It is when you're left with no real connections to any human being around you for years on end, that you finally give up all hope and place your trust in fictional characters from games and series. After all, they can never discard you - it's the other way around. I realize for most people, these are nothing but hobbies, or simply a way to pass the time, but for me, certain games and shows hit home hard. It goes deeper than just relating to the story or characters. That will probably not make sense to most; but I digress. So: if life is a dark pit of self-loathing and despair, then these 'friends' are the lights that flicker on every once in a while- even if it is only for brief flashes - providing reassurance and hope to keep moving forward.
11-11 Memories Retold: by far the most moving game I have played in 2019. This will probably be the last game I complete this year and I am glad I will be ending on this bittersweet note. I say bittersweet, because the ending I got was just as devastating as the story was fulfilling. There are some great quotes here, that lie hidden beneath the ruminations of men tired of war, searching for purpose in life. For collectibles, you can hunt pages that usually come together in groups of 2-3 to unlock a historically accurate piece of information regarding a certain aspect of the war, from hunger in Germany to bath schedules in the trenches. Collect them all for a level, and you unlock a bonus movie - sadly I wasn't able to do that.
11-11 tells the story of two men caught up in World War I - Harry, a Canadian photographer who enlists to win over his love, and Kurt, a German in search of his missing son. Though their motivations for joining the army are radically different, over the course of the war, their lives intertwine - multiple times. There are heartwarming moments - and devastating ones too. The game is unique, in my opinion, for two reasons - not featuring fight sequences (which is surprising for a game that for a large part involves the front) and for its visual style. If you thought the hand-painted textures used in Life is Strange were something different, wait till you play 11-11 Memories Retold. They have literally and metaphorically created art here.
So thank you, 11-11. For the perfect musical score that accentuated all the emotionally-charged sequences in the best possible way. For making me tear up not once, but thrice. For keeping the flame of sharing touching stories through video games burning bright. And lastly, for the feeling of kinship and attachment to the fates of the protagonists I felt, which I fail to discover anyplace else.
This might have been a brief flash of light, but it will certainly leave an impression for a long time to come.
PS: Also a big thank you to the person who gifted this game to me. If you're reading this, you know who you are. Without you I would never have come across this game! :)
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