I honestly don’t even know what to say about this game other than “Holy shit, would you look at this? It’s adorable and the music and…” and then I devolve into random noises of glee. It’s very sweet, very short, and very wonderful.
The game’s story, which is told without words, is (as previously mentioned) short and sweet. It begins with the creation of two mayflies who are destined to be together. [Spoilers Ahead!] One mayfly is captured by a net and has to find their way back to their love. Along the way you help fireflies, bees, and beetles get out of the same predicaments you find yourself in. After escaping a spider, the poor little mayfly loses parts of its wings. The bugs you helped before come back to take you to your beloved. All is well, as some magical lights coming from the sky give you some not-real-but-I-guess-they’ll-work-anyway wings. Just before you can fly away with your love again, a spider nabs them. You use your fancy not-real wings and save them. Then the mayflies fly off into space because they can. Unfortunately, the story ends with the not-real wings disappearing, and you give up the last of your strength to turn your love into a constellation and lose your life. That’s when the credits roll and the story begins once again. My description of the story doesn’t do it much justice, but it is pretty cute. [End Spoilers]
You’re a cute little mayfly
The summary of the game on Steam says it is “part rhythm game, part point-and-click adventure, and part rock opera”. Yup. That is literally all it is. The play time was only about an hour at most. The gameplay really only consists of clicking on objects and dragging them somewhere or tapping on different things. There’s no real need to keep to the rhythm since you’re not being graded on you ability to keep to it, but it does look and sound cooler if you do. It also might be easier to keep the rhythm if you get the game on iPad. Playing with a mouse, especially when the music is a bit fast, is a little annoying.
The art and music in this game are awesome. The paper-like style Ephemerid uses is gorgeous and reminds me of a storybook. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I love it. The music is perfect. The rock opera sound is amazing. The soundtrack is just beautiful and I can’t get enough of it. I don’t exactly know how else to explain it. The game starts you off with the songs going at their normal tempo, which is a pretty good pace for the rhythm sections. On the main menu you can choose to make the pace of the songs slower and faster. It sounds a little weird, but I guess if you really want the challenge of a faster song or want to go as slow as possible, go for it. Not like I can stop you or anything.
THEY’RE MAKING A HEART THAT’S REALLY CUTE
My only complaint about the game is that some sections felt like they dragged on a little. I found myself getting a little tired of a few parts in my first playthrough. By around the point of getting bored, though, the song was nearing its end and went on to a new part. Other than that I love this game. It’s beautiful and cute and it’s a game that almost anyone of any age can enjoy. If nothing else, look up the music. It’s beautiful.
