Yes, most of the experience is finding tidbits on the events leading up to that.

Fucking Definitely

Saying "play" and "game" tells me you have the wrong expectations. I thought it was terrible as a game, but okay as an interactive experience. I didn't care all that much about her.

Ugh, you know what I mean dude. I know what it is, and Im still going to call it a game. Because I fucking can

Honestly, it depends on what you value more as a gamer: the actual story beats or the world built in the game. If you care more about the story and the world is a kind of means to an end, then probably not, considering you understand a large portion (I assume) of the main plot. But if you are looking for a great example of a fully realized world in gaming, then this is absolutely worth checking out. Either way, I personally thought it was a really interesting artistic piece and would recommend it (though I'd wait for it to be less than 20 dollars personally).

At the very least, you can hear probably the best voice acting performance I've heard this year. It's fantastic.

@naru_joe93: For sure. The intricacy and family details, including but not at all limited to the journey to learning what you already know, were a huge part of the experience for me. The collage, not the centerpiece, is what makes me keep coming back to this.

Yes, I still think so, there's a lot to see and do in Gone Home - it's more about the nuances and small details than it is about the overall story. Basically, it's worth doing your own exploring around the environment - unlike what other people have said, it's not something that 'should just be a book', it's mostly about your interaction with the world.

I'm going to agree with the others here and say the little details that you find around the house are what makes Gone Home worth it. Besides, it's fairly obvious pretty early on what the story is actually about. It's definitely a case of a "journey" over "destination."

Well, I played it and it's, probably, the best thing I've played this year. I feel so confused about it because The Last of Us has been my favorite since I beat it in June, but now this is seriously challenging it.

This hasn't just pushed storytelling in video games farther, it has shown me a new and exciting way for, truly, great stories to be told (in general, not just games).

Now I'm gonna go buy the Stanley Parable and play that, since it seems a bit similar in function.

Also: Independent Developers are this mediums salvation.

I felt somewhat detached from it because my character wasn't participating in the story. It was like hearing an audiobook with inadequate imagery. I was supposed to be this girl's sister, but I didn't know the house and still felt like a mute outsider. A viewer. My presence was inconsequential. I could have been another person, breaking and entering, and her words would have meant nothing to me.

I want more player/character influence as we move forward in interactive storytelling. Movies, TV shows, books and comics will always be much more effective than games like this for me.

Its a 5 dollar game in a 20 dollar package. Wait until it drops to 5 bucks.

Yes, best thing i've played this year. Fuck this "is this game"? bullshit

@ezekiel: you didn't know the house because she didn't know the house.

Yes. it's established pretty early on why she's gone.

In other news, did you guys know that the hover function on the front page reveals the first few lines of a post's OP, regardless of spoiler tag? I guess it should be suspected and it's probably hard to find an adequate fix for it, but potentially unfortunate for those just skimming the topics real quickly. Just thought that was interesting. I wonder if the engineers know about it.

I had this opinion initially, but I liked it so much that I don't care. I'd definitely pay the price of a good meal or an LA movie or going out and having some drinks to play this game. If the game was shit, then it'd be a problem. Games like FEZ are awesome for being priced so low for how much content they have, but we should look at those as rare treats, rather than what other games should try to conform to. I realize Gone Home was exceptionally short, but I still think it's good enough to warrant the price, especially considering the level of detail the game has.

Yes man..it's about having fun.

Agreed. Wait until it drops in price to get it. I'm sure the amount of work that went in is worth more than a fiver per copy but after playing through it, even though I really enjoyed it, I regret paying that much for it.

