Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

Post-apocalyptic Tokyo, year unspecified: a young boy called Seto buries his grandfather and ventures outdoors for the first time, searching for signs of human life. He begins a melancholic adventure of discovery, with a tone and feel quite unlike any other game. Fragile presents a distinctively Japanese take on the end of the world; where Fallout 's empty wastes were stark and oppressive, this finds beauty among the bleakness. As Seto explores, he finds remnants of a forgotten time; each piece of detritus has its own – often moving – story to tell. It's uncommonly attractive for a Wii game, and the haunting, piano-led soundtrack is sublime. Though the boy's combat skills are authentically clumsy, it doesn't make the sporadic enemy encounters any more pleasurable, while back-tracking and fetch-quests drag the already funereal pace down further. It can be a struggle at times, but the shafts of light that illuminate Fragile 's gloomy world make this curio worth the effort.