Before Your Eyes Critic Reviews

Telling a gut punch of a story with novel gameplay mechanics is no small feat, and Before Your Eyes marvelously delivers on both fronts. Just as Edith Finch and Firewatch before it told stories only games can tell and used mechanics we would likely never see borrowed elsewhere, Before Your Eyes feels like it's immediately timeless and permanently unique.

The blink mechanic is fantastic and really immerses you in the story, you can work around it if you really want to… but I think the way the game is set out, most players will be willing to let their eyelids dictate the story and let it go where it may. For the price, this is unquestionably a must buy! Humanity in a unique interactive story!

Before Your Eyes is a short journey, but it is one that you’ll likely find yourself playing again and again. You’ve never heard a story like this before and you’ve certainly never experienced it in this way. Not only is it truly innovative, it’s also heartfelt, filled with love, and will likely leave you mopping up your tears before the credits roll.

Before Your Eyes is an emotional tale with an interesting mechanic at its core that helps to make the game so immersive. The music and voice acting is superb, and it is something you should certainly experience.

Despite my occasionally-bloodshot orbs, Before Your Eyes is an experience I won’t soon forget. Its combination of masterful storytelling, engaging character progression and stunning conclusion put it in contention for best narrative game I’ve ever played, and it also reminded me to savor life at its best and worst moments. No small feat for an indie title hanging everything on an all-new form of interaction.

I was moved beyond words by this little game. Before Your Eyes manages to be interesting and quirky, whilst also finding new ways to immerse you in a beautiful story. It is deeply sad at times, and at others fills you with an immense joy and appreciation for people and their complex lives. There is so much about this game that is better experienced for the first time with no forewarning, but if you like heartfelt stories and powerful narratives, this one's for you.

I refuse to spoil Before Your Eyes for you by telling you anything more about the story. All you really need to know is that it’s got an underutilized mechanic integrated perfectly into a heartbreakingly beautiful tale of a life well lived, no matter how short it was.

What works so well for Before Your Eyes is the sheer amount of quality and effort put into its creation. It is a simple narrative that’s completely fleshed out thanks to a great cast of characters, pleasant aesthetics, and innovative gameplay. Though it had a small share of technical issues, the game provides the player with a memorable journey of love, happiness, and mystery.

Gaming is at its best when players are met with experiences unique to the medium. With intelligent writing and a thought-provoking handling of themes around death and regret, Before Your Eyes comes through as a concise and rich first-person experience, evoking something in anyone who plays it. Once you accept that its unique selling point is far more optional than originally intended, appreciating the love that undoubtedly went into this story becomes far easier. Put the webcam away, and you'll definitely cherish this short yet unforgettable tale, enough to even revisit in the years to come.

Before Your Eyes puts its unique blinking mechanic to great use, offering a novel and fun method of interacting with this memorable, bittersweet tale.

The game was designed to be controlled with eye movements and blinking, but as this system doesn’t work perfectly (sometimes I had to open my eyes very wide and blink very dramatically for the game to notice), I appreciated the fact that the mouse works too. The immersion might have suffered, but it was a price I was willing to pay to be able to enjoy the story without any issues and frustration. And the story is what makes Before Your Eyes great – it only lasts two hours, but still managed to surprise me and pluck just the right emotional string.

A few annoying glitches can’t spoil the ground-breaking, emotional journey of Before Your Eyes. An imaginative control method is used in ingenious ways to tell an occasionally uplifting but ultimately heart wrenching story. It’s only a few hours long but that’s more than enough time for this game to get under your skin and leave its mark.

Before Your Eyes is a difficult game to discuss, as so much of its appeal comes from reveals that would spoil the story. The game offers a truly unique experience that utilizes the medium of the video game perfectly to enhance its story. The technical flaws are frustrating, but they're likely impossible to avoid in a game like this, and people who can overlook the control issues will find a phenomenal story about life and death as seen through the eyes of another.

Before Your Eyes understands that experiencing our lives, of storing memories which become precious, is often tied to what we see: the people and the paths stretching out before us. Instead of feeling like a gimmick, Before Your Eyes feels refreshingly natural. Unusual control schemes often make me long for the familiarity of a controller. Sure, I can speak to my Nintendogs using the microphone on the DS, but sometimes I don’t want to yell at my shih tzu on a Delta flight. Before Your Eyes manages to do the opposite. Its unique mechanic matches its narrative so perfectly, that you won’t want to play it any other way.

GoodbyeWorld Games have created something incredibly special with Before Your Eyes. It’s a truly great game that explores real human stories through mechanics I’ve never really seen before. It’s a wonderfully crafted indie game that demands to be up there in your must-play list for 2021.

Blinking is Before Your Eyes’ main tool to transmit unique messages and feelings, but at the same time is used in many narrative situations that do not need them.

Mechanically, it falls short of its true potential, but you can’t help but get swept up in the journeys of these characters. The game’s got heart, and none of its flaws can really take that away.

Blinking your life away is definitely one of the most interesting concepts we’ve ever seen, although the execution is a bit flawed.

Quotation forthcoming.

I still commend the studio for its bravery and innovation. Before Your Eyes is unique enough to try out if you are interested. It’s just that although the game is backed by many wonderful talents, it lacked that little “umph” to turn it into something truly memorable.