What Remains of Edith Finch

[Majora]

 

Thought this deserved its own topic as it's getting rather good reviews and is out tomorrow. It's a several hours long walking simulator, which seems like the perfect antidote to the lengthy epics we've been getting over the past few months.

 

The hook of the game seems to be a more morbid Gone Home. You play as a girl returning to her family home and exploring the rooms of her now long-dead relatives. So far, so derivative. But what sets it apart is that you play as a participant in each family member's death via flashbacks. While most reviews have wisely steered clear of spoiling too much, these are meant to be extremely diverse (in terms of both presentation and tone), imaginative and often very sad.

 

It's from The Unfinished Swan devs and although there aren't tons of reviews out yet, the ones that are look really promising. It's out tomorrow for £15.99, but if you preorder it on PSN today and are a Plus member, it's £12.79.

 

Quote

Rock Paper Shotgun - ' It’s a walking simulator for about ten minutes, and then it becomes all manner of other things, including one of my favourite games in years...For me, Edith Finch earned every tear, every laugh and every moment of joy. It’s two hours, maybe just a little over, with no padding whatsoever. In those two hours you’ll see and do more than most games will ask of you in twenty.'

 

Eurogamer - Recommended - 'An elegiac, memorable and affecting tale of the misfortunes suffered by the members of a deeply eccentric family...the spell it succeeds in casting is quite unlike that of any game that has come before.'

 

Destructoid - 9/10 - 'Although the result is always the same, these vignettes are nothing short of incredible. They're all wildly different from one another and they constantly vary the presentation in exciting ways. It's never ever dull, even when it comes to the guy who eats canned peaches every day at 12 o'clock sharp. Most impressive though is that each one captures a different mood or tone before ending in catastrophe.'

Gameinformer - 8.75 - 'Narrative is an important part of many genres, but for games focused solely on interactive stories, it is the pillar that bears the weight of the entire experience – a burden What Remains of Edith Finch handles deftly. Giant Sparrow devised innovative tricks to pull players in, making them more active participants in the significant events. The Finches’ final moments are diverse and sometimes disconnected, but they have a thematic consistency running through them, so the tale builds on itself and delivers a compact and memorable experience. Juggling multiple perspectives and thoughtful reflections, What Remains of Edith Finch is an excellent example of what makes games unique as a storytelling medium.'

Polygon - 9/10 - 'In Edith Finch, death is a certainty and life is the surprise. Its stories are enchanting, despite their unhappy ends. I was sad I never had the chance to know the Finches while they were alive, but thankful for the opportunity, however brief, to learn a bit about them. The final farewell left me crying, but What Remains of Edith Finch is, without doubt, love.'

 

 

 

 

[Bojangle]

This year needs to stop with the well received games. I have no time for them all!

[Majora]

7 minutes ago, Bojangle said:

This year needs to stop with the well received games. I have no time for them all!

 

That's exactly why this one is so appealing to me. It's only 2-3 hours but is meant to be a fantastically unique and touching experience. 

 

More reviews are coming in and they're all great. This wasn't even on my radar until today and now I'm suddenly itching to play it. Now that I think about it it's also giving me Eternal Darkness vibes in the way that the ending to each chapter is grimly inevitable.

[Mike1812]

Yeah, this sounds like my kind of thing. Preordered as it's on sale. 

 

I still have Dear Esther and Virginia to play yet too. 

[Thwomp]

This looks and sounds amazing, I loved Gone Home.

[Not Thread Owner]

Walking Simulator is such a derogatory term.

 

This narrative discovery game looks great though. Especially since it has toilets in it.

[Majora]

Ha, I just use walking simulator because it seems to have become the most widely accepted term, not to be derogatory. I do agree though.

 

A few more reviews (although I'd avoid actually reading them because a couple go into a bit too much detail about the vignettes you play through which spoils the surprise somewhat, I tried to quickly skim past them).

