From the editor: What Remains of Edith Finch

I have been a cat, a shark, and most chillingly, a boy on a swing before his untimely demise. Those are not past lives, but a scintillating video game called What Remains of Edith Finch. The game is a narrative-focused walking simulator in the vein of Firewatch and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, and when you go a-wandering, the game has a mysterious, supernatural aura about it. It’s one of those experiences you don’t want to explain to people too much, for fear of spoiling it.

You play as the titular Edith Finch, a 17 year old who is exploring her family’s house. The pause screen includes a drawing of the family tree, from which one can immediately glean that something’s not right in the Finch household, with the majority of the clan dying far too young, and far too often. You roam through a large house, which is filled with beautifully designed passageways and trap doors, to gain an understanding of curious characters: one room might be a child’s spaceship fantasy while another is a hermit’s bunker.

The most beautiful part of the game are the ‘flashbacks’ to the family member’s memories, or fantasies, or something. That’s where the cat, shark and child and come in: it’s a thrilling moment the first time you change from a traditional human perspective to that of a prowling cat. It sounds simple but works brilliantly in practice, playing with the convention of player, character and role in a video game.

The voice acting and writing are superb too, and I look forward to entering the strange world of Edith Finch again in the future. I suggest waiting for the next discount on Xbox One, PS4 or PC, then trusting me and buying it. Don’t read anything more for fear of spoilers, just play it. PLAY IT. PPPLLLAAAYYY IIITTT.

Joe Fuller
editorial@thelatest.co.uk