Closer the Distance: The Complex Characters of This Slice-of-Life Sim

In Closer the Distance, you play as Angela, who observes the village of Yesterby from afar. Angela soon discovers there’s been a fatal car accident in which she perished. Mysteriously, Angela’s sister Conny hears Angela after her death and begins to follow her guiding voice to help the other villagers. Miraculously, the sisters are able to work together to mend the villager’s grief, bringing hope back to Yesterby. Over time, they discover other villagers are also connected to Angela who also guides them in their lives.  However, this isn’t as simple as it sounds. The villagers of Yesterby have desires and dreams that are not easily achieved.

All of this combines to make Closer the Distance a slice of life-sim that combines a compelling dramatic narrative with fully simulated characters that act on their own – if you let them. Characters have “wishes,” big or small goals they want to achieve, and “needs,” which represent their physical and mental requirements. Fulfilling these Wishes and Needs is your main task in the game, but both vary greatly between characters.

Take Zek, for example: Zek is Angela’s boyfriend and a carpentry apprentice. He’d been fed up with Yesterby for a while and planned to leave, but stayed out of love for Angela. These desires are reflected in two of Zek’s core needs: “Achievement” and “Belonging.”

At the start of the game, Zek mourns Angela and wants nothing more than for her to be alive. His Belonging need is extremely high, making him feel directionless and lonely. We can try to fulfill his needs by looking at the overview that shows all interactions connected to any selected wish or need. From there, you the player can send Zek to play a song he wrote for Angela on the beach. Reminding him of Angela will partially fill his Belonging needs and stabilize his emotions. The better his needs are met overall, the better he will feel, which in turn affects his behavior and decisions throughout the game.

But just performing a song won’t make Zek’s grief magically disappear, nor will it quell his desire to leave Yesterby. Parts of his Belonging need will remain locked, so it can never be fully satisfied.

That’s where wishes come in. Wishes reflect things a character wants to achieve. With Angela gone, it’s no surprise that Zek eventually develops a wish to move to the city. Following the steps to complete this wish and helping Zek achieve this goal not only fulfills his needs but also affects his personality. When this happens, the limits on his Belonging and Achievement needs can change or be removed altogether, allowing Zek to feel happy again.

While Zek is mostly focused on himself, Galya is another story. Galya is the village doctor, a busy bee who feels responsible for everyone in Yesterby. She has a strong sense of loyalty to her best friend Pia, Angela’s mother, but also doesn’t want to neglect her partner, Leigh. Fulfilling her wishes and needs often hinges on social interactions and deciding whom to help or spend time with. On top of that, her “Diligence” need ensures that slacking off is not an option, as Galya will feel stressed quickly if she hasn’t been productive in a while. Luckily, Galya also has some emotional “Resilience,” which she can build up by working out, for example.

As you can see, no two characters are quite the same, and their wishes and needs shape personalities that feel and play differently. Often, there’s more than one way to tackle a wish or need, and sometimes wishes of characters will be intertwined with those of others or may even contradict them.

How you have them spend their days matters in Closer the Distance, as time progresses constantly. But if juggling multiple characters sounds stressful, don’t worry; the villagers are mostly pretty good at taking care of themselves, even if you’re not constantly looking after them. Still, the actions you choose for the characters will determine not only their own stories but the fate of Yesterby as a whole.

How will you guide the people of Yesterby? Will you have them overcome their grief and be able to feel happy again? Find out today, as Closer the Distance comes to Xbox Series X|S today.