SEASON: A Letter to the Future releases the 31st January 2023 on PlayStation and Steam for $29.99 (£24.99.)
Story: In Seasons
SEASON: A Letter to the Future sets a melancholic tone from the start. The player takes control of Estelle as she prepares to leave her village behind and document the outside world. Following the emotionally charged opening, we leave the quiet village of Caro, beginning our journey into the unknown. It is upon leaving the village that you are able to explore at your own pace, discovering the secrets littered throughout the world.
During your travels, there are various ways of piecing together the story. With no enemies to bike past, Estelle uses her camera and audio recorder to capture moments and journal them in her scrapbook. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, SEASON: A Letter to the Future doesn’t hand the player answers. Instead, you decide what is important.
You journey through the unknown world with Estelle and her bicycle.
I recommend following the developers advice of lingering in each of the stunning landscapes, as each environment has other characters and objects tucked away with their own memories to share. While piecing together the overall narrative builds anticipation for what awaits at the end of SEASON, I found more joy in finding these personal aspects.
Learning these details of the game world at your own pace allows you to reflect on the real world. The script has been carefully crafted, words being placed to create emotions and provoke thoughts for the player. Estelle’s naivety of the outside world has also been taken into consideration, and so she shares the players wonder at discovering a new world.
Relaxing Gameplay
Exploration
The world is beautifully designed and filled with ways for you to interact, although some areas may go undiscovered if the player gets whisked away on a downhill bike ride and speeds through the game. Being a regular user of photo modes within games, I took every opportunity to capture what caught my interest. With this came extra pieces of text and photos for my in-game journal.
The scrapbook element hooked me, and I optionally spent far longer than necessary decorating the pages with the photos I had taken or Estelle’s doodles. The limit of two pages per area means you have to get creative if you wish to cram everything in, adding to the sense of this being an adventure unique to you, as most of the pages are for you to personalise.
Controls
SEASON: A Letter to the Future utilises a few features of the DualSense in innovative ways. The use of L2/R2 as the pedals allows you to push against the adaptive triggers to accelerate, the pressure easing as you gain speed. Riding across dirt paths will have you feeling the low vibrations of the DualSense. Yet in comparison the bumpier feeling of cobblestones is also translated through haptic feedback. When in camera mode, you have to apply slight force to R2 to capture your photo, and even less when using the audio recorder.
I was hooked by the scrapbook element and the ability to create your own layouts.
Lovely Aesthetic
I feel as though the art style is truly the stand-out point for SEASON: A Letter to the Future. The beautiful scenes are uncovered as you progress forward, the twists in the road making for grand reveals of a glorious sunset, far-off cranes, or a simple field of stunning flowers. Colours compliment each other perfectly, especially with the hand-drawn comic book style which is matched with its dialogue bubbles.
There are one or two inconsistencies with animations, such as the camera spiraling out of control if you get into an unexpected crevice. Yet none of these glitches are immersion or game breaking, so I was still able to enjoy exploring. With all the gorgeous scenery and a heavy emphasis on environmental storytelling, it is a shame that some of these areas aren’t signposted clearer.
Serene Soundtrack
The soundtrack composed by Spencer Doran is beautiful. Each setting has it’s own unique sound, and every transition is fluid into the next, leaving few silences in between. Recording sound is essential to the story, and when doing so the sound being recorded is also played through the DualSense speaker.
By interacting with certain objects you can create new noises in the environment. Other characters will respond to the diegetic sounds, my favourite experience occurring in Cow Farm. (Spoiler: There are cows). The ambient sounds do add a mystical quality to the atmosphere, however I had to turn these all the way down in the settings menu because I found myself hurrying through dialogue due to a feeling of overwhelm.
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- The camera comes with multiple filters, as well as the ability to change the focus distance and range.
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- There are whole environments and interactions which could be left unseen by the player.
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- You catch glimpses of others’ lives hidden in the world.
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- The map you receive an hour or so into the game. The more you explore, the more that is coloured in.
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- The comic book art style is matched with dialogue bubbles.
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- An emotional beginning sets the tone.
SEASON: A Letter to the Future was reviewed on PS5, with a key provided by Evolve PR.
