Actual Sunlight

 PlayStation Vita
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Oct 13, 2015
    100
    For a game that I think this is this essential, and this important, there's only one score I can really give it.
  2. The Vita Lounge
    Aug 11, 2015
    82
    While the game is short, Actual Sunlight will hold your attention from “Press Start.” The serious subject matter certainly will turn some away from the game – and they will be missing out – but if you do decide to pick it up, you will find that it is worthy of your time and will make you reflect a lot on what you’ve played, more so than other games.
  3. Everyeye.it
    Oct 16, 2016
    80
    Quotation forthcoming.
  5. TheSixthAxis
    Aug 11, 2015
    80
    Actual Sunlight is one of the strongest text-driven video games I’ve played.
  6. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Aug 11, 2015
    80
    Actual Sunlight is an insightful look at how some people deal with depression, and the struggles of everyday life.
  7. Brash Games
    Oct 18, 2015
    70
    If you're willing to immerse yourself in some very dark, uncomfortable places – the hopeless and suffocating thoughts of a lonely man riddled with depression – then this fascinating, bonecrushing portrait of a man on the edge may very well be an experience for you. Be warned – Actual Sunlight is definitely not for the faint of heart.
  8. PSNStores
    Aug 17, 2015
    70
    At $5, Actual Sunlight is affordable, but it takes only about an hour and a half to explore and see everything the game has to offer.
  9. We Got This Covered
    Aug 17, 2015
    70
    Actual Sunlight's unique interactive story offers a grim look at the way depression weighs on those who suffer with it.
  10. Push Square
    Aug 11, 2015
    70
    Actual Sunlight's ability to stir discomfort is its greatest achievement. It depicts the difficulties of trying to beat depression alone, and while that makes for some pretty heavy material, it's successful in what it sets out to do.
  11. Gaming Age
    Aug 17, 2015
    50
    Then again, as Actual Sunlight reminds players very early on, "This game is not a game: it's a portrait." To some extent, that feels like an easy out for the game, a way for it to suggest that its broader statement is more important than how that statement is conveyed, thereby rendering it immune to criticism. But at the same time…okay, sure, I'll buy that.

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS Vita Game of 2015
23
#23 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2015
13
#13 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 32
  3. Negative: 9 out of 32
  1. Highbird
    Sep 3, 2015
    8
    Its really along the lines of visual novel and doesn't contain any gameplay other than navigating your character around. But with that beingIts really along the lines of visual novel and doesn't contain any gameplay other than navigating your character around. But with that being said, its a fantastic take on dealing with suicide and depression and other adult-like feelings.… Full Review »
  2. DeusXCom
    Jan 14, 2017
    2
    Not really a game, more like pressing X while reading white text on black background. There's no real gampelay, no choices, 100% linear and 1Not really a game, more like pressing X while reading white text on black background. There's no real gampelay, no choices, 100% linear and 1 hour long. All of that would be relatively fine as a short story project, if it was for free and if it was technically on a good level. But this is likely the most minimalistic game I have ever experienced. It's really just a few rooms in low-tech pixel graphics probably taken out of some game editor, walls of simple white text, music is just few seconds long loops that you could literally make better in a few minutes messing in Fruity Loops and most importantly - it's bugged and most trophies don't pop when they should. How do you make 100% linear x pressing 1 hour long game and still infest it with bugs is beyond me. It's pretty clear that no or very little effort went into making this and it must show in my final score. I appreciate the story/portrait and I wanted to like it more, but unfortunately couldn't and the bugs killed it for me. Also, games are there to help you escape the problems of real world, you don't really need a game to remind you how everything sucks, even though I can relate. 2/10… Full Review »
  3. databoy2k
    Apr 18, 2017
    5
    I want to give this game more of its due. In terms of what it's going for, it hits the mark; but whether that mark was worth hitting isI want to give this game more of its due. In terms of what it's going for, it hits the mark; but whether that mark was worth hitting is another story.

    The game is a linear, basic, interactive portrait of a man first on the verge of, and then reaching, his lowest possible point. There's such preciously limited agency because he has no agency in his own life. The game is short, probably because it's targeted at 30-somethings with little time to spend on games (being one of them, I can relate). White text, black background, virtually no character interaction, and the vast majority of the narrative is driven by the character himself. There's even a twist, which drew my attention back into the story when I was getting bored. I'd bet there's nothing the developer(s) couldn't add that they wanted. It's hard to fault a developer for going for their vision and then hitting it.

    I can fault, though, for failing to aim for more. The game claims itself to be a "portrait" but is both aware of the fact that said portrait will be consumed yet blind to whether it will make an impact to anyone other than those that see it as a mirror. The beauty of games is in their ability to draw their consumers in. Unlike all other media, they must use interactivity, imagery, sound, narrative, and even feel. Their audiences can connect with nearly any experience as a result. Given that feedback loop, it's disappointing that this game made no attempts to pull the player into the character's psyche. Either you experience the game and connect or you don't; the game doesn't care. That's too bad, because it should.

    Everybody suffers through depression at one time or another. I've got my own monkeys on my back. but nothing about this connected with my own experience. Nothing made me sympathize or empathize with the character. It's not enough to sit back and say, "That's the point: nobody connects with him, and that's why he's in the state that he's in." The game should care, even if the character doesn't. The game should impose some sense of connection with it. That connection gets the point across.

    A simple example would be the lack of choice. Early in the game, when the narrative is being set up, some sense of choice leading to the same futility would draw the gamer's frustration. Some sense of the character's loss of agency, be it through antagonism or happenstance, would draw empathy. Character gets up, and you actually can work out, only to injure your leg so that choice disappears. The work that he does looks like it will make an impact, only to disappear in a power surge. Even some sense that the game is being limited by the Vita that it's being played on (e.g. the face controls are the only possible options, and a note from the character that he can only come up with those options in dialogue) would go a long way to reinforcing the themes.

    Ultimately, without the game reaching out in some way, this becomes a pretentious and preachy experience. It's auteur, it wants you to frame it and share it with your nose in the air, the kind of game that has a (italics) message (end italics). "You must play this, if only to count it as part of your experience." A book that everybody wants to say they've read but nobody actually wants to read. A portrait.

    ...but like all pieces of high art, if they don't reach somebody, they don't do anything for them. For those who play the game and connect with the specific character as a foil of their own lives, this is probably a high concept, high delivery piece de resistance. But if you're even remotely in a different camp, it's not coming to your aid. It's not going to draw you into its camp. It doesn't have time for your (or my) negative or mixed review. And that's a shame, because it creates its own isolation and becomes the auteur of its own misfortune, and worst of all it intended just that.    … Full Review »
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