The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories Review – Heartwarmingly Horrifying

Use your newfound regeneration powers to traverse an island filled with deadly traps and find your missing friend, in a macabre yet heartfelt puzzle-platformer.

The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
White Owls Inc.
Price: $29.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One, Switch
MonsterVine was provided with a PC code for review.

When J.J. and her best friend Emily go on a camping trip to a strange island, J.J. wakes up to find that Emily has gone missing. She sets out to find her–and dies along the way, only to be revived with the newfound power to regenerate limbs and recover from even the most grievous injuries.

This introduces the central gameplay twist of The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. While it’s largely set up like a typical side-scrolling puzzle-platformer, its numerous traps and dangers aren’t obstacles to avoid, but part of the puzzle-solving process. Whether you’re throwing a dismembered limb as a projectile, leaping into a saw blade so the momentum flings your torso to a higher platform, or rolling through a gap too narrow for anything but your head, its puzzles revel in the grotesque and continually find new and fresh ways to make use of this power. These are largely physics-based puzzles, and they’re quite satisfying to solve. Some are simple, but others are more complex and require you to think through how you can sustain injuries and use them to get past obstacles. I enjoyed the careful blend of familiar puzzle-solving with this game’s unique twist.

Due to the aesthetic and perspective, it isn’t gory or particularly graphic even when you’re dealing with dead bodies and dismembered limbs, but the sound effects make up for that. It’s just detailed enough to be disturbing, with snapping bones, screams of pain, and other reminders that J.J. is going through horrific trauma in her journey. As you proceed through each level, you’ll periodically get text messages from J.J.’s stuffed toy F.K.–and that’s just as weird with context as it is without–as well as unlocking old conversations from J.J.’s mom and Emily that help you piece together what led up to this point. There are also doughnut collectibles to find, which unlock additional conversations with other characters. Since I enjoyed the story additions, I went out of my way to find as many of the collectibles as possible, solving trickier puzzles in order to do so. While these extra conversations are short, they do a lot to flesh out J.J.’s past and her relationships.

The Missing begins with a message that says, “This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are,” and while you might be skeptical about that when you’re getting chopped to pieces to solve a puzzle, it really does carry a message of acceptance and hope. At the same time, it deals with heavy themes and mature subject matter, including suicide and sexuality. Some of this is symbolic while other parts are overt. In some ways, these issues are used as twists, but they’re important enough and incorporated respectfully enough that it never feels like they’re present for the sake of shock value. Although the story becomes a bit predictable partway through, it still has a few surprises before the end. Even once I figured out the general course it would take, J.J.’s struggle to understand and accept herself was compelling, and I wanted to see how her story would resolve.

Satisfying puzzles, an intense atmosphere achieved through dark environments and unsettling audio, and heartfelt storytelling come together to make The Missing a worthwhile experience if you’re looking for a game that combines serious issues with more than a touch of the macabre.

The Final Word
With its gruesome puzzles and serious subject matter, The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories isn’t for everyone, but behind the darkness lies a hopeful story and clever puzzle design.

– MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good