A Story Beside

THE uber-cozy experience. This game does an amazing job creating a tranquil, heartwarming experience. Although the effects of your choices aren't very predictable (and mostly rely on you being very nosy to get the 'best' outcomes), the message is overall coherent - you can't really predict what happens, but life happens anyway, and there are some beautiful moments throughout.

Well-paced (slow, as it's meant to be savoured) and highly bittersweet.

I had bought this game a while ago and chose today to start it up on a whim, with no idea or memory of what this game or its story would be about. I played through it all in one sitting and though it sounds ridiculous I wasn't expecting to cry as hard as I did.

A story that focuses on the life of a minor side character in someone else's adventure is an already interesting subversion on a classic, but what this game chooses to put at the forefront -- family, love, friendships, hardships, loss, community and hope above all else -- really, really got to me in a way I wasn't expecting. I feel ridiculous writing this, I really do, but the writing brought me to tears more than once.

And the music, combined with the ambient sounds of that world, was perfect. Simple, yet immersive, it able to coax emotions out of me that caught me by surprise.

I don't know if this game is for everybody, but at least in this moment, this is my favorite game I've played in a long time.

This whole game is based on making memories and connecting with the people you meet and love. And every single person has a story to tell.

The graphics are beautiful (especially the sky views!), and although you have to turn up the volume to actually hear the music, it is nice to listen to.

The gameplay and dialogues are quite interactive and interesting, I just personally found the character's walking pace a bit slow, and wished there was a 'walk faster' or run option. And my other issue was not having a map of the whole area, and at times, I couldn't remember where certain locations were; it was like a maze in my mind, haha.

The controls are pretty easy; 'Esc' to open up the menu, arrow keys to navigate the menu and also move your character around, and the spacebar to interact/go through the dialogues.

Do you need tissues for this game? Partially yes, particularly the ending. Just think about everyone you've crossed paths with in life. Do you wonder where they are now, and/or what they are doing with their life these days? Have you lost contact with anyone and wish you could reconnect with them somehow? I honestly found this game philosophical, and it really made me think about everyone I've met throughout my life; those gems that I still have, those heavenly angels that I've lost, those awful ones that I've purposely cut out of my life because they were toxic/controlling (but you wonder if they've changed after so many years), the pets I've had since 2007, and so on! Every person, place, pet, scent, item or possession, etc, holds a particular memory, and I think that's what this game has been telling me (and maybe other game players too). 💖

A truly beautiful game. A hidden gem. A story that will make you smile, laugh, and cry. This is definitely going to be added to my list of all-time favorite games.

Such a beautiful, heart warming story. Not much game play but beautifully written. I love it!

The story in this game has the potential to change one's life. If nothing else if it doesn't get you in the feels you should probably check your pulse. I am astounded at how good the writing was for this game. I hard cried at the end of it. It was heart-wrenching but also a beautiful experience that made me appreciate life more. I wish some of the game design choices with the UI and controls were a little different, but it's a small complaint considering how rewarding the experience of the story was for me. Highly Recommend!

My extraordinary, ordinary life.
What a tender, charming, heart-achingly beautiful little game. A story that is truly a diamond in the rough.

A game for those who want a calm and relaxing game, to appreciate life, understand the beauty of relationships and see the world on another perspective than the busy and bustling life of a main character

Very touching game with a beautiful story. The pixel art is also so pretty to look at.

A beautiful and story rich game.

Sorry, I feel very guilty not liking this. The game is aesthetically stunning, and it was relaxing and enjoyable to begin with. Top marks for the voice acting, which can be appropriately described as lyrical.

However, it got very slow and dull very quickly. I dragged myself to keep playing in bursts over several weeks, then eventually skim-read the ending on YouTube. There is a lot of tedious walking, and Lyric walks very slowly. It's all built around emotions and character relationships, so if you're not feeling invested in the characters, there's little else to it. The plot is ultimately just a series of events without much purpose or cohesion.

Ultimately, this is the life of an NPC - and as such, it's not very exciting.

This isn't a game, it's a story. What little bit of game mechanics there are (which aren't many at all) you are railroaded and can only do exactly what they want you to do and nothing else. If I had known that this wasn't a game I wouldn't have bought it.

This game was so interesting to see what it is like to be an NPC in an RPG. I thought it was neat how you get to play out the "mc's" whole life time. Since you are an npc don't expect any fighting or anything. This is sort of more like a walking and fetching type game with lots of dialog and story. The story was really bittersweet and made me tear up at times. Over all I really enjoyed this game.

My one piece of advice: have Kleenex handy. Oh my god. What a beautiful story, just long enough to be full of detail and emotion but not too long that the lack of actual *things* to do gets boring. And the story is one that will stick with me for a long, long time.

Excuse me while I go sob with my dogs.

An amazingly beautiful, heartwarming game.
Finished my first playthrough in about 8 hours. The story is short but well written.

A very sweet and touching little game with an awful lot of heart.

This Game...Oh , this game was definitely worth every minute I played... Never before had I thought about looking into the backstory and life of an NPC of a game. I kept thinking about all my history of gaming and enjoying Adventure RPGs like Dragon Quest or Secret of Mana... etc. And all those NPCs you meet?? Thinking, if it was actually real life, they also would have their own story! And oh, was this game created beautifully. The art, the gameplay, the pacing and the chapters of life - all so intricate and unique.
Please play this game and support the creators!

As lovely as the game is, visually and story-wise, I just refunded it. In less than 50 minutes I had two lock-ups during dialogue that forced me to shut it down using the windows button on keyboard. Then I had to replay everything from last save, which gets old quick when the game is almost all cut-scenes so you can't cut corners. (with replaying chunks I estimate it was actually twenty minutes actual game time). The lock-ups didn't occur second run so not sure what the problem is but it makes for a frustrating time in a game I bought to relax.