A bittersweet beauty!
Giant Sparrow is a small group of creators founded in 2009. A few years later, they released their first game, The Unfinished Swan. Their work seemed very good from the beginning, but no one knew how it would turn out. The first success was followed by a second, which we will talk about today. What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person narrative experience with little player-interactions. It has only a few basic gameplay mechanics. Navigation and small participation keep our mind as busy as it needs to be, so we can focus on the story. From the beginning of the game the questions are many, which begins with a look back at the very short past. We follow a girl on her visit to her old family house which has been deserted for years. She has almost all the same questions that we have! But as long as she stays there exploring the various rooms that belonged to members of her family, almost all of them will be solved.
There is a curse in the Finch family that has its roots from long ago. All family members die at a relatively young age. The adult, Edith, through some personal belongings of her family members, will tell us about their last day and the way they passed away, starting with distant relatives and reaching to the closed ones. What makes the game stand out is the way it describes the last day of each family member. Through boxed flashbacks on such a macabre subject such as death, on an issue that has occupied us since the beginning of human existence and not everyone can handle it, stories are built and rendered allegorically.
The result is so magical that sometimes you forget that such an unpleasant event as death is described. Honestly, this is the first time I've seen such a poetic management of death. A heavy, sad and extremely realistic event, sank intricately into surrealism. Even the tragic death of a baby is so vividly and politely clothed with symbols that it leaves a subtle feeling of loss. Slowly, Edith, the character we play, reaches the very closest members of the family. Death here is more acute. Feelings are stronger, and the description peaks in quality more and more. What makes all the above emotionally touching the observer is the design context in which they are placed. A family tree is represented by a house with rooms added over the years.
This multi-leveled house is designed to be very "warm" and welcoming. Nothing seems abandoned. It has details from which you can understand that people lived in it. While exploring an abandoned house brings a prejudice to everyone's mind, its atmosphere made me feel familiar. It felt so good that I once lived there, as Edith, with my family, that the anxiety soon disappeared and was replaced by the warmth of a family home. This sweet sense of home design brings each loss closer and closer to the player following a climax!
The puzzles are minimal and the difficulty is negligible. I don't think there was much room for more difficult puzzles, as I don't think they would fit (Scenario-wise). Although the interactions with the environment are limited, thin and not too frequent, I was not bored for a minute. I looked at various details of the house and each death story of the family members was enough to occupy my mind with its allegory and symbols.
From start to finish What Remains of Edith Finch was interesting, which escalated throughout the game. It is obvious, then, that it is an experience based almost exclusively on storytelling. Not only do we have many retrospective stories to watch, but also each one in it's unique way.
What I loved about the game and admired for its creativity is the way it is narated. Basically, we have control while we embody Edith, the last living Finch member who narrates and comments on various things about her relationship with her home and the people in it.
Entering the room of a relative, we find a personal document (diary, etc.) through which it usually tells us something about his death. This narrative differs each time depending on the family member and the way he or she passed away. Thus, each story has a personal character and approach. Through an old photographic lens, the pages of a comic, controlling various animals and in other imaginative ways, we unfold some fantastic stories.
Storytelling is amazing, it has a magical scent and it captivates, creating curiosity about what will follow and how far it can go. I really appreciated the respect for each individual character and family member. They were not simple stories with a beautiful description. Each person seems to be a very special personality. Everyone's personal space, as they left it, has its meaning, and is often associated with their death. I really admired how, until the end of the game, I was given the feeling that I was a member of the family, and that these stories were stories of my own people.
What Remains of Edith Finch runs very well, has no technical problems, no bugs and glitches, and the audiovisuals are great. Beautiful landscapes and images, a lively and elegant palette, matching music, and a voice over more than satisfying. So I think the 2.5 hours or so it took was satisfying as they left me with an ambivalent feeling. Now I want to experience the game from the beginning so I could observe the details I hadn't noticed before. Indeed, there are very meticulous details worth noting.
The end of the story was predetermined from the beginning, through small details. It's a well fit and realistic ending. Giant Sparrow went one step further with her already decent job and set the bar for storytelling, for me, very high. It made a story that deals with a very realistic and gloomy subject and unfolded it creatively and with a poetic air, always with the respect, drama and subtlety that accompanies such a delicate matter as death.
Box Art
Tested on : PC
Developer : Giant Sparrow
Publisher : Annapurna Interactive
Available for : PC, PS4
Release date : 2017-04-25
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