Umm, you must not have been paying close attention

She wasnt used to the house because it wasnt her childhood home. She was in europe when her family moved there, so it was completely unknown to her. She was mute because no one was in the house (people dont usually talk to themselves). And there were no consequences because the story they were telling did not REQUIRE any. Your sister and family were gone before you could do or say anything to them; you're just arriving to put the pieces together. Also, you were (basically) an outsider because all of the shit went down while you were in europe. The stuff with your sister, the stuff with your parents. It was all happening behind your back. In other words, you can still be an outsider within your own family

Also, you should play the stanley parable. It looks at player choice in an interesting way and discusses its importance SPOILER: Its meaningless

Well, I payed 10 bucks for it and I thought that was a steal for what the game gave to me personally. Honestly feel bad that I didnt pay more. I'm definitely going to continue to support this fantastic dev with my money in the future

I know that, but it still made me feel detached and unimportant. It wasn't a very interesting type of story to tell imo.

@ezekiel: Woowowow. Edit your post and spoiler tag my initial comment. For some reason when you quote a spoiler, it doesnt retag it, so please do so for folks who havent played it yet.

And that's your opinion, so I will respect it. I disagree though and thought it was both a worthwhile story to tell and was delivered fantastically

All spoilers btw - You're supposed to feel detached and awkward, that is the point of the game. You search through this place where you are supposed to be meeting your family and wonder why they aren't all here, then you pick up random everyday items that mean absolutely nothing to us yet we are connected to the sister through what we think is her personal thoughts.

Then you start finding stuff that may suggest a haunting. Given that you should by now A. have a connection with the sister and B. already be creeped out by the environment that you welcome the suggestion that the place was indeed haunted and that is the root of the problem. This is when the emotions start kicking in, the real beauty of all this is when you look back and realize you were just in some house and some young kids will think ANYTHING is a haunting, there was no logical reason to ever think there was a haunting besides the light going out(which honestly I wish that part was removed but it still was just a short circuit in the end), that was just you being drawn in by the characters of the game and the way they think.

To be honest I think the game is very pandering to the PC-crowd(Read:not computers, but the other thing) and journalists are afraid of being too critical because they think it might seem non-inclusive and homophobic . The game also got released at a perfect time. The details are just pictures and notes thrown up on Blender with a filter on.

It's a 6/10 experience at the most. Definitely buyer's remorse for me but at least I admit my loss and don't go on a rant to defend the game

I loved it. I think that the strength in the game lies not with its story, but in the way it tells it. Even if you knew everything about this game I'd still recommend you play it, because the story is told really well.

The trailer says as much. I never even realized while playing that I was supposed to be under the impression that the house was haunted. The story it tells is much more complex than the individual plot points.

A huge part of the fun for me was not knowing what to expect AT ALL. That said, piecing together each of the family member's story is still a lot of fun and the game is very well written, well acted and well made.

Initially I was going to say "no". But then, to be honest, it is such a simple story I instantly guessed it from the start. Going through the game almost seems like a confirmation of what I thought it would be anyways, so spoilers or not I played through it. I was thinking of voting "yes", since it didn't really matter. But wait! I also didn't think it was as amazing as everyone made it seem, maybe because EVERYONE IS SO FUCKING MESSED UP THINKING IT WAS A HORROR SUICIDE STORY.

In the end I just chose "show results". I am utterly confused as to if "knowing the story" affected my experience or not. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't matter... let's just say I feel pretty meh about the overall experience.

No, not at all. Don't play it. You ruined the whole experience. The game is not interesting mechanic wise so yeah, avoid it. You blew it.

Even if I haven't played it and know most of what happened in this game, if you already bought the game, might as well play it and experience it yourself.

On a side note, I played the Stanley Parable yesterday, which is the closest analog that I could think of that's similar to Gone Home since even I thought that it was more like an interactive adventure more than a typical game THAT I REALLY ENJOYED.

Trying to find ways to fuck with the narrator was really, really funny. There are moments you might think that you might be trying to subvert the game...BUT THE GAME IS THE ONE SUBVERTING YOOOOOUUUUU.

If you read further on into the thread you would have seen me saying that I played it anyway and got a huge amount of enjoyment out of it, so much so that it's, possibly, my favorite game to come out this year.

I think good narrative should work regardless of having a spoiler. I enjoyed walking dead regardless of knowing spoilers because the writing was good.