DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 10110.that each family
member has a room,
and upon their death
that room is sealed
off. It’s left the Finch
home a labyrinth of
rickety extensions,
turrets, and secret
passages.
You explore this
maze and, one by
one, explore the lives
of the Finch family. Or
rather, you explore the deaths of the Finch
family. Each vignette covers someone’s last
moments, and I know that makes it sound like
a grim snuff film. It’s not though. Some are
sad, yes, but others are humorous, or
surprising, or optimistic, or so fantastical that
you don’t really know what to believe.
Moreover, they’re unique. Each vignette
in Edith Finch centers on a different type of
interaction, be it snapping Polaroids of
wildlife, playing through a comic book,
relaxing on a rope swing, or splashing around
in the bathtub. It’s a wealth of experiences—
some better than others, but all of them
contributing to the overarching mythology of
the Finch family.
None compare to Lewis Finch’s story
though. I’m loathe to spoil it, in case this is
the first you’re hearing about Edith Finch. But
if you’ve played it...well, you know. It’s one of
the cleverest 10-minute sequences I’ve ever
witnessed, and one of the most harrowing.
There’s a moment where you realize where it’s
headed, and it’s like plunging into an ice
bath. Just gut-wrenching.
And it only works because it’s a video
game. I think that’s part of what makes Edith
Finch so important and impressive.
Interactivity is key, not just to Lewis’s story but
to the entirety.- RETURN OF THE OBRA
DINN
A mystery on the high seas, Return of the Obra
Dinn (go.pcworld.com/odin) casts you as an
insurance assessor trying to figure out what
went wrong on the titular merchant ship, the
Obra Dinn. You need to apply a name, a face,
and a cause of death to every person on the
ship’s manifest—and you do so by traveling
back in time to the moments where
everything went wrong.
These vignettes start simple enough,