Game Review: Gone Home

[thousanth]

I heard about Gone Home from The Mary Sue. A mystery game where you come home from a year abroad to find your parent's house empty and your family...not where you expect them to be. It sounded like just my type of game - story-based, exploratory, mysterious and more or less a point and click. Something I could lose myself in for a couple of hours on a Sunday night. I went to Steam, bought it, and played it through in one sitting.

After that I foolishly went to the game forums and read some of the posts, thinking to find some fellow enthusiasts. Never read the comments, I should know this by now. Despite a Steam metascore of 90 (that's pretty darned impressive, Portal got 90 for instance) a lot of posters seemed confused by the lack of things to kill. Now, don't get me wrong, the game I bought before this was Space Hulk, and I'm still online playing Space Marine. I also like exploding things, shooting at things, sniping at things and hacking at them with my bladed weapon of choice. But if you go into Gone Home expecting to go to town with your assault cannon, it's not going to be the game for you.

If all you'd like is a summary of what to expect, see below. No spoilers.

Genre: First person, exploration, story discovery, mystery, clue hunting.
Feel: Creepy and atmospheric. Nostalgia.
Ease of play: W/A/S/D keys to move, mouse to click. Very simple.
Length: 1-3hrs, depending on how fast you play. It took me 2hrs being thorough, but I didn't get lost or miss clues.
Replayability: None. I consider this a one-shot: once you've got the story I can't imagine playing it through again.
Personal rating: 8/10.

For some screenshots, a bit more detailed discussion of the game, and still no spoilers, I have a post up here.

Comments

[omens]

Ooooh. Thanks for the rec!

[thousanth]

I hope you enjoy it if you check it out! :]

[jana]

Sounds just like the kind of game I like to play! :)

[thousanth]

:D I suspect it might come down in price in a week or two as well, I was just looking for something for that Sunday evening in particular.

[andraste]

Ooo, that sounds interesting and right up my alley.

[thousanth]

Awesome! It's a really atmospheric game, very absorbing if you're in the mood for something like it.

[angel_negra]

Oh, this does sound interesting. And I liked your more detailed review too. I think I'll check this one out.

[thousanth]

Cool. :D I'm glad it sparked an interest! It's quite a hard game to rec without giving too much away, and there's lots of elements of the story I want to rec it for, but can't!

[lassarina]

I'm seeing everyone talking about this and comparing it (favourably) to Dear Esther. I'm definitely intrigued.

[thousanth]

Yes, I keep seeing mentions of Dear Esther in the same breath as this game. I've had a quick ganders on Steam and found DE very cheap, so I've picked that one up too. I really love a good, atmospheric game. :D

[lassarina]

Dear Esther is quite short, and I whipped through it in a couple of hours. I found it both beautiful and unsettling, and like the video game equivalent of a short film or short story. That being said, I rather wish I had not played it at 11pm; I certainly wouldn't want to do so were I alone in my apartment. But I am a wuss who is easily frightened, so, grains of salt etc.

[thousanth]

Oh no, believe me, if there's the slightest hint that the game may be creepy to some people then I will be that person who found it terrifying! :D I actually have to lean back from the screen in some games and just remind myself It's just a game! Good times, good times. :3

[sparowe]

*sigh* I love haikyo, and this game (if I recall correctly) was based on that. Pity that people can't get outside the box of combat--I'm really looking forward to when I can add this one to my collection. :)

[thousanth]

Is Haikyo a Wii game? Or am I looking at totally the wrong thing? I'm really into games that just suck me in and immerse me like this one did, so any others like it are ones I want to look out for!

[sparowe]

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is called Fragile Sayonara Tsuki No Haikyo in Japanese, so that may be what you're thinking of? And I do have the game--in English. Haikyo is the Japanese word for ruins. I like going through abandoned houses and the like.

Found the article I was looking for, though! http://kotaku.com/5935262/how-modern-japanese-ruins-inspired-a-computer-game/

These others just helped get me into them:

http://kotaku.com/5983608/this-modern-japanese-ruin-would-make-a-fascinating-computer-game

http://kotaku.com/5990712/these-are-the-arcades-that-japan-forgot