Gone Home

I know quite a few users have given this game some serious knocks, but I found this game to be quite wonderful. For starters, Gone Home does not focus on winning or losing, but rather telling a complex story. What starts as a straightforward beginning of an adult daughter returning home (gone home) from abroad becomes very complex. Where are her parents, and what happened to her younger sister? Without spoiling all the details, Gone Home implores the user to read, interact and investigate EVERYTHING in order to unfold the complex story of the Greenbriar family, and those who they interact with. While the game lasts a maximum of 1-2 hours, the game is surprisingly replayable, as the graphics, story, voice over FX and environment makes you feel you really are in Oregon and in 1995. If you are looking for a game to embrace your competitive spirit... this isn't it. But if you are looking for a game that seeks to tell a story, and to impact you profoundly from the first time you play it to the tenth and beyond... this game is worth a look, especially if it goes on sale. I may be the odd voice out... but I'm actually strongly craving a sequel to this story.

Like every medium created, this will resonate with people differently. This game was crafted for people who enjoy interactive environments and walking simulators with a gradual narrative build up. If you don't like these games, skip this. The gameplay is solely walking around in an abandoned house. With that out of the way, on to the game. Personally I thorougly enjoyed the atmosphere, the 90s feel, themes the story touched, and just how intimate and relatable the story is. Even though we all won't empathize with the main character, the story and world have this pure geniune vibe that makes them feel lived in and very special. I know I'm being incredibly vague, but it's an hour and half to two hour long game. If anything I said intrigued you, pick it up... I mean, it's not like you're going to lose 30 hours of your life on this one. Thoroughly enjoyed and was engrossed from beginning to end. It's also not a horror game (read the game description). Thanks for reading, cheers.

Walking Sims seem to fall in a grey area for most gamers where you either get them or you don't. Not really a game? Sure that can be argued though by comparison so could most of the text based adventure games of yesteryear, especially those classics of linear storytelling requiring one to type verbs, nouns and adjectives until the exact combination derived of the designers is randomly located to progress the story. No doubt the same can be said of almost any graphical point and click game with single shot solutions to puzzles and a requirement to click furiously on every pixel in the hope of hitting the sweet spot. Games such as Edith Finch, Firewatch and indeed Gone Home are simply the next cycle on this type of genre and at least for me have proven adequate and at time brilliant forms of storytelling. Perhaps given the demands of an adult life I actually appreciate a game that does not require hundreds of hours to complete (I play those too) such is life in 2018. Gone Home does stray too far from the tried and tested formula of the walking sim and so obviously if you are reading this still you will likely know if this type of game is for you or not. I found the tale to be engrossing and enjoyed every minute of its slow explorative nature and reveal process. So with Gone Home you will get a great story and lovely environment to explore along with a gentle gaming XP.. You won't get a hugely challenging game and nothing much that amounts to a call to actions whatsoever so choose wisely. For those who enjoy storytelling and don't mind being on rails .

Your personal views on social issues are unlikely to have a major effect in redeeming this dog turd. This is however a great game if you want to get into arguments over what the definition of a game is. Save your money; walk around your own house and open cabinets reading any old receipts or mail you come across.

Gone Home is neither as good nor as bad as the very divergent critical and user reception would have you believe. I give it 4 stars because I enjoyed it: I enjoyed the exploration (although it could be a bit more fluid) and the hidden depths of the house hide the hidden depths of its people, which are darker than you'd expect. The fact that it kept me gripped till the ending is what makes me give it the good rating. That said, this is not a game that should be costing any more than €5.