‘The Use of Life’ is a game-book-style JRPG. JRPGs are generally considered to be pretty old-school, but the developers have stated that they are trying to revive the genre, not with a good old-school JRPG, but with a JRPG that can be seen as modern and new.

Batting a giant wolf. Image by 'The Use of Life.'

In ‘The Use of Life’ you play as a hero who has “attachments,” or attributes that fluctuate based on the decisions that you make. So if you decide to go on a murderous rampage and kill a bunch of civilians, your darker side will grow, whereas, if you rescue a child from a flooded river, the good side will start shining a little brighter.

‘The Use of Life’ is all about how you as the character either use your power for good or for evil and thus determine how the game will end. Every decision that you make counts towards a logical conclusion. 

The battles you fight are fought with “command-style battle strategy,” as quick-time events where you need to make crucial split-second decisions. Each battle has three turns on each side, leaving plenty of room for the tide of the battle to shift in either direction.

A wolf with a  big mouth... Image by 'The Use of Life.'

If things don’t turn out the way you like you can always go back and try doing things a little differently.

You are completely free to decide how you will play. You can choose to go mad and play aggressively or you could choose the stealthy, strategic approach. To complement your freedom of choice, the game also allows you to customize your character’s abilities as you progress.

The game-book style narration ‘The Use of Life’ is intended to create a unique experience with old-school themes but modern performance.