this article will contain mentions of self harm and suicide as they are a large part of this game and its mechanics, there will also be spoilers later on, read at your own risk.

2D platformers have long since been my least favourite genre, sure FPS games and sports games i'm also not a fan of but i find it easier to just set stuff aside and enjoy those than i have been 2D platformers, between the difficulty and usually just disliking how they play, plus its not like most have a compelling story or characters, it's a gameplay focused genre where i don't enjoy the gameplay, same goes for puzzle platformers too like this game, slower platformers that i rarely have the patiance for unless they have really compelling side mechanics or a story but luckily the missing has both of those and ends up being one of the best in its genre because of that.

the gameplay is a fairly standard kind of physicsy platformer with a central gimmick based around your characters immortality similar to the ps3 classic neverdead, you roll around as a head to get into tight spaces, light yourself on fire to clear vines and use your body parts to weigh down things while you solve puzzles, do some basic platforming that never gets too taxing and collect donuts that unlock costumes, gallery options and even new story texts from jj's friends and her profesor that add a ton to the story and worldbuilding making them well worth tracking down. it's a lot to take in overall, the game doesn't shy away from just how horrific this is and between the visable vicera clinging to JJ and the realy horrifying audio design it's really disturbing to watch and again, only play this if you really think you can handle it, it's not an easy sit even when it does get more hopeful near the end, it deals with some very adult and very dark themes like self harm, suicide and bigotry and it handles them well, i think, there is the one theme it handles on scale that i just don't think i'm equipped to talk about and i'll get to it later in its own spoiler section, but it's a good take on this idea, contrasting well with how goofy neverdead was with it, they'd maybe even make a good double feature. it does get clever with it at least, using head trauma to turn the world upside down and manipulate gravity makes for a very cool sight and the game even plays around with text based puzzles a few times, it's a simple game without much going on gameplay wise but it works and its so short that it doesn't wear out its welcome i feel, clocking in at around 4 hours depending on how many collectables you get.

it also looks really good considering its budget, the designs are all really good and its cool to see the concept art in the unlockables section with the even better 2D art, there isn't any of the jank you may expect from swery here and it ends up looking and feeling like his most polished work, the skyboxes look wonderful especially during the nighttime scenes when the game shows off the stars in the sky and the areas are super high detail and sometimes even cozy like with the diner and the bowling ally, can even be very colourful at times too so it's not all that dark looking a game all the time, even though you will mostly be exploring more decreped abandoned places and forrests at night. the soundtrack (by kidlit, who is only credited with the girls love game flowers and this. Yuji Takenouchi who has worked on things like D4, project x zone 2, demons souls and metal gear 2 and there was also keisuke morita, who is only credited on this) is beautiful too, the vocal theme is really good and when the final chase music kicks in it's a super emotional moment, it's maybe not as memorable as the songs from something like deadly prem and it's much more understated than i think it should be, but it fits the atmosphere perfectly

so, the main reason to really play this is the story but it's something thats... difficult to talk about, mainly because i just do not have the life experiances or perspective to really tell you if this game handles its topics well, spoilers ahead for here but the game is all about it's main characters identity, JJ is trans you see and its something you find out slowly as the story goes on, a few hints at first but eventually some outright statements about it, the game isn't exactly subtle about it and i just don't have the knowledge to really say if it's done well, it did emotionaly effect me as someone without the experiances it shows and the ending had me in tears and i feel like this kind of game could be good for giving people a sense of understanding, it's a well told story with great characters and it's got a cool structure with most of the games things being delivered via text messages you get either naturally or via the collectables and they're charmingly written with some cute emojis thrown in, so that's what i think, the trans people i did talk to who played all did agree it was handled well so make of that what you will.

the game would initially be digital only for a good while on consoles like ps4 and switch up until it ended up being given a physical release via Limited run, who also did the one for the good life later on, it's a good release too with some lovely box art and it's how i ended up playing it, that's it as far as it's lasting legacy though, it's been considered a cult classic and does have its fandom but it's never really been followed up on but its spirit does life on i feel in his other works even if they do maybe not handle the topics featured quite as well and swery has posted about the game here and there too, even if just to post some downright horrific AI art (please if you want to keep your respect for the man do not check his twitter, dont even look for the AI art). white owls too would go on to make some big titles, deadly premonition 2 got released and while it's reception was mixed, it exists and i think that's impressive on its own and they also did the good life, a game i have a mixed relationship with as a kickstarter backer who was very dissapointed with the campaign for, with many cut features i was excited about and a physical release that was very mishandled, but i am also just happy the game came out at all.