This review contains spoilers
I knew better than to pick this up, but I didn't listen to my gut. I knew very little about it and the title gave me pause; but I didn't want to judge without playing it. Now I'm here to say you can absolutely judge something exactly right before the experience. Somehow it's even worse than what I imagined. I am begging video game studios to stop writing about traumas they do not know. Or without any nuance. How this ever got published is beyond me.
And to reiterate from my experience with The Medium, you can tell dark stories with horrible events and horrible characters. I am not condemning that. Shit like this happens in real life. You can absolutely talk about it. But when it's so toxic, without discussion about the effect on the victims, and no discussion about why it's harmful, it's dangerous. Not a single voice in this game called out the harmful behavior shown here. It's one thing to have a horrible character do something, but when ALL the characters seem okay with the act, I'm looking at the writers. Because clearly they don't have a problem with the subject.
The ONLY thing that was a positive was exploring the setting, an abandoned hotel. As a typical walking sim, the playable character is painstakingly slow. But it was fun to walk around, even on day one to find hidden secrets. But that's it. Everything else? Pass.
You play as Nicole, who visits her family's hotel after being gone for a decade. She left with her mother when her parents divorced at 16. She is now the owner of the hotel and wants to sell it. First off, she comes off as a horrible...well, bitch. She's combative towards the one other character (Irving), denies her trauma, and essentially a miserable person. She immediately attacks Irving, that speaks with you over a cell phone. He's the exact opposite of her personality. Stumbling over his words, panicky, and constantly apologizes. You know the game isn't going to have outstanding characters or dialogue.
The real sin is the story. The awful, awful shit that did not need to be written or shared with anyone. I will be blatant with my words and that could be a trigger for someone. Please take care of yourself and don't read if you're not able.
I will try to summarize my disgust with the story. Basically, Nicole's parents split because her father had an "affair" with a 16-year-old high school student, Rachel. He was her instructor and he got her pregnant. Soon after, Rachel supposedly threw herself off of a cliff. Nicole's mother found out, took her and left her father and the hotel. The game starts with the mother's note calling Rachel a young woman. How her death destroyed their family. Nothing about the father's infidelity or, let's face it, pedophilia. It was all Rachel's fault the family split.
During the game, Nicole finds disturbing notes written by her father. His writings about how he "loved" Rachel. How she was a light in his life. A man nearing his 50s, talking about a 16-year-old girl. The fact this game is set in Montana is not lost on me. But there is no reason a man should be attracted to a girl 30 years younger than him. A girl still in school and his student no less.
Nicole says NOTHING about this. Not shocked at all the "woman" he had an affair with, was actually a girl her age at the time. In fact, she continues to reminisce about how he was an interesting and intelligent man. A father she very much looked up to. I thought, okay, maybe she's in denial after learning her father is a monster, a pedophile. That would shock me. Nope. Never. Not ONCE does she act disgusted by the fact her father groomed and raped a girl her age.
Instead, she has a memory where she viewed Rachel as "mature and elegant for her age." Excuse me? You were the same age Nicole. A child and a daddy's girl. But somehow this 16 year old is viewed as an adult? Further into the game, Irving talks about her father's and Rachel's "relationship." How her father was a good thing to happen to Rachel. He gave her strength. He guided her. Their love was pure. Fucking excuse me? He follows Nicole's behavior by putting her father onto a pedestal. Saying how her father was unfairly mistreated for their "love." The father, a pedo, is shown as a Christ-like figure. How his intentions was pure, and he suffered after Rachel's death. The entire conversation was all around fucking sick. They both missed this disgusting man, who was never punished for his actions. Rachel was the one that suffered. She was a child and she died because of it!
