It was only a few months ago that Hindsight landed on Switch and PC. But now, the poignant, moving tale is available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Calling Hindsight a ‘game’ is perhaps a little misleading. An interactive experience is more appropriate, because the gameplay here is limited to say the least. All you’re ever doing is rotating a camera around an environment, looking for an object to click on, or occasionally dragging something into place. It’s largely a passive experience, then. But that’s the point: Hindsight is all about the story, and you’re simply a spectator.
And what a story it is, if you’re interested in emotional, human stories that deal with real grief and emotion. You see, Hindsight follows a woman as she deals with the loss of her mother. Revisiting her childhood, examining flashbacks of her relationship with her mum and dealing with the aftermath of loss all come together to make a beautiful and poignant experience.
Related: Read our full review of Hindsight
Hindsight is a game for anyone who has ever lost someone close to them. And, as we acknowledged in our original review, Team Hindsight’s writers deserve serious kudos for daring to delve into the reality of grief. It’s not all elegant sadness and tears. It’s messy, it’s complicated. There’s anger, resentment, feelings that we can’t even fully comprehend ourselves. And they’re all on display here, in what is one of the most realistic depictions of grief and loss we’ve come across – perhaps not only in a video game, but in any media.
The Xbox and PlayStation release of Hindsight doesn’t offer anything new or additional. This is the same release that Switch and PC players got to enjoy in August – it’s simply available to a wider audience. And so, if you haven’t yet played it and own an Xbox or PlayStation console, you should seriously consider picking it up.
Just keep your expectations in check in regards to Hindsight‘s gameplay. In our original review we called its interactions “clunky, inconsistent and occasionally annoying”. You’ll sometimes be stuck on what to do, because you can’t find the tiny object you’re supposed to interact with, or the most obvious interaction doesn’t seem to be doing anything. But stick with it, because the narrative here is what matters. It’s simply beautiful in how raw, how real it is. And if you walk away from Hindsight with dry eyes, you’re stronger than us.
Hindsight is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC.
