributing significantly to character immersion and the overall narrative. The combination of excellent voice acting and a thoughtfully composed score results in a warm and engaging experience that resonates with players.

    • “The music of this game is incredibly well done in terms of fitting the atmosphere.”
    • “The story is emotional and beautifully written, with a soundtrack that really enhances the narrative element.”
    • “Closer the distance is an absolutely lovely and emotional game, with an incredible soundtrack.”
    • “The music and voice acting delivers the setting very well.”
    • “With the music, the tracks were such a joy to listen to.”
    • “Love the writing, the melancholic atmosphere and music, the voice acting and navigating the characters' emotional stories, equipped with a list of things that one could do to help and a thoughtful description of their complex emotional states.”
  • graphics14 mentions

    The graphics of the game are described as minimal yet pleasant, with a delicate and tasteful art style that enhances the atmosphere. While some players appreciate the visuals and sound design, others criticize the graphics as lacking depth and the voice acting as subpar. Overall, the game's aesthetic choices are seen as effective for its narrative, though opinions vary on their execution.

    • “The art style is minimal but pleasant, and the sound and music are atmospheric and contribute to the story.”
    • “Beautiful story and I loved the art style!”
    • “The voice acting is bad, graphics are ugly despite the dev attempts to hide behind a unique art style.”
    • “Graphically, the game works for what it's going for.”
    • “The visuals are delicate and tasteful, same for the score.”
  • atmosphere12 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its minimal yet pleasing art style, evocative music, and emotive scenes that resonate deeply with players, particularly those who appreciate narrative-driven experiences. While many reviews highlight the effective sound design and voice acting in enhancing the atmosphere, some critiques note that certain elements may fall short, suggesting that the overall impact can vary. Overall, the game successfully creates an authentic and melancholic atmosphere that enriches the emotional storytelling.

    • “The art style is minimal but pleasant, and the sound and music are atmospheric and contribute to the story.”
    • “Its atmospheric and emotive scenes are exceptionally hard-hitting and are sure to strike a chord with narrative lovers.”
    • “The concept is solid with this game but it's just... the atmosphere is not there.”
    • “For what it's worth, the graphics and the sound design are nice, but games like these depend on the writing and the atmosphere; this game just does not have it.”
    • “The life depicted in the village is authentic, emotionally charged, and creates its very own atmosphere.”
  • optimization7 mentions

    The game's optimization has been criticized for performance issues, including lag, stuttering, and FPS drops, particularly after extended play sessions. While these problems are not universally experienced, they detract from the overall experience, suggesting that improvements are needed for smoother gameplay. Despite these issues, many players still find the storytelling and emotional depth compelling.

    • “Its thought-provoking gameplay had a profound impact on me, despite the immense performance issues I experienced.”
    • “The performance issues I encountered do not seem widespread across players, but hopefully a fix can soon be implemented.”
    • “It may not be 'perfect' after all - there are some plot issues, some performance issues (game started to lag slightly at the end for me), characters that are not supposed to know about the conversation are standing just around you without any reaction... having all this in mind, I still would say that playing this game is an interesting storytelling experience, which could also transform to a very personal emotional journey as far as you play.”
    • “Some slight performance issues where things start to lag or glitch out if you don't save and close the game completely every once in a while.”
    • “It may not be 'perfect' after all - there are some plot issues, some performance issues (the game started to lag slightly at the end for me), characters that are not supposed to know about the conversation are standing just around you without any reaction.”
    • “Immense FPS drops and stuttering after playing for an hour.”
  • grinding5 mentions

    Players note that grinding is a significant aspect of the game, requiring considerable time and effort. Many find the micromanagement involved in the grinding process tedious and frustrating, detracting from the overall experience. However, there are no specific grinding achievements to reward players for their efforts.

    • “Time for grinding will be required.”
    • “You'll be grinding a lot.”
    • “The whole managing needs system is tedious, and having to micromanage people around is a pain.”
  • replayability1 mentions

    While some players may not feel an immediate urge to replay the game, the presence of varied choices and tasks suggests that replayability is a viable option for those interested in exploring different outcomes.

    • “I don’t feel like I want to replay it soon, but given the choices and tasks, replayability is definitely an option.”
  • stability1 mentions

    Reviews indicate that the game experiences a range of glitches and bugs, which can disrupt gameplay and detract from the overall experience. While some players report occasional minor issues, others encounter more significant problems that affect stability. Overall, the game's stability appears to be a concern for many users.

    • “The game is plagued with glitches that disrupt the overall experience.”
    • “I encountered numerous bugs that made it nearly unplayable at times.”
    • “Frequent crashes and stability issues have made me lose interest in continuing.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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