Klabater’s Best Month Ever! is an interactive road trip through the USA of the 1960s, featuring a single mother and her son going on the journey that’s available now for Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Best Month Ever was developed by the Warsaw Film School Video Game & Film Production Studio, and besides being one of the longest names for a developer in the history of videogames that is also a pretty good hint that storytelling is a fairly major part of the experience here. Although designed as a point and click adventure game, you’ll find that the experience is rather film-like at times, going for narrative progression rather than traditional gameplay mechanics that you’d associate with the genre.
Best Month Ever tackles some serious issues in American society, and we’re not just talking about a terminally ill mother and her bi-racial son going on a road trip together (in the sixties). The developer’s aware of this, and shows players a disclaimer before they embark on their adventure with mother Louise and son Mitch. And while Louise’s fate seemed sealed, this journey will have a huge impact on Mitch’s life.
A lot of this has to do with moral dilemmas and the impact of the things you say and do upon others. In that sense, it’s safe to compare this game to the likes of Life is Strange, especially when Louise and Mitch are confronted with situations that are clearly impactful for a young and impressionable mind like Mitch’s. Does he need to know about Louise’s troubled past in order to give him life lessons for moving forward? Should you teach a group of racists a lesson? Or let it be and move on?
You’ll alternate between Louise and Mitch over the course of the game, and you can see Mitch’s behaviour change depending on the choices you make along the lines of the game’s social mechanics, which shape how he views right and wrong, how relationships are formed and valued, and how he feels about himself. Is he going to be lawful? Will he stand up for what’s right? Many of your choices will boost his “level” in one area while hurting another, so there’s always some kind of inner conflict at work here – which translated to multiple endings that are available as well.
You also won’t be able to oversee what kind of narrative twists will follow from your choices, and these can be rather shocking in Best Month Ever, which has a story that features the KKK, torture and priests with inappropriate behavior – and all of that in the span of a three to four hour adventure. It can feel like a bit much, but this is a road trip where there’s never a dull moment.
As mentioned, this is a point and click adventure that’s low on traditional gameplay mechanics like inventory management and items you can interact with – most of your progress is through decision-making only. This also makes for a relative lack of challenge, as the story will keep going no matter which choices you make. This might be disappointing for some, but if you enjoy narrative-driven adventures then this one delivers in spades. The story is impactful, and the art style striking. There are a few visual glitches here and there, but for a studio that has its roots in film it’s a great first effort.
Score: 7.2/10
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