Zoroark Cutie
The Illusion Fox Skyfarer
- 2,511
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Age 29
- Auguste Isles
- Seen Dec 13, 2017
This is a really hard game to even talk about mainly because there is not a whole lot to this game. It's not a bad game to say, but this one that begs for a giant question.
Her Story is a really simple game to play. One of the weirdest things about this game is that it has a configuration screen before the game starts up. Now I know a lot of games has this, but I think for Her Story, it's pretty much not needed. This game doesn't take a whole lot to run, in fact you can run it on a potato if you so desire. Some of the configuration options are also useless. One example is the graphics quality, which only has one options, "Good". Well I feel bad for anyone who tries to run this game on an ancient machine from 1990s when the dinosaurs were still around because then they would probably have the worst time possible trying to play this game since they can't change the graphics option. Another unless one is the control configuration because not only is the game really simple, but because some of these actions are actions you will never do like "Fire". The only two helpful options are resolution and fullscreen.
As mentioned Her Story's gameplay is really simple. You're basically on a computer looking through a police database. You'll watch short clips of a woman being interrogated by the police on 5 separate occasions. You'll watch each one and listen to her story about the murder of her husband. After listening to each clip, you'll do a search on some things she says, so like if she says something in a clip like a location, a name of a person, or just anything, you will want to search for it as it'll show more clips to watch and new terms to search. That's the entire gameplay, it's that simple. Basically you watch clips and search up important words, rinse and repeat. This isn't very hard as long as you pay attention and it works for the most part that is. One would think that there is no that this could be broken in any way shape or form, but somehow Sam Barlow managed to do just that. One, some of the clips are going to be a pain to find and it even gets to the point where you'll need to search mundane stuff in order to find some of them. Second, you can easily cheat the system to find all clips easily as there is literally one key word that when entered will actually bring up every clip in the game. Granted, you can only see 5 clips at a time, but it is very, very easy to figure out how to make it so that the ones you've already seen disappear from the search completely. However, I can not deny that when playing the game the hard way was a bit more enthralling as I did like the feel of being at a computer and searching through a police database.
Now as for the story, I really can't say much about it as it's one that could lead into spoiler territory easily. What I will say is that for a murder mystery story, it is weird. It's got a lot of interesting points to it and I do think it is told really well through the interrogation clips (although it does make me question why a police station would cut interrogation videos into tiny bits, especially since I've been in a police station before and watched some interrogation videos before with consent from the police) and overall I think it is a great story, but it is just really weird, weird in a good way that is.
Here's the main problem and the biggest question with Her Story, is it worth it? This a short game, and can be beaten within less than 2 hours, and this game retails for $5.99 USD. Now to be fair that is a cheap price, but it's still a bit high for a game that is very minimal. It has a great story and it does have this great feel to it, but then again the game is no more than 2 hours long. I think what it really boils down to rather this game is even worth the $6.00 is if someone is looking for more of an experience. Personally I think this game is best experienced while sitting in the dark or in bed while it is dark, and the computer screen is the only light source, and maybe while it is raining too because this game does give off a nice feeling of being at a computer and just searching and looking at video clips and it does have some really nice and relaxing piano music during some sections. Now I say it's better in the dark since there are light flickering and police lights to show the main characters face and it feels like in a way that the main character is sitting in dark room. In that way, you feel really immersed into the game as though you were actually there. I think if that is kind of the experience you want and want to feel really immersed, the $6 USD could be worth it, but this is definitely not for someone who wants a lot of content and more than just typing and searching to do.
Overall I will say that I did really like Her Story for it's story alone. The game, while I understand that it's very minimal, does feel a bit too cheap and can be either easily exploited, ruining the experience a bit by making it miles easier, or too frustrating as finding every clip means searching with as many words as possible including really mundane ones. But if played by just searching for keywords gathered from the video clips and watch the story unfold in them, then it can be a really good experience. I do wish that there was a bit more to it as there isn't a hole lot there even with the numerous amounts clips there are and price is to be questioned. Although I will be honest and say that I am ready for the upcoming sequel that has been announced quite some time ago.
