Her Story

One of the very worst and oh-so cringy "gaming" experience I have ever had the immense misfortune to have. This is the epitome of what is wrong with video games designed purposefully to be perceived as an art form. Video games can and very often are an art form, I am a strong advocate of this idea... But not there, not even close. By very, so very far. This is barely a game, and a very stupid one at it, with a stupid gameplay loop, and an even more stupid premise. I won't even elaborate, simply talking about this thing makes me cringe. The ratings on this thing make me completely perplex. Maybe I'm missing something. Or maybe this is just plain stupidity praised as art, like those incomprehensible "art" performances in equally incomprehensible "museums" of modern art.

i enjoyed this so much that afterwards I longed for a spotless mind machine that could erase my memory so i could play it again. the sign of great game/story is when you can't stop thinking about it afterwards. this is one of those. it's not really a detective game in the conventional sense. it's more about revealing this woman's story - it's is a compelling story, and the acting is terrific.

Her Story is unlike anything else. Really it is. I won't bore you with the synopsis, I'm sure you've read that above and know the premise of Her Story. The effort that's gone into this title is impressive, everything from the subtle and immersive audio design to the authentic aged VHS aesthetic to the video (which apparently was achieved by actually transferring HD to VHS and copying it a number of times to get an authentic generation loss effect). The game is anti-HD, all played out on a Windows 95-esque desktop in 4:3. You'll begin the game probably typing 'murder' or something similar to try and establish what's happened, your theories will build over time (sometimes red herrings) and it's genuinely rewarding when you discover a new avenue to pursue. I believe Her Story borders on art and can genuinely claim there is nothing else there like it. Her Story is an experience that stays with you after playing it, you'll find yourself considering different theories and itching to go back and explore the mothballed computer you mysteriously have been given access to. Her Story is a thought provoking masterpiece that makes the player question everything, including who they are playing as. Explore, experiment and get drawn in.

I didn't realise that 100% of the game was inputting searchwords in a database and watching out of order video clips. There is no set up - just a text file and at the end just a one sentence ending. The game's strength is also it's weakness - no clear spoon fed conclusion to the plot, leaving it up the the player to decide which of two scenario's it could be. That part is mostly great, making you think about things, delving deeper just when you thought the game was over, but at the same time other parts of the plot I wanted it to be cleared up for me. I thought there could at least be a sherlock holmes crime and punishment type ending to stories, it's up to you what happened - they could have let you asked questions at the end and your reply could be different clips you found supporting your thinking. Doing that would make it more feel like a game. Also I felt I got the ending too soon, before I saw some vital pieces of the story (although answering yes or no has the same outcome and you can continue watching clips after this) After I played it, I went into the file folder (her story date - streaming assets) and watched all the clips in order. Even clips I thought I had watched ingame expanded fuller and I think it is 100% vital for everyone to do this AFTER they play the game so you have the whole story. I recommend it for players who likes sifting through plots and likes to think for themself and don't mind that the interactive/game side of it is just purely trying to find and play videoclips and listening to and slowly piecing together the story. I'd give it 5 stars if they did what I suggested earlier to make it more interactive, had a point system to see how well you are doing in understanding the clues given so far to do something with all the clips you individual label and store and knowing when you had seen all the clips. Hopefully if there is more games like this they will make it more interactive.

Her Story is the detective game of your dreams, as long as you dream of scouring databases and testing your vocabulary. In the course of your investigation you'll watch clips of recordings of interviews with a woman whose husband has gone missing. In order to piece the story together you'll have to search through the database of clips using keywords pulled from their transcripts. Its an experience that may sound dull from the outside but is really driven by the strength of the story and the performances. For more information, check out the VIDEO REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNAZdzyWYes