Explore the interconnected stories of six characters as their daily lives bring them together.
Half Past Fate
Developer: Serenity Forge
Price: $20
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Switch
MonsterVine was provided a PC code for review.
Half Past Fate begins with a message that reads “12 hours ago.” I was immediately curious about what event would happen 12 hours later, and even more so when Chapter 2 began with the message “8 days ago.” This sets up the narrative structure for Half Past Fate. The story is told in a nonlinear fashion, with each chapter taking place at a different point in the past.
There are six main characters that the game follows, and each chapter is essentially a small, self-contained adventure game. You can walk around, inspect things in the environment, talk to characters, and pick up items to solve puzzles with. For example, one chapter features a photography student trying to recreate a photo. In order to get the shot right, she needs to convince a group of kids to move, get a classmate to pose for the picture, and find something to stand on for the correct angle. Another chapter features a young man trying to learn the origins of a receipt he was given, but he needs help from someone who can read Japanese and someone who recognizes the logo on the receipt. Each task requires you to interact with other characters and help them out.
The puzzles are all fairly simple, and the small setting of each chapter means they never get too complicated. The game only saves between chapters, but since each chapter only takes about 10-15 minutes, it isn’t too frustrating.
At first, the stories feel distinct, but it isn’t long before little connections start to appear. The protagonist of the first chapter has a chance encounter with someone who turns out to be another major character later on. A supporting character in one story will be related to a character from another. Even the minor characters you meet appear in multiple chapters, easily conveying the sense that the characters’ stories are playing out alongside one another.
The best part is how natural it feels. While the characters do eventually remark on how it feels like “fate” played a hand in bringing them together because of the coincidences involved, it never feels like the connections themselves are forced. The main characters are all pretty likable too, so I wanted them to succeed in their goals, although the side characters blurred together after a while. And due to the non-linear storytelling, eventually I found myself guessing at the start of a new chapter which events it would deal with, thanks to the context clues of the previous chapters.
Half Past Fate has charming pixel art graphics, and the interface is easy to use. The only thing I disliked about its presentation was that there are only a handful of songs, so I felt like I heard the same music over and over during the few hours my playthrough took.
It’s also important to keep in mind that Half Past Fate is very much a slice-of-life story. It’s a romantic comedy that has several humorous moments and entertaining dialogue, but it is first and foremost a story about these people’s lives. There’s no huge crisis or major conflict–just six people trying to connect as circumstances and misunderstandings keep them apart.
The Final Word
It’s a simple slice-of-life story with straightforward puzzles, but if that’s your thing, Half Past Fate does a clever job of connecting its cast of characters in ways that feel natural.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
