SEASON: A letter to the future
Leave home for the first time to collect memories before a mysterious cataclysm washes everything away. Ride, record, meet people, and unravel the strange world around you in this third-person meditative exploration game.
SEASON: A letter to the future is a open world, mystery and visual novel game
developed and published by Scavengers Studio.
Released on January 31st 2023 is available only on Windows
in 8 languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 1,771 reviews of which 1,652 were positive and 119 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 24.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified SEASON: A letter to the future into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at SEASON: A letter to the future through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Core i3 / Ryzen3
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 7 GB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
As a person deeply interested in the topic of the archive, the base premise already resonates with me. I think the way a society preserves its history, memories and legacy is very indicative of how that society is structured and which values it upholds. History is not a given, it’s a process of writing and re-writing, at least loosely informed by the archives that hold traces of the past. But those traces aren’t a given either. Whose history does a society decide is worth recording and safeguarding? Whose history is neglected or even getting erased? The archive belongs to the ghosts - but we need it to know who we are and where we came from. There’s an intangible feeling of sadness and loss that comes with these questions, especially when talking from a queer perspective. I’m non-binary – and I do rarely find myself anywhere in what the west calls its history. Season: A Letter to the Future sits somewhere in this entangled mess of historiography, softly and calmly singing its own song. You'd think that gamifying the process of writing about history would result in a game that you could "100%", in which you could collect all the collectibles and “win” at historiography. But Season isn't that. It's as much a game about what you do not or cannot record as it is one about what you end up recording. The tools you are given to do so are a camera, a microphone, and handwriting (or rather: handwritten prompts). What you record with them is stored in a notebook, which you can freely customize – one page per area or topic is all you are given. It’s way too little to store every information you find. The player is put in the position to center what parts are important to them and what aspects of the current season they want to preserve. They also have the power to assign moral judgements to some events, influencing if and how the next season will remember what happened. The game also adds a clever twist to its setting: It’s set in the context of already having happened. It starts with a person already reading the “finished” notebook. The parts of the game you play are narratively already in the past – this re-focuses who else might be reading the book in the future and what they are taking away from it. Season is also about what can’t be recorded or written down, about a lot of small or big moments and their atmosphere. The roadtrip-setting of the game is one filled with endings without closure, fitting for a game about recording history. In that aspect, it’s not just about history, but also about living in it. About the people you meet and their right (not) to be remembered. But also about the people you can no longer meet, about the absences felt in this game’s world – which is brilliantly crafted. Through careful sound design, it manages to have a tangibility to it that few games will ever reach. A tangibility that makes you feel the absences even more intensely. Season’s writing is also incredibly strong and poetic. It uses every inch of its dialogues and monologues to think about history, memory and the emotional depth that reside in those concepts. It’s beautiful. And I think that is the note I want to end on, for now.
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love the story. love the game mechanics. while i would've loved more places to explore before the season ended, i get why the journey started once it was near ending. a sequel would be fun! maybe a dlc? well, anyway i had fun doing touristy things like taking pics despite the background of the apocalypse lol tldr; good game
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Season: A Letter to the Future is an artsy little exploration game focusing on memories and the importance of the world around us, and its past. It has an interesting narrative and a very slow pace, being careful to not answer all of your questions. This will be either a hit or a miss depending on your own wants from games. I enjoyed my playthrough, and it does raise some thought provoking questions, but I found the experience to be more aligned with those who have a preference for free exploration and spirituality and for those who like to come to their own conclusions in games. Pros [*] Gorgeous environments to cycle through [*] Let your creativity shine through via your journal decorations [*] Relaxing and stress-free adventure Cons [*] Not much background information on specific characters or topics that I found the most interesting [*] Sluggish navigation, lots of clipping into objects Story Season: A Letter to the Future is a very symbolic game that is careful not to give too much away. Much of it comes from your own interpretation on things you find. Quite honestly, I am very much not the target audience for this style and prefer definitive answers, however I still found enjoyment in the game and encourage anyone who is interested to form their own opinions. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3218224017 You play as a photographer, a young adult in a small, cliffside town who learns the season is about to end. Seasons seem to resemble eras or times of great change. With this new information, she sets out into the world, outside the safety of her village with a mission to document, photograph and record the life around her. To preserve this information for future generations to come and act as a sort of historical piece. What exactly the protagonist chooses to focus on is up to the player, as it comes up in conversations, whether she is looking at talking and learning from other people, exploring the nature etc. However, the story never really loops around to tell players, who is this protagonist? What is her life experience? Why is it such a big deal to leave the village, why does no one else do this. Why does she feel compelled to do this and no one else? What is this war that keeps vaguely being mentioned? The beginning of the story encompasses some sort of protection ritual that seems embedded into the local culture, but what culture? I found I had so many questions right at the beginning and although some get answered, most are left open to interpretation and it meant I did not feel connected to the protagonist. I see other reviews calling the game a testament to human emotion and how it showcases emotions