The original Half Past Fate has been on Switch for almost a year now, and our review praised it for its eye-catching footage and engaging dialogue, albeit with a few too many mini-fetch quests. The same can be said for the sequel, Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing, a shortreally short) story in which two strangers meet at the start of a global pandemic, forced to communicate via phone calls and video chats. It’s a cute, somewhat uplifting story, but is actually only recommended for those who enjoyed the main game and are absolutely itch for more of the same.
You play as two characters throughout the story: Stephen, an upbeat music lover, and Robin, a sales associate at the local tech store. The two meet and arrange to accompany each other during a local concert before being plunged by the government into a trap to contain the spread virus. Suddenly trapped in their respective homes, the two chat over videos on their laptops, hold virtual tours through their homes and listen to music and create a deep love for each other for about 60 days.
It is all summed up in a unbelievable short experience: we talk for a maximum of 1 hour, but your playing time will probably be around 30-40 minutes. In all honesty, the developer made it clear that this is a short game, and that its price reflects the duration. Nevertheless, there is an unmistakable sense of disappointment if you really get to know the protagonists, and that only … end. It’s frustrating to say the least, because it felt like there was a lot more potential in the story.
The game remains the same as its predecessor: most of the story consists of dialogue boxes while the two characters communicate with each other. For short periods you can also wander around and explore the sights (which still look) beautifulBy the way), although quite a few of the locations from the main game are reused here. There are a few instances where dialogue options are offered, but this has a minimal impact on the story as a whole (such as choosing a burrito to order for Stephen).
Finally, we need to ask ourselves one important question when it comes to Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing: Do We Really Need It? another reminiscent of the really awful situation we are all still in? The story told here is uplifting, but it is also chock-full of terms we have become all too familiar with over the past year: social distance, the curvature flat, meetings at a distance … we can go on. Games are – perhaps more than ever before – a way to escape, and Serenity Forge’s new title gets a little lost also close to reality to our liking. We would probably recommend that other developers try to drop the dust again in a few years.