Gone Home

(A few years ago, finished on ps4 for free, I decided to buy it, because I like to support developers with these kinds of intentions). An atmospheric Indie game, with tendencies more towards the realistic. I really like these types of games that tell their story from the documents that you collect, as well as mementos. It is very honest and not at all pretentious. Very interesting. Only very short.

A creepy house, with a mystery hidden inside. However some of the things are not what they seem. I liked the story, it felt realistic for the most of time which is a very important thing for a story-driven game. As for the game itself, well it's a walking simulator so don;t expect too much excitement :)

Let me start by saying: if you like the kind of games with emotional stories, then don't listen to the haters, this IS a masterpiece. It's true that this is like Dear Esther, more an interactive experience than a game, but that's not a weakness at all. It's a short experience and the story is not "deep", but that isn't a weakness either. This game really shines in it's details. The story is set in 1995, and each and every pixel is designed to reflect that age, from the books and the snes, to smaller details like the stereograms (wich I found an excellent small touch). True the story is not too deep, but the game guides you through it with excactly the pace it needs to. Also, the story is solid and well written, is way too real (if a little unbelievable), from the sister's speech to the reactions of every character. It really touched me. From all this you may understand why there's a lot of bad reviews to this game, mostly from people who looked for something else here, and didn't understand what this was all about. If you cried with games like Life is Strange or To The Moon, then give this a try. If you're looking for anything else, look somewhere else.

I liked it. I had a great time finishing this in one go, it felt a little bit like a movie. If I had to find a comparison I would say it's a little bit like Life is Strange, but not near as deep. I had fun reading every little thing I found, though I disliked the fact that the story progess through "checkpoints" more than with what you read. In the end, all that you read only give information on the backstory of the family. Anyway, a fun trip overall, but I'm happy I paid less than 5€ for it; with the full price I would have expected a lot more. I mean, again, Life is Strange is almost the same price and look at what you get..

I'm not sure this should be called a game, it's more of a visual novel (no, not comics). I initially went into this thinking it was a horror game. I later realized Gone Home is nothing more than a visual novel. Which I thought was interesting, but I'd only play it once. What really held my attention the most was nostalgia. Hearing and seeing many things representing the 90's was great. However, this is where most of my interest in the visual novel was. The story, I thought, was average and predictable, with too much focus on one character - the sister. I would have liked to enjoy hearing some dialogue from the parents, even the main character - especially to comment on things seen in the environment. I think I would have liked to have seen Gone Home as a choose your own adventure game - in which some choices or objects would affect the outcome of the story. Gone Home gets the three stars from me for the nostalgia factor. The environment is pleasing to look at and well designed I think (though it may look different to me because I thought it was a horror game, at first). Actually, I think it could have been a pretty good horror game. One without the presence of some killer, or demon who is hunting you. Because I thought it was a horror game I was always fearing the sister's fate. As a horror game, or rather visual novel Gone Home might have succeeded, but as it is it's just a three dimensional, digital book. I would recommend Gone Home, only, if you want to read a book without actually reading.