Fragments of Him

Fragments of Him is a visual novel about the complexities of that human emotion we call "love" shown in a series of short scenes. The story is told by four individuals: the main character, Will, who dies in an accident, and three people who loved him. Btw, I'm not giving anything away by mentioning his death, as this is established very early in the game.

Sarah, Will’s ex-girlfriend, recalls her relationship with Will and how much she still loves him. Sarah, however, is a compassionate and selfless young woman who understands and accepts Will's relationship and love for his new partner, Harry, despite her continued love for him. She's happy for Will and that he found his true love.

Before Will dies, we hear how he feels about these three individuals who are most important to him. He reflects on his love for Sarah and the good times they shared. However, his relationship with Sarah and his love for her wasn't the same as how he now feels about Harry, his true love. Will also recalls the grandmother he had good times with as a boy. And, just before he dies, Will ponders on the deep love he feels for Harry. As Will's feelings come into sharper focus, he knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with Harry and urgently wants to tell Harry how he feels.

Will’s grandmother, Mary, is very close-minded about her grandson’s love for another man. She has fond memories of Will as a child and reflects on her love for the little boy she knew, yet bitterly expresses her disappointment in her grandson’s ”liberal ideas” as a man, which she believes “damaged” him. I see Mary’s bigoted attitude and conditional love for her grandson as a disappointment. Unfortunately, people like that do exist IRL. Some reviewers were annoyed by the grandmother's character; however, I don’t think the writers intended to annoy us, much less expect us to forgive or understand her behavior. All too often, this is a sad reality, so as much as we might not like it, including this narrow-minded old biddy in the story of Will makes the narrative more realistic. Fortunately, however, Mary eventually comes around, and she starts seeing her adult grandson for the kind and loving man he is. She also questions her flawed judgment and can see how shallow and misguided she was. If only all a**holes like this were capable of being enlightened, the world would be a better place.

All in all, Fragments of Him is a poignant story about love and the many ways in which people perceive this fundamentally human emotion. It’s also about grief and how people choose to remember and deal with the loss of someone they loved. I choked up a bit and got a little teary-eyed in the final scenes, but I’m kind of sappy that way. This visual novel is short. It runs about 2.5 hours. So, you might want to catch it on sale. I picked it up for $1.99 on a Steam sale. I enjoyed the story, and at that price, I’m not complaining.

One more thing I wanted to address are the complaints I’ve read about the lack of “gameplay.” As described on this page, Fragments of Him is a VISUAL NOVEL (see tags). And as almost all visual novels go, there’s not much in the way of “gameplay.” You’re not hunting for anything, you’re not solving puzzles, or walking around doing stuff. In this one you click on highlighted objects or individuals to progress with the story. So, just bear that in mind. You’re not going to find much “action” in this game. That’s how visual novels generally work. It’s all about the story. I give this game an 8/10.

NOTE: There are 30 short scenes in this visual novel, however, for some odd reason, I never got to see Scene 10 as it remained “locked” even though I played the game straight through from the beginning to the end credits. After it was over and upon seeing that one scene was "Locked" and realizing I never saw it, I played Scene 9 over, thinking it would go right to Scene 10, the one I missed, but no, it skipped right to Scene 11 as it had when I played the game straight through. Hopefully, the devs can look into this.

Good effort, bad execution.

I can see the effort that went into the game, and I believe it was developed in a very short period of time - about three years - however, I just cannot recommend it.

Game-wise, it is boring. I don't mean it needs sword and sorcery action scenes and hack-and-slash, but it doesn't really have gameplay, which is a crucial part of a game; and the lack of basic level design understanding makes it notorious to go through. I agree with other reviewers on the fact the pacing is slow, however, with the general narrative, it might just be a good thing.

Story-wise... I don't mean to sound rude, but not only it's cliche on top of another cliche, but also a very tiresome trope of "bury your gays" which isn't very appreciative. The devs did try to pull onto your heart strings, and I appreciate a good cry, but not here. The only thing that would make you sad was the music, and as for the story, well, it's been done before numerous times, and done better, unfortunately.

I can see the effort, and I believe this is the first project of this team, but in all my good conscience, being completely and utterly honest with myself, I cannot recommend it.

A beautifully written VISUAL NOVEL told from the point of view of four characters. If you're heading in looking to play a game you'd be disappointed, but if you're seeking a melancholic queer story in a world you can walk around in, taking in the journey at your own pace, then I'm sure you'd love it.

It's a great story with good soundtrack managing to capture in a short amount a variety of topics , such as struggling and learning to deal with the loss of someone, learning to live with no regrets and feeling remorse. The main takeaway here is how much a person can change your life and that no matter what happens you should learn to cherish those memories you both share

I wasn't planning on being dragged through the emotional wringer today, but here we are.

I finally decided to play, after a long time of having the game wishlisted and then in my library, and I'm so glad I did. It's the sort of game a lot of people would complain doesn't have enough gameplay, but I really enjoy narrative experiences like this. The story is well-told, engaging, relatable, and the VA is solid. The minimalist art style works well, it forces the focus on the unfolding story, and the music was well chosen. The wholesome LGBTQ+ representation is much appreciated, too.

