The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Released to critical acclaim by critics and users alike, nominated and winning countless awards including 3 British academy game awards and golden joystick breakthrough award. Yes, Her story has been such a huge success that I had to get in on the action to find out what all the fuss was all about.
The premise is simple: search the old police database uncover the story to a disappearance that took place in 1994. To achieve this, players must type in keywords to search for police interrogation footage. The system will return files where the word appears regardless of the context. Due to limitations to the system however, player can only see footage from the top 5 results. The challenge is to come up search criteria that would present new footage.
Her Story's critical acclaim stems from its innovative story narrative. Despite being nothing more than a search bar and some pre-recorded footage, Sam Barlow has somehow developed a unique and engaging player driven experience. Right from the start Her Story draws players in with the first search - the ominous word: murder.
The beauty of Her Story is how natural and personal the experience can be because its completely player driven. you ask the questions and the game replies in turn, it's as if you're becoming an actual police detective conducting the original interview itself. Amazingly, even throwing random words and swears yielded helpful results. Uncovering the truth in Her Story feels like piecing together a narrative jigsaw. Players ever getting glimpses of a story that constantly twists and turns, hinting at something that isn't quite right but you're not sure why. It compels you to dig even further for the truth, throwing open new different directions of inquiry. The interactive narrative doesn't stop from just searching the police database however, nosey players can search the police desktop itself for some useful tools and pleasant novel side distractions. Play long enough and the game even asks the player questions detailing more back story like the players motives/interest concerning this case.
Her Story is far from perfect however, although players won't need to watch all 200+ video clips to get the full story, some footage is worthless behaving more like annoying red herrings. At worst, some are just one word answers to unknown questions being asked. It wouldn't have been so annoying if they weren't the hardest video clips to search for. A bigger issue is that the game offers no method to properly organise watched footage. It would have been nice if the game offered the ability to watch the video footage in the correct order and as a single clip. It's unlikely that the player would have watched all the footage in order and/or it's possible that players who have forgotten parts of the story or weren't paying attention. The only way round this is to tag every video and manually play each video individually or go to youtube and find someone who has organised it.
So... should you get Her Story? Frankly speaking, if given the choice I too would use the money to buy a game that entertained me instead of a curio that's artistic or unique. Players who are expecting a "game" should therefore stay away. Like most walking simulators, Her Story offers an interactive, narrative driven experience as opposed to conventional fun. having played Her Story, i would say the accolades are well deserved, although GOTY might be pushing it. If you're after a clever interactive story, you can't go too wrong with Her Story. Although not very long, being easily completed in one evening, the game kept me invested from start to finish and delivered an actually immersive experience very rarely seen in a game. People looking for something combining a strong narrative with more actual game play, might want to check out The vanishing of Ethan carter.
7/10
The premise is simple: search the old police database uncover the story to a disappearance that took place in 1994. To achieve this, players must type in keywords to search for police interrogation footage. The system will return files where the word appears regardless of the context. Due to limitations to the system however, player can only see footage from the top 5 results. The challenge is to come up search criteria that would present new footage.
Her Story's critical acclaim stems from its innovative story narrative. Despite being nothing more than a search bar and some pre-recorded footage, Sam Barlow has somehow developed a unique and engaging player driven experience. Right from the start Her Story draws players in with the first search - the ominous word: murder.
The beauty of Her Story is how natural and personal the experience can be because its completely player driven. you ask the questions and the game replies in turn, it's as if you're becoming an actual police detective conducting the original interview itself. Amazingly, even throwing random words and swears yielded helpful results. Uncovering the truth in Her Story feels like piecing together a narrative jigsaw. Players ever getting glimpses of a story that constantly twists and turns, hinting at something that isn't quite right but you're not sure why. It compels you to dig even further for the truth, throwing open new different directions of inquiry. The interactive narrative doesn't stop from just searching the police database however, nosey players can search the police desktop itself for some useful tools and pleasant novel side distractions. Play long enough and the game even asks the player questions detailing more back story like the players motives/interest concerning this case.
Her Story is far from perfect however, although players won't need to watch all 200+ video clips to get the full story, some footage is worthless behaving more like annoying red herrings. At worst, some are just one word answers to unknown questions being asked. It wouldn't have been so annoying if they weren't the hardest video clips to search for. A bigger issue is that the game offers no method to properly organise watched footage. It would have been nice if the game offered the ability to watch the video footage in the correct order and as a single clip. It's unlikely that the player would have watched all the footage in order and/or it's possible that players who have forgotten parts of the story or weren't paying attention. The only way round this is to tag every video and manually play each video individually or go to youtube and find someone who has organised it.
So... should you get Her Story? Frankly speaking, if given the choice I too would use the money to buy a game that entertained me instead of a curio that's artistic or unique. Players who are expecting a "game" should therefore stay away. Like most walking simulators, Her Story offers an interactive, narrative driven experience as opposed to conventional fun. having played Her Story, i would say the accolades are well deserved, although GOTY might be pushing it. If you're after a clever interactive story, you can't go too wrong with Her Story. Although not very long, being easily completed in one evening, the game kept me invested from start to finish and delivered an actually immersive experience very rarely seen in a game. People looking for something combining a strong narrative with more actual game play, might want to check out The vanishing of Ethan carter.
