Gone Home

[lathany]

Over the weekend, I noticed that a computer game called Gone Home was on special on Steam. I looked up a description - a first-person interactive story adventure video game, set in the year 1995, the plot focuses on exploration of a mansion in Portland, Oregon, and examining common household objects within the home - and decided to give it a try.

The result? I enjoyed the experience (barring needing to stop every now and then because it gave me motion sickness). After I had finished I read a bit more about it and discovered that it's won various awards. It's also had some mixed reviews.

The people who like it praise its story and themes. The ones that don't criticise its lack of gameplay. I'll risk a very mild spoiler and say that it's entirely a game about exploration. There's no combat and no action puzzles.

I liked it, not least because I knew what I was getting. It's a nice piece of work as it has the right setting and the final answers do fit with the set-up. Also, the game mechanics work well as you uncover it all a piece at a time in a fairly specific order. The atmosphere is a bit contrived in places (like the thunderstorm) but not in a particularly bad way. It's a couple of hours long (or rather more if you stop for motion sickness). I liked the story of Sam unfolding, even though it was fairly obvious where it was going for a while. I also liked the other stories - of the parents, the great uncle and, to some degree, Caitlin herself. Plus the obvious contrasts between Caitlin and Sam from finding things like Caitlin's trophies. I found that the state of many of the rooms seemed very natural given who was living in the house at the time and I was also a big fan of all the little hidey-holes.

Overall I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who knew that was the sort of game they wanted - although I think at sale price rather than full price because of the length.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I wonder if I should investigate it. I rarely play computer games of any kind, just because I'm terrible at the kind of quick-reaction combo button-pressing that so many seem to need. That sounds like it might be more up my alley (in all my copious free time, obviously :)

[lathany.livejournal.com]

:-)

There are no timing-critical events, so certainly worth a look. I suggest waiting until it's on sale again though.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I had to give up with the motion sickness. It was suitably compelling that I didn't stop when I started feeling queasy!

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I could say I'm glad it's not just me - but that isn't true. I'm sorry you had it as well and worse than me.

[dracunculus.livejournal.com]

The story of Gone Home hit me very powerfully--I thought it was a brilliant recapturing of the awkwardness and rawness of being a teenage girl, constrained in so many ways but also beginning to discover the power and freedom to create one's own self.

So I loved the game, but only because it really worked for me on an emotional level.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a good story, but I wasn't hit that hard by it. I think in part because I identified far more with Caitlin than Sam (eldest child, etc.) and in part because where I grew up was rather more tolerant than is depicted here. I am sure that attitude is about half the reason behind the choice of 1995 (and the other half is that mobile phones would really mess this up).