Detractors will call it a walking simulator. It is so much more though. It is an interactive adventure game, that uniquely put you, the player, into the final moments of the storyteller's relatives, living their tragedy. No simple reading of an account. No, you live and feel their tragedies, one by one. The narrative is well-written, and the storyteller, Edith Finch, delivers her narrative as she explores the ramshackle house with perfect pacing. As for the house: farfetched and improbable? Of course it is, silly! IT's a fantasy, yet one delivered as real, because it is the story that holds it all together....the setting can be as fantastic it needs to be to add color. Regarding the house. It FEELS very much like a house lived in by generations. It captures the atmosphere of a house abandoned for several years. It just feels right. Interactive things like doors and drawers operate as you would expect them to. What a well-designed setting! The real story with this game though, is the story. Written and delivered with such emotion and pacing and authenticity, it will stir your emotions at times, and at the end, if you opened your mind to fully enter this wonderful world, your thoughts and emotions will still be stirred for months after. I played this 6 months ago on Steam (and buying here, that's how good it is), and despite this, even with all the games played since, every day that I read of this game or hear it mentioned, thoughts and emotions, both excited and sad, swirl and I feel as if nothing can truly compare. 2.9 hours of playtime and still in my thoughts for months? Yeah, that is worth every penny!