7/10
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Released to critical acclaim by critics and users alike, nominated and winning countless awards including 3 British academy game awards and golden joystick breakthrough award. Yes, Her story has been such a huge success that I had to get in on the action to find out what all the fuss was all about.
The premise is simple: search the old police database uncover the story to a disappearance that took place in 1994. To achieve this, players must type in keywords to search for police interrogation footage. The system will return files where the word appears regardless of the context. Due to limitations to the system however, player can only see footage from the top 5 results. The challenge is to come up search criteria that would present new footage.
Her Story's critical acclaim stems from its innovative story narrative. Despite being nothing more than a search bar and some pre-recorded footage, Sam Barlow has somehow developed a unique and engaging player driven experience. Right from the start Her Story draws players in with the first search - the ominous word: murder.
The beauty of Her Story is how natural and personal the experience can be because its completely player driven. you ask the questions and the game replies in turn, it's as if you're becoming an actual police detective conducting the original interview itself. Amazingly, even throwing random words and swears yielded helpful results. Uncovering the truth in Her Story feels like piecing together a narrative jigsaw. Players ever getting glimpses of a story that constantly twists and turns, hinting at something that isn't quite right but you're not sure why. It compels you to dig even further for the truth, throwing open new different directions of inquiry. The interactive narrative doesn't stop from just searching the police database however, nosey players can search the police desktop itself for some useful tools and pleasant novel side distractions. Play long enough and the game even asks the player questions detailing more back story like the players motives/interest concerning this case.
Her Story is far from perfect however, although players won't need to watch all 200+ video clips to get the full story, some footage is worthless behaving more like annoying red herrings. At worst, some are just one word answers to unknown questions being asked. It wouldn't have been so annoying if they weren't the hardest video clips to search for. A bigger issue is that the game offers no method to properly organise watched footage. It would have been nice if the game offered the ability to watch the video footage in the correct order and as a single clip. It's unlikely that the player would have watched all the footage in order and/or it's possible that players who have forgotten parts of the story or weren't paying attention. The only way round this is to tag every video and manually play each video individually or go to youtube and find someone who has organised it.
So... should you get Her Story? Frankly speaking, if given the choice I too would use the money to buy a game that entertained me instead of a curio that's artistic or unique. Players who are expecting a "game" should therefore stay away. Like most walking simulators, Her Story offers an interactive, narrative driven experience as opposed to conventional fun. having played Her Story, i would say the accolades are well deserved, although GOTY might be pushing it. If you're after a clever interactive story, you can't go too wrong with Her Story. Although not very long, being easily completed in one evening, the game kept me invested from start to finish and delivered an actually immersive experience very rarely seen in a game. People looking for something combining a strong narrative with more actual game play, might want to check out The vanishing of Ethan carter.
7/10
The premise is simple: search the old police database uncover the story to a disappearance that took place in 1994. To achieve this, players must type in keywords to search for police interrogation footage. The system will return files where the word appears regardless of the context. Due to limitations to the system however, player can only see footage from the top 5 results. The challenge is to come up search criteria that would present new footage.
Her Story's critical acclaim stems from its innovative story narrative. Despite being nothing more than a search bar and some pre-recorded footage, Sam Barlow has somehow developed a unique and engaging player driven experience. Right from the start Her Story draws players in with the first search - the ominous word: murder.
The beauty of Her Story is how natural and personal the experience can be because its completely player driven. you ask the questions and the game replies in turn, it's as if you're becoming an actual police detective conducting the original interview itself. Amazingly, even throwing random words and swears yielded helpful results. Uncovering the truth in Her Story feels like piecing together a narrative jigsaw. Players ever getting glimpses of a story that constantly twists and turns, hinting at something that isn't quite right but you're not sure why. It compels you to dig even further for the truth, throwing open new different directions of inquiry. The interactive narrative doesn't stop from just searching the police database however, nosey players can search the police desktop itself for some useful tools and pleasant novel side distractions. Play long enough and the game even asks the player questions detailing more back story like the players motives/interest concerning this case.
Her Story is far from perfect however, although players won't need to watch all 200+ video clips to get the full story, some footage is worthless behaving more like annoying red herrings. At worst, some are just one word answers to unknown questions being asked. It wouldn't have been so annoying if they weren't the hardest video clips to search for. A bigger issue is that the game offers no method to properly organise watched footage. It would have been nice if the game offered the ability to watch the video footage in the correct order and as a single clip. It's unlikely that the player would have watched all the footage in order and/or it's possible that players who have forgotten parts of the story or weren't paying attention. The only way round this is to tag every video and manually play each video individually or go to youtube and find someone who has organised it.
So... should you get Her Story? Frankly speaking, if given the choice I too would use the money to buy a game that entertained me instead of a curio that's artistic or unique. Players who are expecting a "game" should therefore stay away. Like most walking simulators, Her Story offers an interactive, narrative driven experience as opposed to conventional fun. having played Her Story, i would say the accolades are well deserved, although GOTY might be pushing it. If you're after a clever interactive story, you can't go too wrong with Her Story. Although not very long, being easily completed in one evening, the game kept me invested from start to finish and delivered an actually immersive experience very rarely seen in a game. People looking for something combining a strong narrative with more actual game play, might want to check out The vanishing of Ethan carter.
7/10