The game is more about an interactive (most would think captivating) story. If it's not grabbing you because it's not gamey/interesting enough at this point, it probably won't.
What are you expecting to get out of it, if I may ask?
My goal isn't to tear it apart or anything, I guess I'm just surprised that there isn't more to it so far. For all of the honors it has received, it just doesn't strike me as being too interesting in any way.
Again, I am only ~halfway though (as far as I can assume) but what I've encountered so far is an unspectacular story about
the father as a failed novelist
and an unspectacular story of a
younger sister who is coming of age as a lesbian
. And the gameplay/mechanics of the narrative don't strike me as anything beyond the journals/notes in the Resident Evil series or the scanning/logbook in the Metroid Prime series. In many ways what I have played so far feels like a 1st-person version of the first Resident Evil but with no gameplay and nothing interesting going on. I'm not saying it's bad because it's not a Zombie game, I'm just surprised that, for all the praise it has gotten, it seems to bring nothing new to the table.
Oh well, I should probably finish it before I post further. I imagine that the storyline of the family will build and it is pointless to criticize it before I have played through the entire (very short) experience. The point of my original post was just to see if there was more coming so I could potentially get more enthusiastic about jumping in again.
My goal isn't to tear it apart or anything, I guess I'm just surprised that there isn't more to it so far. For all of the honors it has received, it just doesn't strike me as being too interesting in any way.
I feel like I cheated myself because of this. I just finished it based on recommendations and the praise from the Bombcast and I placed my expectations way too high. High enough to the point that if I would have paid full price I would have been disappointed.
I never expected a ghost story, I was thinking more murdery-or-suicide.
I ended up not liking pretty much anyone in the family after the game was done,
Except that it's actually telling a good, compelling story, and one that's about real people no less. To say that pointless logs from dead people in Resident Evil or Metroid Prime did the same thing is to kind of miss the point.
My goal isn't to tear it apart or anything, I guess I'm just surprised that there isn't more to it so far. For all of the honors it has received, it just doesn't strike me as being too interesting in any way.
Again, I am only ~halfway though (as far as I can assume) but what I've encountered so far is...
Bought this a little while back, and I just got around to playing it today.
I went in with an exceptionally limited idea of what the title was. I believe I saw a few brief moments by Patrick Klepek, saw a VHS tape with X-Files on the spine, and switched it off to save myself the pleasure of playing the game myself.
I must say, it wasn't at all what I was expecting to get, but what I found was far better than what I had anticipated I would uncover. I have grown so tired of games and films always putting such high stakes on their stories that I have essentially begun actively avoiding media that revolves around saving the world/universe. This brief, two hour exercise in well-intended voyeurism was such a refreshing experience, and the presentation was executedin such a succesful way that I truly managed to forget the world around me for the entire duration. Wanting to see the journey and paths that each of the stories the characters traveled down, intersecting at times, was a true joy to piece together. The look, feel, and sound of the package was just absolutely perfect for what it needed, and it really scared me how often I found myself rediscovering relics from my past that I had almost forgotten.
The actual stories themselves weren't something new, but the manner in which they were told breathed fresh life into them. It was great going to see if the few odds and ends to the dad's story matched my own deductions afterwards, perusing the board. I probably was overly sentimental towards the Katie/Sam/Lonnie side of things, because I am an older brother that gets overly sentimental at sibling stories. Our situation is in no way mirrored directly in the game, but there was enough connective tissue between the setting, the situations, and personalities that I couldn't help but feel strongly for the two.
I am so glad that I avoided media on this title, and that it was not simply just a ghost story. The sense of place, identity, and conviction for its subject matter maskes the aim and intention of Gone Home something I was absolutely thrilled to have player. I will definitely be recommending this to friends, and I eagerly anticipate ( fingers crossed ) that we will get at least a couple more titles that will give this method of storytelling a chance with their own take on things.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have a soundtrack to go purchase.
Just finished it. I was going into this game completely blind, I'm glad did. Went in thinking it might be a horror point and click, but by the 3rd journal entry I pretty much knew where the story was going. Totally unexpected. Although there is something in there to throw you off
The previous owner wants to comeback to life, making you think something sinister was at work. D:
. Now I know why every was making such a fuss about this.
