Verdict
Though I wanted to love A Storied Life: Tabitha, its smooth and relaxing gameplay is let down by a frustrating narrative arc, which left me with more questions than answers - ones that a replay doesn’t seem to help solve.
A Storied Life: Tabitha has been one of my most long-awaited cozy games of the year, and when the time came to review it, I jumped headlong into my next point-and-click narrative journey. I was charmed by its art direction, the soundtrack was inspired, and the gameplay felt like a classically satisfying experience, but at the end of the story, I had to confront something I hadn't expected: the story did not land with me.
The beginning of the game is promising - as you go in and tidy Tabitha's house in the wake of her death, you keep, recycle, or sell Tabitha's belongings. Each item has its own description, which might help you decide whether it's valuable enough to sell, or whether it simply can't fit in the box to keep. The items vary from witchy cauldrons to family photos, and the concept behind it would allow you to fill up a box based on what you want the narrative surrounding Tabitha to look like based on your attachment to her. Only, I didn't really ever make an emotional attachment to her at all.
It's hard to know what went wrong. Was it that the diary that Tabitha wrote was too generic? Perhaps I haven't been close enough with a grandparent or elderly person to imagine myself mourning her? Or was it that I found her life story contradictory even as I played through a second time, trying my best to stick to the same themes?
Whatever the answer, I constantly felt like I was playing this game wrong, making mistakes that weren't supposed to be possible, at least according to the game's tutorial that declares there to be no wrong choices. This could have been true if the pieces felt like they came together at any point, but they didn't. It was only when I read the manual in the main menu that I understood what was happening between Tabitha and each of the many characters.
Maybe what it really came down to was that there were some items I felt I couldn't leave behind in any playthrough, and that was what was behind the nonsensical storyline. Was I supposed to leave Tabitha's husband's ashes behind, even though I was focusing on her witchy life this time around? Could I actually throw away love letters that had meant the world to her, even though she was a botanical whizz in this playthrough? Increasingly, I started to wonder if this game wanted me to be sentimental in all the ways I wasn't, and punished me for it in the ways I was.
I have to say that outside of this, the game is polished to perfection. I found the experience of fitting things in the box very fun and exciting, as I tried different combinations to min-max the number of items I could keep, and attempted to bend everything around just for one special-looking old thing. You can see the inspiration from games like A Little to the Left. I tried both 'relaxed' and 'cosy' modes, which limited or removed limits on weight, as well as budget for tape and bubble wrap, among other things, and found both to be fun in their own ways. The daily puzzle mode is also a treat that wasn't expected.
The design of Tabitha's house is the standout aspect of the game for me. I also enjoyed the experience of searching through it. Moving furniture is a treat, and the drawers are delightfully interactive, keeping me on my toes. The house itself feels alive - everything is kept in an expected place (or it made sense when it didn't), the art is phenomenal, and the space is designed flawlessly. I was also pleased that my love of music paid off, as I kept the records at the beginning and was rewarded with smooth jazz versions of some nostalgic tunes, some of which helped shape my choices.
The choices themselves are also varied, though the execution left something to be desired. Sometimes picking up her husband's ashes instead of something else more suitable would later force me into a grammatical nightmare, unless I wanted to replay the entire room, which, quite frankly, was unappealing. Certain items' associated words are not actually a good fit into every blank, which I don't really like as an idea, because then the concept of having to get the 'right' answers comes right back around.
In my A Storied Life: Tabitha interview, I learned that the concept for the game was based on the writer's real-life experience with grief, and Tabitha clearly lived an incredibly full and complicated life. Even though I didn't connect to her, I could see what kind of person she might have been, which, unfortunately to me, meant there wasn't much of a sense that I was adding to it by sorting through her belongings.
There's a chance that a DLC, if it ever feels right for the developer, could fix some of these issues for me, as I think that adding some more items in each aspect of Tabitha's life, and that of the person we were playing as, could give me the chance to piece together some more appropriate words in each category.
I also would like to see this become an anthology. I think that sequels to this game could turn into one of the best indie game series, and personally, I'd like to see topics approached with more grit. If we were sorting through the house of a wartorn family, or packing away baby items for a newlywed couple, I feel like I might have understood the heart and soul of the game. As it stands, this is just a cute little cozy game - but that's okay. Maybe I expected too much.