A Bird Story

to the moon was a beautiful piece of art that did a handful of things most games don't bother trying: sure, there was some laughter and certainly, there were a handful of scares, but to the moon was a rare thing in gaming: it made you empathize with the characters. given the right frame of mind, it could make you cry. a bird story is shorter and lighter in tone - it doesn't pack the kind of emotional wallop that to the moon did, but it's story-telling is strong and full of gentleness - the kind of storytelling that gaming - as a whole - seems to [mostly] lack. there are no puzzles here, and the game almost literally tells you what to do, but even so, the interaction between the main character and the bird is effortless and sweet. the one notable thing in this game is that there is absolutely no dialogue. there's the implication of dialogue in the way some things end up happening. [a character asks your character to get things, but even then, they're shown as icons, not in the form of a dialogue box] but by and large, the story-telling lives and dies on the strength of the visuals and the soundtrack. as always with a freebird game, the soundtrack is beautiful. we have the gamut of themes here: melancholy, silly, laid back. and all of it ties in well to make the scenes wonderfully dense with emotion. while the graphics are "sixteen bit" i still feel this is the right choice for this style of game where the narrative is carried by the ambiance of the soundtrack - sure, the graphics matter - but the graphics here all convey exactly what they mean with no ambiguity. should you buy this game? absolutely, if you are interested in supporting quality story telling and you enjoyed to the moon, i can wholeheartedly recommend a bird's story. on the other hand: if you want more game with your plot, you'd be better suited buying something else. for my money, this was well worth the price. i am truly glad gaming still has some story tellers.

A Bird Story is a short interactive tale, rather than a game. What this means is that the gameplay is practically nonexistant, so you pretty much just sit down for an hour and follow the adventures and misadventures of a boy and his pet bird. What makes the "game" stand out it's that there is absolutely no text involved, the story is told exclusively with images, which I thought was pretty original. The graphics com from RPG Maker, so they serve their purpose, but the sprites aren't specially nice either. Same with the music. In the technical department, the game it's very average. The story itself it's pretty simple, and while sweet, it certainly won't blow you away. I would recommend getting this game if you liked To the Moon, or if you want some casual entertainment for an empty hour or so. I got this on a sale for more or less a dollar, and while I enjoyed the game, I wouldn't pay more than that for it.

tl;dr: A short, whimsical, bittersweet interactive story with surreal elements, lovingly detailed and narrated without any dialogues. This is one of those cases where much of your enjoyment will depend in your pre-existing expectations of games. It is only mildly interactive and quite linear, and much of the time you are simply watching scenes unfold, yet I personally found some of the interactive moments all the more impactful because of that. As far as I'm concerned the way it manages to utilize the pixels, the colour palette, the music, the sound, the subtlest of animations to create its unspoken narrative is masterful. There are just so many clever design details jam-packed into this tiny story, that a second playthrough actually felt worth the time, despite the fact that there is no new content to experience. Similarly, its narrative can be as complex or simple as you are willing to let it be: It's a story about a boy and a bird but it could also be about how memories are altered by time, about childhood, imagination and dreams, about loneliness and companionship, about belonging, about breaking and healing. But it is also a story within the "To The Moon" universe, with characters and details foreshadowing the next game of the series "Finding Paradise", that you're free to ignore but might be interested in pondering about. Or if you're like me and have had the pleasure of a feathered friend's company, you could just sit, smile and awe at the beautiful attention to detail that brings the minimalistic bird animations to life. But that's probably my rose tinted glasses speaking. There's just so much about "A Bird Story" that genuinely moved me, made me think, smile, laugh and be sad, and it's all wrapped in such a tiny, lovingly wrapped package, that it felt like a perfect game to me. I realise that it will mean different things to different people and that not everyone will love it as much as I do, but maybe this is exactly what makes it great.

From Kan Gao and his crew at Freebird Games comes this curio interactive short film that helps fill in the gaps between To The Moon and Finding Paradise. For those fearing a kick in the emotional guts like you felt playing To The Moon then fear not. This is much easier on the emotions with a different kind of story to tell. Its a personal story about a child and a bird that I will leave you to discover. Told without any dialogue, this is instead a story told visually. It aims to draw you in and give you an emotional connection to the characters in the story, and this is the major strong point of the game. Several scenes will stay with me for a long time thanks to the wonderful story telling and clever animation. However different people are going to react to this in different ways, and I feel this is one for those who are already fans. If you're an action game fan who doesn't like cute slow paced stories this won't be the one to win you over. However if you played To The Moon and have an insatiable curiosity you will enjoy delving into this world and enjoy the wonderfully told story. You may even get a bit of a nostalgia trip. Sound track wise the music is much more of a background element without any big stirring songs key to the game. However its pleasant and is lovely as background music. In short if you liked To The Moon, and are curious about this mini-sequel then jump on board. Its far more rewarding than owning all those other hardly touched games us gamers tend to buy on sale! Lastly, for those of you that felt jipped by the short length I encourage you to check out the To The Moon and The Mirror Lied on the freebird games website. It will help fill that spot if the games short left you with mixed feelings.

A short and surreal story that although emotive and well told, does become quite predictable towards the end. Great pixel art and characters, and although there isn't much game play, it has more than enough charm to make it all worthwhile.