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You are left to figure out why, driven only by your own morbid curiosity. The player character, or force, or whatever you are-there is no indication at any point as to whom or what the entity you are controlling is, you never see feet or hands-is alone. The events of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture take place in a small town in Shropshire, England. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture left me cold and numb but with a sliver of wonder the way the game weaves hope and hopelessness together is its greatest strength, and makes it one of the best narrative-driven games I have ever played. A heart-wrenching story and meaningful mechanics guide you through the experience, and the way you're tasked with not only consuming the mystery but also puzzling it all together is a recipe for heartache. In developer The Chinese's Room's newest game, you move silently through the world, switching radios on and off, opening doors, and passing through ghostly environments like a ghost yourself. At least with death comes the idea that maybe, depending on what you believe, there is something bigger than you waiting on the other side. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture made me wonder which feeling is worse, which one is the bigger gut-punch of total, utter loss. But losing a friendship or breaking off a relationship means they will continue to exist without you.
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With people, it's harder.ĭeath removes people from the circles of the world. Leaving your iPhone on the train is terrible, money falling out of your pocket sucks, and unless other humans are as benevolent and selfless as we hope them to be, we'll never recover these things. Misplacing an object is inconvenient, troubling at best if the thing was of some sentimental value or important use to you.
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