Gone Home

Remember 2013, when people were still arguing if interactive narrative experiences were allowed to call themselves games? Remember those transformative last minutes of BioShock 2's Minerva's Den DLC (2010), when guns and plasmids were finally silent and Subject Sigma quietly walked through an accidental museum of his past? Members of the same team went on to create Gone Home, an early entry into the genre sometimes disparagingly called walking simulator. Responding to the often searing criticism here on GOG, I suppose it's fair to say that Gone Home isn't entirely as rich as later games like Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch (both 2017). But is it a worse game? One of the top reviews chides GH for its "ridiculous teen-age love-story" - not technically wrong perhaps, as teenage love stories are usually ridiculous - but when was the last time you had a ridiculous teenage love story told to you like this, through the eyes of a relative wandering through a deserted house, documents, memorabilia and audio cassettes affording a glimpse into everyone's lives? Another top review awards the game one star because Sam's actions were "selfish, misguided, immature, and unrealistic" and her relationship with the player character "was also immature and unhealthy." If the teenage main character's immaturity affects you enough to hate the game, the game must have done a pretty good job at characterisation, no? To me, this is the point of these games - exploring a world that isn't about you and doesn't necessarily need you, but allows you to learn and empathise with the people inhabiting it. Even with a more highly rated game like Firewatch, what do you remember - the convoluted and implausible main story, or Henry and Delilah? GH is a short experience and doesn't technically have a lot of replay value - still I've found myself returning to it several times over the years, with different thoughts and feelings as I myself grew older. I like it.

Considering that there are a lot of polarised reviews on the game, I strongly believe that this is a game that people should play to get their own opinion. I enjoyed playing this game. I went in with zero expectations and I was pleasantly surprised by the story and gameplay. I was intrigued by the story that kept me pressing on to find the next bit. I liked it. I even enjoyed some of the environmental story telling that goes on if you pay attention to your surroundings. Despite my praise, I do not believe it is worth the price that it's going for (12.29 GBP at the time of writing). That's too much for a game that lasts a couple of hours. I originally was given the installer (not from GOG) by a work colleague to check out. Because of the enjoyment I had, I wanted to buy my own copy to support the developers. But 12.29 GBP was too much for me so I waited for it to go on sale before I purchased it. Regardless of your opinion after playing this game, this is a game that everyone should play. But I feel that's this game is only worth of few GBP/USD/etc. Get it in a sale. Be part of the discussion.

I don't understand.

Aesthetically, great game. Is not at all a ghost/mystery game like you would think. I won't give spoilers, but it is just designed to tell a story as going around clicking stuff. Terribly boring and you are being exposed to unnatural ideas. I wouldn't recommend this.

So much hype for this [insert noun other than game here] as a breakthrough in game design, but there's really nothing to it. It's not a game. It can literally be "beaten" in about 30 seconds, just by random clicking...but if you follow all the clues, it might take you 2-3 hours to find out that nobody seems to care about your character, your PC's teenage sister ran off with her lesbian lover in order to listen to some terrible 90's riot grrrl music, and your PC's parents completely forgot your PC was coming home from a year in Europe in order to go to a couples retreat because your PC's mom has the hots for her coworker and the dad is an alcoholic with issues stemming from being molested as a child by his uncle...whose house you happen to be exploring. And how do you discover all of this wonderful backstory, which wouldn't even fill out an hour-long after-school special? By walking around, looking at mundane objects, and having an occasional one trigger an overwrought diary entry from your obnoxiously self-absorbed teenage sister about her budding lesbianism. Even if the narrative itself is basically worthy of a soap opera, it could have been developed into something interesting...but it wasn't, and everything in the house makes the game scream low-budget. There is hardly any variety in the rooms, all the furniture looks the same, and is filled with the same 5 or so objects (pens and paper, etc.), and none of it makes much sense. I got this game on steam for $5, and still regret it. Don't even think of shelling out $20 for it.