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What Remains of Edith Finch |OT| Short Stories in a Tall Building
- Thread starter JaseC
- Start date
Chronospherics
Member
So in that respect, if her son reads the book, 'what remains' of Edith Finch, is the notion of this curse, that she passed onto her son.
There's evidence to suggest that stress and anxiety can actively, cause cancer, as well as childbirth related complications, so I suppose the argument that the curse, and the affect that it had on their psyche, could indrectly be what killed the mother, and her daughter.
So with this in mind, by writing the notebook and passing it down to her son, she killed him.
On the other hand, if we accept the alternative, and it's not the effect that the curse has on ones psyche, but the real presence of a supernatural curse that actively causes the family to die, then he will die anyway, because he is cursed, like the rest. That's a stupid conclusion in my opinion, because it undermines any message that the game was trying to convey by essentially underpinning the plot with fantasy, fictional elements that don't allow the player to reflect meaningfully on their own reality and perception.
There's evidence to suggest that stress and anxiety can actively, cause cancer, as well as childbirth related complications, so I suppose the argument that the curse, and the affect that it had on their psyche, could indrectly be what killed the mother, and her daughter.
So with this in mind, by writing the notebook and passing it down to her son, she killed him.
On the other hand, if we accept the alternative, and it's not the effect that the curse has on ones psyche, but the real presence of a supernatural curse that actively causes the family to die, then he will die anyway, because he is cursed, like the rest. That's a stupid conclusion in my opinion, because it undermines any message that the game was trying to convey by essentially underpinning the plot with fantasy, fictional elements that don't allow the player to reflect meaningfully on their own reality and perception.
Love to hear what you / others that beat the game think on this.
Turin Turambar
Member
It seems the great-grandfather
was already running away from the curse
the curse was real, because it's doubtful simple psychological stress and anxiety killed at least 4 different generations of the family. two or three members is ok, but all of them?? It isn't very realistic.
I will give a point to the theory
is was all in their heads
two or three deaths, and the uncle who lived in the basement, but the rest... some of them are silly accidents, it isn't like having more chances of having cancer if you are depressed.
Chronospherics
Member
Well, I thought the fact that he decided to literally ferry his house across the ocean made it evident that he was doing some pretty stupid shit. It wasn't exactly plausible, that they would have all died because of the psychological impact of the 'curse' on their behaviour, but it was much more plausible than an unexplained, super natural curse.
And yeah some of them are pretty much natural causes, but some of them would be, right? That would also make sense.
And yeah some of them are pretty much natural causes, but some of them would be, right? That would also make sense.
When it comes to magical realism, I find the point is rarely to separate the magic completely from the logic to find out what really happened as opposed to "in their heads." The two layers of reality are intertwined, to varying degrees. As you mentioned, there's some completely fairy tale-esque behavior around the Finch clan that cannot be explained away, and some aspects of the narrative are left deliberately open-ended to avoid unneeded clarification of the supernatural.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
The whole point of magical realism is that you can't separate the real from the magical, they are both part of the mundane.
Like this game is practically A Hundred Years of Solitude: The Game and Solitude treated the supernatural as matter of fact and nothing out of the ordinary.
Like this game is practically A Hundred Years of Solitude: The Game and Solitude treated the supernatural as matter of fact and nothing out of the ordinary.
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
Inventive and beautiful. They did really amazing things here with different mechanics to tell the stories. Each section was so wonderful. Glad I didn't miss it
Rexatality
Member
Finished it. A nicely done and one of the highlights of this year.
The ending really made me feel sad.
The ending really made me feel sad.
Jerry
Member
I played this the other day and completely fell in love with the game.
They spent a long time developing the game but the level of polish and care really shows that the time wasn't wasted.
I think I must have gone through every emotion while playing it, each vignette is incredibly creative and well realised. I'm really not sure I could find a fault, its not even too long or too short, I was just immensely satisfied once it finished.
Highlight for me was
All in all 10/10 from me.
They spent a long time developing the game but the level of polish and care really shows that the time wasn't wasted.
I think I must have gone through every emotion while playing it, each vignette is incredibly creative and well realised. I'm really not sure I could find a fault, its not even too long or too short, I was just immensely satisfied once it finished.
Highlight for me was
Lewis' section in the cannery. The way that the gameplay changed to simulate the narrative and really put you in his shoes was something I havn't seen since the ending sequence of Brothers: Tale of Two Sons
All in all 10/10 from me.
Hazardous Metal
Member
I watched a full playthrough of this game on Twitch and I just can't explain how it made me feel. There's something so fucking haunting about it, I had a lump in my throat the whole time. It's one of those things I'll never forget.
