What Remains of Edith Finch

What Remains of Edith Finch (German: What remains of Edith Finch remains ) is a 2017 published video game , the American US from developer Studio Giant Sparrow , previously The Unfinished Swan became known, developed and Annapurna Interactive was moved. The game was presented to the public for the first time in 2014 at the PlayStation Experience trade fair , the first trailer followed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015, until it was finally released on April 25, 2017. After the download versions , Iam8Bit released the game at the end of the year as a limited, region-free and multilingual disc version for the PS4.

In the game, an adventure game in the first person perspective , you explore the family history of the Finches, which is characterized by numerous tragic deaths and strokes of fate.

Gameplay

From the first person perspective, you control the Edith Finch character and explore the family seat. In doing so, one repeatedly comes across secret passages. In the rooms of their dead relatives, you can learn more about their lives and their fate. Thematically and playfully, these explorations in the past differ significantly. Childlike perspectives and fantasy worlds are also noticeable in a playful way, as can escape from reality and paranoia.

The game is not a horror game, but an adventure. There are no fights or hectic moments, failure is impossible. The focus is on exploring the property and the melancholy and sometimes surreal plot of the game. The playing time is around two to four hours.

The game's soundtrack was created by Jeff Russo, who previously created the music for the TV series Fargo , The Night Of and Power .

action

Seventeen-year-old Edith Finch is returning to her family home on Orcas Island in Washington after seven years . In 2010 she left it rashly at night with her mother. Edith Finch comes from an old Norwegian family. In Norway, the family has been known for both prosperity and misfortune for centuries. After his wife and child died, Odin Finch emigrated to America in 1937, also in the hope of being able to leave behind the family curse, which repeatedly led to tragic deaths.

After her death, her mother bequeathed a key to Edith so that she, now the last survivor of the Finch family, can explore the family seat and the family history if desired. Edith, 22 weeks pregnant, wants to keep a diary about it, create a family tree and learn more about herself. She would like to leave this book to her child.

As a child, Edith was not allowed to enter most of the rooms in the house. Her mother sealed the room after a family member died. Edith gradually explores the huge property to learn more about the fate of her brothers, uncles, aunts and grandparents. All died in tragic accidents or under mysterious circumstances.

There was a good relationship between Edith and her great-grandmother Edie. She serenely saw any family curse, while Edith's mother became more and more desperate and blamed the house for it. The great-grandmother wants to bring Edith closer to the family history, the panicked mother prevented this and fled the house with her daughter.

Edith eventually learns the circumstances under which her relatives perished. Ultimately, she hopes that her child will never see the book so that she can tell the family story to them herself. But she also dies when her child is born. The game ends with her son, now the last surviving finch himself, laying flowers on her grave.

reception

Magazine / website	Rating
4players	88%
PC Games	85%
Metacritic	88%
GamePro	86%
IGN	8.8 out of 10

The game was received very favorably by critics. It lasts for at Metacritic review of 88 points based on 52 reviews. Jörg Luibl from 4Players criticizes the low demand for puzzles as well as the short playing time, but especially praises the melancholy mood of the game, as well as the surreal and creative narrative style, as well as the moving ending. Paula Sprödefeld describes the game in PC Games as “A melancholy pearl of storytelling.” And “Wonderful!” She also praises the “captivating, emotional story” of the “almost perfect game”.

“What Remains of Edith Finch is the best storytelling game in recent years. The magical sadness is reminiscent of Ray Bradbury , the morbid flair of Tim Burton, many motifs of Jules Verne and old legends - everything revolves around mysterious deaths in a house that you explore like an explorer (...). The developers demonstrate in an impressive way the narrative power of this medium when you interweave its interactive possibilities with a good story, when discoveries in the present are transformed into historical retrospectives and mini-games. Unfortunately there are only small finger exercises and no challenging puzzles, but the fairytale-like narrative style always provides interactive surprises - you follow a 17-year-old secret path into the past of your own family, in which you find surreal and moving short stories from the The perspective of the deceased relatives. You (…) experience a magically staged story far from emotional kitsch, but still incredibly moving. If someone wonders if two hours are not too short for a game: No. Especially not when you have to shed a tear at the end. "

- Jörg Luibl : Criticism at 4Players

“But Edith Finch doesn't just let me explore and discover his world, as is the case in a Dear Esther or Gone Home . It lets me experience it. (...) It relies on a very special kind of storytelling that is only possible in games. And that's exactly what makes Edith Finch so brilliant for me. His aim is not to simply tell me a story. I should actually feel what the characters experience in her. "

- Elena Schulz : Criticism at GameStar

“What Remains of Edith Finch is a story about death, but the game is full of life. In each of the ten or so chapters, the short but intense horror adventure by Giant Sparrow introduces a member of the Finch family, including the far too early, tragic end of existence. This creates an unusually emotional and melancholy experience that we rarely find in video games. (…) I don't know what I was expecting when I started What Remains of Edith Finch. Certainly not that afterwards I sit on my couch for 15 minutes and stare into space. The adventure from The Unfinished Swan creators Giant Sparrow, which lasts around two hours, not only manages to bring his characters so close to me within a very short time that their inevitable loss actually touches my heart. It also manages to do the whole thing in a respectful, almost dreamy way. The death of children is a sensitive issue that games often refrain from. Too much can go wrong and it becomes too easily cheesy or disrespectful. What Remains of Edith Finch skilfully avoids these traps by not only showing us the dark side of these short lives. No, What Remains of Edith Finch is definitely not a happy game. However, it is one full of bittersweet joie de vivre that shows us how precious the short moments are that are given to us with the people we love. It is a reminder that we should not only be sad when something comes to an end, but thankful that it got a chance in the first place. "

- Rae Grimm : GamePro criticism

Awards

Golden Joystick Awards 2017: three nominations
The Game Awards 2017: Best Story (two more nominations)
DICE Awards 2018: two nominations
New York Game Awards 2018: five nominations
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards 2018: Best Adventure , Best Lighting Effects (three other nominations)
SXSW Gaming Awards 2018: Best Story (one more nomination)
Game Developers Choice Awards 2018: Best Story (one more nomination)
British Academy Video Games Awards 2018: Best Game (six other nominations)

Web links

Official website (English)

Individual evidence

[1] ttp://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht_fazit/Allgemein/Test/Fazit_WANY/Allgemein/36243/82479/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch.html

[2] ttp://www.gamepro.de/playstation/spiele/ps4/gravity-rush-remastered/52840.html

[3] ttp://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/what-remains-of-edith-finch

[4] ttp://www.gamepro.de/playstation/spiele/ps4/what-remains-of-edith-finch/wert/51901.html

[5] ttp://www.ign.com/articles/2017/04/26/what-remains-of-edith-finch-review

[6] ttp://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/what-remains-of-edith-finch

[7] ttp://www.4players.de/4players.php/procontra/Allgemein/Test/Fazit_WANY/Allgemein/36243/82479/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch.html

[8] ttp://www.pcgames.de/What-Remains-of-Edith-Finch-Spiel-55592/Tests/review-1226567/

[9] ttp://www.gamepro.de/playstation/spiele/ps4/unravel/test/unravel,52439,3267586,fazit.html

[10] ttp://www.gamestar.de/spiele/what-remains-of-edith-finch/artikel/what_remains_of_edith_finch,54450,3313370.html

[11] ttp://www.gamepro.de/artikel/what-remains-of-edith-finch-im-test-spiel-des-lebens,3313353.html