Her Story is a really simple game to play. One of the weirdest things about this game is that it has a configuration screen before the game starts up. Now I know a lot of games has this, but I think for Her Story, it's pretty much not needed. This game doesn't take a whole lot to run, in fact you can run it on a potato if you so desire. Some of the configuration options are also useless. One example is the graphics quality, which only has one options, "Good". Well I feel bad for anyone who tries to run this game on an ancient machine from 1990s when the dinosaurs were still around because then they would probably have the worst time possible trying to play this game since they can't change the graphics option. Another unless one is the control configuration because not only is the game really simple, but because some of these actions are actions you will never do like "Fire". The only two helpful options are resolution and fullscreen.
As mentioned Her Story's gameplay is really simple. You're basically on a computer looking through a police database. You'll watch short clips of a woman being interrogated by the police on 5 separate occasions. You'll watch each one and listen to her story about the murder of her husband. After listening to each clip, you'll do a search on some things she says, so like if she says something in a clip like a location, a name of a person, or just anything, you will want to search for it as it'll show more clips to watch and new terms to search. That's the entire gameplay, it's that simple. Basically you watch clips and search up important words, rinse and repeat. This isn't very hard as long as you pay attention and it works for the most part that is. One would think that there is no that this could be broken in any way shape or form, but somehow Sam Barlow managed to do just that. One, some of the clips are going to be a pain to find and it even gets to the point where you'll need to search mundane stuff in order to find some of them. Second, you can easily cheat the system to find all clips easily as there is literally one key word that when entered will actually bring up every clip in the game. Granted, you can only see 5 clips at a time, but it is very, very easy to figure out how to make it so that the ones you've already seen disappear from the search completely. However, I can not deny that when playing the game the hard way was a bit more enthralling as I did like the feel of being at a computer and searching through a police database.
Now as for the story, I really can't say much about it as it's one that could lead into spoiler territory easily. What I will say is that for a murder mystery story, it is weird. It's got a lot of interesting points to it and I do think it is told really well through the interrogation clips (although it does make me question why a police station would cut interrogation videos into tiny bits, especially since I've been in a police station before and watched some interrogation videos before with consent from the police) and overall I think it is a great story, but it is just really weird, weird in a good way that is.
Here's the main problem and the biggest question with Her Story, is it worth it? This a short game, and can be beaten within less than 2 hours, and this game retails for $5.99 USD. Now to be fair that is a cheap price, but it's still a bit high for a game that is very minimal. It has a great story and it does have this great feel to it, but then again the game is no more than 2 hours long. I think what it really boils down to rather this game is even worth the $6.00 is if someone is looking for more of an experience. Personally I think this game is best experienced while sitting in the dark or in bed while it is dark, and the computer screen is the only light source, and maybe while it is raining too because this game does give off a nice feeling of being at a computer and just searching and looking at video clips and it does have some really nice and relaxing piano music during some sections. Now I say it's better in the dark since there are light flickering and police lights to show the main characters face and it feels like in a way that the main character is sitting in dark room. In that way, you feel really immersed into the game as though you were actually there. I think if that is kind of the experience you want and want to feel really immersed, the $6 USD could be worth it, but this is definitely not for someone who wants a lot of content and more than just typing and searching to do.
Overall I will say that I did really like Her Story for it's story alone. The game, while I understand that it's very minimal, does feel a bit too cheap and can be either easily exploited, ruining the experience a bit by making it miles easier, or too frustrating as finding every clip means searching with as many words as possible including really mundane ones. But if played by just searching for keywords gathered from the video clips and watch the story unfold in them, then it can be a really good experience. I do wish that there was a bit more to it as there isn't a hole lot there even with the numerous amounts clips there are and price is to be questioned. Although I will be honest and say that I am ready for the upcoming sequel that has been announced quite some time ago.