 

Gamespot - 9/10 - 'It's macabre. It's often utterly heartbreaking. But it is undeniably powerful.'

 

Time - 4.5/5 - 'It's an exceptionally well-told story...Whatever beauty there may be in dying, Giant Sparrow seems to have found it here.'

 

National Post - 8.5/10 - 'Giant Sparrow's study of a deeply eccentric family stands proudly alongside narrative adventures like Gone Home, Dear Esther, and Firewatch'

 

 

[Rudderless]

Yep, don't read any reviews if you can help it (particularly the Gamespot one which gives away far too much). Just know that it's really very good and play it. 

 

(Side note: 'walking simulator' seems to have been reclaimed somewhat from its pejorative origins, but this has significantly less walking than most)

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Just finished this. If you didn't like Gone Home or Ethan Carter, then I doubt this'll be the game for you, but if you did like those, this is fucking essential. Loved it.

[Darren]

Sounds like just my sort of thing. I'm now going to attempt to use my £10 PS April voucher towards this.

[DC Lemon]

Sublime. I knew next to nothing other than 'walking simulator' and the review scores going into it and that makes it all the better.

 

Even in a year like this, it will be up there in many Top 10 lists, I'm certain. Strokes of genius at every turn.

[Yewone]

Purchased.. and about to dive in! 

[Majora]

It's really bloody good. Everything I hoped for and more, and my expectations were already pretty high. It's rare you can say that a game genuinely surprises you when you've been playing them for so long but this did just that. 

 

And it pulls it off so well. Even though it's all centred around death, it actually avoids feeling gloomy and morbid so I might actually change that thread title. It's fascinating and sad and celebratory all at same time.  And it's so diverse. Some vignettes are better than others, naturally, but none of them are bad. My favourites were Barbara's and Gregory's. I was actually dreading Gregory's and poked around the room as much as I could before starting the vignette with a heavy heart. But somehow they pulled it off without it all just being too much. 

 

The ending is slightly wishy-washy, perhaps, but the whole package is definitely up there with the very best of the genre, while totally managing to stand alone in its own way. Great stuff. Even in a banner year for games I'm pretty confident this will be nestling in the upper reaches of my favourites come the end of the year. 

[df0]

Bought today and finished today. I love this, marvellous stuff. Sat through it in one sitting and was thoroughly engaged in everything it threw on the table.

 

Massive spoilers

 

Gregory's story, baby that drowned, was harrowing and heart breaking. Lewis' story, the boy in the canary, was fantastically executed. Calvin's story, the boy on the swing was eerily motivating. It was clear what what about the happen and I was on board.

[Yewone]

Just played through in a single sitting....wow! Interactive storytelling at its very finest!

 

Certainly not for everyone but if you enjoyed Gone Home or Everybody's Gone To The Rapture then this is an essential purchase.

 

 

 

The way the likes of Gregorys story was handled was masterful.. such a harrowing series of tales, but told in a way that totally avoided being morbid or off putting. Barbara's was another highlight just for the total contrast of style (could easily play a full game like that),
 

 

 

This is when gaming is a delight, when a game I'd never even heard of until yesterday comes along and simply blows you away! (thanks @Majora for bringing it to our attention).

 

[Wiper]

Yeah, this was excellent.

 

For all the times it's been compared to Gone Home, I'd say that despite the 'explore a house' setting it's closer to The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and EGTTR than Gone Home; this is very much a game about playing through a series of discrete vignettes, all told directly to the player and making up a single larger narrative, rather than Gone Home's telling of a single story through the exploration of a house, reliant heavily on player interpretation.

 

But what vignettes. Solid short stories elevated by some very creative presentation. At times moving, at times upsetting, they're something special alright. I did find the overall ending a little weak,* which was a shame, but otherwise I'm a big fan.

 

 

*oh hey, another element it shares with Ethan Carter and EGTTR but not Gone Home!  

