Game review: What Remains of Edith Finch is a near-masterpiece of mystery storytelling
The game may only last for 90 minutes but its ingeniously styled stories that take players through the last moments of members of the cursed Finch family push the boundaries in ways that other titles haven’t done before
What Remains of Edith Finch
Giant Sparrow
4.5 stars
What does remain of Edith Finch? It’s a good question and the perfect title for a mysterious game that is also one of the best I’ve played recently.
Back in the day, many games had a narrative sharpness – like great pulp stories, they slowly revealed layers upon layers of intrigue. Most modern releases are satisfied with the odd cutscene scare, but occasionally an old-school developer will still mix strong stories with great gameplay.
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In its opening minutes, What Remains of Edith Finch (available for PC and PS4) appears to be a “walking simulator” – that love-it-or-loathe-it genre in which players only ever observe a game’s proceedings, often through multiple viewpoints. While Edith Finch can definitely be classified as one of these games, it pushes the boundaries in ways that haven’t been done before – and in ways that many players have been waiting for.