Started and finished this tonight in a couple of hours. Was pretty disappointed. How this made any GOTY lists is completely beyond me. It tells a narrative in a compelling way, but the story itself is actually incredibly boring and far too one-dimensional. There was so much more that could have been done. I'm pretty disappointed that the devs made the whole game about that one thing instead of bringing everything together.
I can't say that I wasted my time, but I certainly can't recommend it to others.
Just finished the game and it is easily one of the most regret purchase I've ever made. Maybe this kind of game is just not for me. I find digging around for stuffs to read extremely boring and I don't really understand
the attempt to bring spooky mystery into the mix. It's kind of distracting when I started to pay attention stories of these 2 main characters then they tried to build up the feeling that there was something creepy in this house. Cut the crap I know there was none in the first 30 min of the game.
All I did was running around looking for light switches, reading, and listening to poor narrative.
Finished it a week ago and after letting it sink in for a while i still consider it the best game i've ever played, despite the lack of gameplay. its pretty much the only game that manages to present believable characters and actions, and it just puts narrative games like Bioshock;Infinite or Mass Effect 3 to shame. Yes, it lacks ghosts and murder and exciting quick time events, but what it does is present a story about human experiences. And i love it for that.
I admit guess it helped i'm just the right age to fall for the 90's nostalgia, and growing up with friends who turned out to be lesbian and seeing them struggle with it. So im pretty much the perfect target for the game.
Oh see, I originally wrote this in a way as to not spoil the game for people interested in it, but I'm sure it's fairly obvious how milking the homosexual relationship the game is centered around for as much drama as possible is exploitative and terrible, and I've heard numerous criticisms on how many people doubt if the FullBright Company has ever met lesbians. That's why it's ignorant and patronizing.
And there is also a lot of praise for the game from gays and lesbians for the company understanding and articulating in a respectful manner what they, or their friends, went through. So yeah, not ignorant i guess?
And there is also a lot of praise for the game from gays and lesbians for the company understanding and articulating in a respectful manner what they, or their friends, went through. So yeah, not ignorant i guess?
Sorry to bump this thread, but not sure where else to put this. It's an interview I conducted for my little silly game blog where we chat about a bunch of stuff like the initial inspiration Minerva's Den, leaving Irrational before Infinite shipped, whether Gone Home is really a video game, pulling out of PAX, nontraditional game design & more.
"Actually the initial inspiration was from a conversation I had with JP LeBreton. He was chatting with the Lead Designer of the original BioShock about how Rapture had all this accelerated high technology, and it would be cool if all the technology that had lead to the creation of Shodan in the System Shock universe had come from all these advancements in Rapture. Its off the books and not official in any way whatsoever, but I was like fuck it, Ill just do that!"
"I dont think it really matters if you label something a video game or not a video game, at least in practical terms. You can call it...whatever. I think if you enjoy interfacing with it, or not, thats really what matters. I think the reason people say Its not a game! is to be dismissive, and to say it doesnt have value. To say its something not worth paying attention to. I think people saying that is the real crux of the argument, and are not really trying to define something in a productive way."
"we built a really extensible interactive framework with Gone Home. We have this paradigm for exploring a space, interacting with it in meaningful ways and progressing through it. That seems like it can be extended in potentially a bunch of different ways. Take that--which is a solid foundation--and make one, interesting change that makes it a new experience without throwing out what you already have. But, what is that interesting thing? How do we make it feel like something new and not just Gone Home 2: The House Nextdoor where youre still walking around a home. We also dont want to throw everything out and make something like a...space MMO."
Liked exploring the house but I felt the narrative to be really lacking.
I was never relating with the characters of the story, nor the game did anything to favour my connection with the other members of the "family".
The father, mother and daughter didn't really seem a family to me, just characters useful for the plot.
The plot sounded really clichè and boring.
Just a generic teen with silly teen behaviors and a generic couple in crisis.
That's it.
