This game is classed as "interactive fiction", we used to call them FMV games in the 90s. A genre that has seen a resurgence thanks to the remake of 'Night Trap', 'Faust' the spiritual successor to '7th Guest', the Telltale games and 'Her Story'.
Her Story is about the disappearance of a man named Simon. You need to piece together clues from an old police archive of recorded video clips from 1994. These range from a few seconds long to around two minutes. This gives an incredibly disjointed feel as you will almost certainly view them out of sequence. You can use keywords mentioned on the clips to search for more videos. For example if you hear the word 'house' in a clip it might bring up more videos if you search for that word.
A lot of effort has been put into the design. The game looks like an old Windows 95 game, complete with magnetic static flickering common with monitors at this time. There's even a built in minigame complete with a "cracked" text file from a fictional warez scene group. The clips themselves look like old heavily compressed QuickTime movie clips, similar to what I watched online before WiFi. It's very authentic. I know this retro style might put some people off, but the graphics are crisp, the sound clear and the flickering/glare effects can be turned off.
The story is very well written. The acting from Viva Seifret is very convincing and she rightfully got a lot of praise for this game. She carries what is effectively a monologue without being annoying or clichéd, so credit goes to the scripting as well.
This game is well worth checking out. It is unlike any game I've played recently except maybe 'Emily Is Away' which is based off AOL instant messenger, but it is much more linear, but has a similar fake 90s aesthetic.
Do check it out. It won't be for everybody and it's a minor criticism, but it can feel a bit like doing homework at times. This unique and compellingly scripted game is sure tobe a future classic.
Her Story is about the disappearance of a man named Simon. You need to piece together clues from an old police archive of recorded video clips from 1994. These range from a few seconds long to around two minutes. This gives an incredibly disjointed feel as you will almost certainly view them out of sequence. You can use keywords mentioned on the clips to search for more videos. For example if you hear the word 'house' in a clip it might bring up more videos if you search for that word.
A lot of effort has been put into the design. The game looks like an old Windows 95 game, complete with magnetic static flickering common with monitors at this time. There's even a built in minigame complete with a "cracked" text file from a fictional warez scene group. The clips themselves look like old heavily compressed QuickTime movie clips, similar to what I watched online before WiFi. It's very authentic. I know this retro style might put some people off, but the graphics are crisp, the sound clear and the flickering/glare effects can be turned off.
The story is very well written. The acting from Viva Seifret is very convincing and she rightfully got a lot of praise for this game. She carries what is effectively a monologue without being annoying or clichéd, so credit goes to the scripting as well.
This game is well worth checking out. It is unlike any game I've played recently except maybe 'Emily Is Away' which is based off AOL instant messenger, but it is much more linear, but has a similar fake 90s aesthetic.
Do check it out. It won't be for everybody and it's a minor criticism, but it can feel a bit like doing homework at times. This unique and compellingly scripted game is sure tobe a future classic.
