What Remains of Edith Finch | PS4 Review

Publisher: Giant Sparrow
Developer: Annapurna Interactive
PS4 Review
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Windows

Walking simulators aren't my thing but when they include an immersive story that pulls me in, I can't help but like them and this is What Remains of Edith Finch is. It would be unfair to compare it to any other walking sim because it's unique and took me on a journey like no other I have experienced with a walking sim due to being able to play through different peoples stories throughout different periods of time. What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person adventure game, it first came out in 2017 and I finally got the pleasure of playing it thanks to it being free on PS Plus this month. Unfortunately, there was negativity surrounding it being included as May's PS Plus game as people felt it wasn't that great and too short, I personally disagree and enjoyed it immensely.

The game takes you on a journey that first starts out with Edith returning home after the death of her mother, she hadn't been back in years due to her mum making the choice to move them away as the house was the cause of a lot of hurt and upset throughout many generations of the Finch family including the current generation. Edith was cautious about returning given what events had happened whilst living there but she was determined to fill in her journal to complete the family tree and in order to do this she would have to go into bedrooms she was told not to go in.

Whilst making my way through the house and finding out information about her family and their history it was clear that the game touched on a lot of subjects when it came to death and it became a very heavy and sad game the further you got in. Each family member who had passed on had an interesting story to tell and you would have to trigger the story by opening letters or climbing out of a window. The pace of the game is slow at times but this helps you take in the story and the environment around you, I greatly appreciated how much work went into the house and the art of each and every room you could explore.

Music played a big part in this game and helped you feel as if you were actually in the game experiencing the emotions that Edith may have felt, the soundtrack was composed by Jeff Russo and my favourite soundtrack out of all 18 would have to be Milton's Tower, it's such a beautiful melody and made me feel at ease more than the other tracks. I would definitely recommend people chest out the OST to this game because it will help you see how beautiful and sad the stories were through the music.

I loved playing as Edith Finch, her personality and the will to want to learn about her family made more sense the further in you got, I was a little surprised with the twist but it was a lovely one, to say the least. Edith has a soothing voice and her storytelling skills make you want to hear more. There is something very eery about peeping into the peepholes throughout the game and hearing about the loved one who once lived there, heartbreaking that so many children died and I kept panicking that something would happen to Edith whilst she was exploring the house!

It almost feels as if Edith is doing wrong by going into rooms that have sealed up even though this was her home. Edith fits in perfectly because she has a story of her own to tell a story of her brothers which she is still alive to tell, she writes everything down in her journal along with the completed family tree. I felt that the Finch's death was more than just about tragedy it was something deeper than that, I haven't quite worked out what it would be but I do know the house is one of the reasons for these deaths happening and leaving the house could have helped avoid these deaths happening. For an 18-year-old Edith is already pretty grown up, she seems to have had to and risks everything to come back to this house knowing how many people in her family died before they reached old age.

There was one story I was drawn to the most in the game and that was a young girl named Molly, she had the cutest little room and one evening she was naughty and sent to bed with no food, she was so hungry that she looked around her room and ensuite for any food to fill her little tummy, she goes to her bedroom window and turns into a cat! Throughout Molly's story, you get to change into a number of different animals and the last she turns into was her downfall (I don't want to spoil it). She does die but I felt she had the worst death of them all and she was only a sweet small little thing, it made me question what sort of deaths were to be bestowed upon the other family members.

I highly recommend this game, it took me on a journey of sorrow and despair and the ending was very bittersweet for me, the biggest downfall of the game was the length but I'm not sure how it could have been made any longer once the stories were all told. I give this game 5/5 stars, the music, art, and storytelling within the game all worked beautifully together, it spoke about death in a respectful and clear manner which opens up the player's eyes.