However I enjoyed exploring the house and the '90 references
Sorry to bump this thread, but not sure where else to put this. It's an interview I conducted for my little silly game blog where we chat about a bunch of stuff like the initial inspiration Minerva's Den, leaving Irrational before Infinite shipped, whether Gone Home is really a video game, pulling out of PAX, nontraditional game design & more.
Kind of LTTP, but I just finished playing Gone Home and I really liked it. Thought it was a very successful and smart attempt at interactive narrative and loved the feeling of being able to peek and explore on all drawers, closet and corners to dig out the dirty secrets of that manor and family, and the way the game messes with the player's imagination suggesting ghost stories and making it feel very scary at moments despite the fact that the underlying story is more or less mundane.
So I went to metacritic to write my personal review (9/10 if your are curious) and I was shocked to find out that the user score is currently at 5.4! I think is the first time a game I like this much is so negatively criticized by the public (more than 560 negative reviews) and I'm wondering why. What were those people's expectations?
Also just recently played Gone Home, and left with incredibly mixed feelings. I can see why it got the critical reception it got, but at the same time I can sort of see where some of the backlash at those high marks is coming from.
From a purely storytelling perspective, I think the game is excellent. There's a lot about the Bioshock games that I think will age poorly such as their generic gameplay, but the actual world building of those titles has always been incredibly strong. Considering it's made by a bunch of ex-2K people, it's not surprising that I similarly feel this is Gone Home's absolute strong point. Finding journal entries, letters, school assignments, photos and even just the composition of rooms have been created in a way to made for an incredibly atmospheric environment that goes even further than the Bio games did in having an interactive story that's left to the player to interpret and discover on their own.
The only part I feel contradicts this is how Sam's journal entries are read out to you inexplicably after you find certain story-relevant items, and honestly I felt they'd been more effective if they'd worked out a way to have you similarly read them in-game like you do about the father's failed writing career or the hints at the mother's affair. At the same time it's meant to relate back to the ending, so it's a bit of a complicated aspect. Similarly love how nearly everything's interactive; it's largely pointless, but it still makes it all that more realistic, though if Fullbright had gone ahead and used the Amnesia engine as opposed to Unity that may have fit in with the psuedo-horror theme the game initially baits you into expecting.
At the same time, the actual 'story' the game tells I don't think is that particularly strong. I think my main issue is it feels like we're being told to like Sam and the even less defined Lonnie, rather than it being left to ourselves to come to our own conclusions like Gone Home does for Oscar, the parents and even Katie who we're playing as. Sam starting a relationship with a trouble maker, the parents not approving and then the two eloping is really just the entirety of the main plot, and it's sort of weird there aren't really more twists or details to flesh out that story. It really feels like the story banks too much on them being a lesbian couple in the mid-90's being more of a hook than it winds up being, but even then I don't feel they did enough with that aspect.
A controversial hypothetical, but if you genderswapped Lonnie into a boy yet changed nothing absolutely nothing else about the plot or game, I seriously don't think somebody who played this game for the first time would come out with that much of a different experience than someone who played the original. Sam's coming to grips with being attracted to the same sex and her parents 'it's just a phase' feel far too passing and glossed over. If they'd made the family typically more fundamentalist or even related the parent's own personal demons to Sam's relationship more, given more of an insight into the school's or other people's reactions to this relationship this aspect of the story would have felt stronger.
I just find it weird near the beginning you see a lot of hints the parents are having problems coping with Sam as a teenager, yet when she comes out as a lesbian they basically tell her to stop seeing Lonnie, brush it aside and them promptly go on a retreat during their anniversary. In the same game you get given far more subtle story elements such as Terry hating his father after his letter rips his JFK book to bits in one tiny area, so it's weird far bigger story elements would comparatively feel so simplistic. It's not pandering, but I am questioning if it's a case of 'you should instantly relate to their character since they're gay and their parents are being homophobic'. Yes, Sam and Katie's parents are homophobic shits, but even as the game shows, things aren't ever as really black and white as that. As is it's a fairly simple story, but it's mostly excused by some strong execution that's handled in a way exclusive to the video game medium.
