Cool for trophy hunting but otherwise insanely forgettable
I have a thing for house settings in games, like Uninvited, Maniac Mansion and Luigi's Mansion. And here's a game about walking around a house and examining stuff to learn about the people who lived there. It's very atmospheric, and I just enjoyed the concept and how it was done. The price, was another matter. Asking a bit much for what's provided here, though at the time, I felt it made sense since the game was assumed to have a very small, niche audience. Now with the gaming market much larger and more varied than ever before, we know that a lot of people will gladly buy something like this, and 20 bucks is too much to ask for something this small.
But anyway, I enjoyed being immersed in the house environment and learning about the people.
Oh yeah, the optimization on this Unity Engine programmed game needs serious work!
But anyway, I enjoyed being immersed in the house environment and learning about the people.
Oh yeah, the optimization on this Unity Engine programmed game needs serious work!
Can't believe I left for like 3 years and my friendless little sister turned gay 😤 😭
Came in looking for a horror experience.
Understood quite quickly that was not the case.
Left with a generic love story about gay people.
Voice Acting was pretty good though.
Came in looking for a horror experience.
Understood quite quickly that was not the case.
Left with a generic love story about gay people.
Voice Acting was pretty good though.
Eh.
I played it, I didn't hate it, I forgot about it. That summarizes my timeline with Gone Home.
Its a teen novel in the form of a videogame really, just with extra plot points that lead to nowhere.
I bet its great if you're 15 though!
I played it, I didn't hate it, I forgot about it. That summarizes my timeline with Gone Home.
Its a teen novel in the form of a videogame really, just with extra plot points that lead to nowhere.
I bet its great if you're 15 though!
This review contains spoilers
"No Sam you don't understand, killing children in the middle east is actually progressive if the soldier who kills them is homosexual"- Lonnie, probably.
Gone home suffers two problems, both of which can probably be atributted to being one of the first games in the indie boom of the 2010's.
The first is that notes as your main narrative device was already pretty overused in the 2013, nevermind today (and its not that im bothered by reading, I love reading in videogames, but only if what I'm reading is well written), but i would be willing to forgive the game for this if what the story , or at least its themes, were interesting or complex.
And this is the second problem of Gone Home, when it came out (heh), queer narratives in videogames were still in its infancy, so I suppose you could actually be surprised by the most basic possible iteration of "two teenagers of the same gender who don't fit in fall in love, the parents of one of them don't approve so they both flee together", but nowadays not only is this bland, but you can kind of see it didn't have any thought put behind its queer narative aspirations beyond young homosexual love.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that kind of story, but when the game tells you explicitly that Lonnie, a lesbian teenager in 1995 who supposedly hates authority, is perfectly fine with offering her soul to the biggest military industrial complex in the world, one which not only finds her repulsive on an ideological and personal level, but will command her to exert unbelievable violence to poor and oppresed people, some of whom might also be queer, AND THEN the game pretty much glosses over it and says the only reason she didn't enlist in the end is because she loves Sam too much makes me think the only reason they made her want to be a soldier is because it's probably the least """""traditionally feminine""""" job aspiration without much more thought behind.
Gone home suffers two problems, both of which can probably be atributted to being one of the first games in the indie boom of the 2010's.
The first is that notes as your main narrative device was already pretty overused in the 2013, nevermind today (and its not that im bothered by reading, I love reading in videogames, but only if what I'm reading is well written), but i would be willing to forgive the game for this if what the story , or at least its themes, were interesting or complex.
And this is the second problem of Gone Home, when it came out (heh), queer narratives in videogames were still in its infancy, so I suppose you could actually be surprised by the most basic possible iteration of "two teenagers of the same gender who don't fit in fall in love, the parents of one of them don't approve so they both flee together", but nowadays not only is this bland, but you can kind of see it didn't have any thought put behind its queer narative aspirations beyond young homosexual love.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that kind of story, but when the game tells you explicitly that Lonnie, a lesbian teenager in 1995 who supposedly hates authority, is perfectly fine with offering her soul to the biggest military industrial complex in the world, one which not only finds her repulsive on an ideological and personal level, but will command her to exert unbelievable violence to poor and oppresed people, some of whom might also be queer, AND THEN the game pretty much glosses over it and says the only reason she didn't enlist in the end is because she loves Sam too much makes me think the only reason they made her want to be a soldier is because it's probably the least """""traditionally feminine""""" job aspiration without much more thought behind.
It's easy to blame this game for basically creating this whole trend of games about walking in circles, reading boring af notes and "feeling emotions" yuck...
...but it is harder to remember that this game actually did it right, the house is a character of its own, the notes stick to the point, telling a captivating story and finally - the emotions are real.
...but it is harder to remember that this game actually did it right, the house is a character of its own, the notes stick to the point, telling a captivating story and finally - the emotions are real.
