Review - The Day I Became a Bird
- Roberto Nieves
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Developer: Hyper Liminal Games Ltd
Publisher: Numskull Games
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch 2
It's easy to forget things. We were all kids once. There was a time when the world seemed to be larger than the universe itself. Any one thing could hold wonder and surprise. It's those memories we forged that we still fondly think about, even as busy adults. Even as adults, it reminds us of life’s simplest lessons.
The Day I Became a Bird is a game about those feelings. What it was like to have an imagination and bring it to life. What it's like to experience a first love and be noticed. While it is a short experience, this cozy narrative game has a big heart and reminds players of the simple things in life.
A Cozy Story
The Day I Became a Bird is based on the children's picture book by Ingrid Chabbert. A young boy named Frank goes about his day, playing with his dog and riding his bike to school. While riding his bike, he is awe-struck by a young girl who is fixated on birds. Frank learns this girl's name is Sylvia, and she is fascinated by birds.
Frank takes a fascination with birds but wants to get Sylvia’s attention. Throughout the game, Frank gains curiosity and eventually fashions out his own bird suit, complete with leaves for feathers and metal coils for wings. Frank becomes a bird in the hopes of getting Sylvia's attention.
School's In
The Day I Became a Bird is a cozy, narrative, story-driven game. Players play as Frank the boy and participate in various activities. The game is separated into four days, with each day having several levels. Some levels have objectives and require interacting with items. Others feature a tile puzzle to solve. Finally, a few levels feature simple travel and collecting rings. In each level, there are feathers to collect as well.
That is the entire component of The Day I Became a Bird. It's a small game where the goal is to simply interact with the environment, perform a few quick-time events, and complete puzzles. The game is cozy, and it even has a feature where you can reduce the QTE down to simple button presses.
Good Memories
The Day I Became a Bird is a warm-looking game. Inspired by the picture book, the entire game looks and feels like a picture book come to life. The drawings and illustrations have a heartfelt impression to them. There is a genuine softness to the environments, movements, and characters. The color palette has an autumn-like appearance. Birds are a focus here, and they are brought to life with a storybook level of care.
I stress that the game is cozy. There isn't much to the gameplay, but it is rather delightful, with all the whimsy one could expect from a game of this nature. Actions are simple, and objectives are simple. One section of the game encourages players to gather materials for the bird costume, which slows down the otherwise brisk pace of the game. Many of the objectives involve just interacting with the environment and gathering materials.
Puzzling Times
Between levels, there are tile puzzles to solve. These tile puzzles start off easy but do ramp up into small brain teasers before the end. The gameplay changes a bit with the on-rails segments, usually biking or flying through rings. These are simple moments in the gameplay designed to give a sense of interactivity. They aren't particularly challenging, but a fun segway between scenes. That is the extent of the gameplay.
The biggest strength of The Day I Became a Bird lies in its visual and audio presentation, as well as its story. The presentation is striking, feeling like it came straight from the pages of the picture book. The art style has a softness and wonder to it. I was reminded of The Peanuts Gang of Charlie Brown. There’s a certain greyness to it at first, but then the colors open up during several segments to leave quite the impression.
A Moment of Peace
The same can be said of the audio. There is no voice acting in The Day I Became a Bird, but there is a soft piano that plays throughout the game. It changes through the game and evokes a simple mood between stages. It’s surprisingly effective in evoking a time of childhood and simple wonder.
Playing The Day I Became a Bird was a reflective experience. Most of the time, I’m playing video games that involve mass destruction or violent action. Before playing The Day I Became a Bird, I was slaughtering aliens in Earth Defense Force 6, surviving a deadly gauntlet in Showgunners, and annihilating heretics in Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor: Martyr. Naturally, these games have different priorities for the player. With The Day I Became a Bird, the priority is to relax and experience.
The Simple things in life
It's a game that reminds the player of the simple things in life. A first love, imagination, friendships, what it is to build something with your own hands. These simple feelings are incredibly lost in a divisive world, especially in adulthood. The Day I Became a Bird reminds one of these feelings in the hopes that we don’t forget the simple joys in life.
While simple, I can imagine The Day I Became a Bird being a perfect game for those starting out with video games and their capacity for interactive storytelling. Its compact and soft nature makes for a solid experience that doesn’t intimidate but instead welcomes players to interact and enjoy. I can easily imagine the game being a strong first video game for someone who has never encountered video games before.
The Day I Became a Bird
Regrettably, The Day I Became a Bird is short. So short that it can be completed in a single sitting, lasting 60 to 90 minutes, with maybe a few more minutes to complete achievements. Otherwise, the game is that length, and that is it. There is a short movie to watch in the game's extras that showcases the story in a film format, but that is the maximum extent of content in the game. This may make the cost of entry steep for such a short experience.
The Day I Became a Bird is a short but cozy game that reminds players of the simplest aspect of life. It may not be for everyone wanting a meatier experience, but its simplicity and cozy heart are charming and special. Clearly, a passionate team put their resources into making something small but special. Sometimes, in this busy world of video games, you need a moment to break, to pause, and maybe imagine what it is like to fly like a bird.
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