This is an adventure in first person belonging to the subgenre of the “walking simulator”, so a real interactive story with elements of bland and essential gameplay, inserted exclusively as a function of the narration , along the lines of what is seen in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture , The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or Dear Esther.
The protagonist of the story, Edith Finch, is a girl who returns after a few years in the house that belongs to her family for generations; Precisely since his great-grandfather Odin built it, following a disastrous maritime transfer from Norway that left the remains of their previous home on a drought.
That of the Finch family was tormented in 800 and change country has not unfortunately improved things, as evidenced by the crowded cemetery in front of the mansion. However, every missing person conceals a story, as we will discover through a fascinating journey through the secrets of our relatives.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a unique, surprising, touching title
FAMILY BUSINESS
What Remains of Edith Finch is stylistically wonderful: it is a product based on solid bases of aesthetic research and innovative visual solutions, which perhaps explains why it took so long to complete the project. Each room has its own personality, a distinctive design, different shades and a wealth of elements that does not appear in any case overflowing.
The very early stages see us reach the house and find that the key in our possession does not open the door, but something else: after being forced through a door for the cats at the back, we will discover a whole series of imaginative steps secrets that are unlocked precisely with the key that has been given to us, through the opening of animated books and diaries that hide locks and sliding doors.
There are no other ways to visit the many rooms of our beloved ones, since all the doors have been sealed, perhaps to prevent the memories from taking off.
The exploration takes place slowly and it is not possible to hurry up, but rarely makes it uncomfortable: the story goes hand in hand with Edith’s movements, painting in the air and on the surfaces a textual narration in Italian that accompanies the oral one, beautifully interpreted in English.
An original solution for how it was implemented by the developers, who have played with it, have experimented and have come to conclusions of great impact, while always maintaining a basic refinement that is hard to find in other games, even those that we mentioned in the opening .
In short, Edith Finch’s experience is a synthesis of the other walking simulators in many ways: on the one hand, the adventure does not last more than two hours, a very narrow timing when compared to the selling price; on the other hand there are not the long, boring pauses that punctuated the very valid dialogues of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, yet net of an equally dense plot.
This is especially noticeable at the beginning of the adventure, when we trace the events of little Molly and her vivid dream in which she first becomes a cat, then an owl, then a shark and finally a huge sea monster, always prey to a scary hunger.
Edges, however, are welcome if we consider the extravagance of what is shown on the screen: situations sometimes closed and short, sometimes wider and more faceted, with varying degrees of freedom and movement, but never punitive or frustrating; It is no coincidence that game over is a concept that has not touched the authors in the slightest.
Each story therefore arises as an experience in itself, andonce completed the game, while aware of being stuck to the screen without a moment of boredom or hesitancy, accompanied by a truly wonderful and very inspirational soundtrack, one wonders legitimately if the developers could have enriched these watertight compartments of additional elements, in order to increase the overall duration of the product.