All in all, I really enjoyed Gone Home, I feel it was a great experiment into different story telling methods in an interactive format, but I also feel the critical reception (like most good to great games really) was a bit over the top, and question if an identical project without the LGBT-angle would have received as intense a reception. Absolutely no qualms if it was your personal GOTY and if it strongly resonated with you since it's clearly a high-quality product open to interpretation, but I really want to see Fullbright push this style of game even more with a stronger plot with their next project.
I was dumb and assumed the red hair-dye you see in Sam's bath tub was a failed suicide attempt at first, unless there's something that implies otherwise.
So I went to metacritic to write my personal review (9/10 if your are curious) and I was shocked to find out that the user score is currently at 5.4! I think is the first time a game I like this much is so negatively criticized by the public (more than 560 negative reviews) and I'm wondering why. What were those people's expectations?
After all the praise this game received and a friend of mine (who happens to be gay and a game developer) pushing me to play it, I finally did tonight.
I've got to say I was skeptical but from the first few minutes I was hooked and by the end I was tearing up and quite emotional. Now to quote Community 'I'm going through some stuff right now' but I was not expecting to have that reaction at all. I agree that there are some flaws and that perhaps the narrative is a bit weak when spelled out but I've never had this kind of reaction to anything so seemingly benign. A very powerful experience that completely blindsided me. Look forward to whatever comes next from these folks.
I will also say that I get the complaints from people about the lack of any real gameplay or anything, but having this as an alternate way to experience a story, by just being allowed to wander through the world, really worked for me.
My biggest problem with Gone Home was that the game's intent for you as the player character is completely disconnected from that character's own reality. Essentially, you wander around this house, midst a pseudo-horror game presentation and the tension of the unknown around the next corner is supposed to be a driving force. Except, you supposedly lived here, grew up here...walking around your own house wouldn't be so tense and spooky. I as the player should presumably have already been familiar with the setting if I as the player character was already familiar with the setting.
MGS 4 and Dead Space 2 spoilers:
This is mainly why the return to Shadow Moses/the Ishimura was so ridiculously effective.
I'm not sure how they could accomplish something like that other than maybe making it a two episode/act game where the first act is somehow allowing the player to familiarize themselves with things. Maybe you walk around the house during a big party a few months earlier with lots of people and little games to play or something. The story wasn't convincing because its core foundation wasn't realistic to begin with.
My biggest problem with Gone Home was that the game's intent for you as the player character is completely disconnected from that character's own reality. Essentially, you wander around this house, midst a pseudo-horror game presentation and the tension of the unknown around the next corner is supposed to be a driving force. Except, you supposedly lived here, grew up here...walking around your own house wouldn't be so tense and spooky. I as the player should presumably have already been familiar with the setting if I as the player character was already familiar with the setting.
You aren't familiar at all, if I think I understand your point correctly. In the course of the one year in Europe, the rest of Katie's family moved into her great-uncle's (or her father's uncle's) house (for reasons you can find from artifacts within the house).
Pretty sure it was described at the very start with the luggage and furniture/removal company invoice(s?). I don't honestly know how it could've been glossed over, unless you just powered past some of the items that could be interacted with early on.
Very late here, but I just finished it and can't express how much I loved this game. It was one of the most emotional and personal gaming experiences I have ever had. A work of art.
Just finished this after picking it up during the last Steam sale. Short but very, very sweet. Excellent story-telling that really tugged on the old strings of the heart.
Best environmental storytelling I've seen in the medium. Gaynor's willingness to buck Chekov's Gun and create and dress spaces that help form the larger sense of place within the house -- that hold nothing directly related to the main narrative -- goes miles in this regard. I liked that sometimes you'd be rewarded by finding a misplaced pen (or something equally mundane) that might've rolled behind or underneath something if you took the time to crouch, for example.
The team at Fullbright also made one-off models that were only used in one place in the game. If this were a AAA game, you'd never be able to get one-off props made that weren't used for some set piece moment in the narrative, and you'd never get away with making rooms (and dressing them) if they didn't have importance to the main narrative.