I can't believe there was a time when this game was praised for its narrative. The narrative is set up with the intention of the house's abandonment being some time ago, but then boils down to the home being vacant for over a week.
It feels less like the house has been lived in and more like it has been newly moved into (Idk if that was the intention). It makes many events feel like they happened way faster than implied, like the father having a failed book series that led to alcohol addiction and the wife cheating with someone else (as well as Sam and her parent's relationship that led to her running away).
Also, it doesn't help that you can beat the game in under a minute (which they have an achievement specifically for), as the final room can be accessed from the start if you're fast enough.
It feels less like the house has been lived in and more like it has been newly moved into (Idk if that was the intention). It makes many events feel like they happened way faster than implied, like the father having a failed book series that led to alcohol addiction and the wife cheating with someone else (as well as Sam and her parent's relationship that led to her running away).
Also, it doesn't help that you can beat the game in under a minute (which they have an achievement specifically for), as the final room can be accessed from the start if you're fast enough.
La historia no es nada del otro mundo, pero el juego en sí está curioso.
Enjoyable short narrative game. Definitely subverted my expectations, there were some pretty spooky vibes the whole time and I was really expected something bad to happen.
The exploration of the house was fun, I honestly got pretty drawn into it and learning about my sister and family.
Much more interactive than other "walking sim" games like dear Esther or what remains of Edith finch.
Overall very short though, wouldn't grab for more than sale pricing.
The exploration of the house was fun, I honestly got pretty drawn into it and learning about my sister and family.
Much more interactive than other "walking sim" games like dear Esther or what remains of Edith finch.
Overall very short though, wouldn't grab for more than sale pricing.
A beautiful, short experience. Love seeing art about queer experiences, this one feels very real and is likely based in some truth if I had to guess. However, no matter how hard she tries Lonnie doesn't get to call herself a punk if she's joining the army. Not how it works dude.
God I love being a lesbian.
Enjoyable but quite straighforward - kept expecting something which involved more puzzle-solving.
Another game I disliked when I first played but probably would appreciate way more now.
En su día tuvo que ser guay, pero ahora mismo es demasiado simple y sorprende poco.
People rag on this for being a walking simulator, but honestly props to the devs for hinting that the game is a horror game and then absolutely never following up on that.
I'm a big fan of how you can enjoy Gone Home and unravel its secrets in just a couple of hours but it will stay with you for much longer than that.
Esse jogo toca num sentimento muito específico e agoniante que é explorado com maestria usando artifícios do terror e storytelling, um walking simulator bacana. Admito que não dei o real valor a ele quando joguei mas muito se deve ao final que me broxou, mas hoje reconheço que gosto é gosto
Picking up random stuff: the scary experience
Gone Home é um jogo muito interessante e bem executado. Sua atmosfera é extremamente única, beirando o terror e, ao mesmo tempo, com uma energia um pouco melancólica e nostálgica, fatores que contribuem muito para a sua estética e tom. A trilha sonora é ÓTIMA, mesmo sendo extremamente sutil. Além disso, a história é ótima! A Sam é uma personagem interessantíssima e foi um prazer desvendar a história dela, enquanto explorava a casa.
i thought it was a horror game but the horror part never came up so i just looked like a fool.
I definitely was not expecting anything from the game but it was pretty enjoyable, always kept thinking it would be an horror game with that start but as i got to know the house, the scary rainstorm became "comfy" and relaxing. Pretty solid story to follow and not too annoying level design.
(from original post in 2022) Tacoma was better
Es increíble cómo este juego te cuenta una historia sin decirte nada, solo explorar la casa, descubrir momentos tan traumáticos y, sentir miedo aunque nunca pase nada.
fake game
Kind of forgot that I played this. I just remember the ambiance being eerie, and I kept expecting jump-scares to happen. Overall I liked the story, and the game wasn't very long.
Nice walking sim, never got lost or unsure what to do, didn't overstay it's welcome. Would have liked to learn more about the uncle, but that's not what the game was about so that's okay.
after What Remains of Edith Finch this game will bore you to death
my fucking god! these bitches gay! good for them! good for them.
y'know i played this back when it launched, being an avid idle thumbs reader at the time, and loved it then too
this time i played with dev commentary for that sweet cheese and it was definitely a weird way to experience the story, most of which i found i actually remembered! guess it stuck
funnily enough a lot of the commentary actually sounded familiar too probably from idle thumbs discussions
this time i played with dev commentary for that sweet cheese and it was definitely a weird way to experience the story, most of which i found i actually remembered! guess it stuck
funnily enough a lot of the commentary actually sounded familiar too probably from idle thumbs discussions
This game walked so fire watch and Edith finch could run. This game had me on the edge of my seat investigating everything I could- and yes I cried at the end. I'm a sucker for a so-called "walking simulator" that speaks on identity, family and has a spooky air about it. need to replay soon.