The problem with Hob's Barrow is that it doesn't know when to get to the point. It builds suspense successfully, but then fails to build to anything meaningful until the closing hour or so of the game.

Inevitably, this means the ending is disappointing, because it tries to cram too much "stuff happening" into too small a space.

Combined with far too few puzzles spread out over too long a running time, this means Hob's Barrow is a pleasant enough diversion while it lasts, but it can't sustain itself and won't stick long in the memory afterwards.

I remember this type of life vignettes to be emerging before my video game hiatus. Before Your Eyes is thematically similar to That Dragon, Cancer although playing it reminded me more of Florence.

Anyway, the central conceit here is literally to blink your way through memory lane. The face cam interactivity is pretty clever and very intuitive. It drives the narrative forward in a playful way.

My issue, then, is that the story isn't very good. It leaves no room for interpretation and makes sure all possible subtext is turned into text. The most outrageous example of this is the entire latter half of the game, which thoroughly explains what was hinted at during the first half. No mystery is left unsolved and no emotional response remains unexplained. In the end, we get drama on an equal footing with your feels gif of choice.