Ben’s parents, a caring yet demanding mother and a lovably goofy father, are sweethearts.

The writing is earnest and thoughtful, and the story takes some unexpected turns culminating in a bittersweet final message that lands harder than I was prepared for (in a good way).Ī great story needs good characters, and Before Your Eyes has that in spades. Despite its pleasantly whimsical veneer, the narrative’s themes of depression and existentialism hit hard, as does understanding life’s meaning from the perspective of a person who, despite having a great family and born with prodigious gifts, struggles to find personal fulfillment. No matter how you play, Before Your Eyes’ story is a heartfelt tale that me close to tears at several points. These interactions are largely basic but are still delightful. It's also just more fun to 'look and blink' instead of pointing and clicking on objects. Even while playing with your eyes, you still use a mouse for other actions like connecting stars in the night sky to write a cosmic message or to keep in rhythm with a piano tempo. Some of my favorite moments involve closing my eyes to better eavesdrop on hushed conversations or so my childhood bestie could leave a heartfelt note embarrassment-free. However, I didn’t mind it for long because I found that doing so lends to the game’s dreamlike quality and the sensation that even cherished memories eventually fade even – when we hope that they won’t. Yes, I was occasionally disappointed after I blinked involuntarily and advanced the story sooner than I would have liked. Ben’s memories are fleeting, and the mechanic sells that point perfectly.

Closing your eyes, then opening them to a brand-new scene creates the awesome sensation that you’re reliving a life through an old-school View-Master toy. Having played Before Your Eyes twice, once using blinks and the other using the mouse, I think the story loses a fair bit of its magic when playing with solely traditional control inputs. On that note, it’s good that there’s an option to play the entire game using traditional mouse clicks, but I think you’d be doing yourself a major disservice in doing so. I also never felt disoriented or uncomfortable playing using eye tracking, but those factors will vary by person. I never had an issue where a blink didn’t register or my camera needed recalibration. I’m impressed by how the game accurately recognizes eye-tracking.

By blinking when prompted, you’ll jump days, weeks, and sometimes years forward in Ben’s life.

Before your eyes review