Last Day of June impressions — the mesmerizing game isn’t all sunshine and flowers

The Last Day of June comes from Italian independent studio Ovosonico and indie publisher 505 Games, and it has beautiful art that is akin to walking inside an impressionist painting. But it holds some dark moments, with a haunting blue landscape to reflect this.

It debuts today on the PC and the PlayStation 4. I played a few hours of the game on Steam, enough to explore the gameplay and the emotional story that challenges players to answer the question, “What would you do to save the one you love?” Your job is like Bill Murray’s task in the film Groundhog Day, to rewind time so that the protagonist, Carl, can prevent his wife, June, from dying in a car accident. Today, I’ll offer my impressions of the game, and we’ll eventually run a complete review.