What Remains Of Edith Finch [SPOILERS]

[Alex79]

*In case you missed the title, this thread contains SPOILERS for the game*

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I'm amazed there isn't a thread for this incredible game already! I finished it last night and want to talk about it. I know a lot of people on here have played and loved it, so let's go!

Well, it's good isn't it?

It's more than good, it's a beautiful, moving game, which offers better an argument for 'can video games be art?' than almost anything else I've ever played.

The ingenuity of several of these vignettes, the sheer joy some of them brought whilst playing them was amazing. I spent far longer than I should have as a snake, snaking around the floor and winding myself around objects to drag them over. Playing in the bath with the toy frog (and yes, it did make me shudder the first time I made it jump!) and having all the other bath toys follow him round was one of the most enjoyable things I've experienced in a game in a long time. Likewise flying the kite and playing on the swing. Of course, all these moments of joy were ended with swift and tragic consequences, but the journey to the characters demise was often a happy one.

Telling the stories though the different ways meant that it never got repetitive, and they never outstayed their welcome. Taking the photographs of the hunting trip, the comic book version of a slasher movie and the imaginary world created by Lewis in his fish factory were all wonderfully fresh and expertly realised ways to convey the story to the player.

I actually thought the game was ending around midway through, and found myself annoyed that I'd clearly missed a bunch of stories. When you go down in to the bunker, following in the footsteps of Walter as he got hit by the train, the story appears to be wrapping itself up. Obviously I was wrong, but it did seem a little like a narrative conclusion and some of the things Edith was writing sounded more like they should have been at the end of the game. I'm still not sure why Walter had decided to lock himself away underground, though.

I'd have liked to have seen more of grandma Edie's story, and thought it was a shame the book was ripped out of Edith's hand by her mother before we saw it's conclusion.

As for the ending, maybe I wasn't thinking about it enough but it never occurred to me Edith was dead until she explicitly stated so, but on reflection of course she was! I thought it ended quite nicely, though. It really is a remarkable game, an all timer I'd say. Interested to hear your thoughts!

EDIT: I meant to say, I loved the connection through Milton to The Unfinished Swan. I've read a few people online saying they didn't like it, and it was contrived, but I'm a sucker for things tying together and shared worlds, so thought it was really effective.

[Simonsloth]

I’m glad you started this thread. I was pretty convinced that it would be on the podcast list for this year and give me an excuse to replay it.

I definitely didn’t see the end coming either and felt a bit stupid because even the title gives it away. I’m glad you didn’t spot it either. Overall I thought it was fantastic.

I did want to replay it but like gone home I was worried the second play through wouldn’t have the same impact so I haven’t dared yet.

I have heard about some people playing this wearing a VR headset and apparently it’s even better. I wonder what the swing part will feel like doing that.

At some point I’ll give it another whirl and put my feelings on here

[Alex79]

I've read several reports that like a good movie, the game is even better second time around, as you spot lots of little details you may have missed on the first playthrough. I'm looking forward to giving it another go some time. The first thing I did when it had finished was replay the swing section again!

[DomsBeard]

Did she die during childbirth? I missed the hint if so

[Flabyo]

Did she die during childbirth? I missed the hint if so

That’s the implication yes. The final act of the story, which is her part of the narrative, ends with you playing the birth, kind of.

I quite liked that you don’t get the payoff for Gradma Edie’s tale, and that you hear that she left the house rather than be taken into care, there’s a slight possibility that she chose to ‘escape’ the family curse on her own terms.

There were other things too that it left you to try and figure out yourself, such as ‘what was going on with the water slide?’ (Which I still have no idea about) or what exactly the girl in the first flashback was doing (clue: One of the things she ate was not a good idea).

The main takeaway for me was not that the family is cursed, but that for whatever reason they chose to believe they are. For some family members the fear the curse might kill them became self fulfilling, for others they were just deeply unfortunate.

I can absolutely recommend looking into the other titles Annapurna have published recently: “Gorogoa” and “Florence”. They’re a publisher to watch,

[Alex79]

Will check them out, thanks.

Re: Molly, yeah I'm pretty certain she started hallucinating after eating poisonous berries. This is reinforced by the fact the bird won't appear at the window until you've eaten them (or at least it didn't both times I tested it).

I'm not sure there was anything deeper behind the water slide other than it toppled over and killed the guy who made it. There were newspaper cuttings about it. Unless I missed something more interesting?

[kintaris]

I feel utterly alone in not enjoying this one at all, and I say this as a fan of Gone Home and similar narrative experiences.

For me there was too much "message", and not enough character. The vignette style and the foreknowledge that basically everyone you play is going to die stole away a level of engagement with the characters, because they never get to grow and you don't get many opportunities to find out additional secrets through exploration. I know that's part of the whole message of the game, that death is sudden and final, but it grated on me how much it felt like the game was shouting the message at me rather than letting me find my own meaning, which is what I love about the genre normally.

The varied gameplay in each vignette was cool but again it felt like surface detail - once I got over the initial buzz of seeing an innovative control method, once again each story just felt like a plod towards the inevitable death. In between, the house itself didn't offer much interactivity for me which was disappointing.

