Florence ٤+

Right off the bat, Florence captivated me with its art style and somber music. The story is nothing new, but Annapurna Interactive manages to mesh in the right music, character development, and pacing to create a compelling and believable story.

I imagine there will be lots of people who will identify with Florence- those who have been working meaningless full time jobs that make them feel hollow and unfulfilled. To those, Florence speaks that it is worth taking a step back to consider pursuing your dreams and passions- it is never too late.

To those expecting a happily ever after ending, Florence affirms our understanding that despite our best wishes and intents, life doesn’t always go the way that we want it too. People come into our lives, and sometimes they go. But Florence teaches us to not let those experiences tear us down. In having new people come into our lives, we learn new things about them and about ourselves. Meeting new people is an essential part of self discovery that allows us to harness what we learn about ourselves and use that knowledge to shape a happier and better future.

I was really impressed by how they told such a compelling engaging story in this medium- relying primarily on interactive visuals. It was such creative visual storytelling and a joy to experience this whole arc in florence's life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The story's format and the tools they used to tell it was really impressive to me because of the skillfulness and partially because it's a novel format. Apps that tell stories artistically are fairly new to me, and fairly new in general! This app did a wonderful job. it seems like a really lovely way to explore a character-focused piece, which I love. it takes creativity to devise methods of communicating the highs and lows in such a clear and precise way... I loved it and thanks to the people who worked on it :-)

To everyone else: I definitely recommend giving it a shot and supporting it if you can. the story itself explores heartbreak but is also very encouraging. 🌱🌿 The music and art and interactive elements all throughout worked together so beautifully.

Honestly this game reminds me of a John Green novel, like The Fault in our Stars, or, the up and coming Love Simon. It has a beautiful tragedy story with an elegant simplicity and after getting your heart torn apart, the game lovingly puts it back together. The emotions this game produces linger even after finishing the game for a few weeks now, giving a lovingly bittersweet forlorn hug to your heart.

One this game was entirely worth the money I paid for it, although the game itself is a little elementary with gameplay, though that was intended. The downside to these easy touch, tap, and drag controls is that the game passes by incredibly quickly and ends very soon. Upon the breakup of the main characters, the healing process the game allows you to progress through is a great time lengthener but all in all the game was still a bit short (but again, the storyline is very well developed and fleshed out).

Overall the game is worth a purchase but the time spent playing will not last long.