-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Her Story |OT| Type M for Murder
- Thread starter Persona7
- Start date
That's really my one big gripe. The session video list should have some relation to finishing the game. There are a lot of us who will enjoy the game for what it is, but it could easily have had a little more gameplay to appeal to a larger crowd looking for something to 'solve'.
Ive said this like 5 times already but again, as soon as the chat prompt pops up, you can finish the game
which happens around 50% of the videos unlocked
You don't need to see them all, eventually you'll get a chat message that asks if you're done. I don't recommend ending until you have a good grasp on the story though.
Wow. I just "finished" this game and loved every second of it. I'm still missing a few videos (around 15 or so), but I think I have a good grasp on the story. The twist... I didn't see it coming. I'm still not decided on my interpretation of the game.
On the one hand,
On the other hand,
On the one hand,
Hannah and Eve do seem to be two different people, even if their story is a bit too unrealistic. The bruise is the clearest proof of this, since the tattoo may be fake, but the bruise just can't disappear in just one or two days. Then again, why would they need to alternate places when giving testimony? If Hannah killed Simon, then Eve could have gone to Glasgow to get an alibi for both of them, since no one knew that she existed. For all intents and purposes, she was Hannah and she was in Glasgow when Simon disappeared.
On the other hand,
there were many times when I felt that Eve was the "dominant" personality in a split-personality disorder, and Hannah was the "slave" in the relation. AFAIK, Hannah only mentions Eve by name once (when she slips up and talks about her, and then taps her code on the table), but Eve mentions Hannah several times. It is as if Hannah doesn't really remember Eve, or maybe she even believes that she was an imaginary friend.
The very first word I searched for right after "murder" was
"alibi"
Hey, please fix that broken spoiler tag in your quote.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Absolutely loved every second of this game now that I've got to the end, and I really truly hope Barlow finds great success with this game, and gets to make at least few more with same or similar concept. I think it takes some true mastery of word crafting and text splicing to make a game like this work as well as it does here. If not for that, the game would 'break' for too many people if it was too easy to just guess right keywords and see the ending too soon.
True. IMO, it should have at least been made so that it's easier to arrange the videos in chronological order, so in the end, you get to watch all the interrogations as complete videos. Even if you wouldn't be solving anything, you'd at least get some use of that functionality, because as it is now, I think it's rather useless.
It charted on release day, it was 9th top seller on Steam. Then it dropped off when the weekend deals started. But it probably had a good start (the chart is my revenue so a cheap game charting probably means it sold a few units)
For people having trouble getting 100%
and don't want to admin_random everything, then search "yes" and "no" to get all the lie detector test questions. Those are the only searches that bring them up since it is all she says. They were the last ones for me to unlock and I almost thought they were important because they take a big chunk of like 8 blocks from the database. Probably not the biggest tip but I thought I'd share.
This game is an absolute joy. Loving everything about it, and only just trying to stretch it out a little bit to savor the experience while I can. Such a brilliant idea for a game that's smart and engaging while also being so different than "attack other person" or "shoot people in the face."
Desperately trying not to click spoiler bars, but I just wanted to register my enthusiasm. Hope more people check this out, especially for only 5 bones. Might even double-dip on the mobile version if it plays well.
Desperately trying not to click spoiler bars, but I just wanted to register my enthusiasm. Hope more people check this out, especially for only 5 bones. Might even double-dip on the mobile version if it plays well.
Could anyone explain to me how this game is unique or innovative? I'm mostly just seeing a game with hypertextual progression of different video clips. It is certainly interesting, but I don't see it as that incredible. Or are there innovative features besides piecing together video clips that I am overlooking?