Later in the game, Nicole finds a horrifying room that her father constructed as a tribute for Rachel. A small room with a small child's bed, a chalkboard with the R-slur written on it, and toys: a rocking horse and toy blocks. There are drawings on the walls in crayon as furniture and windows. Despite Nicole earlier comment about Rachel being mature, she accurately describes this room as a child's room. This language is important because despite what the developers want you believe, Rachel was not a mature young woman. She was a CHILD. You can say Rachel was in a loving relationship with an older man. That she was "mature for her age" and could give consent. Yet here this scene shows me Rachel was, in fact, a child. Again Nicole does not respond to the fact her father was with a child! Always bounces around the fact her father was sick and had a sexual obsession with a child who could not consent.
Not one character with a voice in this game condemns her father and his actions. Not once. Nicole doesn't bring up the age gap or consent. Irving encourages the pedo behavior, saying it was pure love. The father through a recording, says he loved Rachel. The mother paints Rachel as a young woman who destroyed their family. You never hear from Rachel. How she felt, what she was experiencing through this. It's mostly from Nicole and Irving, who were not in this "relationship." The grooming is almost glorified at this point. Never says it's harmful. It's absolutely disgusting.
Then the big reveal. The big mystery. Nicole finds a hidden bloody blanket with Rachel's retainer and has a magical moment of memory and concludes her mother killed Rachel. Beat her to death. Then tossed her body carelessly over that cliff. Somehow made it look like a suicide. Now you found out, not only is your father sick, your mother was a damn murderer.
After all this talk, the game rewards you with one of the worst endings I have ever witnessed. Nicole decides, she better follow her father's and mother's suicide. By forcing you with a step-by-step suicide. You are placed in her car, in a garage, to die. You can stop at the very end; however, the ending with Nicole's suicide is considered the "good" ending because now she's with her family. Yep you die in the end. And it's not the guilt of what happened with Rachel, or finding out about her sick father or mother.
During her suicide, Nicole has a line of "I don't want to die!" as you are literally played to kill her. Then with the largest slap to the face, she says "I'm back home. And I'll stay here forever. When we see each other again, Rachel can come along." Fucking WHAT? Bitch your fathered raped Rachel and your mother murdered her for it. Why the fuck would she want to be with your family in any afterlife?? Are you shitting me right now?
Do not play this game. Do not even try for this short, easy platinum. It is not worth it. None of it is redeemable. There is nothing here but a fantasy of some very sick individuals.
And to reiterate from my experience with The Medium, you can tell dark stories with horrible events and horrible characters. I am not condemning that. Shit like this happens in real life. You can absolutely talk about it. But when it's so toxic, without discussion about the effect on the victims, and no discussion about why it's harmful, it's dangerous. Not a single voice in this game called out the harmful behavior shown here. It's one thing to have a horrible character do something, but when ALL the characters seem okay with the act, I'm looking at the writers. Because clearly they don't have a problem with the subject.
The ONLY thing that was a positive was exploring the setting, an abandoned hotel. As a typical walking sim, the playable character is painstakingly slow. But it was fun to walk around, even on day one to find hidden secrets. But that's it. Everything else? Pass.
You play as Nicole, who visits her family's hotel after being gone for a decade. She left with her mother when her parents divorced at 16. She is now the owner of the hotel and wants to sell it. First off, she comes off as a horrible...well, bitch. She's combative towards the one other character (Irving), denies her trauma, and essentially a miserable person. She immediately attacks Irving, that speaks with you over a cell phone. He's the exact opposite of her personality. Stumbling over his words, panicky, and constantly apologizes. You know the game isn't going to have outstanding characters or dialogue.
The real sin is the story. The awful, awful shit that did not need to be written or shared with anyone. I will be blatant with my words and that could be a trigger for someone. Please take care of yourself and don't read if you're not able.
I will try to summarize my disgust with the story. Basically, Nicole's parents split because her father had an "affair" with a 16-year-old high school student, Rachel. He was her instructor and he got her pregnant. Soon after, Rachel supposedly threw herself off of a cliff. Nicole's mother found out, took her and left her father and the hotel. The game starts with the mother's note calling Rachel a young woman. How her death destroyed their family. Nothing about the father's infidelity or, let's face it, pedophilia. It was all Rachel's fault the family split.
