The Way of Life: DEFINITIVE EDITION Reviews

It has been years since I last bought a videogame. I've read a review of this game on an Italian game zine, and I decided to try it right away. The idea of living different experiences really struck something in me, and I really can't complain about my choice! I enjoyed all the experiences I've done so far, and I can't wait to try the others. I've never thought I could live again as a child or feel what an old man feels when.. NO SPOILERS! Jokes aside, sometimes I feel that the authors left something out from the dialogues or the storylines, but apart from that I really think this is a wonderful game, especially for the music and the graphics. Great job guys! Keep it up!

The game is pleasant and simple, you can play without too many complications and it is certainly directed to different targets. The subjects are varied, starting from the classic day at the Child's school to the Old man’s memory of the war. It is current, it faces recent issues and moments of life that certainly all of us have tried or will try, sooner or later, and there are very interesting choices that you can take. Speaking of choices, this is perhaps the only flaw. Some situations, in fact, are hidden and difficult to find. Perhaps it is a willing preference of the developers to making the player to better explore the game ... But, in real, the feeling that one has is to be "guided" towards an already established ending, as if they almost wanted to prevent the player from actually making his choice. On a technical level, the graphic is wonderful. Although I’m not a fan of the low poly, I really liked it. Some levels in particular have a beautiful setting, carefully detailed, well studied, with colors suited to the situation you are experiencing. The animations are excellent. They are clear and simple to understand, a thing not to be underestimated when you give life to characters without a facial expressions... Indeed, without even a face! I found the music interesting too, some levels have a pleasant melody that fits perfectly with the situations experienced, for example the one into the defeat level of the Adult. In conclusion, a good game. It will not be the best game of the year and some things could be developed more carefully or in a different way, but it certainly deserves to be tried and experienced. Give it a chance. These guys have put so much effort in this game and you will see it!

That's a terrible game that wants to look cult-ish. Don't fall for that. You have somewhat 7 different levels (you choose through different doors). Each door you can choose to play it as a boy, middle aged or old man. Not needed to say after the first play through the level you have absolutely no will to play it again as middle aged or old man. Not only that, you need to play the levels again and again since there are like 3 different way of finishing it for every age (!), and the variation can be as dumb as clicking a "on" button instead of an "off". You've read it right: you'll be forced to play every single level (they are short and boring) at least 9 times. There's no story. Please, do not buy that.

The graphic was like a kid game. Basic and colourfull. Very beautiful. But the story, the gameplay is the things that contradict with those kid graphic. The music they use, the story line, they really doned a great job in bringing peace and harmony into our mind. The game, the story is full of sorrow ... but also brings a beautiful story. It makes me think every time i play this game, what feeling should i really feel right now. Its such a great wonderfull game .... This game really change the definition of game. I didnt realise a simple game can be as meaningful as this. This game really teach me a very im portant lesson that is TO APPRECIATE LIFE ...... . . Graphic : 10/10 Sound & music : 100/10 Story & gameplay : 1000/10 Overall : 101324809348768701/10 . .

I think this game is quite good. The core of the game is the choices you need to do on each level. This game talk about several serious topic and in more than one occasion this game make me think about this topics, and some choices it's really hard to take. Of course this game can be improved in some aspects, but I think this game should be played by almost anyone. I really recommend it.

The game had a real potential, it truely did. Its gameplay was interesting, its graphics were uncommon, its musics were captivating and you'd get deep in the mood real quick. When I first saw this in early access, I couldn't wait for it to be released. But alas, it failed to reach its own objective by casualizing its view and making it as simple as good, sometimes neutral and bad. This game, above all else, was supposed to give you a morale, to show you that you make choices, sometimes not understanding them on the first hand, then come to realize their consequences later on, or even immediately. But as other reviewers have pointed it out, the morale becomes as simple as "war is bad", and you can't really get in the mood when you realize that the whole point of the game is to tell you not to be racist, to help elderly people in the street and not to be a nice little person. The writing is poor, and I'm really saddened to write this as I was taken by some levels during the early access so bad I'd play them over and over just to get into it again, but not anymore. To summarize : ** Pros ** -Interesting graphics -Good music that puts you right in the mood -A starting idea that could've gone very far ** Cons ** -Very short game -Terrible writing -Ok-ish gameplay at best

This game hits you in the head with a club to get its messages across to the point where they tell you exactly what their trying to say in 1 sentence summaries at the end of every scenario. It's also very black and white with its decisions and their outcomes. It has the subtlety of a bull in a China shop Also it's not fun

I LOVED this game in early access; I've been extremely intersted in what it has to say, & the unique style. That being said since I've bought this game I CANNOT GET IT TO WORK. I can't select anything so I can't start or even exit without puling up tast manager. I'm extremely frustrated. I would really appreciate some help as it's slightly likely this is purely my own ignorance.

This game is weird. I am not sure if I like it or not, and that is after playing through all of the free version and now the paid only levels, too. In The Way of Life you are given several situations, all of which can be played as the child, the adult man, and the old man. Each situation has a unique vignette for each age and is thematically related to the other two ages, but otherwise unique. There will usually be two, sometimes three, unique endings for each of these vignettes and while you can replay them all to get all endings, only the first one chosen 'sticks'. I believe that by playing through each situation you build the life of a person as they are young, adult, and old -- although choice is limited and actions taken as a child do not affect the adult, nor does the adult affect the old man. It's possible I am misinterpreting this though, and they are supposed to be different characters, in which case you are living three lives. Typically the child stage is all about playing and fantasy, the adult stage is about dealing with the stress of family and work, and the old stage is dealing with unreliable, shaky controls as you struggle to complete otherwise simple tasks. Sometimes though, things go completely off the rails. As an example, in one child stage you start doing your homework and then it suddenly becomes a stealth section in wartime. As an adult, you are suddenly in an absurd grab-the-money race, etc. I would recommend trying the free version first and playing through all the situations offered there. If you like it or are intrigued by it as I was, give this paid definitive version a try. Pros: - Interesting, relatively short gameplay sections - Unique art style - Good sound and music design - Full gamepad support Cons: - Annoying, slow controls on both keyboard/mouse and gamepad - Gets absurd at times in ways that don't seem to fit the rest of the game - Unclear goals At the current discount price ($/€ 5) I can at least recommend it because it is a rather unique experience.

I forget how I heard of this game but really only picked it up because Steam gives away discount cards like they're going out of style. If you're on the fence about this one: skip it. I understand that it's supposed to be a "deep" game about the lessons and themes of the storyline but it really just gets frustrating. The controls are rough to say the least, the movement is slow, and the minigames get repetitive. I cannot stress this last one enough. I really thought on a few missions that I was doing something wrong because I would end up doing it 5+ times and then out of nowhere I would pass? It doesn't seem to make sense and I'd uninstall it even if it was free.