5/10/2023 0 Comments Gone home switch![]() Now the game is heading to Nintendo Switch as of this month, and so we thought we'd rectify our shocking lack of review by providing one now. The game is available on their website and on Steam.The Fullbright Company's narrative-driven game Gone Home first landed on our laps back in 2013 when it launched on PC, and after that it was released on both PS4 and Xbox One. Summary: A fascinating exploration in storytelling and atmosphere. Anyone who want to see the medium grow owes it to themselves to play this game. Gone Home is one of those works that are so difficult to explain, yet can mean so much to its audience. This game is an excellent representation of where game narrative can go. However, judging it solely on its conventional concepts does it a huge disservice. The few puzzle elements are not challenging and serve the story more than anything. Its slow pacing and focus on narrative makes it seem like an “arty” game. In all reality, Gone Home isn’t for everyone. In a way, its understated design makes it all the more exceptional. Exploring the house teaches you just as much about the story as the dialogue. Still, the levels of mundane details added move the house from just being a building where the mystery happens to an integral part of the story. The house itself is just a regular old house. Nothing is exceptionally visually stunning. Graphically, there is little to write home about. Much of the story comes through in how they tell it, as well as the words themselves. ![]() Each instance is well recorded and the actresses give their lines life and meaning. And while there is very little of it, the voice acting should be commended. I enjoyed having these musical moments at it game me something else to listen to and even made me feel in control of something. ![]() Within the house you will find tape decks and cassettes with nineties-era female grunge music that you can play as you wish. At times the atmospheric music is soothing and creepy at the same time, other times, it vanishes all together and the only sound is the falling rain outside. The two work together seamlessly to heighten the player’s feelings about the incident. While walking through the house, you will feel alien, like you don’t belong, and this feeling reinforces what you learn in the story. You’ll find yourself slowly slinking through the house like you might in a horror game, rushing to any lamp or light switch in the house to offer some much desired light. From the storm outside to the lights off inside, the atmosphere is both mysterious and creepy. What Gone Home immediately gets right is atmosphere. Your interpretations of the facts and evidence adds a great deal more than the already excellent story given. The second is through your own discoveries within the house and how you think they relate to the characters. One is through the various bits told through narrative elements. What you discover will be enthralling and moving. The basic idea is that, on a dark and stormy night, you enter a house to find out what happened to those who had inhabited it so recently. The story is so central to Gone Home that even a cursory summery would be a crime against those who want to play. Luckily, Gone Home from The Fullbright Company, is adding to this niche. Many games have mysterious elements and questions to be answered, but few could readily be defined as a mystery game in the traditional sense. ![]() One genre sorely underrepresented in gaming is mystery.
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