1998

In 1998, Sonic Youth released an LP called A Thousand Leaves with tracks such as Contre le Sexisme and Sunday. Now, Sonic Youth are a very NYC band. And this little cute story is very New Jersey. I don't know much about the state, but Paterson was my favourite film of the year and 1998 gives me same vibes. They talk about a small town, when talking about New Jersey, but it really isn't. It feels like one. And there are cool places in every small town like... library. And people who have their own worlds. I like small towns in my country. They're not good when it comes to culture, but there's usually a bigger city nearby. But these few fine spots naturally create a core of people you can talk with and meeting them on a regular basis is great (because there's that one cool café).
The game's much more like Vivian Girls than Sonics. Their songs are about normal everyday feelings of young millenials. Both Cassie Ramone and Kate Goodman originate from the garden state.

Gameplay
You're walking around and interacting. Sometimes a cutscene is triggered. I wouldn't want anything else from 1998. The story in this game is so dominant that minigames would break it. There's a space for improvement, tho. You're not always told where to go next. The creator usually forgot to tell the player to return home after a mission is finished. It's a logical conclusion, but I would prefer to have some kind of journal with goals.
Or maybe give me a better feel of exploration. I admit that this hard to make in an RM game, but you got close at the beginning of the game. When walking to the store I took it through gardens and it was nice. There were some people to talk to and all books in library had cool labels. This disappeared for a moment after Jun was introduced. I hurried to get another bit of the story, when he was with me. When returning home I would prefer to dawdle around streets and talk with more people and see some new stuff.


This moment strongly reminded me of Always Sometimes Monsters

Story
I like that the social element was present and reflected accordingly to Audrey's age. The neighborhood probably being poorer and strong urge to run away is something I connect with good social drama films such as Fish Tank. It was really subtle here and not a focus of the game, but it definitely made it stronger.
I enjoyed Audrey's descriptions. They told me a lot about her character.
With the good base the story itself is logically very decent. It had some cliches and weaker lines in it, but it hold together and had an emotional impact on me. I guess that as a story of a 17 years old girl, 1998 would have a bigger impact on kids dealing with the same problems as Audrey. But I liked a lot about it. I only played the game once, so I don't know if other ends work. I think that all ends could be meaningful, but I tend to play games with strong stories just once and keep the impression.

Spoilers:


The bestest best thing about 1998 is the way we see the its world through Audrey's eyes and her personality, which fits so well and is very much relatable. It's clear from the game's narrative that she's more than slightly pretentious. It so much reminds me of myself and my friends when we were 17. Especially the dialogue about Joyce. There are certain aspects of her being like this, which have real reasons behind them and I like that. We just read clever books because we were bloody elitists. And them paraphrasing theoretic stuff is super funny. To me 1998 is very self-cautious. It might not be Avocado's intention but it's my impression. Audrey's lovely in her intellectual naivity.
There's a poem, which divides individual acts of the game. And this poem compliments very well with Audrey's point of view. The book with it being placed within the game is a nice touch too. I think that it underlines her personality, her state of mind, which is somewhere between melancholic and romantic.
Jun as a character is staying in background. We know that he's clever and reads books and that he's polite and friendly. But he's not with us the whole time or alone. You can say from pictures around here that he's a love interest of Audrey. It could look that Jun is a mild character, but that's not the truth. The story would need to be longer to show his true potential if there's something wild about him or if he's just this ideal husbando.

I probably forgot to speak about the story itself. It's good. It seems to be super simple but it would be enough for a longer tale. There's enough in background of both protagonists and around the hood for a 90 pages long script. It's not exactly original but It works with a good exection. Motives like love triangle, first love, family issues, drinking are all universal and can be used again and again.


I love joints like this.

Presentation
I love how 1998 presents her safe spots, things Audrey's interested in, with colour. It really makes graphics come to life and it's a neat mechanic in general.
Graphics are both great and good. Firstly, everything in this game is custom and that gives it a billion of free points. Colours used in this game are phenomenal. Tones of brown and grey are mundane, yet very pleasant on eyes.
Both portraits and story panels(?) have a wow factor. They're beautiful and make the game better and more impactful. I love that and for their art only, I'm awaiting Avocado's next project impatiently.
Tiles are worse. They're ok to look at but i see space for improvement. Some stuff is too rectangular, some would need to have a softer look and some has wrong perspective.
But it doesn't look bad.
Music is strong with this game. All songs are something I would listen to outside of the game and they strenghten the atmosphere and Audrey's character.
Sound on the other hand is missing some beats. The game often went silent for few minutes.

Conclusion
1998 is a beautiful game and I am enamoured by it. It has almost everything I want from a narrative. It's little too much on a emo/teenage side for a general appreciation but I like it. Audrey is a strong female character, yet she's so fragile as a human. The lazy atmosphere of New Jersey is there and you almost expect to see Jay and Silent Bob, while walking through streets. I can recommend this for everyone, who seeks new experiences while playing RM games.
This game deserves 4 stars. It lacks content to be a 5-star magnum opus. It should be a hidden gem rather than a hit and a gataway to avocado's next game. Like all these 7/10 albums on Pitchfork. And I know that both the album in the last link and my score is closer to 8/10.