Immediately upon starting The Wreck, I can already sense the vibe that it's going to be a fantastic narrative-driven slice-of-life experience, the gameplay is not its strong point, and is just simple occasional taps to the screen whenever there is a prompt for dialogue or interactions.
However the story is anything but simple, it explores themes of family, loss, acceptance, grief, and survival with complete groundedness. Personally, this hits right at home for me, as I have a similar thing that happened to me, so the emotional impact is magnified.
While players might initially find the pacing slow and the narrative structure disjointed at first, I encourage you to push through the first hour because once the story clicks into place, it becomes an unforgettable profound though-provoking experience. It’s unfortunate that the free demo of this game, which includes the first twenty minutes of the story, is part of this initial slow crawl, potentially deterring would-be buyers from fully realizing this experience.
The character development is exceptional, especially if you’re counting the entirety of the story including the recurring memories, retrospects, and flashbacks; however, I personally found the main character a bit annoying at first. This isn't a reflection of the writing quality, but rather her personality and the way she was portrayed. Of course, I was only judging her based on my first few impressions.
The Wreck maintains an air of sophistication and class throughout its presentation. It doesn't shy away from tackling heavy subjects, and its portrayal of complex family relationships is both elaborate and realistic. The game's dedication to these themes is commendable. Overall, players can expect the game to take 4-5 hours to finish.