I wish I hand't been spoiled on a lot of things in this game, but that's my fault for getting to the game so late. (I heard about how Sam
is a lesbian before I played the game, and about the significance of the attic as well.
My girlfriend and I played it together this weekend. I appreciate what they were trying to do here but it just wasn't for me. My girlfriend wasn't really a fan either.
The environment was cool and all but I kind of wish there was more of an actual "game" to it. Granted though, I can understand that it would be hard to bring something out that's just an "interactive story" without billing it as a "game".
Regardless, I felt like it was waaaaay too short. I did buy it on a Steam sale, but I heard this was $20 when it launched...
Finally got around to playing this game.
Overall I found it to be okay, but it didn't really do much for me. I think it succeeds most at environmental storytelling, where certain objects/documents lying around the house give you clues and hints as to what's going on. For instance
I think the story of her father was handled the best, as you are exposed to his failures and successes, through objects (books) and letters. And stuff like the mom pretty clearly cheating on the dad with that new park ranger was handled well I thought.
However, the continual audio logs rubbed me the wrong way, because they basically spell out the main story, and I didn't really find that main story to be very interesting. It didn't really affect me nearly as much as say, walking dead season 1, and I think part of that is because of its very short length. I only spent 1-2 hours learning about the
sister's struggles, and by the end of it I didn't really care all that much.
I think I would have actually preferred it if the game was 100% about the environmental storytelling, and didn't have the audio log narration. And on that note, I think there were way too many written letters lying around too. I found the really obvious storytelling to be the least interesting aspect of the game, while the more subtle stuff that you had to piece together more or less on your own was more fulfilling.
And I don't know if I'm dumb or what, but the level design seemed pretty annoying at times. Took me a while to find some of the hidden stuff and it got on my nerves a bit.
I can see why people could love it or hate it. I'm just kind of meh about it. I do love when smaller studios try to push boundaries and attempt new things. But I don't think this game really did that.
I think this game really only works if the story grabs you. Because aside from the story, it's pretty bare bones and there isn't much substance there. I can totally see why some people would feel the $20 original price tag wasn't justified. I know I would have been a bit bummed if I had paid that much.
I would like to see other games tackle the environmental storytelling thing though. But next time with stories that I actually find interesting or worthwhile.
Worth a play through. Game started to drag towards the end, so I missed some very important small details.
I wonder.
What happened to the parents? All I sensed was they were disfunctional and had multitude of problems both at work and at home. The game doesn't really explain why the distance between Kaitlin and them. Did they not really care about her since they didn't prepare a room for her return despite Kaitlin being a role model child?
Two hours last night and I swore I picked up or saw every little item but apparently I missed a lot of things. Still need to maybe go back and open up the safe in the basement as well as the father's box in his office.
Loved the story. Laughing at people talking about ghosts - I never saw a description talking about ghosts (I also had the ending spoiled for me months ago, which never mentioneda nything supernatural so I wasn't expecting anything). The spooky parts like
the severe weather warning or lightbulbs popping or the obvious occult side story with the girls trying to summon the uncle for laughs...just added flavor.
I ended the story sad, though extremely happy for for the characters, but because
you know these "run away teenager" stories never end well in my opinion, but also after a year away, who knew when the sisters would see each other again.
I'm happy it had a happy ending, I was so expecting the cliche 'lesbian breakup' trope to come around in full swing. It struck a lot of emotional chords for me, especially having gone through a breakup since someone left me and I couldn't convince her to stick around.
Has anybody had trouble getting the Homerunner trophy to pop on PS4?
I've been trying to do this all night. I am TIMING MYSELF getting to the attic diary in 56 seconds. 58 seconds. Whatever. I am constantly under a minute. But it won't give me the trophy and I don't know why.
I'm glad games like these exist, but for the most part I found it not very compelling. Props to the voice recording and progressive storyline, but overall it's a pretty solid meh to me.
I just played through this for the first time, and it has to be one of my top ten gaming experiences. For such a short game, I was really quite invested and attached to the characters. Also unlike so many other games I was actually interested in finding every little scrap of paper/object I could find to help piece together what happened.
