- Played in Dec 2022 – Reviewed(?) April 2024
Wow, I didn’t realize that I played this game so long ago. Most of my memories of the story beats have long vanished and overwritten by whatever other nonsense I’ve been shoving into my brain. I shall try my best to give some sort of thought on my experience and time spent with this game, because it was a memorable experience.
This game is a walking sim, for all intents and purposes, whether you see that as a good or bad thing. I generally have moved away from these sorts of titles, but had heard a lot of good things about this game and I believe it was included with a subscription or something so I wasn’t out any extra money. You also have to be in the right mood to play a game that is so slow and deliberate.
I will spoil the game’s story after this bit, so just be warned if you’re reading this and care. Since this game is a walking simulator, the story and how it’s weaved through the game experience are what will make it memorable. You play as a character that is exploring a family home, you are believed to be Edith as she explores the home that has been inherited to her after the last of her family members had died. Edith is pregnant and wants to make a document for her unborn child in the case that she may die before telling him about his family. The mystery comes from the fact that every member of her family has untimely deaths and she wishes to document her experience exploring the house and uncovering the lives of the people that have lived here. Along her journey she is filling out a journal about these family members, from their untouched rooms and the history of their lives and how they died.
It’s an interesting concept and one that shows how an interactive media can tell a smaller story that is still impactful. The real kick in the balls is right at the end of the game you actually discover that Edith had died when in labor and that you are actually playing as her son. You’re reading your mothers notebook that she wrote and hearing her voice as you explore the house. It’s a great concept that really sticks the landing. Is it completely necessary from a gameplay perspective, not at all. What it does do that I like so much is show that the family “curse” is still present, that Edith herself couldn’t even get around it, and that she succumbed to it while in labor.
Final Score – Maybe like an 8.2
It’s really hard to remember how much I connected with this game at the time and the score I’d actually give it. So don’t really consider this a review as such, more like a thought experiment. It was a memorable experience and one that I actually think about regularly, not much for the story, but the environments and some of the rooms and how you transition between them, for some reason that really stuck with me.
Ghost Ba Bomb 