During the game, Nicole finds disturbing notes written by her father. His writings about how he "loved" Rachel. How she was a light in his life. A man nearing his 50s, talking about a 16-year-old girl. The fact this game is set in Montana is not lost on me. But there is no reason a man should be attracted to a girl 30 years younger than him. A girl still in school and his student no less.
Nicole says NOTHING about this. Not shocked at all the "woman" he had an affair with, was actually a girl her age at the time. In fact, she continues to reminisce about how he was an interesting and intelligent man. A father she very much looked up to. I thought, okay, maybe she's in denial after learning her father is a monster, a pedophile. That would shock me. Nope. Never. Not ONCE does she act disgusted by the fact her father groomed and raped a girl her age.
Instead, she has a memory where she viewed Rachel as "mature and elegant for her age." Excuse me? You were the same age Nicole. A child and a daddy's girl. But somehow this 16 year old is viewed as an adult? Further into the game, Irving talks about her father's and Rachel's "relationship." How her father was a good thing to happen to Rachel. He gave her strength. He guided her. Their love was pure. Fucking excuse me? He follows Nicole's behavior by putting her father onto a pedestal. Saying how her father was unfairly mistreated for their "love." The father, a pedo, is shown as a Christ-like figure. How his intentions was pure, and he suffered after Rachel's death. The entire conversation was all around fucking sick. They both missed this disgusting man, who was never punished for his actions. Rachel was the one that suffered. She was a child and she died because of it!
Later in the game, Nicole finds a horrifying room that her father constructed as a tribute for Rachel. A small room with a small child's bed, a chalkboard with the R-slur written on it, and toys: a rocking horse and toy blocks. There are drawings on the walls in crayon as furniture and windows. Despite Nicole earlier comment about Rachel being mature, she accurately describes this room as a child's room. This language is important because despite what the developers want you believe, Rachel was not a mature young woman. She was a CHILD. You can say Rachel was in a loving relationship with an older man. That she was "mature for her age" and could give consent. Yet here this scene shows me Rachel was, in fact, a child. Again Nicole does not respond to the fact her father was with a child! Always bounces around the fact her father was sick and had a sexual obsession with a child who could not consent.
Not one character with a voice in this game condemns her father and his actions. Not once. Nicole doesn't bring up the age gap or consent. Irving encourages the pedo behavior, saying it was pure love. The father through a recording, says he loved Rachel. The mother paints Rachel as a young woman who destroyed their family. You never hear from Rachel. How she felt, what she was experiencing through this. It's mostly from Nicole and Irving, who were not in this "relationship." The grooming is almost glorified at this point. Never says it's harmful. It's absolutely disgusting.
Then the big reveal. The big mystery. Nicole finds a hidden bloody blanket with Rachel's retainer and has a magical moment of memory and concludes her mother killed Rachel. Beat her to death. Then tossed her body carelessly over that cliff. Somehow made it look like a suicide. Now you found out, not only is your father sick, your mother was a damn murderer.
After all this talk, the game rewards you with one of the worst endings I have ever witnessed. Nicole decides, she better follow her father's and mother's suicide. By forcing you with a step-by-step suicide. You are placed in her car, in a garage, to die. You can stop at the very end; however, the ending with Nicole's suicide is considered the "good" ending because now she's with her family. Yep you die in the end. And it's not the guilt of what happened with Rachel, or finding out about her sick father or mother.
During her suicide, Nicole has a line of "I don't want to die!" as you are literally played to kill her. Then with the largest slap to the face, she says "I'm back home. And I'll stay here forever. When we see each other again, Rachel can come along." Fucking WHAT? Bitch your fathered raped Rachel and your mother murdered her for it. Why the fuck would she want to be with your family in any afterlife?? Are you shitting me right now?
Do not play this game. Do not even try for this short, easy platinum. It is not worth it. None of it is redeemable. There is nothing here but a fantasy of some very sick individuals.