What Remains of Edith Finch

What Remains of Edith Finch
by Giant Sparrow - April, 2017

Available at:
GOG
Steam



Winner of Best Game at the 2018 BAFTA Game Awards, as well as Best Narrative awards at the GDC 2018 Choice Awards, 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards, and The Game Awards 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state.

As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she's the last one in her family left alive. Each story you find lets you experience the life of a new family member on the day of their death, with stories ranging from the distant past to the present day.

The gameplay and tone of the stories are as varied as the Finches themselves. The only constants are that each is played from a first-person perspective and that each story ends with that family member's death.

Ultimately, it's a game about what it feels like to be humbled and astonished by the vast and unknowable world around us.

Created by Giant Sparrow, the team behind the first-person painting game The Unfinished Swan.

What Remains of Edith Finch (Walking Sim)

Edith returns to her family birthright - the Finch homestead - to discover the truth that her mother had always hidden from her: What happened to all of her kin?

Options are many, but a few of them are separate sliders for SFX, Dialogue and Music, Mouse-sensitivity, various quality settings and a slider for Brightness.  Can be played with a controller, or mouse/keyboard combo (W-A-S-D or the arrow keys for movement, mouse for camera control.)

This game is all about the story.  There is no skipping of dialogue, no speeding up your walking, nothing to pull you out of the world that you are exploring.  What had Edith's mother been hiding from her, and why was Edith the only Finch left alive?  At last Edith would have her answers, thanks to the key that her mother had left to her when she died.

So what would you call this kind of game?  A walking sim?  An adventure?  An interactive story?  Call it what you will, I will simply say that it is an experience.  As Edith makes her way through the long-abandoned house, she discovers at last how each family member lost their life.  Every person's story is told in a different style than the last, and we experience it all through their eyes. 

Story progression is done via text popups and characters' (mostly Edith's) voice-overs.  If you see text/hear a voice-over, you know that you're going in the right direction.  The voice actors did a beautiful job, and I enjoyed every single person's performance.

The SFX, the Music, the Voice-overs... All of the sound work in the game is just excellent.  I especially enjoyed the music box.

Graphically the environment is nothing spectacular, but it's still evocative... And let's face it, if it was as stunning as a AAA game, most people wouldn't be able to run it on their potato computers!  You'll still need a 64-bit processor/OS, but I'm thinking most users can handle that.

There are 9 Steam Achievements, most of which you'll get from completing the game.  The remaining achievements are easy to obtain, even if you originally missed them, as once you finish the game, you can replay any family member's story from the Menu... Just don't choose Edith, or you'll start the game over from the beginning. ;)

Verdict:

Charming, imaginative, sad, sometimes funny and always interesting, Edith Finch delivers a moving narrative experience that is not to be missed... Unless you are too impatient to take your time and explore, in which case this game is not for you.  For everyone else, if you love a good story, this title is highly recommended!