The Space in Between Review by Amjara
The Space in Between shares the tale of two individuals coming together and finding love and understanding through their experiences & pain.
The Story
A
visual novel that is powerful, honest, raw and beautiful. A short tale
told through both the male & female perspectives on how it feels to
struggle with identity and the coming together of both sides in a
loving, supportive way.
You take on the role of June, a Chinese-American college student who finds herself sharing a class with a thoughtful, quiet man named Miles. The two find themselves sharing a lot of similar interests and eventually start dating. June is more outgoing, free to speak her mind and be openly expressive while Miles is withdrawn, quiet and reserved.
June's story explores her strained relationship with her mother and the lack of communication between them. Also June's experience with Western culture. The beauty standards, the expectations and the discrimination. Miles loving and patiently listens to her pain and supports her with love and comfort. Miles on the other hand highlights his own struggles with depression and isolation. Wanting to be seen but at the same time turning away from everyone to cope. By sharing their pain with each other it brings them together through love and understanding.
Game-play & Features
This
game is more of a visual novel than a game. You do make some choices
but nothing that will impact the overall outcome of the story. Which is
just fine, it is about experiencing the story and not so much
influencing it. It is suggested to play through twice to experience more
of the story by selecting the other dialogue options not chosen in the
first play though. As this novel does not have a rewind feature and is
meant to be played in a single sit through.
At one point you go star-gazing with Miles. He describes in the story how when he was younger he found the usual constellations boring so he'd make up his own. There is a mini game in the story you play while star-gazing where you map out unique constellations and as you uncover them you unlock more. This is where the bulk of the story takes shape, the memories revealed as you complete each constellation. Very well done and a great way to shape the story using a mini-game that the player participates in.
Artwork
The artwork in this game
is gorgeous. I wish there was a gallery or at least a way to turn off
the text to take screen captures. I usually do not show screen captures
in my reviews that reveal text, as to not spoil anything. But in this
case I did include a few I loved and broke my rule. I hope in the future
they add a gallery or allow us to turn off the hud.
Overall Experience
This game or
rather story really resonated with me. My best friend growing up was
born in Canada but her parents are from China. I saw first hand the
struggles she had with discrimination, depression, anxiety and
frustrations to try to relate to her mother about the differences in
growing up in a Western culture.
I can relate to Miles more personally in a very direct way. Feeling depressed, isolated and withdrawn. The struggle of trying to figure out who you are and knowing what you want but not knowing how to get there.
You will find themes that are common across all cultures. Fears and feelings we all share, even if it is told mainly through June's experiences. What I truly loved about this story is the interaction between June and Miles. How much they support each other, respect, and love one another and the freedom to be weak and vulnerable with each other. Just really great writing of the dynamic between the two.
A very deep, well written story that is somehow packed into a short visual novel. I hope this team of devs do more in the future. There is a lot of talent displayed here and I would love to see more stories from them down the road. ✨
Please follow our curator page, Otome Lovers, if you'd like to see more reviews like this one!