I went through a lot of emotions while playing, and regret that I didn't play sooner. There's practically nothing to critique here. Highly recommended, if you are content to enjoy an emotional slice of life and humanity without having to do much in-game.

I get it, I get it.. Everything queer is obligated to be sad.

But why?

Why did they force the player to control an elderly grandmother that is homophobic and says stuff like "she's disgusted" by her own grandson, and that she is mad about his "choice of being gay"? Why do I have to sit there for 30 minutes hearing this typical trope?

Why should we always turn the other cheek and accept the hate. Why is the main character making excuses and has to "understand and accept the hate because it's just so"?

Shallow, pretentious and stereotypical wannabe-tearjerker that doesn't live up to the ratings imho.

I played this game on Xbox One in 2016 and bought it again on Steam. I copy my Xbox Store’s review to Steam, but made some revisions.

“Not a good game but a nice visual novel.”

This is not like a video game, it is more like a visual novel. The gameplay is boring, but the story is nice. The plot is not so dramatic, just peaceful and smooth like a normal life that will happen in our world.

The story is very eye opening and sweet. If you just want a quick game that pulls on the heartstrings then i am sure you will enjoy this. The actors were perfect fits for their roles. and the music was beautiful. I only wish that the game was a tad longer.

Definitely a worth while experience. it managed to express each character's point of view in an interesting and personal way. Art Style and music also adds atmosphere to the story its trying to tell. I will definitely visit this game again soon.

There's something extremely beautiful about this game. The story is well told, and gives the proper emotions with each part of the game. It's a charming game about love, loss, and hope, which I greatly enjoyed. The way the game is visually portrayed is also beautiful.

Though the atmosphere was beautifully set and very emotional, the experience is quite short. The voice acting is fairly good (Grandma's was amazing, and the best - unfortunately), but I do feel that the characters were somewhat underdeveloped and it was hard to feel any real attachment to their experiences or fate.

I would very much like to point out that the main intent of this game is not to tell a queer story - however, it has succeeded at incorporating queerness in a natural and non-token way.
....
Overall: 7/10

Atmosphere: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Graphics: 4/5
Audio: 3/5

Game Time (100%): 1h 44m 53s

2 Hour game play. A first person walk through story, telling the perspectives and memories of different people about a single character. LGBTQ friendly, and refreshing to be about a non-cis love and story. It didn't hit me as hard as I wanted it to, but still strong and worth a try. I think if you had a spouse or partner pass, or someone very close recently, this would probably hit you like a truck.

8/10 Shrimps
🍤🍤🍤🍤🍤🍤🍤🍤🧀🧀

Fragments of Him is a beautiful and emotional 2 hour click game. This game is really emotional too me and there's a lot of emotional hurt in this game. The emotional hurt on this game legit made me cry. I loved how you get to see the other characters perspective on things and how the characters grew up and matured more further on in the game. You see a lot of personal struggles from the whole cast including the main protagonist.

All in all this was a beautiful 2 hour LGBTQ+ click game and I really like it! I definitely recommend trying this game out! Don't play this game if you can't handle sad depressing things or tragedies. I personally like these LGBTQ+ stories and they're really amazing!

- signed by a Bisexual Male.

Happy Pride Month everyone! :D <3

Ticks a lot of the games-as-art boxes. At the end of the day it's a game about loss and grief, so not exactly fun, but it does have some power. You don't so much play the game as watch the story unfold, at a pace you decide. Sometimes the story felt a bit broken, but it all comes together with a nice message.

Viewed this as an interactive movie and ... well enjoyed is not the right word... appreciated it. Not a happy one but I found it engaging - with a distinct art style and involving narrative. I really do appreciate spyviolette's review on this page and I see where they're coming form. But going in for a two hour experience where I expected a bit of a cry and emotional involvement it hit the mark for me.

I just listened to over half an hour's worth of homophobic grandma rants and I am t i r e d .

I really wanted to like this game. I'm always looking for queer representation in games, and I was very excited when I found a game about a bisexual man, bi representation is so rare! However, the characters feel very forced and I don't know why we're focusing on the conservative grandma and the ex-girlfriend. Other reviews here have worded this better than I can, but this does not feel like queer representation. It's representation of the family of a queer person, and the tragedy that befalls a queer person - a collection of tropes that have been outdated for at least 20 years.

Moreover, I know that this is more of an interactive novel and did not expect exciting gameplay. But the mechanic to move the story forward, by clicking on the one thing that is highlighted, is tedious and frustrating. Especially when you multiple times have to click on an endless amount of items in the right order just so the character can make tea or finish dinner, and there is no narration in the meantime.

I don't know who this is supposed to target, but for me this game fails both as a story and as an interactive novel.

