What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person adventure game that was a highlight of 2017 for the gaming industry. The game was well received among critics and is the ninth best-rated Xbox One game of all time.
The game is now being released as one of the free offerings on PS Plus for May’s Instant Game Collection. If you haven’t tried this game yet, here is a great opportunity to play one of the best adventure games of recent years. Read on for our What Remains of Edith Finch review.
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What is What Remains of Edith Finch?
What Remains of Edith Finch is a narrative-driven adventure game that was developed by the indie game company Giant Sparrow. It was released in 2017 for the PS4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.
The game takes place in the Finch family home, which is located in the Pacific Northwest state of Washington. The protagonist, Edith Finch, has returned to the family home after her mother’s death and attempts to uncover secrets about her relatives and the curse which has burdened her family over the years.
Upon its release, What Remains of Edith Finch was met with positive acclaim from gamers and critics alike. It won numerous awards in 2017, including the British Academy Games Award for Best Game.
The game is still highly playable in 2019, and in this What Remains of Edith Finch Review we will lay out why the game is worth giving a try.
What Remains of Edith Finch – Story
As mentioned above, the game follows the story of Edith Finch and her exploration of the abandoned Finch family home off the coast of Washington state.
The game starts with the player-character taking a ferry to Orcas Island whilst reading the Edith Finch’s journal entry for her last visit to the home.
The journal describes a curse that has ridden the family for five generations and has led to all but one child from each generation to die. Edith, or Edie, decided to commemorate each death by setting up each bedroom as a shrine to the family member that formerly inhabited it.
As the player explores the house, they learn of the family’s history through a series of voiced narrations and interactions with the shrines and memorials dotted around the home.
Some of the stories from the journal are embellished, and some of them are calamitously saddening. It is this personal and dynamic diary-driven approach that makes the game so charming and engaging. One can’t help but get swept up in the immersion of the Finch family history.
The story plays out through various twists and turns and by the end of the game you will even uncover who your player-character is. Why are you at the Finch family home? Why do you have Edith Finch’s journal?
What Remains of Edith Finch – Gameplay
The gameplay in What Remains of Edith Finch is relatively straight-forward. You explore your surroundings through first-person perspective, navigating your way through various rooms, crawlspaces, and footpaths.
Your path will be guided by the voice of Edie, with her words often being displayed on various objects throughout the house to engage the player’s attention.
By interacting with the shrines in the different rooms of the house, you will uncover the secrets of the past. You will also experience first-hand how the curse affected the different Finch family members through a series of mini-games and flashback cutscenes.
The Good
- Story
The game is heavily story-driven and is a narrative masterpiece when it comes to plot-based video games. You will engage with each character from the story in a personal way and you will feel each emotion from their stories in a powerful way. What Remains of Edith Finch has a powerful and lasting impression, will leave you thinking about it for days after its completion. - Visuals
The graphics in the game are really quite beautiful. It impressively captures the picturesque scenery of coastal Washington state, with an impressive amount of detail that really adds to the immersion.
The Bad
- Length
A few gamers were left disgruntled by the length of the game, which is admittedly quite short. It is possible to complete the game within 3 hours if you are not engaging too much with the storyline and scrolling through all of the plot details. - Action
As already outlined, the game is heavily story driven, with little to no action to be found within. If you are looking for an action-driven adventure game, then this may not be for you.
Games Like What Remains of Edith Finch
If you’ve completed the game already and are looking for something similar, here are some other games like What Remains of Edith Finch:
- Firewatch
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Prey
- The Unfinished Swan
Get in Touch
If you enjoyed reading this What Remains of Edith Finch Review, you might also like reading our review of Soma, another great narrative-driven adventure game.
Are you a fan of What Remains of Edith Finch? Let us know in the comments section and join our Blog of Games video game blog community. If you have any questions, please get in touch below or contact me at richard@blogofgames.com