[Not Thread Owner]

Gone Home tells at least three different stories...

 

Anyway, how long is this?

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Took me about 3 hours.

[Majora]

Yeah 2-3 hours, which makes it a bit of a hard sell at £15.99 for some people I'm sure. Worth it for me personally, just because of how creative and unique it is, but I hope people at least keep it in the back of their minds for a future sale if they don't want to drop that much on it.

 

Although Barbara and Gregory's stories were my favourites, thinking about it Lewis's could well have been the cleverest. The way that the narrative of the story was reinforced by the game mechanics was inspired.

 

 

About halfway through I realised that the act of me grabbing the fish across screen and slicing it had become completely second nature and I was doing it without even thinking in order to properly concentrate on everything else that was going on in the scene. Which, of course, completely captures the mindset of Lewis in the vignette, drifting zombie-like through his job while his imagination wanders. Such a clever way to get the player in that state of mind by giving them a simple, repetitive task to do at the same time.

 

I do have a question about the very first death in the game

 

 

 

 

Are we meant to assume she died because of the holly berries she ate? I believe they can be poisonous to children in large enough quantities but she only ate two.

 

 

 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Yeah, that was my take on the first.

 

Not sure what number it was, but the one I wasn't sure of was

 

Spoiler

The comic book script with the child actress. I loved it, but what actually happened??

 

That house is amazing though. All the nooks and paths. Lewis's room was awesome.

[Wiper]

2 hours ago, deKay said:

Gone Home tells at least three different stories...

 

Anyway, how long is this?

 

Aye, but they're intertwined over the course of the game and only one of them is explicitly voiced, while this game, EGTTR and Ethan Carter tell a series of discrete, self-contained stories - vignettes rather than several underlying narratives. 

 

And I'd say it took me about 2 and a half hours to go through. 

[Majora]

14 minutes ago, Gizamaluke said:

Yeah, that was my take on the first.

 

Not sure what number it was, but the one I wasn't sure of was

 

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The comic book script with the child actress. I loved it, but what actually happened??

 

That house is amazing though. All the nooks and paths. Lewis's room was awesome.

 

Yeah I loved Lewis's room.

 

Regarding Barbara's story

 

 

I just took the comic as an exaggerated take on what actually happened. At the very least, she was actually murdered in the house with Walter (I think?) upstairs because that's the justification behind why he becomes a recluse later on in the story. 

You could debate whether the details of it (serial killer with a hook etc) are embellished for dramatic effect in the comic book adaptation. As she became a famous child actress for appearing in monster movies, it's certainly meant to be grimly ironic that she gets her iconic scream back while dying in a scene straight out of a horror movie.

 

 

 

[Mike1812]

Yeah that was a bit special. Enjoyed every minute of it. Like some others, I'd not hard about this till I read this thread so thanks to @Majora for that. 

 

Loved

Spoiler

The Barbera's cell shaded story, Lewis and the end of Walter's. All of them, in fact. It was sad, but some of them were injected with a bit of humour which made it much less bleak than it could have been. 

 

I actually looked down early on in the game and thought the character looked pregnant but thought nothing of it. Turns out it's quite central to the story. 

 

Superb. 

[DC Lemon]

Whatever they paid for

the Halloween music

was totally worth it.

[Wickedkitten]

3 hours ago, Majora said:

Yeah 2-3 hours, which makes it a bit of a hard sell at £15.99 for some people I'm sure. Worth it for me personally, just because of how creative and unique it is, but I hope people at least keep it in the back of their minds for a future sale if they don't want to drop that much on it.

 

Although Barbara and Gregory's stories were my favourites, thinking about it Lewis's could well have been the cleverest. The way that the narrative of the story was reinforced by the game mechanics was inspired.

