7 Days to End with You (Language Comprehension Adventure) - Introduction and Review

I played "7 Days to End with You," an indie game from overseas.
This work offers the experience of spending time with someone who speaks a language you don't understand at all, and then interpreting the story by deductions about the meaning of words and phrases in your own way.

It's a unique genre of work, but I got completely absorbed in it and played through it all the way through.
I ended up relying on a walkthrough website, and my completion time was about 6 hours.

Game Overview

When "I" woke up in bed, there was a woman in front of me.
The woman speaks, but "I" cannot understand her words, nor can I understand the written text or other writings found in the house.
It's a game where you communicate by deducing words on your own, even if you don't understand them, and follow the story.

The player's weapon is to write down the meaning of words in a vocabulary notebook.
Players can freely take notes on the meaning of words, and when those words appear in the game, their meanings will be displayed as phonetic guides.
If you're unsure of the exact meaning, you can use it as a memo, such as "desk?", "maybe window?", or "probably a verb."
Clicking on a word allows you to recall the context in which that word was used, which can be helpful in inferring its meaning later.

Even after watching the ending and starting the game again from the beginning, your vocabulary list will be carried over.
As players' language comprehension improves, the story gains more depth, resulting in a different experience compared to when they first started the game.

Review (no spoilers)

I've been interested in this game since it was first released, so I was aware of its existence.
However, I never bought or played it, and about a year passed after that.

Later, I saw a live gameplay video of the game on the YouTube channel "Yuru Linguistics Radio," which I frequently watch, and I realized, "Oh, this is that game I was interested in before," and I became interested in it again.
Then, I recently read another review article, and it seemed interesting, so I finally decided to buy it.

So, what were my impressions of playing this game? It all boils down to this: "I had a truly invaluable experience."
I haven't played enough games in the same genre to be able to judge them based on whether they're interesting or not, so I inevitably end up saying it this way.
If you ask me whether I enjoyed it, the answer is yes, I did.

The game's premise of deciphering an unknown language could be considered a type of puzzle or deduction game.
This is a puzzle game where a word appears in multiple scenes, and you have to compare those scenes to deduce its meaning, using that as a clue to deduce the meaning of other words.
In this game, there is a true answer to the language, so it is possible to verify whether the word you guessed is correct.
However, if you're simply looking to enjoy it as a puzzle game, I think there are other better options available.

Another way to enjoy it is as a simulation game of what it's like to be in a foreign country where you don't speak the language.
It's an experience where, without understanding the written word or the spoken language, you try to grasp the nuances and understand the intentions of the other person through their gestures and facial expressions.
This work is set in a unique situation as it begins with the protagonist having no memory, but it allows you to experience the difficulty of communicating without language.
However, on the other hand, I also vaguely felt that there was "something" that could be communicated even without understanding the words.

The gameplay of this title is easy to explain, but the enjoyable aspect is that you gradually come to understand the meaning of the words.
Furthermore, you can find out the meaning of each word by looking at a walkthrough website.
However, I feel that the real charm of this game lies in the frustration of trial and error as you try to communicate by feel at the beginning of the game, and the anxiety of wondering, "Could this possibly mean this?"
How players understand the meaning of a word, including subtle nuances, will vary greatly from person to person.

In that sense, each player's experience playing this game is unique, and each individual's interpretation is the correct one.
If you know the correct meaning of a word, your subsequent experiences may become uniform, and you may lose their uniqueness.
Therefore, I strongly recommend that you first try to play through this game completely on your own.

I think this is a film that won't appeal to everyone, but for those who can enjoy it even when they don't fully understand it, I would recommend it.

When you feel you can't make any further progress on your own, I recommend checking out hints on a walkthrough website.

If you get stuck again after looking at the hints and want to finish everything,Strategy wikiIt would be a good idea to check the answers to the vocabulary questions and the conditions for the ending.