“If Found ...” sets a new standard for visual novel

The recently released visual novel “If Found ...” is a milestone for video games; not only does it tell a moving story about a young transgender woman, but it does so with exquisite visual flair using simple but engaging game mechanics. Consequently, I’ve found myself pushing it on my less gaming-literate friends as another example of the aesthetic riches that the medium has to offer.

For most of its history, the video game industry has struggled with storytelling, embracing instead a gameplay-first mentality where narrative plays second fiddle to game mechanics. Going against the grain, a number of smaller developers have sought to remedy this by creating visual novels, one of gaming’s smaller, less publicized genres. Usually identified by a profusion of text and static or sparsely animated images, visual novels often bear a closer resemblance to graphic novels than other mainstream video games. Though I’ve played video games for most of my conscious life, I’ve only gotten into visual novels in the last couple of years. I was always aware their restrictive interfaces, which usually amount to little more than clicking on text boxes. That’s why “If Found ...” has struck me as such an important advance for the genre; it’s as interesting to move through as it is to read.

Set at the end of 1993, on the Irish island of Achill, it tells the story of Kasio, a 23-year-old who recently completed her master’s degree in Dublin and has returned home for the winter holiday to her perplexed family who look askance at her new identity. After falling out with her mother, she leaves home to crash with her friend, Colum, his boyfriend Jack and their friend Shans at a dilapidated old house.

Developed by: Dreamfeel; Published by: Annapurna Interactive; Available on: iOS, Mac, PC