Let's Talk About Sumire: Indie Game Storytelling at its Finest

Sumire is an indie adventure game by GameTomo, a developer and publisher who has worked on games such as Cuphead and Nimbus INFINITY.

In the game, you control Sumire, a young girl who is struggling with multiple difficulties in her life, issues that reflect what many of us go through in the real world. Suddenly, a floating talking flower comes into her life and encourages her to step out of her house and face her issues head-on.

The premise of Sumire is beautifully simple: you have one day to change the protagonist's life for the better.

This Slogging thread by Limarc Ambalina and Nicolas Ng occurred in slogging's official #gaming channel, and has been edited for readability.

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:03 PM

Let's Talk About Sumire:

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:03 PM

Nicolas Ng first thoughts?

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:03 PM

😮

Nicolas NgMay 9, 2022, 5:05 PM

Very raw, credits ended 5 minutes ago.

It's uh 0ehrfoiuof

Like...it...it's a very...real and sincere look at relationships. And people. I think

Nicolas NgMay 9, 2022, 5:06 PM

It's delicate while never shying away with what it is trying to say

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:06 PM

Yes I'd say that it is able to cover a wide range of realistic issues many of us will go through in life in some shape or form. And thus you can relate to at least one issue with relationships the protagonist faces throughout the game.

Nicolas NgMay 9, 2022, 5:07 PM

Yeah, just about every bit of it is relatable. And it really got me thinking about life, which is not something that happens often when I game

Nicolas NgMay 9, 2022, 5:08 PM

Are we talking spoilers here?

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:08 PM

Let's try not to.

Limarc AmbalinaMay 9, 2022, 5:08 PM

What did you think of the art style?

Nicolas NgMay 9, 2022, 5:10 PM

The art style and music sell the game. The game itself isn't any mind-bending story and the mechanics are as simple as they come but despite that, the art perfectly conveys the tone of what is happening with the music making the right atmosphere

Limarc AmbalinaMay 11, 2022, 5:48 AM

I agree and when you say the story isn’t mind-bending, I think that is what is special about it. Sumire doesn’t use time travel, fantasy, scifi, or any other major genre elements.

Limarc AmbalinaMay 11, 2022, 5:49 AM

Instead, it uses the biggest canvas of all: real life. Instead of metaphors symbolizing things most people go through at some point, it tackles those issues head on and the story is built around real struggles youths, parents, and grandparents go through in real life

Limarc AmbalinaMay 11, 2022, 5:49 AM

Which is why it hits so close to home for many of us

Limarc AmbalinaMay 16, 2022, 4:43 AM

Nicolas Ng what'd you think about the gameplay itself?

Nicolas NgMay 16, 2022, 8:04 AM

Indeed, the story's strength is its simplicity and relatability. Everything that Sumire goes through is something that we've experienced in our own lives in one form or another.

Nicolas NgMay 16, 2022, 8:05 AM

Gameplay-wise, it's really not exciting and I found the movement quite clunky. It was certainly annoying at some points. I did appreciate the variety in minigames, though. Those really broke up the usual walk here and talk to them sort of gameplay

Limarc AmbalinaMay 17, 2022, 12:56 AM

Walking was definitely clunky especially in the beginning. But once you understand the physics of the world and where you can and can't walk it's quite simple. It is an indie game so I understand their limitations but I thought they worked with them well. Being a Japanese dev company, I think they were going for an art style and world that mimicked Japanese pop up paper art like this

Limarc AmbalinaMay 17, 2022, 12:56 AM

Or perhaps even a paper theater ambiance

Limarc AmbalinaMay 17, 2022, 12:59 AM

One thing I did love about the game was the music . You can hear some of it in this trailer