Thank you, Little Guy Games, for sending us a review code!

People are starting to use the medium of video games to get certain points across or tell stories that a picture or video otherwise could not. There has been a big influx of these narrative-driven games coming out. The Last Sky is an adventure hybrid by Little Guy Games. It is one part platformer and one part “point-and-click.”

The Last Sky starts with a view of a forest at night. The camera moves through the trees and spots a man wearing the skin of a hooved animal, while another man sleeps beside him. The man wearing the animal skin is constantly beating a drum while keeping warm by the fire. The next scene is a man explaining through text that he is on a journey to cure his PTSD, and he has to speak to a shaman for his first task. The scene following that is a boy, shrunken down on a piano while he walks on the keys. It seems to have been a dream as now an elderly man wakes up after an unseen woman calls for him. This man is named Jake.

As Jake, you can move around the room in a 3D space, interacting with the various items throughout the room. At Jake’s desk, he has a collection of books—most of which are either educational, historical, or philosophical in nature. He also has a piano, which requires a key to unlock, a grandfather clock that isn’t working, a cellar door with a lock, and an old-timey record player that is missing its vinyl. Pictures and photos are hung throughout the room while a younger-sounding Jake narrates about the memory. When looking through the room, broken pieces of a toy airplane can be found, but why is the toy broken in the first place? Throughout the serene sounds of nature such as the chirping of the birds, there is something strange about the room that Jake has awoken into.

Not everything is as it seems. Jake is, after all, trying to cure his PTSD. Soon, events start to take a turn for the weird. The subject of mental health will always be a touchy subject to tackle because not all mental issues are the same. They are also rarely talked about as it makes people feel uncomfortable. People suffering from mental disorders or illnesses have a hard time receiving help because their way of thinking (for the most part) prevents them from seeking out help. It’s also hard for “normal” people to relate to their issues because they have never experienced what the recipient is going through. As things continue to get strange, you’ll find more about Jake’s issues and how he feels about the events in his life.

The 2.5D sections are easily the most visually impressive The Last Sky has to offer. They are platforming segments that peek into Jake’s past—perhaps into a time where he was happier. One area has him scaling what appears to be the inside of a clocktower, and another has a massive tree, as bright as fluorescent lights. In some of these sections, there are these orange and purple lights that look like stars and flutter like fireflies. Touching the purple one sends you upward and the orange one sends you forward or backward horizontally. The platforming is not difficult; however, it controls fluidly and soaring through the skies by these lights may invoke Jake’s sense of freedom during his younger days or his love for aviation.

Music isn’t played very often, but when it is, it usually takes classical pieces and inserts them into scenes, such as Nocturne op.9 No.2 by Chopin. Other than that, sound either comes from Jake walking, Jake’s inner monologues that are voiced, and when touching the aforementioned purple and orange lights.

There are more moral warnings, but many of them go into spoiler territory.

Rarely do I end a game left with more questions than answers. Truthfully, I don’t know how to feel about The Last Sky. It brings forward mental issues, namely PTSD, in hopes that either people who are suffering from it can learn to cope with it in a healthier method or people who don’t have it have a better understanding of people who do. The visuals are simple, yet appealing, and the evolving narrative keeps you in to see to the end. The ending is rather vague (which may have been done on purpose) and depending on your choices, you can reach the only non-standard game over, not being able to obtain any ending. The experience is rather short, with both endings taking less than two hours to reach. As of this review, The Last Sky is in Early Access, with feedback influencing future content. Maybe when the full game releases, I’ll have a more concrete feeling. If you like narrative-based video games, it’s one of the better ones out there at least.