Acceptance

Acceptance is a psychological-thriller about the aftermath of a loved one’s suicide. The game walks you through all 5 stages of grief from the person left behind. In this case it is the husband of a woman who committed suicide, who is also a police officer.

This game takes a close-up look at suicide, and unfortunately it doesn’t do the greatest job of it. Rather than draw you in with its message, the game is extremely heavy-handed about the consequences of suicide. The game switches between lecturing people on suicide prevention and having them spam the attack button while fighting demons. If Acceptance wasn’t quite so forceful about its agenda, it might be easier to ‘accept’ the messaging it is pushing.

So-So Graphics

The game’s graphics are in a 2D art style and look like something doodled up on Microsoft Paint. The horrible aspects of fighting your own demons are a little bit less meaningful when those demons don’t look especially scary.

Despite this, it’s worth noting that both the graphics and the soundtrack are completely original to the game.

Shallow Storyline

Although the game promises to cover a deep topic, it does so in a fairly shallow way. Adam, the main character, must face his demons after his wife has died. These demons are presented in the form of literal, physical demons you have to fight.

Unfortunately, Acceptance focuses far too much on the gameplay of this, so much so that the story of why he must do it gets lost. It’s hard to pay attention to the message when trying to follow an intense combat sequence at the same time.

Attacking your demons is also about as developed as the gameplay gets. The rest of the game is spent with lots of walking, often dragging on way longer than necessary.

In gameplay, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Games like Firewatch cover the same theme in the same amount of time, in a game that amounts to a walking simulator, but the story is told so skillfully with such beautiful graphics, you are swept away rather than bored.

Not Appropriate for Minors

Although the game’s graphics are more cartoony than scary, the theme of Acceptance is too heavy handed to be missed. The game contains adult themes such as suicide, self-harm, and violence. Although the game means well and cuts in with some informative graphics about spotting suicide in your life, refining the point might have helped them get more attention.

Pros:

• Original soundtrack
• Important message

Cons:

• Heavy handed with messaging
• Long walks with nothing to do
• Message lost in gameplay