After playing Giant Sparrow’s What Remains of Edith Finch on Steam, my understanding of how a game should be structured (weather through ludology (the study of game mechanics) and narratology (the study of storytelling)) shifted. This game doesn’t rely on complex mechanics like most of the games I have played. Instead, it captivates players through rich storytelling, evocative visuals, and immersive flashbacks. Which is one of the first narrative games I have played. The gameplay is intentionally minimalistic, mostly involving a single interaction button as you walk through the Finch home. Even with such simplicity, it captures what a game should be: a learning experience and a source of fun. However, the game mechains are a bit bland so I would not imagine how a kid could fully enjoy this so I would say the intended audience would be 16 and up as they would be able to fully understand this game.
The primary objective of What remains of Edith Finch is exploration. Players walk through the house and interact with objects. Despite how simple that is, I found myself completely immersed in this game. The game gradually reveals the mysteries and tragedies of the Finch family, offering emotional depth that runs surprisingly deep creating a rich narrative that a lot of games nowadays don’t have.
Now lets talk more about my experience playing the game. At the very start of the game, I was presented with two paths. I chose one path to go down and got a view of the house. Curious, I retraced my steps (which the game allowed!) to try the other route and it was through a more secluded forest that told a different narrative of the house.
Figure 1: Screenshot of the two paths at the start.
That moment highlights the power of the game’s embedded narrative. It feels like a detective story, and this effect is achieved through the game’s mechanic text and how it interact with the environment. If you don’t fully interact with your environment, you can miss stuff! The environment also has a huge impact on this game. The text can flow with the wind, break apart, but most importantly, it is what draws you into each story. The text itself becomes part of the storytelling, guiding you through the narrative in a way that feels immersive.
Figure 2: Screenshot of the text being tangled with the environment.
This contrast between the light and darkness tones, between the world as it is and the world as we imagine it also helps make What Remains of Edith Finch an unforgettable experience. This is told through one character and my favorite section, Lewis Finch. Lewis’s psychiatrist put his situation this way:
“He knew the world was all in his imagination… For someone who’d never known success in the real world, I think it was overwhelming. And then it struck him… My imagination is as real as my body.” – Emily Nut.
It is one thing being told this but I was able to actually feel this through his story. I started off with a simple task, cutting a fish, but then the game gradually gave me more to do as Lewis wondered more and more and what became a bleak screen turned colorful and full of stuff. To my surprise, I was also able to continue the monotonous task of cutting the fish while also controlling the character in his imagination just like Lewis seemed to be doing.
Figure 3: Screenshot from Lewis Finch’s story
As an achiever, I aimed to 100% games I play. And that was the same with this game! However…the achievements in this game I think are a bit flawed though as this game really isn’t replayable. Once the story is experienced, there’s little left to explore (Which is a good quality of a game, as a game should teach you everything it has to offer once you are done) but it made the process of earning all achievements feel slow and, at times, frustrating. It took away from some of the enjoyment for me. But at the end, I got all the achievements!
Figure 4: Screenshot of all achievements
Another flaw I want to point out is not giving players the chance to experience the start again without having them fully restart the game (at least I think). Because of this, I had to find another screenshot of the start of the game as I did not take one initially.
What role did violence occupy in the What Remains of Edith Finch? During section, we played Sexy Battle Wizards. In the game, violence was caused by the players and the Dungeon master through spells, , fighting, and drama. Mostly player enacted. This is not the same violence What Remains of Edith Finch has. This helped me understand that violence can also take other forms like In What Remains of Edith Finch. The entire structure of the game is around death. Every Finch family member dies tragically, being cursed. But the violence here is quiet. The player doesn’t cause it, but players can see it ingrained as part of the Embedded narrative this game. Which has more of an impact than any other regular violent bloody game could have.
Figure 1: “What Remains of Edith Finch Trophy Guide” by PSNProfiles, available at https://psnprofiles.com/guide/15142-what-remains-of-edith-finch-trophy-guide. All rights reserved.
