Usually, I plan ahead when I want to write about a game during busy months. Given the sheer amount of releases across platforms, I sometimes have to skip covering something because there just isn’t enough time in the day. Dear Me, I was… is a game I was hoping to cover as of yesterday, but I didn’t think I’d find the time with today’s Nintendo Direct and other pending work. I was always going to buy it, but a review seemed off the table. I booted it up and thought I’d just try it out for a few minutes. An hour later, I started writing my review because I was blown away by what Arc System Works has delivered here. Dear Me, I was…is a work of art, and an experience I won’t forget anytime soon.
If you’re not familiar with Dear Me, I was… it is a short interactive adventure game featuring art by Taisuke Kanasaki, who most know because of the Nintendo DS classics Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk. Taisuke Kanasaki was also art director for Nintendo’s Another Code: Recollection, one of the Switch’s best games from the last few years. Dear Me, I was… features Taisuke Kanasaki’s gorgeous watercolor aesthetic on top of rotoscoping to deliver a unique visual experience to accompany the fantastic storytelling.
Dear Me, I was… is a story about a woman’s life. Through the short chapters, you experience different parts of her life, interactions with family and friends, aging, and more. This story has no dialogue or voice acting, but the strong art direction, animation work, and music manage to strike all the right chords and evoke different emotions appropriately. In fact, I love the use or lack of colors for specific scenes. Somber moments sometimes have a greyscale aesthetic, while happier moments are full of color, making me wish we had a Nintendo Switch 2 OLED screen with how good it looks on my TV.
I won’t spoil the story, but I will say there is a very important message here. Dear Me, I was… reminds you multiple times that it is never too late to enjoy your life and follow your passion. About halfway into the story, I felt like it was going a bit too fast when it comes to its pacing, but I think that’s by design because of how quickly it feels like life goes by when you reach a specific age. I also appreciate how the coffee mug she uses throughout her life changes over time. I loved seeing the double-walled glass coffee mug.
A few years ago, I played a game called Florence on iOS. It was a short game that anyone could finish in under an hour. I loved my time with it and remember reading a lot of praise from other people with the caveat that “it might not be for everyone”. My view is that not everything needs to be for everyone. Dear Me, I was… is a game made for a very specific niche, and it absolutely manages to exceed what it sets out to do. If you enjoy visual novels, emotional storytelling, and want some potential introspection, Dear Me, I was…is for you.
Taisuke Kanasaki being involved in a game means I’m going to buy it regardless of whether I have time for it or not, but the opening minutes of Dear Me, I was… were enough to get me to put away some of my pending work just so that I can gush about how much I love it. I thought a lot about David Gilmour’s song Smile during many of the chapters here.
When Arc System Works announced Dear Me, I was… as an interactive adventure game for Nintendo Switch 2, I always knew I would buy it to support games like this. I made it a point to buy two copies of Another Code: Recollection for the same reason. Like I said before, today’s release date for Dear Me, I was… is during a very busy work period, but a good first impression is all it takes to sometimes hook me.
Dear Me, I was… is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, and I was curious to see if it did anything to take advantage of the system’s features, and also how it would control in both docked and handheld modes. I think the mouse controls are not well-implemented for the moments when you have to click on food during meals or to arrange items, but are usable docked just like the traditional button controls, where you use your analog stick to move the cursor in select portions.
Dear Me, I was…is best experienced with touch controls in handheld mode. It also feels more personal that way. I’ve always preferred visual novels and adventure games like this in a portable form factor, but this one just feels right in handheld mode. I hope a potential future update can improve the mouse controls with sensitivity options and even button options, but that’s my only real complaint with this experience.
While the watercolor aesthetic, character designs, and animation work is sublime, all of it comes together thanks to the superb soundtrack that predominantly features piano music, but more instruments are present for specific chapters later on.
Once you complete Dear Me, I was… and finish experiencing the Epilogue, you unlock a gallery on the title screen. I recommend going through the images there.
Dear Me, I was… is quite an emotional experience, and I absolutely adored it from start to finish. A few control issues hold it back when playing docked, but I give it my highest possible recommendation if you enjoy moving narratives and want something short to experience on Nintendo Switch 2. My only real annoyance right now is that I can’t buy an artbook or listen to the Dear Me, I was… soundtrack outside the game.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