Just got done with the game, can't believe this thread is only 6 pages. This one of the best games of the year that you all absolutely need to play. One of the best examples of marrying gameplay with story I've ever seen (a tie with Brothers). Highlighting the biggest strength of video games, their interactivity. The gameplay isn't a means to an end, but a way to connect you to the character and the story in a way no other medium can. It's real good guys, and if you've ever doubted video games as a meaningful storytelling art form you need to buy this game now
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
Picked this up on the Steam sale and it's certainly something. All the little vignettes and the differing ways they're presented and the way the gameplay within them changes are fantastic. Some of the music like the
in the vignettes were just really inspired choices.
So in general I loved the game and all the little vignettes by themselves. It's just that taken all together it didn't totally fit together for me.
General spoilery impressions-
That probably makes it sound like I really disliked the game but I really enjoyed it. Definitely the best walking sim/ narrative adventure game I've played and as others have said, it has some of the best gameplay meets narrative moments in a game since Brothers. I suppose I just wish some of the overarching story beats and the ending were a little more fleshed out and as focused as some of the vignettes were.
Halloween theme and Tchaikovsky
So in general I loved the game and all the little vignettes by themselves. It's just that taken all together it didn't totally fit together for me.
General spoilery impressions-
I get that its all about death and I guess how people react to death, its just that the totally freak nature of so many of the deaths just made the whole game feel to fanciful and borderline comical? Its like the developers watched Six Feet Under and basically took the opening death scenes and had all of that stuff happen to one family. All of the strange and sad deaths and just the completely bizarre house (HOW DID THEY GET A BED TO THAT TOP FLOOR!?) took me out of the game more often than I'd like.
Something like Gregory's vignette was amazing in that took a more mundane death but presented it in a way that was beautiful and tragic- from the POV and the Waltz of the Flowers playing to the inevitable nature of it and the Dad's voice over - its amazingly done. And most of the vignettes by themselves are amazing.
It's just that having an entire game of those deaths one after the other all happening to one family strained any kind of plausibility for me and kind of weakened the message of the game. I guess I would have liked some more normal deaths just presented in amazing ways like Gregory's or Molly's. Not everybody dies in some freak accident or murder or child birth.
I just think if they had some vignette of Edie dying of old age or Dawn dying of cancer or whatever illness took her, it maybe would have balanced things out? Edith dying at the end too makes the whole thing seem awfully bleak too and sort of just makes it seem more like this family just is completely cursed, when I think having her live would have made the theme that death is just a part of life a bit more relatable. Having her die at the end is just kind of overkill at that point, I thought.
Something like Gregory's vignette was amazing in that took a more mundane death but presented it in a way that was beautiful and tragic- from the POV and the Waltz of the Flowers playing to the inevitable nature of it and the Dad's voice over - its amazingly done. And most of the vignettes by themselves are amazing.
It's just that having an entire game of those deaths one after the other all happening to one family strained any kind of plausibility for me and kind of weakened the message of the game. I guess I would have liked some more normal deaths just presented in amazing ways like Gregory's or Molly's. Not everybody dies in some freak accident or murder or child birth.
I just think if they had some vignette of Edie dying of old age or Dawn dying of cancer or whatever illness took her, it maybe would have balanced things out? Edith dying at the end too makes the whole thing seem awfully bleak too and sort of just makes it seem more like this family just is completely cursed, when I think having her live would have made the theme that death is just a part of life a bit more relatable. Having her die at the end is just kind of overkill at that point, I thought.
That probably makes it sound like I really disliked the game but I really enjoyed it. Definitely the best walking sim/ narrative adventure game I've played and as others have said, it has some of the best gameplay meets narrative moments in a game since Brothers. I suppose I just wish some of the overarching story beats and the ending were a little more fleshed out and as focused as some of the vignettes were.
Bought the game on Steam sale. Started playing, but there's this bad screen tearing going on, when moving the camera the tear line is rolling up or down the screen. I tried enabling v-sync in both settings and nvidia control panel, no difference.
I am playing this on tv, connected to my pc. It's fine on my g-sync monitor, but unplayable on TV. Any suggestions?
edit: fixed it, I had to disable my primary g-sync monitor and only use TV instead of duplicating the signal. Weird.
Let's see if this game is any good.
I am playing this on tv, connected to my pc. It's fine on my g-sync monitor, but unplayable on TV. Any suggestions?
edit: fixed it, I had to disable my primary g-sync monitor and only use TV instead of duplicating the signal. Weird.