E' un gioco narrativo orientato all'espressione di contenuti molto profondi e socialmente impegnati. L'ho trovato molto efficace nel dipingere in maniera non banale la complessa rete di relazioni e sentimenti dei protagonisti, il livello di approfondimento esistenziale e psicologico è molto elevato. I testi dei dialoghi e delle voci narranti in prima persona non hanno nulla da invidiare ad opere letterarie o cinematografiche d'autore. Nonostante il basso budget, le meccaniche interattive a scopo narrativo sono interessanti e utilizzate con efficacia. Ad esempio la possibilità di seguire diversi personaggi, la così detta molteplicità di avatar; oppure le trasformazioni dell'ambiente o il ricorso a flashback che ci proiettano nel passato dei protagonisti. E' un titolo con una chiara cifra autoriale che sa creare un'atmosfera avvolgente, a partire dal particolare stile grafico, povero in superficie ma ricco dal punto di vista espressivo. Lo consiglio caldamente a tutti gli amanti dei giochi narrativi quali Dear Esther, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, Firewatch, Life Is Strange, etc.

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/24577210-Video-Games-Art/

Game aimed at expression of deep and social committed contents. It depicts very well the complex web of relationships and feelings of the protagonists; it features deep psychologic and existential analisys. Texts, dialogues and acting voices have nothing to envy of best novels and movies d'auteur. Despite the low budget, it features very interesting and effective interactive mechanics with narrative purpose. E.g. you can follow several characters, the so called multiplicity of avatars; metamorphosis of environment is very useful for storytelling; you can play flashbacks concerning the past of characters. FoH is able to create a compelling atmosphere even thanks to the particular graphic style, poor just on surface, but really rich in expression. I suggest the title to lovers of narrative games as Dear Esther, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, Firewatch, Life Is Strange, etc.

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26168615-Video-Games-Art-International/

Yes this is a walking simulator. It's a genre now. Deal with it.
This is how videogames can be used to tell stories. Games don't have to be about winning anymore. This game tells a story in a way that other media cannot. Even after I realized where the story was going, I resisted. I tried not to be moved. But I cried anyway.

It's hard to pin down exactly what this game aimed to do and who its intended audience is. Yes, it made me feel emotional, and honestly when I finished it I walked away from the experience feeling sad and appreciating the game. I really wanted to like it because it was about a gay relationship, which is so rarely seen in any form of media. But the more I think about it, the more obvious flaws I see. Fragments of Him isn't actually about Will and Harry. It isn't even about its protagonist Will, whose defining characteristic is his sexuality. This game centers around the tragic death of a queer character--a tired trope which we in the LGBTQ community have seen far too many times.

Most of the game is spent in the shoes of the straight people in Will's life: his homophobic grandmother and his supportive ex-girlfriend. In fact, by the end of the game we know more about Will and Sarah's relationship than we do about Will and Harry. Harry's perspective is entirely focused on him coping with the loss of Will, which would be fine if this wasn't a story all of us have heard a thousand times. We know next to nothing about their life together. If the writers had truly wanted to do something novel, they could have at least given the gay relationship more development, or even a happy ending. By all means, game developers should tell stories about queer characters, but they must try to do better. Games like Gone Home prove that it can be done well.

So who is Fragments of Him intended for? Well, certainly not LGBTQ players. We're meant to feel more sympathy for Will's homophobic grandma than Will or Harry. Yes, it's a game about loss. It's a game that made me feel sad. So to that end it achieved its goals,, but the underlying messages behind this game's tropes and design is rather upsetting. I believe the developers of Fragments of Him had good intentions in the same way Will's grandmother did, but we owe it to ourselves to hold queer representation to a higher standard than that.

- For anyone who likes good narrative games, this is an absolute must have! -

I sat thinking about this game for the longest time, overwhelmed by emotion. This is a heartwarming story about love and hope, but also a heartbreaking story about loss and pain. I found myself fully immersed in the game and I suggest that anyone playing this game does so when you have 2-3 hours of free time. It is absolutely worth playing all the way through in a single session.

The developers did an excellent job on creating an emotional narrative, beautiful graphics and wonderful music. Everything helps build the connection with Will and his family, which you get to know quite well. In the end I felt like I truly knew the characters as if they were real. They share their thoughts, their silly little memories, their doubts and their pain. But what touched me the most, was that they all share their vulnerable moments with you. Everyone will recognise pieces of themselves in the characters of this game. I really hope that the next game from Sassybot is another great emotional narrative experience, because I have never played anything like this before and I'd like to play a lot more.

Fragments of Him is not a game in the traditional sense. There's no running around shooting things. No Sims to build houses for and no nations to conquer.

Instead Fragments of Him tells a story. The story it tells is of a man and the stories that revolve around him. Stories attached to everyday objects like memories of old.

At roughly 2 hours long the game may sound short for the price but it is worth it. The raw emotion in the story alone makes it so. The characters are recognisable and relatable. I could easily see this being my life. Maybe this is my life, could explain why it resonated with me so well. It shows the importance of family, of understanding and of how different people can have different views on something. They try their hardest for you.

I'm not the same person who started playing this game earier. Go play this game. Just do it!

What an experience.

I knew the story was based on a sad event, and was bracing myself for sadness. But I could not have predicted the overwhelming emotions that struck me during my time playing this game. I have literally cried for a good 20 minutes, trying desperately to proceed with the story.

The art is beautiful, the story grasping, immersive and loaded with emotion. I can't wait to see what SassyBot Studio is going to deliver in the future, but they gained a fan with this narrative experience.