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The Vanishing of Ethan Carter [I meant, What Remains of Edith Finch]
Published on May 24, 2019 3:10 AM
3 minute read
1871 Views

I've been playing this game in the margins as well as Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure, also from Game Pass. I found it really interesting. I like playing these "walking simulators" in between big games. 

What Remains. . . is a little more than a "walking simulator," though. You explore an old house on the shore. The graphics and level of detail are impressive. It's a joy to look at everything even if only a few things are interactive. The story is delivered as you explore and in interactive segments which you activate in various rooms of the house. The interactive segments are all different and, while not being super complicated, are nevertheless very creative and deliver more of the story very effectively. In them you might fly, climb, slither, shoot or other simple activities in the environment outside the house.

I finished the game a few weeks ago but returned last week to get some more achievements. These have you do certain things within the interactive segments or even in the exploration parts. I got some and then earlier this week I got all but one of them. The last one requires that you look in every peep hole and telescope and listen to the voice work before leaving. I felt like I had done this on my first playthrough, but either I missed one or didn't fully listen to the voice work in one of them. So, I'm replaying the whole game. It's not very long, just a few hours or so. 

The story is about a very eceentric family. You are the last member of it (or just about). You revisit every family member's bizarre, macabre end. I'll not spoil it, but there's a reason you are doing this which you don't find out about until the very end. It's a good story. It has elements of a Wes Anderson movie (the eccentric family) and an Edwin Gorey cartoon (the macabre deaths).  

So jump in and play it. The achievements are good at 100 each. Tasty. 

Comments
0
Posted on May 24, 2019 3:24 AM

I played this, but when it was just released and the save system was fucked up. I didn't get very far but I didn't want to play it again from scratch. They eventually fixed it with a patch. Cool game though, and very nice to look at. 

Posted on May 24, 2019 11:53 PM

It's not long at all. You can finish it in one sitting for sure. 

Posted on May 26, 2019 3:27 AM

And, I f'ed up. It was actually What Remains of Edith Finch. Who can tell these walking sims appart? Ha ha. 

Posted on May 26, 2019 3:38 AM

Oops!  You should check out Ethan Carter though. It’s cool.  

Posted on May 27, 2019 1:42 AM

I want to, but I probably won't play it unless it appears on Game Pass, or it's like on sale for $2. I think the games are interesting but I'm not really willing to shell out for one. 

Posted on May 25, 2019 1:22 AM

This sounds EXACTLY like What Remains of Edith Finch ...

Posted on May 26, 2019 3:26 AM

Whoops, I did mean What Remains of Edith Finch. Silly me. I was looking at The Vanishing as well but it wasn't on Game Pass. I guess I mixed them up in my mind. 

Posted on May 27, 2019 9:22 PM

Ah ok. I was like, "I can get that these games are in the same genre, but WHOA they sound similar."

Posted on May 29, 2019 12:27 AM

I've played a bit of What Remains... and have The Vanishing of... a couple of times but have never played it. I liked what I played of the former but need to finish it.

Posted on May 29, 2019 2:44 AM

The graphics are great and the interactive moments are neat the way they help tell the story.