Maiden Voyage
Gold™ Member
I'm going to have to buy this soon. Sounds like an interesting experience.
lazyproblems
Member
Just 100%-ed the game, and it's great. I would definitely recommend it. Short, but sweet and to the point. Overall, a really engrossing game.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
The gameplay is intentionally simple to not get in the way of the story. It's designed to feel like you're a detective, so with the clips out of order and no way to get to them other than keywords (which are best figured out by listening to and figuring out the story), it feels like a puzzle you're piecing together. Not for an in-game goal (though there is a brief ending), mostly for your own satisfaction of knowing what is going on.
I'll admit that the lack of "gameiness" was a bit surprising with all of the love this has been getting, but I found it fascinating. It really is more like an experience than a game. There is no winning, no "gameplay" aside from deciphering what to search for next and a lack of interaction in general, but if the creator calls it a game, then who am I to disagree? It definitely has a better story than most games and I love the way it is told.
Have other games done this kind of thing? It's simple as a concept, but as a gameplay mechanic it's just really engaging. It's akin to a point-and-click adventure game dialogue tree with keywords ... Only, any single word you can think of can be a keyword option. So you listen and observe video clips, trying to discern what to ask about next. It's like a hybrid of LA Noire's interrogation scenes and something like the SNES Shadowrun (this was a weird connection but it's the first I though of) or any P&C game that uses keywords as sort of collectibles that become active so you can open new options in dialogue.
It's also short, sweet, and five bucks. It's like an engaging short story, and I haven't even finished it yet (only put maybe 60-70 minutes in so far).
InaudibleWhispa
Member
Yeah, don't come to it looking for a game in the typical sense, it's all about the story. A guy on steam asked "When do I finish the game" and was told "When you're satisfied you know what happened" and he replied "How do I know when I'm satisfied?". If you need a pat on the back and a "Well done, you figured it out!", you're not going to get one. It's more about your personal satisfaction with the series of events and putting the case together yourself via nothing but fragmented story pieces.
More_Badass
Member
It's a narrative adventure game. Literally.
Similar to how you find certain items in an adventure game and figure out how and when to use them to solve a puzzle or reach a new area, this game is like that, on an abstract scale. Your items are the parts of a story, and you're trying to reach the truth. Through deduction and learning more, you gain new puzzle pieces that let you unlock more of this narrative puzzle box. There's no handholding here; it comes down to you to piece together this mystery.
The non-linearity is also very unique. How you piece together the story is different from how someone else might. You might stumble on something earlier or later than someone else did. Context and revelations are fluid and different for each person, but the story always makes sense and flows together nicely
More_Badass
Member
Imagine how this game could have been. If it was more "game-y". Maybe you'd have a web of clues that fill out as you discover stuff, and a notes screen that lists what you've learned. Important videos would get highlighted and the critical details summarized when you find the right details. A hint system to help you think of keywords, and mark off keywords you already used
Like a LA Noire, or the casebook and Deduction space from Sherlock Holmes games
But that's all noise. This game strips all that out. The mechanics are still there, but the onus is all on the player. It's 100% cerebral.
I didn't take any notes, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't really see a need for note-taking, honestly, unless you plan to play in 15 minute bursts or something - the whole game is only maybe three hours long. I'm pretty bad at remembering names, and I was able to keep it all straight easily enough.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
The story here is about... a far more unique person than people that were covered in Serial. I can tell that much without spoiling it. You don't need to take notes. It's possible to follow and figure things out just by watching and listening. The only thing you can take notes for is the future search terms you think of while watching a video, so that you don't forget them by the end of the video.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
I don't think there's a need for note taking, but I think it made it more fun. It certainly helped me keep track of certain things like
which one said they're pregnant? Eve or Hannah? *checks notes*. I felt more on top of the narrative once it starts twisting when you realise there' s two people/personalities.
Maiden Voyage
Gold™ Member
Giant Bomb did a Quick Look of Her Story. They also have a podcast where Austin Walker chats with Sam Barlow about the game.
If I didn't work all weekend, I would be deep into this game already.
If I didn't work all weekend, I would be deep into this game already.
The acting, in my opinion, is some of the best acting in gaming history. Which isn't saying much. But seriously, it is really well done.
