What Remains of Edith Finch is a very beautiful and tragic story. As such, I will do my best to limit spoilers. However, there will be a few as I describe the mechanics of game, since the mechanics are closely related to the narrative.
I have to admit, I approached the game with a fair degree of skepticism. While I’ve been meaning to play it for years, I had heard that it would have been better suited as a movie than a game. Having now finished the game, I understand the complaint… but disagree with it.
On the surface, the game is a very simple walking simulator. In fact, it allows for very little interaction between the player and their surroundings — the only objects you can touch are those which directly relate to the story of the Finch family. This makes the game-play of WRoEF roughly linear, hence why it often feels like watching a movie. However, the walking simulator is interspersed with the stories of the Finch family, which have different mechanics.
Each story comes with its own game-play mechanics that fit the tone and emotion of the story very closely. For example, the one that impacted me the most was Lewis’ story. The player finds a letter from his therapist addressed to his mother, and it describes how Lewis gradually fell deeper and deeper into his daydreams… until it cost him his life. Mechanically, the player learns the story by controlling both Lewis’ daydreams and his real-life work at the cannery. On controller, the left joystick controlled the daydream, and the right joystick controlled Lewis’ hand as he chopped fish. As someone who daydreams a lot (and sometimes uncontrollably), this mechanic served to connect me with the narrative in a way I have rarely seen before. In other words, the mechanics of each story are effectively intertwined with the narrative to create deliver a powerful emotional impact.
To re-frame this with the appropriate vocabulary, the game’s architecture can be defined as one long narrative arc made up of smaller loops that deliver smaller narratives. While Edith’s story is told gradually over the course of the long narrative arc, the individual family member’s stories are told as loops. Within these loops, the mechanics help to physically immerse the player in the tale, and often get more complicated over the course of the story. Furthermore, sometimes mechanics learned in the loops can be helpful later in the overarching narrative. It is this combination of narrative structures that makes this story unfold gradually and masterfully.
All in all, WRoEF is best described as an experience, or a book you can walk through. If players are looking for novel game-play mechanics, this isn’t for them. However, if players are looking for a deeply impactful narrative delivered cleanly and intentionally, then this is one of the best games on the market. For this reason, I really enjoyed it, and will likely buy Giant Sparrow’s second game, The Unfinished Swan (which also follows the surviving Finch family). That being said, I wish you could interact with more artifacts around the house. I think the game would benefit from a little more environmental storytelling by looking at the family’s possessions.
(There are no screenshots in this critical play because taking screenshots pulls me out of the story and I wanted to pay attention)
