What Remains of Edith Finch

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JaySevenZero
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What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for What Remains of Edith Finch for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by Truk_Kurt »

This game really took me by surprise. Having played some of the most highly praised walking sims in the genre with games such as Gone Home and Firewatch which I enjoyed but not as much as everyone else, I was expecting a similar experience with this game and just thought that the lack of interactivity meant that walking sims simply weren't a genre for me. This game was different though, I thought the story was told expertly well with not one of the small stories of any of characters of the Finch family proving to be duff. My favourite sequence had to be the salmon factory one, such a unique way to tell a story which had you performing the same monotonous actions of the character whilst also trying to concentrate on the story being told. Something that only a videogame could do. I eagerly anticipate their next game.
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Quiet Paul
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by Quiet Paul »

Beautiful and heart-breaking in equal measure, What Remains of Edith Finch feels like one of those occasions where someone sits you down and just tells you their life story and you find it so gripping that you forget you’re playing a game and just meander along experiencing this family’s story as you go.

A nice touch to place a hidden passage switch inside a copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a story widely known for its explorative theme as you explore the old Finch family house, haunted by tragedy following tragedy.

Although some family members memories are more interactive than others, they can all be just as sad or as comical. I think most will relate to, or at least remember Lewis’ memory at the fish factory, as I also do. However I also very much enjoyed Barbara’s comic book memory with John Carpenter’s Halloween theme playing throughout. I get I was supposed to use the crutch for self defence but it was enjoyable destroying the items in the environment!

Walter’s story was a favourite of mine. I relate a lot to that one. Being careful and keeping himself safe within the confines of his little room from the ‘curse’ only to finally give up, go outside, and be hit by a train. Sod’s law! It was his eventual willingness to ‘live’ that got him out after being locked away for so long and his attitude to appreciate everything and -smoosh-.

I think in some way we can relate to all/some of the family members and their battles with mental illness or their reaction to each other’s deaths. Often we forget that death is as much a part of life as breathing and thinking and going to the toilet. It was interesting to see into the existence of a family plagued by death, fictional or not, as we can in some way still empathise.

3WR: Milton is alive!
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SludgeWizard
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by SludgeWizard »

After powering through Firewatch and finding it boring, I more or less wrote off "walking simulators" as a genre. They look pretty, people enjoy them, but I figured if I didn't like Firewatch, the one everybody and their mother loves, then the genre just wasn't my thing.

Then Edith Finch was released as a PS Plus game, so I figured why not, it's free, let's throw it on and have a beer.
Hard cut to me a few hours later, emotionally drained on the couch with my room-temperature drink completely untouched beside me.

It sucked me in almost immediately, and I played it through in its entirety without a break. The next day I did it again to pick any trophies I had missed the first time around.

While I still haven't found a "walking simulator" that I like nearly as much, Edith Finch opened up an entire genre to me.

I've never had a gaming moment hit me as hard as being on that swing, the fish chopping sequence is just beautiful, and it's great that John Carpenter gave the go ahead to use the Halloween theme.
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MauricioMM
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by MauricioMM »

You know, I have to admit that my relationship with the environmental narrative—a.k.a. walking sim—genre, though not terrible, isn’t really something remarkable. Not that I’ve played (and inevitably been burned out by) them all, I still have some of the more famous ones, like Dear Esther and Tacoma, left untouched. However, I’ve had enough experience with many of them, notably with Gone Home (my first one), The Stanley Parable (a particularly memorable, cheeky little game :lol: ), The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (intriguing plot and outstanding visuals for its genre), Firewatch (an overall good one), among others.

All of them had commendable stuff, some more than the others, but for me none had the staying power of What Remains of Edith Finch.

Granted, the game wears some of the genre’s tropes and influences right on its sleeve (*cough* faux horror *cough*) but it plays with them in ingenious and constantly refreshing ways. The art direction is wonderful as well, especially the visual and level designs of the Finch house. Plus, I have to praise the way its storyline managed to tug at my heartstrings despite
Spoiler: show
the downright implausibly tragic fate of almost all of the Finch family members.
Overall, I fully recommend it, especially for anyone needing a breath of fresh walking sim air.

---
My three word review:
Walking Sim’s Greatest
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markfm007
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by markfm007 »

Edith Finch was a very moving game for me. I loved unlocking each room in this house ripped straight from a children’s tale, and how the story is told through Edith and her reflections on her family and their deaths. Each memory is presented in a unique way that captures the character of that person, balancing tragic stories with elements of dark comedy, storybook style fantasy, and a reflective understanding of each person and their fate. The game feels less like a ‘walking simulator’ and more like an interactive story.

Parts that stood out for me were Lewis’ coronation, Barbara’s horror comic, the underground bunker and the bathtub. These stories reflect on how death and loss can often be senseless, tragic, undeserved, and how to move forward knowing that. The interactivity is simple, but places you in each story in ways that really surprised and stuck with me. I’d recommend this game to anyone, as even if it doesn’t resonate with you in the same way it did me, it has such an engaging and imaginative way of telling its story that I think is worth experiencing.

