This review contains spoilers

What a game! What a beautiful, beautiful game!

What Remains of Edith Finch is everything I love about indie games. It lovingly and beautifully tells an interactive story that pulls you along each step in an engaging and often emotionally powerful way.

Before you read another word, I recommend you go into this one blind. This is a beautiful game that should be experienced. The only thing you should know going in is that it will hit you emotionally, so be in the right mindset for it. Otherwise, please go in blind.

With that out of the way, what did I love about this game? It's stunningly beautiful. It was created and crafted with so much care! Each part of the story pivots from style-to-style depending on the narrative and each one fits perfectly with the story being told. I never got bored with the art, even as it often changes wildly to suite the characters.

The gaming part is minimal, but wonderful. this is fundamentally a walking simulator, but there is enough nuance, discovery, and interaction to make it consistently interesting and a fun experience. I never became bored with the gameplay. That's a huge win with these kinds of games, they often drag at parts or get boring or repetitive, but this one never does.

The other thing that got me about this game is how hard it hits. In such a short amount of time I loved these people, I wanted the best for them. And over-and-over again you fall in love, dive deep into these stories, and are crushed by their ending. No one leaves unscathed. What wonderful storytelling. What an AMAZING creation from Giant Sparrow. It is not easy to write a story this well, and they nailed it (over and over again).

As for dislikes, there aren't many. The only thing I would have liked to see is more answers to a few of the stories. Two, maybe three of the stories are left open ended, and I would have liked them wrapped up a bit more - one story in particular had an opportunity to provide answers to the lose ends and instead gives us nothing. It would have been nice if there was something in the house providing hints at what really happened.

But honestly? Those critiques are very minor. And in writing this review I've changed it from a 4.5 to a full 5.0. This was everything I want in this kind of a video game and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thank you, Giant Sparrow. I'll definitely be playing your other game and watching out for whatever comes next!

Reviewed on Apr 14, 2024


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