We'll Always Have Paris Review: A Dance with Dementia

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Dementia is scary. In fact, in the United States alone, the total value of unpaid care for Alzheimer's and other types of dementia is over $232 billion, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. So when I learned there is a mobile game where loving someone with dementia is the selling point, I knew it would either hit hard or court disaster. I had to experience it for myself. Does We'll Always Have Paris handle this subject with the care and sensitivity it deserves?

We'll Always Have Paris is an ambitious narrative experience produced by independent developer Cowleyfornia Studios. You play as Simon Smith, a retired chef who lives with his wife, Claire. The story sees Simon trying to complete everyday tasks while dealing with the hardships that now exist in both their lives. Like many interactive stories, We'll Always Have Paris is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-esque experience. You control the narrative by selecting choices that affect how the story progresses and how other characters respond.

If the game's description doesn't clue you in on the story's tone, the opening piano music will. From the first note, I felt the somber atmosphere in my bones. The minimalist art style added to the experience. The fact that many characters don't have faces gave me a sense that everything was fleeting and somehow fading away. Throughout the game, Claire shows signs of dementia, and you have to decide how to interact with her.

One choice that worked particularly well for me was the decision to let her win at scrabble or to win myself. I chose to win. Claire enjoyed the game and was lucid enough to accept her defeat graciously. Upon further research, I learned that playing games with people with dementia should be about the fun and stimulation of the activity rather than the competitiveness. There are even games that exist specifically for patients with dementia! Small choices like these provided greater insight into the many tiny, heartbreaking agonies of watching someone you love struggle with dementia.

Though We'll Always Have Paris is primarily narrative, there are some ludic aspects to it. As Simon, you can interact with the environment, select clothes, and tap different items on the screen to reveal more information about his life with Claire. I was also required to piece together jigsaw puzzles to progress at

multiple points. As gameplay isn't the real selling point, these puzzles aren’t

very challenging; I didn't need to spend a long time figuring them out. This

feature mostly just adds some interactivity to a mostly linear story, but it

also relates to the story's general theme. With these jigsaws, you're trying to

piece together pictures and fragments of items you had in the past. It mirrors

the game’s story of helping Claire fill in the growing blank spots in her

memory by collecting pieces of her past.

There are also tap and drag elements to We'll Always Have Paris. One of the few moments of annoyance I found in the game was trying to locate the correct spot to click on the screen to progress the story. I was already emotionally invested in the story, so hiding items and making me manically tap every corner of my phone screen felt unnecessary. But I was astounded by the emotional depths that the game reached even in a limited runtime and even with minimal and sometimes unexciting gameplay.

The choices presented in We’ll Always Have Paris aren't remarkably varied. Generally, I was presented with three options for each interaction. But with the game being only an hour long and meant to be played in a single sitting, those limited options gave me more reason to do a second playthrough. Although I had the same ending in a second playthrough, It was playing again to add to the narrative experience. Nothing changed drastically, But finding out about different aspects of their life added to the emotional complexity of the game.

I think We'll Always Have Paris does an excellent job educating its audience about living with dementia. Even people with a totally healthy mind have made common mistakes like misplacing an item or burning food. But when someone has dementia, those tiny blunders become much more heavily scrutinized gaffes, red flags pointing to a greater problem. People suffering from dementia lose the benefit of the doubt, and We'll Always Have Paris does a great job of showing and not telling its audience how this happens.

We'll Always Have Paris certainly wouldn’t be my first recommendation if you’re looking for leisurely escapist entertainment. But in less than an hour, the developers were able to strike an emotional connection within me and make me think critically about a condition that affects so many people. Dementia is a disease that alters not only those suffering from it but everyone in that person's life. We'll Always Have Paris offers an alternative gaming experience that teaches its audience about an often underrepresented group. For three bucks and an hour of your time, We'll Always Have Paris offers a powerful story that hits all the right notes.

SCORE: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

PLAY IF YOU LIKE:

-Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Although different in tone, If you're a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure interactive storytelling as seen in Bandersnatch, then give this story a go.

-Image-based puzzles. Though not the selling point of this narrative experience, if you're into jigsaw puzzles, you may appreciate We'll Always Have Paris's incorporation of puzzles into the experience.

-The Notebook. Remember that noughties flick with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams that made us all cry and think lying in the middle of the street was actually romantic? If you liked that, you should also check this out.

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