Let's see if this game is any good.
zenspider
Member
This thread reads like a redacted CIA document.
I waited too long - I'm in that awful place of feeling like the second I buy it, it will be on sale or a PS+ game :/
Would you recommend Edith Finch to a non-gamer? I heard there are multiple playstyles, but are the controls and overall navigation intuitive enough for people who don't play games very often?
I waited too long - I'm in that awful place of feeling like the second I buy it, it will be on sale or a PS+ game :/
Would you recommend Edith Finch to a non-gamer? I heard there are multiple playstyles, but are the controls and overall navigation intuitive enough for people who don't play games very often?
Definitely, there's variety but it's low impact gameplay mechanically. All contextual. The focus is on the environmental storytelling and narrative.
Cr1ptkeeper
Member
How's the performance on ps4(pro) nowdays? Did they patch it? I'm eager to buy it but not with severe performance issues.
Rien
Jelly Belly
Plays good. Some minor framedrop here and there but easy to see trough. Man this is one brilliant piece of art
Cr1ptkeeper
Member
Just finished it after buying it earlier today. I absolutely loved it. I liked The Unfinished Swan but this was on a whole different level.
*crosses fingers that Great Grandma Edie's return to the old house gets its own game like Milton's disappearance has in The Unfinished Swan.*
Melchiah
Member
Regarding the spoilered part, I never thought about that before, but that's something I'd really liked to see.
Reineldinho
Member
So I just finished this and, I've got to say, it's one of the best "short linear experiences" I've played, if not the best. It doesn't wallow in overly vague imagery (INSIDE) or language (Dear Esther) and it manages to do so much more with the language of games than many of its contemporaries in the "walking simulator" genre. It also manages to say so much about the concepts its explores and maintains a consistent, yet bipolar tone that goes from funny to horrifying to surreal.
If I had any complaints it would be the slightly in-consistent stuttering of the PS4 (Pro) version and the slightly-too-slow walking speed. Though that second one's alleviated by the concise nature of the house's design so it never got too grating unlike a... certain other very rapturous game. One section right near the end
had me thinking I'd missed something because of the
when I hadn't missed anything at all. Other than those complaints I'll reiterate my thoughts that this is definitely one of my favorite games of its ilk I've played in years. This is definitely getting a place on my GOTY list for sure.
Spoiler talk:
If I had any complaints it would be the slightly in-consistent stuttering of the PS4 (Pro) version and the slightly-too-slow walking speed. Though that second one's alleviated by the concise nature of the house's design so it never got too grating unlike a... certain other very rapturous game. One section right near the end
(the ascent into Dawn's room)
obvious "point of no return" in Edith's room at the top
Spoiler talk:
I'm not one for ranking short story collections like this but if I had to then Gregory, Barbara and Lewis' stories would rank up there as being my favorite. Gregory's is such an amazing example of juxtaposition used to make something absolutely horrifying even more so. I'm not a father and I likely never will be but that story got to me so much more than all the others despite being so short. On the complete other end of the spectrum, Barbara's Tales from the Crypt-style comic book was "fun" considering again, it was hiding something tragic. Having the comic panel turn into gameplay and the Halloween theme on top of that created a cheesy atmosphere.
Now Lewis' ,well, it's by far the best part of an already amazing game. Super Bunnyhop explains it so well in his video (just search Bunnyhop Ode to Cannery) that I shan't go into any more detail but, yeah, it's bloody brilliant and the (second) best use of gameplay to tell a story this year.
Now Lewis' ,well, it's by far the best part of an already amazing game. Super Bunnyhop explains it so well in his video (just search Bunnyhop Ode to Cannery) that I shan't go into any more detail but, yeah, it's bloody brilliant and the (second) best use of gameplay to tell a story this year.
bubaglobalj
Member
Picked this game up in the recent PSN sale. Wow, what a beautiful, lovely experience. I have to say I am a sucker for the indie "walking simulators", but this one surely ranks in the top 3. What a creative way to tell a story. Fantastic!
Just finished it.
Amazing experience. In my top 3 this year for sure, maybe even goty. I loved the different "minigames" and how they told the story. Also the surreal architecture (is there a specific word for it?) really intrigues me.
I know it is from a different developer, but it kinda feels like evolution from Gone Home.
Amazing experience. In my top 3 this year for sure, maybe even goty. I loved the different "minigames" and how they told the story. Also the surreal architecture (is there a specific word for it?) really intrigues me.
I know it is from a different developer, but it kinda feels like evolution from Gone Home.
Script of the Bridge
Banned
-Stranger-
Junior Member
Just finished this on XB1.
Amazing game.
