Once again it seems as though the indie genre picks up where triple A gaming fails. Always Sometimes Monsters is a compelling and enthralling game brought to us by the aptly named Vagabond Dog. To surmise Always Sometimes Monsters as eloquently (and with as little spoilers) as possible, it would begin with a small anecdote, much as life and this game does.

Emotions are a fickle thing indeed. Our lives are so dictated by facts, set on rails since the time we begin to the time it ends, and that railcar called life never stops moving no matter how bad the road gets, picking up and losing speed wherever it feels it wants to. We can choose to leave that railcar and act as we see fit, essentially moving with our emotions, but we must keep in mind that we're shackled to it, and if we let it get too far ahead of us it will drag us into the ground. That doesn't mean that life hates us or has any preference, just that it always keeps moving and we neeed to keep that in mind. Always Sometimes Monsters is an amazing portrayal of such a concept.

Storytelling as a medium is relatively new to anything outside of literature, especially in most western culture. Things are very action oriented, and it's easy to do so in a field such as video games, because all that is required is to present a moving story and hope your audience accepts it. It's when we are given control of situations that storytelling becomes complicated. You can say that you ultimately want to write a sad story or a happy story, but is it really simple to portray a story as just that? As something that has ups and downs depending on your own choices, forcing you to keep in mind that things move on and everything has its own time and pace? Always Sometimes Monsters would make it seem as simple as breathing.

Throughout the course of this game I was given situations and choices that had me constantly reflecting on myself and my own life as much as my character's, and those choices did eventually catch up to me in some way or another. I felt happy, I felt sad, and by the end of it I felt empty. I stood at the edge of the game and could only look back, regretting what I had done and thinking that perhaps I could have done better. There was, however, a small spart within me that kept me looking forward. I had realized that this game had never pushed me ahead, in fact it had given me the option to give up and turn back many times, and I as an individual chose to press on.

There was no fate that kept me moving constantly forward, there was just life. Very few times did the game make me question myself, it instead provided me with the opportunity to reflect in a manner that touched my heart in pleasant and disturbing ways. Ultimately this game made me feel something that I had grown accustom to, but it instead let me see it from the outside looking in: depression and desperation. I didn't feel happy just because the story said I was happy, nor did I feel broken just because the story said it was so. I felt human living within the world presented to me, and that is a truly beautiful and complicated thing to be able to create.

Vagabond Dog has successfully created what I would say is one of the most beautiful and realistic portrayal of a single fragment of life that I've ever seen, regardless of the medium used. I would recommend this game to anyone at all who has any interest in storytelling via the video game medium. This wonderful game stands as a reminder that video games can be so much more than just pointing and shooting, and I hope that Vagabond Dog continues making such wonderful games in the future.

GO BUY THIS GAME NOW.

Once again it seems as though the indie genre picks up where triple A gaming fails. Always Sometimes Monsters is a compelling and enthralling game brought to us by the aptly named Vagabond Dog. To surmise Always Sometimes Monsters as eloquently (and with as little spoilers) as possible, it would begin with a small anecdote, much as life and this game does. Emotions are a fickle thing indeed. Our lives are so dictated by facts, set on rails since the time we begin to the time it ends, and that railcar called life never stops moving no matter how bad the road gets, picking up and losing speed wherever it feels it wants to. We can choose to leave that railcar and act as we see fit, essentially moving with our emotions, but we must keep in mind that we're shackled to it, and if we let it get too far ahead of us it will drag us into the ground. That doesn't mean that life hates us or has any preference, just that it always keeps moving and we neeed to keep that in mind. Always Sometimes Monsters is an amazing portrayal of such a concept. Storytelling as a medium is relatively new to anything outside of literature, especially in most western culture. Things are very action oriented, and it's easy to do so in a field such as video games, because all that is required is to present a moving story and hope your audience accepts it. It's when we are given control of situations that storytelling becomes complicated. You can say that you ultimately want to write a sad story or a happy story, but is it really simple to portray a story as just that? As something that has ups and downs depending on your own choices, forcing you to keep in mind that things move on and everything has its own time and pace? Always Sometimes Monsters would make it seem as simple as breathing. Throughout the course of this game I was given situations and choices that had me constantly reflecting on myself and my own life as much as my character's, and those choices did eventually catch up to me in some way or another. I felt happy, I felt sad, and by the end of it I felt empty. I stood at the edge of the game and could only look back, regretting what I had done and thinking that perhaps I could have done better. There was, however, a small spart within me that kept me looking forward. I had realized that this game had never pushed me ahead, in fact it had given me the option to give up and turn back many times, and I as an individual chose to press on. There was no fate that kept me moving constantly forward, there was just life. Very few times did the game make me question myself, it instead provided me with the opportunity to reflect in a manner that touched my heart in pleasant and disturbing ways. Ultimately this game made me feel something that I had grown accustom to, but it instead let me see it from the outside looking in: depression and desperation. I didn't feel happy just because the story said I was happy, nor did I feel broken just because the story said it was so. I felt human living within the world presented to me, and that is a truly beautiful and complicated thing to be able to create. Vagabond Dog has successfully created what I would say is one of the most beautiful and realistic portrayal of a single fragment of life that I've ever seen, regardless of the medium used. I would recommend this game to anyone at all who has any interest in storytelling via the video game medium. This wonderful game stands as a reminder that video games can be so much more than just pointing and shooting, and I hope that Vagabond Dog continues making such wonderful games in the future. GO BUY THIS GAME NOW.