Eh, I think I've been completely spoiled and/or broken the narrative/scripting.
Possible full spoilers:
Did I basically have a lot of the intrigue and build-up spoiled or is it still worth going back and learning more?
Possible full spoilers:
I saw what I think was a poorly tagged spoiler which mentioned twins. So when I started the game Twins was one of the first things I searched for and I get a rough idea of the story (two women grow up pretending to be one, husband gets introduced to both as separate people, affair, both get knocked up, out of jealousy one of them kills him). Within less than an hour playing, I get the chat message pop up and SB tells me I'm her daughter and she committed suicide? Credits roll but I haven't even got the 50% achievement.
Did I basically have a lot of the intrigue and build-up spoiled or is it still worth going back and learning more?
bender
What time is it?
I really wish there was a better way to organize your found videos and that the DB checker had more functionality (click on a block to playback that found video). It would have made this a much more enjoyable experience for me. Really neat concept though and I'm impressed by the actress.
It did feel like it was laid on pretty thick at first, in a rather off-putting way, but somehow it starts to feel more natural as you keep watching more clips. The thing is that no one will necessarily see the clips in the same order, so you might get a different initial impression than someone else.
Part of it is that the actress changes her demeanor across the spread of clips you watch throughout the game, and some clips are meant to be kind of hammed-up, others are played a lot more subtle. Overall, I think the actress realizes the character well, in a way that hasn't been seen in games before, not quite like this (and especially not an FMV game)
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
There's more.
The more youlearn about these twins, the more you'll start doubting if you've even got spoilered in the first place.
As for having the game spoiled, I think reading exposition about the story will spoil your own discovery of it.
But I think the story is intentionally open-ended and vague in a way that makes a spoiler not necessarily the end of the mystery. I also think that's why there isn't more of a game to this. You can't really implement objective solutions to a story that can be interpreted in different ways.
But I think the story is intentionally open-ended and vague in a way that makes a spoiler not necessarily the end of the mystery. I also think that's why there isn't more of a game to this. You can't really implement objective solutions to a story that can be interpreted in different ways.
eot
Banned
Permanently A
Junior Member
I thought the game was pretty unique. I found myself with a pen and pad, writing down keywords to search for and notes. The one thing I didn't like was that one of the keywords I searched for, seemingly innocent (gone) plopped me into one of the very last videos. I felt like the game itself had spoiled me. But other than that I found it a highly enjoyable experience.
Permanently A
Junior Member
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
I just want to make sure, this isn't a horror game with jump scares or anything like that, is it? It's hard to relax and enjoy myself with the story when I'm constantly worried about the video glitching into a creepy image or something like that, and for some reason it feels like that sort of game.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
There's nothing like that. There's a faint reflection of your character appearing sometimes on the screen when the lights in the room flicker, but I didn't find it scary. Although you might be surprised when you see it the first time before you realize what it is. If you don't want to see it, go to game options and enable "anti glare filter" but then you remove the whole CRT screen filter aspect of the visuals. The game is a thought provoking mystery about the murder, so it's not a light subject, but the woman you're seeing videos of won't morph into a monster that jumps at the camera while the video glitches, or anything supernatural like that. One of the early descriptions of this game made from some announcement a year ago said that the game is horror, but that's simply wrong.
Nope. There is a reflection that randomly appears, but only if you keep the filter on. Which I didn't, because i like to see things.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, I ended up
having to abuse BLANK more than I'd like to 100% it because despite knowing that a 10-clip streak of unseen clips was the lie detector test, I didn't realize this was the way to see them as I totally did not think through that she might not have repeated the questions, oops.
Honestly, as glad as I am that this stayed totally based in reality, I'd kinda love to see a game like this morph into horror. You could do so many interesting and subtly surreal/disturbing things with a random clip found amongst the rest when the players expecting something mundane. (Of course, I'd probably be too scared to play it myself.)
Anyway,
how do you use the unlock command