Tackling the tougher subjects, like suicide, depression, and grief, is seldom an easy task. A few games have managed to explore such themes excellently and with great subtlety too; Dear Esther, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Omori come to mind. Now it’s time for developer Rasul Mono to have a go with the release of a story-driven, psychological thriller titled Acceptance. Prepare yourself for a tale about suicide and, in particular, being closely involved with someone who’s seriously at risk of suicide.
Does Acceptance successfully convey such an important message through a well-designed experience?
Meet Adam, the protagonist of Acceptance. He’s an office worker going about his mundane life with very little enthusiasm towards work; emotionally drained by the constant mood swings of his wife. Everything is about to get much worse however, as his wife Emily, commits suicide while he’s at work. Finding out through breaking news on the internet, Adam must try and process the harrowing incident. Deeply troubled by it, a haunting journey through the various stages of grief begins to play out in his mind.
Essentially, it tries to explain the struggles of not only the depressed individual who committed suicide, but the effect this has on the people around them – both beforehand and in the aftermath. Although it may seem morbid, I like that because the nearest and dearest of those struggling in life often get short shrift in regards to their mental health and well-being. It’s really interesting to witness the exploration and characterisation of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, before eventually reaching the grieving stage of acceptance. Each stage does have its own little quirks to differentiate them from one another, which is quite clear to see.
The messaging does feel quite heavy-handed overall though, and could do with being reigned in a tad. Unlike the aforementioned games that have similar themes, Acceptance is pretty tactless in its approach. On top of that, there appears to be a fair few translation mistakes that make some moments slightly confusing, which isn’t ideal.
The side-scrolling gameplay itself leaves a lot to be desired, with it regularly seeing you walking through 2D environments for longer than it seems necessary to do so. A handful of moments during the wandering about are akin to parts of a typical point-and-click adventure; seeking out an item in order to progress. It’s very, very simple however, and so it’s left to the combat sections to try and elevate the level of engagement.
In certain chapters, Adam will come into contact with different, rather bizarre, incarnations of himself. These inhuman figures are ready to cause harm, hence you must take them down by launching attacks using weapons that include a bolt cutter and a mop. The enemy designs are fascinating and each type possesses its own attack pattern for you to watch out for.
Unfortunately it’s incredibly monotonous, blocking and attacking for sections that seem almost never ending. The action isn’t smooth either, with questionable hit detection adding to the problems. And if that isn’t bad enough, there’s a lengthy segment involving quick-time events that’s brutal. The input window is too short for the single button prompts and when the main boss periodically appears, it’s bloody difficult to handle the raft of prompts it shows on-screen. Is it impossible? No, just pretty frustrating.
Visually, Acceptance manages to conjure up a really dark and twisted atmospheric world for proceedings. There’s always something unsettling about the way it looks and on occasion it slightly reminds me of the Upside Down from the TV show Stranger Things. I think the sound effects help massively too, presenting an eerie soundtrack that’s in keeping with what’s going on in the story.
There’s no doubting the importance of what Acceptance is trying to get across, but it lacks tact. The concept is a clever one, with a well-constructed atmosphere surrounding it and a selection of intriguing characters to boot. But focusing on the gameplays aspects and it’s incredibly boring. It’s not helped that there are times where the pace is too slow. Considering the entire experience can be completed within an hour and a half, it’s worrying how much of a drag Acceptance feels.