I can't wait to see what the devs do next.
Amazing game.
I can't wait to see what the devs do next.
Did Edith die giving birth?
Just played it through in one sitting after getting it on sale last week on PSN.
Wasa bit let down by the ending, but the experience of exploring the house and individual stories captivated me. Won't make my top games list(I'm not usually fond of these types of games) but this one certainly kept me engaged from beginning to end. Credit is deserved for that.
Wasa bit let down by the ending, but the experience of exploring the house and individual stories captivated me. Won't make my top games list(I'm not usually fond of these types of games) but this one certainly kept me engaged from beginning to end. Credit is deserved for that.
Yeeeeep =/ sad shit man.
That was a misunderstanding. The problem was -- and still is -- that you can't select or otherwise use a higher-than-native resolution. E.g. If you're on a 1080p display and have a 1440p custom resolution set up, you're limited to 1080p even though the game does actually support 1440p. I informed Giant Sparrow of the issue shortly after launch and was told full arbitrary resolution support was being looked into, but, needless to say, it never materialised.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
interestingly, the one that sticks with me after a couple of months is the flipbook scene. something really haunting about it. it wasn't as showy as some, but i really... liked it.
My opinion is that (spoilers for Molly and Walter's stories)
.
Am I off base?
Anyhow, I finished the game over the weekend on Xbox One. Definitely a masterpiece in my eyes.
the Finch family has a curse that causes their family members to suffer tragic misery/deaths. But two of the family members in particular suffered horrible abuse from Edie Finch. First, Molly would be locked in her room while hungry, which caused her to eat any junk she could find in her bedroom, and which caused her to jump out of her bedroom window, to chase after animals to feed on, and fall to her death. Second, Walter was locked in in a secret room in the basement since he was a child. When I saw how Molly and Walter's stories unfolded, I thought the story would eventually reveal that all the family's misery and suffering was a result of child abuse inflicted by Edie Finch... I don't think that's the case anymore. For sure there's a real curse that latches onto this family, but I maintain that Edie abused Molly and Walter
Am I off base?
Anyhow, I finished the game over the weekend on Xbox One. Definitely a masterpiece in my eyes.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
Walter never left the bunker for decades because Barbara getting murdered essentially right in front of him traumatized him and he refused to leave out of fear of death.
What I love about Walter's story is that once its over and you leave the bunker you see that
the tracks going in the direction that the train came from go straight into the sea.
(Continued Spoilers)
Walter was a child when he first entered the bunker though. Edie Finch just let him stay there? If she was a good parent she should have forced him to leave the bunker at some point.
I do agree that he was traumatized. But I think there's an element of parental abuse in this story, for Edie to allow Walter to remain in the bunker for essentially half his childhood and his entire adult life
I do agree that he was traumatized. But I think there's an element of parental abuse in this story, for Edie to allow Walter to remain in the bunker for essentially half his childhood and his entire adult life
Exentryk
Member
What an amazing game! Brilliant storytelling, beautiful art, great audio design and very good pacing. Really impressed with it all!
Guess I need to add these developers to my watch list. Never played their original "Unfinished Swan" game, but I might have to look into that I guess.
Guess I need to add these developers to my watch list. Never played their original "Unfinished Swan" game, but I might have to look into that I guess.
Melchiah
Member
I highly recommend you to do so. It's different, but good.
Finished this the other day, loved it. The swing set and the cannery were highlights for me, really poignant stuff. The house was also such a joy to explore. Amazing sense of weight and layering of time periods. It was like childhood fantasy made real - like what you imagine it'll be like when you crawl under the couch rather than what is actually under there, if that makes sense.
Also love how you can tell
right from the start if you pay attention and
.
Also love how you can tell
you're pregnant
look down
Nervous Hamster
Member
Oh. My. God. LTTP, but definitely GOTY. If not Digital Media of the Year... This thing deserves more attention!
I finally got around to playing this tonight, loved every minute of it. So many great ideas and unique scenarios, it's easily one of the most inventive games I've played in years. Sad to see this thread is so short because it really deserves more attention, but I guess until tonight I was part of the problem. Highly recommended to anyone else out there that hasn't played it yet.
digitalrelic
Banned
I completed this game about a month ago. I feel more and more strongly every day that this is firmly my GOTY. And I've played a TON of great games this year. Breath of the Wild, Horizon, Injustice 2, Sonic Mania, Resident Evil VII, Hellblade, etc.. etc... But this ones just something special. It's truly a masterpiece.
Bootador83
Member
Just completed it, quite possibly the best game I've ever played.
Quickest gut punch ever.