What Remains of Edith Finch: A single-player walking simulator that repeatedly unites beauty and tragedy into an unforgettably moving adventure.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a story-driven walking simulator/adventure game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was originally released in 2017, and is available on PC, PS4, XBOX One, and Nintendo Switch. While it may only appeal to a specific audience, What Remains of Edith Finch presents a concise, yet beautifully imaginative and emotional journey through the tragic stories of a family’s history.

This review contains minor spoilers. Plot structure and a few characters will be discussed, but not far beyond what is shown in trailers/marketing. If you would like to avoid all potential spoilers, skip to the conclusion section. 

I played What Remains of Edith Finch on PC for this review.

Summary

What Remains of Edith Finch is centered around the Finch family and its curse. Apart from one, every known member of the family has either died an unusual death or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The curse has existed for centuries, and has become so widely-recognized that the Finches have even been named “America’s most unfortunate family.” The player controls seventeen year-old Edith Finch, the last living member of the Finch family. Picking up immediately after the death of Edith’s mother, the story follows Edith through her exploration of the long-abandoned Finch family home in order to uncover her tragic family history, which has been kept a secret from her for her own safety. The stories she uncovers are as shocking to her as they are to the player.

The House and Edith

The early sequences of What Remains of Edith Finch create a haunting atmosphere and elicit an apprehensive feeling in the player. The vacant Finch house stands isolated in the middle of the woods as Edith approaches alone. Certain props are strategically placed within the house to momentarily frighten players. The signs of a once happy family are littered throughout the house, and the player cannot help but wonder what might be hidden in the house’s dark corners. Edith describes the house perfectly when she says: “Nothing in the house looked abnormal, there was just too much of it. Like a smile with too many teeth.” It is within this uncomfortable and forsaken setting that Edith confronts her family’s tragic past. As an outsider to her own family’s history, Edith is the perfect vessel for the player. She knows just enough to fill in the gaps and offer insight through her narration, but she is undergoing a learning experience just as much as the player is.

Gameplay

What Remains of Edith Finch revolves around experiencing the stories of the deceased Finch family members. Edith narrates most of the story herself, but she is repeatedly interrupted by “mini-stories.” While exploring the house, Edith interacts with shrines to the departed Finches, which transports the player to a unique level where they briefly experience the final moments of that particular Finch’s life, narrated by the character themself or someone close to them. For example, Edith discovers a shrine to her great uncle, Calvin Finch, in his childhood room. The shrine is adorned with a poem written by Calvin’s brother, Sam, and entitled “How I want to Remember My Brother.” Edith picks up the poem, which transports the player to a brief sequence where they live out Calvin’s final moments while Sam reads his poem aloud. This process is repeated several times, and makes up the core gameplay of What Remains of Edith Finch.

Each character’s story takes place within its own completely unique setting, and offers its own interesting gameplay gimmicks. In this way, every story remains easily separated in the mind of the player, and gameplay does not remain constant long enough for it to become repetitive (most stories are only about five minutes long). Though monotony is not an issue, it should be mentioned that the input required from the player is absolutely miniscule, even by the standards of the genre. There are no difficult puzzles, no time limits, and the player is guided through almost every action. The game certainly holds the player’s hand, and it is not too much of a stretch to say it plays itself. There is no challenge. Difficulty and achievement take a backseat to atmosphere and storytelling. What Remains of Edith Finch is closer in entertainment value to a movie or novel than it is to most video games outside of the walking simulator genre.

Storytelling

Where What Remains of Edith Finch greatly succeeds is its narrative. The player is transported into the final moments of the lives of the Finches, who are all inspired, unique, and creative people, and their deaths reflect who they are. While the sadness is no doubt apparent to all players, there is also something beautiful in this premise. The sentiment I felt was something along the lines of “their deaths are sad, but at least they lived their lives how they wanted and went out doing what they loved.” Though the Finches are “cursed,” they make the best of their lives. The beauty of the world, despite the seemingly unbearable suffering faced by their family, is distilled through their wonderfully imaginative stories. This is where the strength of Jeff Russo’s soundtrack comes into play. Most characters have their own score that plays during their story, helping to heighten the sense of loss while simultaneously giving each story its own identity. Russo’s “Walter’s Bunker” is an excellent example of this. The piece’s slow and shaky build-up to a triumphant, yet calm melody demonstrates the nervous optimism of a man who has lived his entire life in fear, but is no longer willing to be frightened by the world. There is only so much I can write in text about Russo’s excellent soundtrack, but its reinforcement of the Finch family’s tragedy cannot be overstated.

The mini-story format is an outstanding method of engaging the player in the story and characters. Instead of just reading or hearing about a character’s past from Edith’s point of view, the player experiences their story firsthand. This is also the foundation of What Remains of Edith Finch’s emotional appeal. Players are helplessly drawn in as they grow attached to characters they know are going to die in mere minutes, and there is nothing they can do about it. While this sounds bleak (and it absolutely is), the game never compromises its positive and optimistic thematic elements in order to leave the player purely depressed. It is worth mentioning, however, that not every story is equally impactful. Without delving into spoilers, I will say that on my initial playthrough, the first story left me a bit confused and wondering what kind of game I was actually playing, while the last story made me unbelievably satisfied that I stuck with the game.

The mini-story structure helps keep a regular pace as well. Because each story only focuses on one character, information about the Finch family is initially doled out quite slowly. However, later into the game, the player is able to use information gleaned from previously experienced stories to make inferences about the family. In other words, the player is slowly given more and more information about the Finch family, which compounds upon the information they already have. Some of the fun is in figuring out for yourself every family members’ relation to one another, and how their relationships impact their personalities. While the game’s structure creates a suitable pace, its linear structure ultimately hurts replayability. The very little player choice, along with the unchallenging gameplay gives little incentive to play What Remains of Edith Finch more than once. Though I have played the game several times, I admit that it stands almost entirely on its narrative and emotional merits, both of which have their effects diminished on subsequent playthroughs.

One final area of note is What Remains of Edith Finch’s incredible attention to detail. The linear path that the player progresses on is PACKED with little details hidden in plain sight that add tremendous amounts to the world and characters. For example, early in the game, Edith enters the shared childhood room of twin brothers Sam and Calvin Finch (Edith’s grandfather and great-uncle, respectively). There is a growth chart marked in chalk on the door keeping track of the boys’ height. While Sam’s height is marked up until the year he turned eighteen (presumably when he moved out), Calvin’s marks abruptly stop at age eleven. By this point in the story, the player understands why. This level of environmental storytelling greatly enhances the already strong narrative.

Conclusion

Though What Remains of Edith Finch deals with immense tragedy, it never discards its hopefulness in favor of bumming the player out, so to speak. It simultaneously evokes feelings of grief and wonder, demonstrating that though the world is harsh and cruel, it also comes with unimaginable beauty, and it is up to us to focus on it.

“If we lived forever, maybe we'd have time to understand things. But as it is, I think the best we can do is try to open our eyes... and appreciate how strange and brief all of this is.” -Edith Finch

There is much more to be said about this game than I have in this review. For purposes of brevity and avoiding major spoilers, however, I have shied away from a few areas. What Remains of Edith Finch is a must-play for those looking for good storytelling. Structurally, it is flawless, its worldbuilding and attention to detail are outstanding, and I have struggled to find a game that has moved me as much as this one. Its short length and lack of difficulty and replayability do not make it appeal to everyone, however. For those interested, I also recommend playing the game in one sitting. The game is about 2.5 hours long, and its events take place over the course of one day. You will feel its length, but in a very, very good way.