A couple of months ago I was talking about games with someone I was dating, because well, you can learn a lot about someone just by knowing what sorts of games he or she likes. I was amazed that he liked 'Life is Strange' since he did not seem the type, he seemed more like an fps-type of guy you know? He said that I would probably enjoy another game, called 'What Remains of Edith Finch' but I sort of forgot about it until I heard it being mentioned in a video about the top 5 games of 2017. It was, safe to say, an instant buy.
I had healthy expectations of the game, especially as I had heard nothing about 'Giant Sparrow' before who made the game. Even so, I had heard a lot of good things about it so I was not ready for the immediate immersivity that made it feel like I was playing a VR-game. Already at the start, the game invites you to be curious and adventurous and while some may call it a walking simulator, I would simply call it a very visual and engaging way of telling a story. It already seemed like an entertaining and beautiful game, both storywise and lookswise. I was however not ready for the feels. Sooo not ready. They sort of caught me off guard on that one. Without spoiling much, prepare yourself to feel as you get to experience death more than life, all while the game in some ways celebrates life.
You get to play as Edith Finch, the last remaining Finch, who is now visiting her old family house. The house looks huge and interesting from the outside and things get even more complex when you start exploring the inside. Even though the house has been abandoned for ages it still feels very much alive, especially once you begin your exploration of the rooms that belonged to the late Finches. Each room has its own charm and each object tells a story. You get to explore the deaths of the relatives in their own unique ways, some sadder than others. What they all have in common is that they all involve feelings of the stronger kind, the kinds that can be very hard to portray without making it feel forced. These feel, natural. Without spoiling much, I will say that one of them made me cry more than I have done all year probably. It was the kind of cry where you wish you could stop but you can't and there is this... silence. I had to hug one of my cats before I could continue playing.
The game is not extremely long, and while I would wish it had been longer, I also feel that it made the story justice even if it was short. It told what needed to be told, left some things out for the player to think about. It leaves the player wanting more instead of making one feel drained, which can be a rare trait to find in a game as of late. If you have a night to spare and you feel like well, feeling, this is the game for you. Heck, even if you don't like feeling but enjoy a good story told in an amazing way this is the game for you!
I hope you all enjoyed my first ever review, I have a lot to work on and I might not do them all that often but it was a fun challenge!