I don't know exactly what was wrong, but this was a difficult game to swallow.

Gorogoa on the other hand, is incredible, and Annapurna are absolutely a publisher to keep an eye on.

[Chopper]

I loved it and reading this makes me want to play it again.

I didn't get that at all, Kintaris. I didn't even think too much about the impending deatths, but instead viewed them more as a mechanism to frame each story so that it didn't outstay its welcome. I got really involved with the hunting story, trying to frame each photo perfectly, that I forgot all about what was going to happen, and was shocked and delighted when it did.

Everything was done with such a light touch, a nice blend of narrative and interactivity.

[Baron Phil]

I went into Edith Finch with high expectations having heard a lot of people mentioning it in GOTY and it still exceeded them.

I loved the way it told its story and how happy and fun a lot of the sections were even though you knew each one was leading to a death. I went back to play through some bits again and really found myself struggling to keep going, especially on the swing, almost wincing as I continued to play.

[Alex79]

I think the section I found most affecting was the baby in the bathtub. It played on my fears as a father perhaps, but the fun of playing with the bath toys, knowing what was coming (and until it was confirmed, fairly sure of how it was going to happen) was a really weird feeling that I can't quite describe. I was having fun, but there was a sense of discomfort or impending doom that was really unsettling. I actually tried to battle that game and wrestle the baby up out of the water, which of course is completely futile.

[Simonsloth]

I forgot about the bit with the baby in the bathtub. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick. I couldn’t turn my back on my son whilst he was in the bath for weeks after this bit.

[kintaris]

Gosh, I get so jealous when everyone gets deep into something that didn't affect me at all. Maybe I'll give it another spin when time has passed.

I feel terrible for not even trying to save the baby now, I was so sure it was already doomed. Good thing I'm not a dad! :S

I was worried I was going to get the same issue with Firewatch, but I'm playing through that now and happily it's working beautifully for me. Edith is just a strange anomaly in that space.

[Flabyo]

Firewatch is... a whole other thread. That you should go dig out once you’re done, there’s a very diverse opinion on that one on this forum

[Alex79]

Indeed - I really didn't like that game at all. I got quite annoyed at myself because it's right up my street.

[Flabyo]

I think with these types of games they may actually be more prone to provoking an extreme like/dislike response than video games usually are.

We expect with books and movies to have different opinions to our friends, often quite extreme ones, but for some reason we’ve grown to not expect quite as much of our games.

A thought, anyway.

[kintaris]

I think with these types of games they may actually be more prone to provoking an extreme like/dislike response than video games usually are.

We expect with books and movies to have different opinions to our friends, often quite extreme ones, but for some reason we’ve grown to not expect quite as much of our games.

A thought, anyway.

Sometimes I certainly think I conflate a mechanical genre with a thematic genre in my head and expect to get a strong connection to a story just because I happen to like several games using the same delivery method. Even though that's as ridiculous as saying I expect to love every podcast on the internet because I like a handful of them.

[Chopper]

It’s strange; while I’m a massive fan of the genre as a whole, there are some games that I absolutely despise, despite them being well received. I don’t think I feel as strongly about non-walking-sims.

[Simonsloth]

I think with these types of games they may actually be more prone to provoking an extreme like/dislike response than video games usually are.

We expect with books and movies to have different opinions to our friends, often quite extreme ones, but for some reason we’ve grown to not expect quite as much of our games.

A thought, anyway.

Sometimes I certainly think I conflate a mechanical genre with a thematic genre in my head and expect to get a strong connection to a story just because I happen to like several games using the same delivery method. Even though that's as ridiculous as saying I expect to love every podcast on the internet because I like a handful of them.

I know what you mean although podcasts are so variable in theme and quality that it is a little different. The assumptions we make about what we should like are often unfounded. It’s strange that we do it to ourselves as it can lead to disappointment.

I love science fiction films but for every moon or ex machina there’s a shoddy half baked example. Same with narrative games although I think the video games world generally tolerates mediocrity a bit better because the interactivity can make it more engaging.

Narrative driven games like Edith finch, soma and that dragon cancer were more engaging to me despite their varying levels of interactivity. Whereas Firewatch and gone home on the other hand didn’t hit home as hard. No rhyme or reason to it because I should like them all on paper. It also made them less impactful because my sights were set so high.

I’ve learnt with book and films to lower my expectations so I actually get more enjoyment. I don’t know why I can’t do this with games.

[Nupraptor]

Just played this on the Switch. Really enjoyed it. Some amazing moments and I like the ambiguity of the events.
I'm not sure what to make of "Walking Simulators". The only other one I've played was "Gone Home". They were both very enjoyable and a different gaming experience than I'm used to, but they are over fairly quickly.

[Alex79]

I like to equate them to going to the cinema or something. They cost slightly more, and last a little longer, but generally they're an evening worth of entertainment, and if you can pick them up for around a £12-15 that really is the cost of a cinema ticket plus snacks. And when you look at it like that, the length is perfect I think.