Did anyone else think that when they were playing the game and you were listening to Sam's journals that upon entering the attic, you were possibly going to find that her and Lonnie have committed suicide. I was so relived to find out at the end that they just ran off together, I have never been this emotional after a games since The Walking Dead.
Gone Home
Game » consists of 11 releases. Released Aug 15, 2013
Set in a large multi-story house during a 1995 thunderstorm, Gone Home is a first-person exploration game where a young woman finds out what happened to her family since she was away on a long overseas trip.
Did anyone else think...(SPOILERS)
Woah woah... I'm glad I didn't come to that conclusion (I kinda figured pretty early on that I was gonna find her journal and find out that they ran away together), but if I thought that that's how it was gonna end, it probably would have been too emotionally stressful for me to finish.
I'm pretty sure most people did. In fact, I listened to a podcast where Steve Gaynor said he almost wrote that as the ending and then got mad at the idea of not being able to have a happy ending in a game like this. However, I do think it's interesting that you could potentially miss the penultimate recording. If I remember, the journal at the very, very end doesn't explicitly say anything about them running away together and so you could interpret it as such if you missed it.
I thought the same thing, and then near the end I thought just Sam would have after Lonnie left her. It was the only time in the game that I wanted to sprint, was to the attic because I was worried about Sam. I think going with the ending that they went with was better, and way more uplifting than if they had done what I thought they were gonna do. I feel like that would have been the "easy" ending to go with.
I have been reading other people's impressions of the ending stating that they thought there was going to be some supernatural element to it, however just listening to Sam's journals, they start to have a darker tone as you search through the some of the hidden rooms especially when she is discussing her relationship with Lonnie.
I guess it would have been a bit cliche to use a suicide ending since we have seen that many times in films and true stories before. But the atmosphere also played a large role in my thought process in determining the ending. The dark rooms and loud bangs of thunder were creeping me out, and I was wearing headphones playing this.
I kind of assumed it was a deliberate fake out, because the whole set up sort of implies that something went real bad, what with your family not being there and all. And there's a sort of dread that starts to set in, because you know something is in the attic, but it's not clear what.
No, but that would have made for a much better game. A much better impact.
no it wouldn't have
@naru_joe93: Well, that's like your opinion, man...
Yes. There was a thread about this already discussing that back when the game came out.
Interestingly there are a few people who didn't. I always find that fascinating as the story appears to indicate that's where it's heading but it's not really ever saying that. So, it's basically up to your minds interpretation of whats happening. I have speculations as to why just based on what I've read of people who didn't get that from the story, but I'll keep that to myself as that will anger people.
It's a very well told story, though. I'm glad they made it a twist happy ending. There isn't really a lot of those.
Yes. There was a thread about this already discussing that back when the game came out.
Interestingly there are a few people who didn't. I always find that fascinating as the story appears to indicate that's where it's heading but it's not really ever saying that. So, it's basically up to your minds interpretation of whats happening. I have speculations as to why just based on what I've read of people who didn't get that from the story, but I'll keep that to myself as that will anger people.
It's a very well told story, though. I'm glad they made it a twist happy ending. There isn't really a lot of those.
I would say a twist bitter-sweet ending. I mean, Sam still felt that she had no choice but to abandon her home. Her parents are going to come back from repairing their marriage only to find that they've driven their daughter out of the house.
No, but that would have made for a much worse game. Much less of an impact, cliche, underwhelming and a complete contrast to the games theme and presentation.
Fixed that for you
Yep, I thought I was gonna find Sam had committed suicide in the attic. Real glad it didn't go that way.
To be completely honest the game was kind of a rip off.
As for people saying that would of been cliched, did you play the game? Do you realize how common it is for teenagers specifically of that age and going through that much change in their lives to run away? I was very unhappy with this game after I finished it. Tons of immersion, tons of great method of storytelling and huge emotional set up for the big ending. I found myself stressed and had to work myself into walking into the attic at the end. But that much set up and melodrama is one of the most unrealistic things considering what ended up actually happening.
I'm all for tons of other elements this game used to convey the story, but for everyone praising this game for it's realistic storytelling should give their head a shake. When kids run away they don't leave hap hazard journals around for their siblings as if everything that is happening is the most important and dramatic moment in history. The set up was their, the pay off was not. I'm not saying it had to be suicide either...but come on...something. Something that warranted all that build. Sadly it wasn't. I'll praise the game for what it did do right though, and more games should look into Gone Home for immersion. Having the guts to cover an issue such as this and have a happy ending as well is fine, but didn't really realistically connect said happy ending.
Never occurred to me. I was expecting it to just be very sad as a happy relationship came to its inevitable end. Didn't ever think suicide. Didn't strike me as likely.
When kids run away they don't leave hap hazard journals around for their siblings as if everything that is happening is the most important and dramatic moment in history.
I'm not going to comment on anything else you said, mostly because I'm tired and wouldn't explain anything properly, but this is exactly what teenagers do when they do something like this. They treat it like the biggest thing in the universe, and turning that into gameplay by warping it into audio logs seems fine to me.
thought it for 5 mins, then came up with arguments in my head for why that wouldn't be. It would be too "edgy" was one. Also I seem to remember the answering machine sorta giving it away, even though I can barely remember what the actual ending was..
That was my thought, especially with the weird red aura the lighting gave that part of the hallway under the attic door.
The real shocker would have been if the Dad had committed suicide and the Sam/Lonnie arc was just a red herring or a distraction to the real horrifying ending.
The attic section of the game is an excellent example of creating narrative tension that enhances the emotional impact of the relief of that tension. The environmental cues and the sense of foreboding created as you approach the attic was probably my favorite part of that game. I was really concerned that Sam would have hurt herself and that the designers were casting the Journal entries into the form of a suicide note. I can see how some people might have felt a darker ending was more appropriate, but I immensely enjoyed the reversal of expectations that occurs at the game's climax.
I'm glad it didn't end that way, that would've just seemed sad for the sake of being sad. I just think the ending they did choose was really poorly implemented. Like the story goes from so bleak and hopeless to boom everything is back to fine and happy in literal minutes and it just seems really weird and rushed.
@anarchyzombie9: But everything isn't fine. Your sister is still a teenage runaway with her deserter girlfriend peddling stolen electronics in who the hell knows. It's a "happy" ending because she's alive and and pursuing love, but the ending is decidedly unclear.
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