Video games are often far too defined by their ability to tell stories like a movie or TV show would. Games like Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II are wonderful games in their own right, but they perpetuate the idea that cinematic storytelling is the end-all and be-all of interactive storytelling. Sure, they give us something to show to our parents and say, “Look how far games have come since Mario! They’re just like movies now!” But those expectations tend to make storytelling in games, especially big-budget games feel less and less distinguishable from movies and TV, which isn’t bad, it’s just reductive.
I Am Dead shirks those expectations to tell a relentlessly heartfelt and occasionally meditative story that only a video game could tell, mixing interactive sequences and environmental storytelling to create a narrative that will give you as much as you put in with a simple gameplay loop.
As the game’s title suggests, you play as Morris Lupton, the former curator at a museum in a small island in the British Isles, who happens to be dead. Following a serene walk on the island’s beach, you’re greeted by your (also dead) dog, Sparky, who serves as your guide in the afterlife. The two of you are tasked with communing with the spirits that inhabit the island by collecting some of their prized possessions from when they were alive.
That’s the main gameplay loop; you search various areas for these items to summon someone’s spirit. It’s the evolution of something like a point-and-click adventure in a lot of ways. While you are one character, because you’re dead, you’re omnipotent. You can look and go virtually anywhere in the area that you’re searching in. Actually finding the items centers around one of the most visually hypnotic mechanics I’ve ever seen in a video game — your omnipotence allows you to view a cross-section of just about any object in the game’s vibrant, charming, Katamari-like low-poly art style.
From a wheel of cheese, to a toaster, to a boat’s control panel, seeing the insides of everyday objects never got old. Its mesmerizing nature makes it feel like an almost meditative experience to look through the varied environments for mementos. In between actually looking for the mementos, you’re certain to find yourself just wondering, “I wonder what that looks like if I do this?” over and over again.
Aside from just looking around, there’s nothing much else to the gameplay. It’s neither deep nor challenging, so those looking for a more in-depth puzzle experience might be disappointed to hear that the hardest part of I Am Dead is finding little collectible island spirits, called Grenkins, that are hidden all over the island. Even that’s neither required nor challenging and the game is fully aware of that.
What makes exploring I Am Dead‘s environments truly fascinating is how the game tells you what to look for. In each area, you’re tasked with searching for people with memories of the spirit that you’re trying to contact. Each memory comes in the form of an interactive vignette that features the character that’s remembering it and the spirit. The cutscenes range from cute stories about star-crossed lovers to stories of loss to a bird’s memory of messing with one of the characters.
I Am Dead tackles each tonally different memory in stride and allows each memory to stand out with strong performances and writing that work to make an experience that doesn’t look to match the unbridled joy of Final Fantasy VII Remake or the soul-crushing despair of The Last of Us Part II, instead opting for something much more grounded but equally touching and resonant.
One of the ways the game makes the story feel so relatable and real is that it’s so removed from death that death itself doesn’t matter. It allows memories of the dead to be just that, without taking the time to relish the thought of them being alive again, avenging them, or wallowing in their loss. This removal from death and loss and the mourning and sorrow that follows is so freeing for the game. Widows have returned to their daily lives, parents have learned to live life normally after losing their children. It’s so refreshing, that it honestly caught me off guard.
That’s not to say that the game never gets too heavy. It knows when it needs to approach a situation with some level of gravity and does it without a second thought and moves on. That’s what makes the peaceful, lovely, sad, and melancholy moments so impactful and meditative.
What ties the gameplay to the story’s human emotions is the Isle of Shelmestorm itself. Nestled away in the North Atlantic, the fictional island of Shelmestorm oozes charm. Just exploring it will make you fall in love with the cute fishing village these spirits call home. Clearly inspired by co-creators Ricky Haggett and Richard Hogg’s homes near the seaside in the British Isles, so much cultural experience and research went into the creation of the island that it honestly feels like a shame that you’ll probably only spend about five hours there.
On top of the stories of the deceased and their still-living loved ones, I Am Dead packs in an interesting, but ultimately untapped mythology about the island that gives it even more life. It also offers some serious payoff to the observant player who takes some time to smell the roses.
As a puzzle game, I Am Dead isn’t necessarily anything to write home about. Outside of some wildly captivating visual mechanics, the game itself is shallow but accessible. That said, players that take their time to explore every nook and cranny on the island, or even mess around with the cross-section mechanic, are rewarded for their time with more little tidbits about the world that bolster one of the most interesting stories I’ve experienced in a game. I Am Dead breaks conventional cinematic storytelling norms to provide a uniquely grounded story about death that’s not held back by grief and could only be told in a video game.
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