Best Month Ever!

Best Month Ever! has an important, unique story to tell that charts the course of a dying mother and her beautiful young boy. Like the road trip itself, however, bumps occur along the way that detract from the experience. While checkered with flaws, the story hits home and meets a satisfying, albeit sad, conclusion. Some folks won’t be able to see past the jankiness, while others will appreciate the experience for what it is.

BEST MONTH EVER is not only a game, but it’s also an experience that can teach us a thing or two about the troubles of our societies.

Best Month Ever! does indeed live up to its title… except with a few pitstops. While there is some clunky dialogue and awkward animations, the game still shines through with its story and themes. Best Month Ever! tells a good story about a dying mother’s wish, with mature themes that are treated with the utmost care, and a beautiful art style. The game is lacking with some accessibility issues and subtitles not always matching up with spoken dialogue. However, with an action-packed adventure, fans of point-and-click games should pick this one up when they can. Overall, it’s a touching story that almost anyone can connect with.

Although the sometimes controversial themes of Best Month Ever! give the game more emotional depth and question the players' morals, it might have been better if that energy was spent on optimizing the flawed gameplay. Lovers of point and click games have little to complain about, but players looking for a challenge should look further.

Best Month Ever! is truly unique in its premise and setting. Stepping into the shoes of a terminally ill single mother was gut-wrenching, and navigating 1969 through the eyes of her biracial son gave me anxiety. Although I do wish my choices had a bigger impact and that more focus was given to preparing Mitch for the future instead of hanging on by my fingernails to what felt like Louise’s wild last ride, Best Month Ever! was different enough to keep me going. If you love narrative-driven games and have plenty of patience, Best Month Ever! is worth the road trip.

Eventually, Best Month Ever becomes a largely run-of-the-mill road trip; you know, the sort of trip you don’t mind embarking on, but would be perfectly okay if it has to end prematurely. In other words, it’s not exactly the most thrilling or boring of journeys, but also one that needs frequent pit stops to sustain your interest, if you wish to see the game through to its conclusion. What’s unfortunate is that Best Month Ever also unabashedly pines for several playthroughs, as evident in its myriad endings, but the vehicle it’s run on guzzles your stamina and patience like the least fuel efficient of cars. Unfortunately, I only have the capacity for a single excursion or two; I don’t think I can stay awake as the road trip sluggishly cruises towards its destination.

It is important to remember that Best Month Ever is a student project. Therefore it shouldn’t be put in the same bag as a product of an experienced studio. Either way, I feel many of the game’s faults came from inadequate writing. It wants to say a lot but by the end it doesn’t much at all. If all the logical and realistic inconsistencies can be ignored. The game’s overall story isn’t that bad. Even thought they have failed to explore most of the themes, there are still some heartwarming moments.

The story is amazing! it's an emotional rollercoaster for sure and it's probably not for everyone. But I got hooked by the surprising beginning and forgot the time for 3h. The characters really come to life with some great voiceover performances so I was really sad at the end that i had to part with Louise and Mitch. I guess you can replay it for new endings but I probably won't. However this game will stay with me, at least for a couple more days.