Goodbye World Review: A real Game Dev story
I wish I could say game development was easy. After all — it’s video games, and the people who work in them tend to be incredibly passionate about their work. But the reality is sometimes different than the dream; you can go from making an incredibly popular game with millions of downloads, only to release a title that completely flops and kills your studio. And in that process, it’s really easy to lose that passion — that fire — for making video games. In fact, it’s incredibly common to forget why you started making video games in the first place…
Goodbye World explores this very premise — one that plagues plenty of video game developers the world over. Developed by Isolation Studio and published by PM Studios, Goodbye World is half retro-platformer and half narrative-driven but wholly important to experience. Available on PC and Switch for a friendly pricepoint of $11.99, Goodbye World introduces players to the painful reality of video game development that can be hard to bear and even harder to accept.
Goodbye World focuses on a pair of game developers — programmer Kanii and artist Kumade — who have unfortunately been releasing flop after uninspired flop. Struggling through their part-time jobs by day in an effort to collaborate on their projects by night, Kumade soon realizes that the passion for creating has died down and it’s time to move on. Kanii, unable to find the words to describe how she feels, can only watch as her partner of 4 years walks out the door and away from their shared dream. At least her trusty gameboy will keep her company!
Kanii’s gameboy represents the other half of Goodbye World, as she is never seen without it. Constantly playing a game called Blocks, Kanii (by way of the player) powers through 12 platforming levels with three lives to get from start to finish. Reminiscent of retro titles from yesteryear (such as Kirby’s Dreamland or Mario Bros.), Blocks asks players to jump from platform to platform while breaking and strategically placing blocks — all while avoiding enemies. If you like Blocks, great! It’s available to play in the main menu; if you don’t like it, no worries — Blocks is an optional experience, and one that can be completely skipped in its entirety.
I don’t want to spoil much more of Goodbye World since it is such an extremely short experience, but I will say one thing: this game was hard to play for both good and bad reasons. To be honest, I’ve put off this review a little bit in part because of how relatable the story was. As a game developer myself with a recent title that hasn’t met sales expectations, Goodbye World was right on the money on so many things, but most of all the feelings. Kanii may not have been the most loquacious or even likable character, but she was realistic; her trajectory from hopeful young developer to a burned out husk is sadly more common than some may realize. If nothing else, Goodbye World is a game made for game developers.
Unfortunately, there were some sticking points for me that were surprisingly mirrored in the game’s story. While I enjoyed Goodbye World’s pixel art, the narrative, and the sound design, I found Blocks to be jarring at best and frustrating at worst. To quickly sum, Goodbye World’s pacing follows a set pattern: a bit of narrative, followed by a level of Blocks, lather, rinse, repeat. Where the narrative drives things forward, Blocks is truly only necessary at one point in the entire game, making it a purely subjective experience for the rest of the time. And while I found Blocks to be a small yet novel spin on a genre whose horse has been thoroughly beaten (not to mention some instantly recognizable easter eggs), the controls were easy to forget at critical moments, often resulting in a loss of life (and, on occasion, a game over).
Had Blocks been weighted differently, such as the outcome of the level affecting the outcome of the chapter’s narrative, or presented differently — maybe offered as part of an exploration portion of Kumade and Kanii’s world — then I could see it being more interesting (or at least more important). Instead, Blocks provides a playable whiplash to Goodbye World’s story, and one that I found myself instantly skipping after a short while.
Goodbye World is an important game development story for gamers and developers alike. It has interesting characters, fantastic art design, and pacing that kept me engrossed in the narrative from start to finish. Unfortunately, its game within a game will polarize players, who will either love its retro-inspired platforming or loathe its stop-go positioning within the story. Goodbye World is a must-play experience for the story alone, so if you find yourself with an hour or two to kill and $12 to spare, Goodbye World says “hi!”
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Available on: PC, Switch (Reviewed); Publisher: Flyhigh Works, PM Studios, IndieArk; Developer: YO FUJII, Isolation Studio; Players: 1; Released: November 17, 2022; MSRP: $11.99
Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Goodbye World provided by the publisher.
