The Past Within review - "Crossing time through phone screens"

Time travel is difficult to incorporate into a story, but it makes for a very effective gameplay mechanic. It is at the core of the new Rusty Lake game, The Past Within. This co-op mobile game requires two players who are able to communicate instantly, either through voice or text. With one player in the past and another in the future, the two need to exchange information to navigate their respective environments. This is not often seen on mobile, but Rusty Lake has put a lot of effort into making this game both memorable and functional.

What happened in The Past Within?

The past can teach a lot about what we should avoid in the future, but this also means it has a lot of compelling stories to offer. The Past Within has a plot surrounding a mystery, but it wouldn't be right to give everything away. The scenario revolves around a troubled genius named Albert Vanderboom who became obsessed with cheating death. The players take on the role of someone named Beatrice who is following a series of instructions left behind by Albert, performing his final experiment. What this experiment is and whether it should be conducted is up to you and your partner to uncover.

The Past Within brings people together

Time unites everyone, and sometimes that time can be spent working towards completing a game. This is a vibe that The Past Within manages to accomplish. Its strength comes from the idea that people need to communicate clearly and thoroughly in order to achieve a mutual goal. The past and future setups are just complex enough that players need to be descriptive but not to the point where things are too unclear. All the information is there and so progression is determined by just how much players are willing to share. However, the mystery is intriguing enough to encourage cooperation.

This leads to the presence of a spooky and mysterious plot. The whole situation is unnerving whether you're in the past or future. Even though players are working together, each is alone in their own time period. All they have for clues are the cryptic words found on screens and scattered notes. By sharing what they're seeing, they, in a way, help build the world and establish the situation. The music is subtle and players are free to examine everything they can as they try to accomplish something unnatural. There's a constant slow burn so every frightening moment is amplified.

You have to look closely at The Past Within

It's easy to think that puzzles are easy to solve when people are giving each other the answers, but that's not always the case. The Past Within can be seen as simple, but that's dependent on a lot of factors. Even though the past and future are connected, each area has a different layout. Depending on which they’re in, players may be required to do more or less compared to their partner. This can be an issue when it comes to skill level. Parts of the game rely on intuition and general knowledge of similar games to be effective. So, if one player is a veteran and another is a newbie, then the difference between the two will become apparent quickly.

On that note, if both the players are veterans, the game lacks challenge. As soon as you relay whatever you're seeing clearly and concisely, your partner just needs to enter the information. It stops being about solving a puzzle and starts being about sharing answers. Considering that there are only two paths to play the game, players can adapt easily.

See The Past Within

The Past Within is the new mobile game from Rusty Lake that tasks two players to solve puzzles together in two time periods. It presents an exciting and creepy mystery that depends on trust and reliable communication to solve. For effectiveness, players should be at similar skill levels, and the limited starting choices lower their replay value. However, a good mystery is hard to find, but you can find one in the past.