Last Day of June - Opinions

As a big Steven Wilson fan, I actually first heard of Last Day of June through his involvement. The Raven Who Refused to Sing was the first album I bought from his solo catalog, and "Drive Home" was my favorite song on that album, so I was about as prepared as anyone could be to play this game without actually knowing anything of substance about it. Having seen several other music videos from Steven Wilson ("Raven", "Routine"), I pretty much knew what to expect from this one in terms of tone, and as odd as it seems, I was excited for this game to hit me with waves of melancholy. What I didn't expect, however, was how much game there actually was to play.

I honestly thought this game would be more like an interactive music video, but there's actually some substantial puzzle elements inside, and some very good cutscenes on top of that. I do wish the music was a bigger part of the game as a whole, but since the gameplay was such a pleasant surprise, I can live with that tradeoff. While the subplots of the game go beyond the script of "Drive Home", the central focus still lies on the inability to change the past and the importance of accepting it, and that message is delivered with the same poignancy as in the song, perhaps even moreso. I found it particularly moving to slowly experience the futility in attempting to resolve the final section. As it becomes apparent that every avenue seems to converge upon the same undesirable outcome, you realize that no matter how hard you try, there can't always be a happy ending.

Despite what most video games would have you believe, winning doesn't always involve fixing everything to the ideal. In truth, it's often victory enough just to hold together amidst the pressure, and it sometimes remains hard to convince yourself even that is sufficient. It can feel like there's no valor in moving on, like you're not saving anyone by doing so, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. Being the hero of your own story may not be as glamorous as fantasy tales would have you believe, but even still there's no greater victory you can claim for yourself. It might not always involve slaying dragons, but not every day needs to be saved at such a scale. Sometimes, all you need is a shoulder to lean on, a few fond memories, and occasionally, some great music.