Image via Ludogram and ARTE France
With the concept of time travel also comes the supposition that the act could be used for the greater good. If someone who knows the outcome of certain events travels to alter them, would we be better off? Ludogram and ARTE France offers a chance to see if that could be true with the visual novel A Better World, though it quickly becomes a moral lesson both about what comes from messing with the established order and allowing a corporation that kind of power.
A Better World begins with our avatar joining the titular organization. On the surface, it operates as an insurance company. It’s secretly using time travel technology to allegedly make a “better” future. We start at the lowest possible rung with the mascot “advisor” program Globos assisting us with the “easy” tutorial task “Make Someone Ordinary Extraordinary,” but quickly end up dealing with larger scale decisions even in that first assignment. Doing well sends up us the ranks, making bigger scope changes to the world like eliminating junk food.
While we can look out the window to the right of our station in A Better World, much of the game tasks us with reading missives on a station and making decisions based on little information. For example, the best way to explain is to look at that first task. Our goal is to “Make Someone Ordinary Extraordinary,” and Globos looks out the window to pick out Henry Hellman. We then go to various points in his life to make him a business, cinema, or musical icon. His parents owned a grocery store, which was about to go under, so trying to influence the course of that business via regulations or adopting a new direction are an option. When televisions end up in every home, we can embrace that. However, there’s also a possible love interest and person in the same building named Anna Huang, and the effects of altering Henry’s life can change hers and fulfill unknown conditions that lead to another ending that fills the requirement. Since the sweeping choices offered by the company could also affect the world, like trying to head off the JFK assassination or “banning selling products at a loss,” it could also mean major tampering just to fill a small request.
Very early on, it means seeing sweeping repercussions. Which is interesting! It also means heavy-handed, implied commentary on decisions and time-traveling early on. I didn’t mind this, but someone looking for nuance won’t exactly see it here. The idea in A Better World is using the visual novel to offer choices that clearly have the game suggesting that choices matter and can go awry immediately.
Said repercussions are mainly brought up via dialogue on the computer screen, and it can be perfunctory. We’ll get a summary of results and see how that affects our next jump or choice. So a possible outcome can be ruled out very quickly. This ensures some replayability, though it isn’t very easy or fast to skip through to unseen text. Since the game itself can be completed in under three hours, that isn’t a huge deal. The scene outside the right window can also shift, but I really only found that interesting when it was a big alteration.
There are some elements of A Better World that made me wish there was either more to it or that elements were handled better. It isn’t really well optimized for a controller, though it can run on a handheld gaming PC like a Lenovo Legion Go with no issues. This can make toggling through all the console buttons a bit cumbersome. I also wish there was a designated Globos button so I could tap that to check in with her or continue her commentary, since there are a lot of times when you need to consult with the mascot in order to advance the story. Since there isn’t a designated button, that means moving back from the terminal, moving to look at her and focus on the mascot, click, then turn back to the console, focus again, and return.
I also think A Better World would benefit from more information being offered for each major decision in the game. Considering the choices we make affect the future and this is a company with access to time travel, I suppose I expected a little more insight or opportunities to get context for the choices I’d make to meet goals. Especially if some of the elements involved moments in actual history. Instead, we’re occasionally offered only a sentence or two. A little more insight into individuals, locations, and situations would be great, as otherwise decisions can feel rather arbitrary until you make one that sends you to a premature end and forces you to rewind.
The idea behind A Better World is interesting and the morals make sense, but the game’s execution could be improved. A little more time could have been spent building up to the choices and better explaining and sitting with the repercussions so our ensuing decisions carried more weight. A few quality of life adjustments that would make it easier to go through when replaying or move things along at a better pace would be appreciated too. The ideas explored and way of handling situations is thought-provoking, at the very least, and the free demo should help someone see if it is for them.
A Better World is available for PCs, and there is a free demo for the game on the official site.
A Better World
The idea behind A Better World is interesting and the morals make sense, but the game’s execution could be improved.