Watching a loved one slowly slip into the abyss is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences life has to offer. Seeing their awareness of their surroundings and their memory of just who you are slip through their fingers is a devastating thing that tends to stick with you. As Long As You’re Here is a game that attempts to use the medium to tell a story about a woman with Alzheimer’s, which feels painfully informed. Despite its extreme brevity, a heartfelt, accurate portrayal of the disease is fully on display, making for a short journey that’s highly effective.
Annie sits at a bus stop, remembering the last conversation she had with her brother, Cristoffer, years in the past. Only, she doesn’t remember how she got there or where she was heading. Frightened and confused, she calls her daughter, Elisabeth, and offers as many details as she can. The player can either choose to be forthright about her memory or attempt vagaries to not cause worry. Afterward, the situation changes. Elisabeth has Annie move upstairs to better keep an eye on her, which is where the majority of As Long As You’re Here takes place.
The game, as you might expect, is more akin to a walking simulator than anything else. The initial minutes are uncomfortably evocative of the actual disease; you’re dropped into an unfamiliar place and guided forward by postcard reminders pinned to a board. Make coffee, water the plants, and take your medication. As Long As You’re Here makes use of these tasks as a baseline. Due to her disease, days pass with the blink of an eye. Conversations are interrupted with regularity. Regaining awareness might mean the person you were just speaking to is in another part of the apartment, if they’re still there at all.
These are just a few of the stark representations of the condition, which is painful to see unfold. Perhaps the phone has been left off the hook, or a window was left open. Sometimes reality mixes with old memories, many of which pertain to Annie’s grief regarding her relationship with her brother. The understanding of Alzheimer’s on display here seems heavily informed, as befits the gravity of the subject matter. The main aspect that moves the story forward is adding cut-out photos to Annie’s family tree, of which you’re given two photos to choose from.
As Long As You’re Here is presented from a first-person perspective. For the most part, you’ll walk around Annie’s apartment seeing to the aforementioned tasks. Naturally, the game’s impact will no doubt be dulled by not experiencing most of it first-hand. You’ll be able to pick up and use various items, such as coffee cups and watering cans, plus there are times when you’ll be able to choose between a couple of dialogue options. The emphasis is very obviously on the narrative, of course. But everything is well-paced and flows quite nicely.
The game only lasted me a bit under an hour, but it said everything it needed to, resulting in an extremely efficient experience that does an excellent job of delivering exactly what it sets out to. Of course, this is thematically much heavier than many other games, so it can be prudent to tread lightly. Much of it made me deeply emotional, especially the game’s concluding moments, which were strangely hopeful despite all that was occurring. Life is often heartbreaking, but there’s almost always a bit of light that reaches through the cracks.
As Long As You're Here: Deeply affecting and surprisingly insightful despite its short runtime, As Long As You're Here offers a powerful tale that's unlike anything most games attempt. – Andrew Farrell
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