Playing A Game Her Story PC

Her Story is a short story told in a pleasantly unorthodox way. Unlike Gone Home, which was touching but straightforward, Her Story is actually architected in a way that ties its mechanics to its premise.

The simple, central conceit of the game is piecing together the story of a crime, by keyword searching through archived interrogation clips. What makes it a "game" is that each search is limited to five results, so even if you know a keyword that will reveal the whole plot, you won't get very far until you can formulate a more specific search. So the game is a genuine quest to forensically ascertain key story details, by gradually looking farther into whichever rabbit holes you're able to find. And this process of organically stumbling upon story beats is satisfying in a really unique way.

Unfortunately, Her Story doesn't conclude on a high note; actually, it doesn't conclude much at all. At the risk of spoiling it, the point at which the game prompts you to "end" is pretty arbitrary. And even after this point - for that matter, even after viewing every clip in the archive - there are a couple of tantalizing subplots that aren't adequately addressed. Sure, it's fun to speculate about the main mystery, but I feel like-- if this was a real police investigation, then a lot of important information has gone missing.

Although the end is a bit of an immersion-breaking let-down, the (brief) ride there is a fresh, fun take on the mystery game. I think it demonstrates a lot of potential for more, and more sophisticated, investigation-driven games in a similar vein.

Better than: Gone Home
Not as good as: BioShock Infinite, I guess?, I don't fuckin' know what's comparable.
One specific complaint: The "Delete Session Data" function deletes more than just "session" data. That was annoying.

Rating: Good