Three word review: Door opening simulator
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Alex79
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by Alex79 »

Gone Home was a real eye opener for me, and remains the best example of environmental storytelling I've ever played. I followed it up in rather quick succession with Dear Esther, which I didn't enjoy so much, and Everyone's Gone To The Rapture, which I just adored. But suffice to say, the so-called 'walking simulator' was a genre firmly on my radar from that point.

What Remains Of Edith Finch is an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. It tells a fantastical story about a family seemingly doomed to unusual or even slightly paranormal deaths. I just loved how each character was portrayed with an entirely different game mechanic, and following each of their sections the player truly had a grasp on who they were. Playing on the swings, the comic book killer, and the bathtub baby - oh god, the bathtub baby - probably one of the most affecting deaths in a game I've ever experienced. The horror of knowing exactly where it was going and being utterly powerless to stop it was just so, well, powerful.

I loved the way the game clearly states it's part of the same universe as The Unfinished Swan, and can almost be seen as a sequel of sorts. That section in particular at the fish cannery is another highlight. In fact, I don't think there's a single duff section.

I'm only human, and I can't help but compare and contrast, and so Gone Home remains my favourite story in "these types of game", but Edith Finch is interesting and inventive from start to finish, and is certainly up there as an all-timer for me.

Edith Finch is a game I'm sure I'll come back to many more times. At just a few hours long it's the perfect alternative to putting on a favourite film in the evening.

THREE WORD REVIEW: Curses don't exist.
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RadicalDog
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by RadicalDog »

I went in blind, and was frankly disappointed by the Switch's performance at first. But with their no-refunds policy, I persisted on the inferior platform, and got one of the most memorable 2 hours I've played. The fish factory scene is *chef's kiss*
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MattL
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by MattL »

Walking sims need two things to be successful in my opinion. The first is it needs to prove why it should be a game, rather than a tv show, movie, or novel by actually making use of the medium of videogaming. The second is it needs to have a killer script and a excellent editor such that the game does not overstay it's welcome.

I feel that Edith Finch meets both of these requirements. There are parts of this story that you could not experience if it was in any other medium, such as the swing scene or the bathtub scene, or at the very least you would experience these parts in a very different way.

Further, the game's story is moving, heart breaking, and engaging, without dragging or spending more time than necessary with each member of the Finch family. We experience their individual stories without filler and the game as a result feels like a well paced tv miniseries.

Edith Finch succeeds where many walking sims fail and is worth playing for anyone who is interested in seeing what the genre could be.
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Seph
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Re: 522: What Remains of Edith Finch

Post by Seph »

After the success of Gone Home it seemed like every indie developers and their mothers were keen to get a slice of that sweet walking simulator pie due to the promise of providing a full narrative experience without the need for testing and perfecting gameplay features. Unfortunately, other than Firewatch, they all forgot that if you're going to remove many game mechanics then you need to have a story that is both mysterious and engaging, with characters you can actually relate to and care about. What Remains of Edith Finch hit on all of these points and still remains the pinnacle of this genre.

I think the reason it stands outs is not only the variety or visuals in its sequences, but that the stories themselves are interesting and engrossing. But also incredibly bleak. There's a strange juxtaposition in doing something incredibly lighthearted and fun such as playing in a bath or trying to go higher on a swing, before releasing that you're recreating the final moments of a small child whose fate is in your hands, but you're powerless to change the outcome.

Of course it's poor Lewis's fate in the fish factory that stands out as the most impactful for me. This section seems to have been written by someone who has been there, both physically and mentally, or at least knows someone who has. I think that, ultimately, the reason this section hits as hard as it does is not only because of the tragic loss of a troubled young man, but also because you know this is happening to people every day when it's something that could be avoided. Many of the deaths in the Finch family could be boiled down to accidents or misfortune, whereas here it's just utterly tragic. The presentation of this section is something that could only be done in a game as no book or movie can show the concept of daydreaming in this way by allowing the player to control two actions simultaneously.

Often it feels like many game developers are really trying to create interactive movies, yet make experiences that last many tens of hours. With What Remains of Edith Finch clocking in at around two hours, Giant Sparrow have come perhaps the closest I've seen to hitting all the points that make a good movie. Movies aren't about huge set-pieces explosions or wacky characters, they're about telling interesting stories in a tight run time where the viewer leaves content that they have experienced a full narrative (at least in my opinion).

This is a game I'd recommend to anyone and in a year (2017) that saw the release of Breath of the Wild, Nier: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Yakuza 0, Persona 5, Nioh, Sonic Mania, Assassin's Creed Origins, Wolfenstein 2, Resident Evil 7, Prey, Super Mario Odyssey and Hellblade; the fact that What Remains of Edith Finch still managed to stand out and was a success - both critically and financially - shows just how effective it was in its execution.

Three-word review: beautiful, but heartbreaking.
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