Although in development, The Last Sky by developer and publisher Little Guy Games is now available on Steam Early for both Mac and PC as Early Access.
This new indie game comes with a warning. This warning explains the premise of the game, as well as the promise of a unique gameplay experience. The warning explains that The Last Sky tackles adult themes, mainly post-traumatic stress disorder.
Narrative-driven, The Last Sky takes you on a journey with a man named Jake who clearly fought in a war, and who’s seen horrors that no human should ever endure. In an attempt to save himself, he sought out a shaman. In the middle of the shaman’s process to heal Jake, our story in The Last Sky begins.
Thrust into a single room, The Last Sky starts out as a simple puzzler game adding intrigue as memories catch back up to Jake, to his dismay or confusion. A single room, locked inside, with chaos just on the other side of the door. There is so much to uncover, to learn, to be revealed – pieces are put together as one explores this single bedroom, until finally the shaman reveals himself.
And then The Last Sky becomes mostly a game of dialogue, with a few choices the player can make that influences the ending. But overall, The Last Sky is a game that switches between the past and the future. The present is barely touched upon, and one never controls Jake in the present. He’s too locked up in the past, regardless: a symptom of his condition.
When dealing with Jake’s past and anxieties, the player will go through a dungeon-like part of the game that is essentially linear. Jumping from light to light, you rise and fall, leap across chasms, and dive deeper into Jake’s psyche.
The Last Sky is not about active, fast gameplay. The beauty is in the motifs, the music, the artwork. In the emotions that The Last Sky both provokes and cultivates. Light and darkness are used in precise manners; life and death are balanced against one another; fear and love fight for supremacy in our hearts. As emotions are ridden like uncontrollable waves, the music in The Last Sky crescendos or hastens, wrapping the player in an experience of anxiety and PTSD.
Is recovery in reaching distance? Or is Jake destined to drown in his despair?
The Last Sky weaves a story of heartbreak, loss, destruction, love, anxiety, fear, and strength in just a short hour of gameplay. The Last Sky is worth a playthrough (or two, if you want to experience the other ending).
Furthermore, this is not the final version of the game – the developers expect the final version to be realized around June. More endings, dialogue, and such are going to be possibly added using community feedback. A game mirroring the human experience growing by taking in human input is perfect, and I am sure it will pay off.
Check Out The Last Sky Steam Early Access Trailer:
The Last Sky is available for PC and Mac for $8.99 via Steam Early Access.
For more information, please visit the official website.
Mac Review
I'm Zepora, a junior at UC Berkeley studying Economics. I grew up attached to my Game Boy playing the Pokémon games, but now I turn to my consoles as break from school work when I'm not busy with lacrosse. I prefer RPG's with a some action, such as Elder Scrolls and Assassin's Creed (which is my favorite franchise) but am also known to play Super Smash Bros until 3am with my friends.
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