Season: A Letter to the Future [PC] | REVIEW

Boy, did I love Season: A Letter to the Future. You know when you play something that just feels *so* different to anything else you’ve played, but it resonates with you completely? That’s exactly how I felt here, with the emotional and beautiful adventure one that will stay with me for some time.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Season: A Letter to the Future puts players in the role of Estelle, who looks to leave her secluded mountain home behind and venture out across the land on bike to mark the end of the season. However, a season isn’t quite what you’d expect, with no talk of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Instead, it marks a new era for the world, with everything that came before it seeing change. What exactly does this change mean? Well, that’s for players to unravel and interpret throughout the game, with plenty of clues given as to what the turn of a season can really bring.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the narrative, because it really is something that has to be uncovered when playing to be truly appreciated. Whilst Season: A Letter to the Future has a story to tell, it’s one that can be interpreted in many different ways, especially given the sense of mystery that the world has in regard to what the change in season brings. Just know this: it offers a wonderful and emotional sense of discovery that’ll keep players glued to the game screen. There are plenty of people to meet, sights to see, and secrets to uncover, with every aspect of the game’s world telling its own little story for players to discover. It’s utterly engrossing, and whilst there are some elements of ambiguity, it’s hard not to feel fulfilled by the time you reach the end of your journey.

“The stylish cartoon-like visuals just make everything look all the more impressive, and whilst graphics aren’t everything, they certainly help make each of Season: A Letter to the Future’s special moments feel all the more memorable.”

Season: A Letter to the Future is very much a narrative-driven experience, but there’s still plenty for players to do as they embark on their journey. For one, they’ll be keeping a scrapbook to collect the sights they see and information they learn when travelling. Players are able to take all sorts of fancy photographs along the way (there are some mesmerising sights to be seen) and customise them in plenty of different ways, which can then be stuck in the scrapbook for safekeeping. The things you learn can be written within it too, essentially helping you fill out a section of your journal on a particular locale and how it made Estelle feel. It’s pleasantly addictive to take photos (I spent AGES trying to get the perfect shot), whilst interacting with different characters or recording memories to learn more information about the world felt equally rewarding.

Games like this really rely on effective storytelling and world-building to feel like a worthwhile experience, but Season: A Letter to the Future absolutely nails it. I genuinely found myself feeling like I was a part of the world, whilst the change of season made me believe that there really was something at stake. Whilst there was nothing Estelle could do to change it, I couldn’t help but to feel a sense of unease around the change it was going to bring. It can take a lot for a game to make me feel so emotionally invested in its world, but Season: A Letter to the Future hooked me in within its first hour.

I haven’t even mentioned how pretty it all is, with some truly wonderful sights to be seen across your adventure. Whilst it doesn’t offer the biggest world you would have seen in a game, it is one that’s packed with enchanting vistas, eye-catching landmarks, and tranquil locales that’ll fill you with the fuzzies. The stylish cartoon-like visuals just make everything look all the more impressive, and whilst graphics aren’t everything, they certainly help make each of Season: A Letter to the Future’s special moments feel all the more memorable.

Check out some screenshots down below:

I guess it is worth noting that Season: A Letter to the Future probably won’t be for everyone. A lot of its appeal comes with its slower pace, emotional storytelling, and player freedom in how they decide to capture the memories of the world, with moments of thrills or excitement very rare. Whilst it’s meant to be about discovery, it’s also very linear, with only one area really letting the player off their leash to explore. These things I’ve mentioned aren’t flaws; in fact, they’re some of the things that I loved the most about the experience. However, there’s no doubting that they won’t necessarily tick the right boxes for everyone, with Season: A Letter to the Future’s uniqueness certainly making it feel a bit more niche.

You know what though? I loved it, with the mesmerising journey of discovery one that’ll stick with me for some time. I’ll be the first to admit it has some flaws, with the slow speed of travel, the constant hopping on-and-off of your bike, and the occasional unfulfilled plot point straying the game away from perfection, but it still managed to deliver a truly memorable and unique experience.

Developer: Scavengers Studio
Publisher: Scavengers Studio
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Website: https://www.play-season.com/