Fragments of Him

Fragments of Him is a video game developed and published by Sassybot and released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on 3 May 2016 and 1 June 2016, respectively.

Reviewers praised its narrative, but criticized its gameplay as repetitive and sometimes tedious; some felt the game would have worked better as a short film or an audio drama.

The characters consist of: Will, who dies in a car crash early in the game; Sarah, Will's ex-girlfriend; Harry, Will's boyfriend at the time of his death; and Mary, Will's grandmother.

[3] When interacting with non-player characters, clicking on them will sometimes result in them disappearing and reappearing in a different location to give the impression of them walking.

Players passively select whether they see Sarah's or Mary's story first through a hidden choice (which room they walk into first early in the game).

In some parts of the game, the player clicks on other characters to make them move forward, suggesting the idea of snapshots based on their memories.

Mata Haggis, one of the developers of Fragments of Him, told the Rock, Paper, Shotgun blog that in the final version there would be more mechanics than just removing objects.

[6] Haggis told Nathan Grayson of the Kotaku blog that many of the objects in the game, such as hotels and parks, were based on his real-life experiences of when he lost a friend.

[14] Jose Rodriguez of the website IGN praised the "deep and realistic" story and said that the game gave priority to the narrative, and that it will appeal to casual gamers because of its realism and leisurely gameplay.

Campbell said that Fragments of Him took time to rise to its emotional peak but when it does, it reaches it "with a searing and open humanity that connects the player with each of [the game's] characters".

Andrea Maderna said that it gave off an emotional vibe and had fantastic narrative choices and structure, though the player's role is limited.

[12] Laura Kate Dale was disappointed, saying that the narrative would shine more in the form of a short film as it seemed more impressive when it was a "five minute convention floor demo than as a two and a half hour long finished product".

Will standing in an elevator
One of the living rooms
The development team