 

  Hide contents

About halfway through I realised that the act of me grabbing the fish across screen and slicing it had become completely second nature and I was doing it without even thinking in order to properly concentrate on everything else that was going on in the scene. Which, of course, completely captures the mindset of Lewis in the vignette, drifting zombie-like through his job while his imagination wanders. Such a clever way to get the player in that state of mind by giving them a simple, repetitive task to do at the same time.

 

I do have a question about the very first death in the game

 

  Hide contents

 

 

Are we meant to assume she died because of the holly berries she ate? I believe they can be poisonous to children in large enough quantities but she only ate two.

 

 

 

 

I don't think it was the holly berries as much as it was the fact that Edie was starving her. Walter was fucked up because was he actually locked down there with Edie bringing him peaches until she just stopped bringing him peaches to eat because the rest of those shelves were still stocked with ancient food. The rumbling seems like it must have been the train going past and it stopped because of the landslip, so what actually killed him?

 

The other thing is Edith said that Kay was Grandpa Sam's first wife which would imply that she wasn't Dawn's mother, so who the hell was Dawn's mother? Also the bathroom that Gregory died in was the pink one that was in Edie's bedroom so what happened? Did Edie come in after Kay had left the room and turned the tap on the bathtub back on?

[Majora]

whaaaaa? That wasn't how I interpreted those sequences at all.

[Wiper]

 

I also wondered about just what killed Walter as the train made no sense (which figures, as Edith is piecing together what happened from what is written, and we know she knew very little about Walter), but I didn't read it as Edie stopping providing him with peaches as that didn't fit with his own diary entry. 

And I interpreted Molly's death as food poisoning rather than being starved, but that's a lot less clear - and, again, is reliant on Edith's interpretation of Molly's diary.

The one thing which bothered me with its implausibility (daft in the first place given magical realism abounds in the game) is one of the things that is presented as 'real' in the game (i.e. we see newspaper clippings about it, not just Edith's imagination/Edie's stories): that they sailed a house from Norway to Washington State. Not that they sailed the house - that's ridiculous but fits the game - but that they opted for Washington State. From Norway.

You know, from here to here:



Now, I'm far from a geography buff, but as soon as I got to the part of the family history my first thought was "why would they go to the West coast?". I mean, they're clearly nutters, but that bit just confused me. Maybe it's easier to sail the longer route up and around Eastwards to the West coast rather than to cut directly across the Atlantic to the East coast?

[Darren]

Loved it. I did make a few squee noises in Milton's room when I realised he's

 

the boy in Unfinished Swan.

[Mike1812]

10 minutes ago, Darren said:

Loved it. I did make a few squee noises in Milton's room when I realised he's

 

 

  Hide contents

the boy in Unfinished Swan.

 

Mind blown. Why did I not see that?

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

15 hours ago, Wiper said:

  Hide contents

I also wondered about just what killed Walter as the train made no sense (which figures, as Edith is piecing together what happened from what is written, and we know she knew very little about Walter), but I didn't read it as Edie stopping providing him with peaches as that didn't fit with his own diary entry. 

And I interpreted Molly's death as food poisoning rather than being starved, but that's a lot less clear - and, again, is reliant on Edith's interpretation of Molly's diary.

The one thing which bothered me with its implausibility (daft in the first place given magical realism abounds in the game) is one of the things that is presented as 'real' in the game (i.e. we see newspaper clippings about it, not just Edith's imagination/Edie's stories): that they sailed a house from Norway to Washington State. Not that they sailed the house - that's ridiculous but fits the game - but that they opted for Washington State. From Norway.

You know, from here to here:



Now, I'm far from a geography buff, but as soon as I got to the part of the family history my first thought was "why would they go to the West coast?". I mean, they're clearly nutters, but that bit just confused me. Maybe it's easier to sail the longer route up and around Eastwards to the West coast rather than to cut directly across the Atlantic to the East coast?

 

Couldn't you go around the north pole and down past alaska? Would be a third of the distance.

 

I've not played The Unfinished Swan - should I?