What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)

… a walking simulator. But to be fair, calling it a walking simulator undercuts everything that makes this game an explorative literary reflection on family mythos and death.

Game play is simple: walk. As you walk around the house Edith grew up in, she will narrate the history of the cursed family. Words will appear on screen indicating where to look. It is very linear with little room to go out of the box - but there is a lot to look at.

The house feels like a character itself: it is bulging to the brim with things, precariously built and contains multiple sealed rooms for each family member. When you encounter a family member's altar you’ll play through their death - or what the narrative of their death became. These moments are standout: you'll play as carnivorous animals, cut off fish heads as you explore a fantasy kingdom, and magically move bath toys. As a player you just see glimpses of these lives with no real resolution as to whether it was real or stories made up overtime to overcome the grief of so much loss.

Played this game in one sitting, without planning to do so. That's how engaging the whole story and game mechanics were for me (because I usually play games in chunks of 30-45 minutes at a time).

The game does such a great job to ease you into the mood of exploring each and every individual. Everyone was different. You can perceive their joy, sorrow, fears, everything. I couldn't wait to meet all the Finches.

For me, the best of this game was how the mechanics changed depending on which Finch we were learning about. It was lovely! And sad...and just, special for each one of them.

I have to admit that after playing this game, I do want to spend some time with my family. I guess that's a good thing!

I played this on a computer with subpar graphics and lag and I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. Trying to make perfect sense of it doesn't matter - it's fascinating and beautifully done. I loved the concept, and I enjoyed making my way through the house.

I feel like it's essentially a string of fascinating character portraits, as you delve into their minds and experience their realities. If you enjoy that sort of thing, and have played and enjoyed Gone Home, you'll definitely like this.

I would definitely play this again, especially because it doesn't demand a ton of hours.

PROS

• Massively improves upon earlier walking simulators such as Gone Home by focusing on diverse and thematically evocative mechanics
• Somber and mysterious story hits in subtle and unexpected ways
• Doesn't overstay its welcome; two hours is the perfect length for a one-sitting "interactive movie"

CONS

• Despite its improvements, this is still a walking simulator and lacks meaningful interactivity. I would've greatly preferred if there was some mystery or riddle to solve instead of just following narrative breadcrumbs.
• Uneven voice acting, ranging from pretty good to pretty bad
• The Finches seem kinda boneheaded and irresponsible, which distracts from the narrative: "Hey, you know how our family's cursed to die young in freak accidents and whatnot? Anyway, what say you we start haphazardly building additional bedrooms on top of our already rickety-ass looking house for our children to sleep in every night?"

Unlike watching one of my favourite movies, there are very few narrative-driven games that I want to play again. One of the games on that tiny list is What Remains of Edith Finch. It's because of its compelling story, its fascinating characters, and that house which is the most wonderful cathedral of secrets, stories and sentiments.

Then there was the atmosphere throughout the game. Every room or flashback swept me away as it took me through the intimate workings of someone's mind. Then, as another scene passed and this world continued to build around me, these fictitious characters began feeling more and more real.

Now, pacing is never a very exciting thing to talk about, but this is one of the few games which took every step with the most perfect grace. It guided me through each scene gently, then pulled my attention sharply, then shocked me when it knew I was ready. This was one of those rare rides, I didn't want to get off.

WRoEF is a very well written story. Its narrative is its strongest suite, whether conveyed with word or by environmental storytelling. I found it emotionally resonant and affecting as I was saddened by what I saw happening to the various characters (all in first person). It's so well done that it mostly covers for the dearth of gameplay.

The exploration of the house and its stories is organic and varied. It's most of the interaction happening of the game and even that is pretty limited. This game is a linear exploration experience and while I enjoyed it, I will not be playing again.

I wish more answers were given on the "family curse", but I guess that may make the experience less literary, or would make noticeable holes in the game reality. Sometimes stories and fairy tales shouldn't be scrutinized too closely.

What remains of Edith Finch is a very artistic game made with purpose and care. The game has that attention to details that you find in those products crafted with passion.

As Edith, you explore the dreaded fated past of a dozen members of your family tree, and get to explore their last moments through their eyes. Each of these recollections is unique and uses a different aesthetic style depending on the personality of the impersonated character. As a whole it's definitely a fascinating experience. At times awe inspiring. It's well written and even better executed.

But being a purely story-driven game, it's linear in nature, on straight binaries with very little interactivity from the player. Most of the game consists of walking around, pressing forward and the action-button. There's not much for the player to do, aside from listening and admiring the great visuals. Not a bad thing in itself, just something to be considered.

Overall it's a unique, at times melancholic, short game, that is to be experienced rather than played.

WRoEF is a collection of short stories, each relating to a member of the Finch family. The whole family is nuts in their own way, and the Edith (the player) is exploring her childhood house, looking for clues about her family's troubled past. You'll see trinkets that remain, but the major finds are The tales recount their family's deaths, and no two are alike. Each chooses a little gameplay mechanic, which aid in the conveyance of the story. Two (out of nine) really resonated with me, how the simple actions you do match with the story they tell, and are the reason why I hold WRoEF in such high regard. I tried to write about why the certain stories were so striking, but (naturally) I can't capture the moments in text, as this is a videogame, not a novel.

WRoEF takes about two hours to complete.