such as grief very well, except I never once felt this as I did not feel I had enough information to allow this. That being said, I reiterate that I do come from a scientific background and prefer logical, analytical and sensical media with definitive answers and clear stories. Much of the game focuses on religion and spirituality and whilst it does not seem forced or preachy by any means, it once again was not something that I cared for in the slightest and this did negatively impact my view on the game. Gameplay Gameplay is very slow paced and relaxing. Cycle around large open, forestry areas and find benches to sit on and sketch the view. Become immersed in the environment around you and listen out for every sound. The sound of water pitter-pattering onto the ground, a frog calling out or wind chimes playing in the distance. Record these sounds, photograph anything that interests you and decorate your journal page with them. I definitely found this relaxing, and it helps you appreciate the world around the character, how the smallest of sounds help to create an atmosphere. The importance of recording and remembering these sounds when one day, they may be gone. These journal entries ensure the past is not forgotten and that future generations may share a glimpse of this era and moment in time. Cycling around was much more satisfying than I realised, and it felt very freeing to get on your bike and just take in the sights. However, the bike (and your character) become stuck on almost everything. Turn slightly into a bush and your bike will unrealistically come to a complete stop and the character will be standing beside it. Generally, these issues were only minor and did not impede on the overall game too much. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3218223673 Every area is separated into subsections that relate to a specific journal page. Journal pages will either have set item outlines that you need to find the corresponding object to photograph or sound to record to continue. Most journal pages will just have the name such as “ shrine path” and you can fill them with absolutely anything to complete it. These can be 6 photos of the same blurry sky or whatever you like. Pages can be decorated with stickers and will certainly appeal to scrapbook fans and creative people. These pages are what this season will be remembered by. There are also very few characters you will meet along the way and conversing with them and learning about their pasts was some of my most memorable moments in the game. Although the main village area was slightly confusing to navigate, I liked the focus on freedom and exploration. Start wherever you want and explore everything, or just do the bare minimum. There is no set order or obvious “side quest” explanation marks above characters heads, there is no rush or demands. It is very much up to the player. Visuals & Sound I adored the visuals, specifically the stunning sunsets and photography. The luscious open fields of green, the sound of wind rushing past you as you cycle your way down the top of a hill. Tune into the smallest of sounds to record. Crickets chirping or papers rustling, become completely aware of your surroundings and document it all. Voice acting was also decent and I wished there was more of it. There is no self narration as you explore and cycle around (sometimes when interacting with objects) but the silence also helps players to resonate with their own thoughts. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3218224073 Technical & Stats This game was played using a controller, and with the following PC specs.: AMD Ryzen R5 7600x 5.4 GHz 32GB DDR5 5200 CL36 RAM Radeon RX 6800 XT 2560x1440 resolution NVMe 3.0 SSD Windows 10 Playtime: 7.5 hours. I did take my time and completed it to 100% achievements. Controller Recommended? Yes Replayability value: No. Conclusion Season: A Letter to the Future has left me with mixed feelings. It very much has an ideology that you will get what you give to the game and how much time you take exploring, and pondering over its mysteries and characters. I did take my time ingame and reached 100% completion but will soon forget this experience. The story is not something that resonated with me due to my personal preferences as previously discussed, and I did not find I had enough understanding of the game lore or characters. However, it is clearly purposefully designed this way and I am sure that many will appreciate this artistic choice. Despite my comments on the story, the atmosphere and world is stunning and I loved exploring on my bike to find out any tidbit of information that I could. If you would like to see more reviews written by me, please follow my curator page and help support my work [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34936724/] Cookie Reviews .
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I'm recommending this with one major warning: If you're going to play this I would suggest having far above the necessary PC requirements (or just play it on console) God I want to love this game. It touched me deeply in the first scene enough to make me tear up, which is rare for games. Unfortunately, once I left the starting village the game became basically unplayable, despite my computer surpassing the necessary requirements and lowering the visual quality to try and get it to run smoother. I know I would love this game if I could continue it, if my limited experience and what I know about it past that point indicates anything, its slow paced and contemplative.
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Well, I just finished SEASON: A letter to the future and that's the second game this week I've gotten 100% achievements on. It was a slow paced game with beautiful visuals, relaxing sounds, and a truly heart-warming, yet melancholic story. It's a game that can hit you with sentiment so profound, you find yourself in tears where moments before you were smiling. It's a deep look at us as human beings and how important memories and friendships are to us. All this is told through a young girl who travels through a valley, taking photographs, recording sounds and making sketches of the beauty around her, whilst meeting the people who are left in this seemingly idyllic place, where a huge change is about to wipe out everything (metaphorically and physically). She keeps a scrapbook of all this, as a 'letter to the future' where someone will hopefully read this and know about the things that were lost, and know what it was like to be here, now. It's a very personal tale and I tried streaming it last night, but I think it should be played alone, because it brings out very personal feelings...or least it did for me. If you haven't played it, and you want something relaxing, spiritual (not necessarily religious) and different, I urge you to give it a go.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 20 November 2024 03:03 |
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| SteamSpy data | 20 December 2024 02:20 |
| Steam price | 23 December 2024 12:50 |
| Steam reviews | 23 December 2024 17:53 |
Online players
2
Developer
Scavengers Studio
Publisher
Scavengers Studio
Release
31 Jan 2023
Platforms