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Contrast is a game about light and dark and the comprehension of physical space, but it's also a game about time. A few months more and this whole experience could have been hammered into fine shape and further refined until it was something special. Instead, laid out in black and white, Contrast is a game of smart ideas and touching moments that fails to live up to its potential due to a frustrating lack of polish and what feels like rushed delivery.It comes close to being so much more, though. Close enough that it's possible to fall for its easy charm, noir tone, art deco styling and beautiful soundtrack (voiced by jazz singer Laura Ellis), and to grow to love it despite its finicky flaws and clunky execution. I almost did, and if anyone were to tell me that they have I wouldn't blame them one bit.
At its core, Contrast is the story of Didi, a girl growing up in 1920s America, and Dawn, the friend that only she can see. Didi's admiration for her older companion is plain-faced and unabashed but she also views her as a means to help pull together the fragmented shards of her dysfunctional family. Dawn is an acrobatic young woman who exists in a world of light and shade between which she can shift at will, interacting with both physical objects and the shadows that they cast.
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