Review: Florence (Switch)

• Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), Mobile, PC
• Developer:  Mountains
• Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
• Release Date: February 13th, 2020

In 2018 Florence was on many GOTY lists and received plenty award nominations, which is something that was unheard of for a game that was exclusive to the platform of Mobile phones. Now, almost exactly two years later, Florence can be experienced by Nintendo Switch players who missed the boat, or just weren’t interested in Mobile gaming. Florence is an incredibly well put together interactive story that will be extremely relatable for some, with the only question mark being the premium Switch price point compared to its original Mobile version.

Florence is a story that follows snippets of the life of 25 year old Florence Yeoh. Florence’s story is broken up into several small chapters across six acts, each giving some perspective on Florence’s day-to-day life. It’s an easily digestible story that doesn’t overstay its welcome, running well under an hour to complete.  Since the Florence experience is such a short one it’s difficult to put together a quick synopsis of the story without toeing the line of spoilers, but in a general view it is a story about young love and personal growth.

Where Florence absolutely excels is its ability to tell such a well-crafted story without using any spoken word and very little written dialogue. This is done in a few different ways, with the first being the clever player interaction. A good example of this is how the game handles conversations with some light puzzle solving. Each speech bubble of a conversation is a jigsaw puzzle that the player puts together to keep the chatter flowing. At first the conversations between Florence and her love interest are about seven or eight jigsaw pieces, as if Florence herself is putting together the words carefully in her mind before speaking – something everyone can relate to when talking to their crush. After a while when the two characters begin to click, the jigsaw pieces become larger and the conversation begins to flow easily, eventually getting to the point where the player is dragging only one or two pieces into the speech bubble. These jigsaw pieces are also used to convey the characters moods as well, with the good conversations having jigsaw pieces with nice, rounded edges, and the turbulent arguments having sharp, jagged pieces.

The illustration of Florence’s story is nothing short of stunning, and it really does feel like you’re watching a living, breathing story book. There’s an excellent use of contrast that really makes the story vignettes pop off the screen, and overall the animations on the hand drawn illustrations are extremely well done.

On the Nintendo Switch Florence can be played a few different ways. Playing the game in handheld mode is the most accurate to the original mobile version if you make use of the touchscreen, but Joy Con controllers can also be used to navigate the cursor and mimic swiping motions with the joystick. It’s also Pro controller compatible as well if you’d like to experience the visuals on a larger display. Controlling the game with a controller does create a little more work for the player and doesn’t quite feel as good as the touchscreen controls, but the player interactions are so basic and minimal that you likely won’t even mind.

Overall Florence is a game that absolutely should be played by anyone and everyone who enjoys visual novels and interactive stories, the only question being what platform to experience it on. The game can be picked up on Apple or Android stores for just a couple dollars, and you’ll be paying over double the price if you decide to go the Nintendo Switch route. Does the Switch version elevate the experience of the original game? Not really. If you haven’t played Florence on Mobile previously, or you’re just not into Mobile gaming in general, then the Switch version is a no-brainer recommendation. No matter what platform you decide, Florence is a must-play experience.