vicho

I keep hearing news about layoffs and games failing to meet expectations in the industry. Games are so big nowadays, they need to sell a lot to be profitable. Developers are underpaid and overworked. As a solution, companies add insufferable amounts of monetization to their games, making them worse in the process, and expecting people to keep playing and paying for years.

To this, I say go back to the old ways! Considering inflation, games should be a lot more expensive! Charge 100 dollars per game, if that makes it good and not filled with microtransactions. While we're at it, charge 700 dollars per console, and then give us free multiplayer instead of this subscription crap. And give game developers 90% of the sales instead of 70%, so that they can afford to take risks with creative stuff.

Then I remember I'm from a country that has lost a lot of purchasing power compared to the US, so game prices have actually gone up here. And I'm on this forum because I like paying less than $20 for classics that were sold for three times that when they came out. And I remember I bought the cheapest console, because it was cheap.

Guess I'm a hypocrite.

Would I be different if the world was different? Would I have an unending backlog of not started games if they were $100? Would the "living room mini pc" concept be in a better state if $300 consoles didn't exist? We'll never know for sure, but I think the answer is yes to all, because I don't like taking the blame.

Add a comment if you're a hypocrite too.

I like it when games are short. But Edith Finch is too short, even for me. I got it for about $4, discounted. For this reason, I'm satisfied, but if I'd paid full price, I wouldn't be. It's not very replayable either.

Edith Finch is an exploration of the main character's family and the house they've lived in. As you play, you relive important fragments of the lives of these family members. Many of those memories have different gameplay mechanics or perspectives. Most are first-person "go here" missions, but there's an isometric one, another about flying a kite, etc. I don't want to say too much more to avoid spoiling too much of the game.

The whole game is very much an on rails thing. There isn't a lot of freedom to explore or to do things in different ways. Of course, this is a necessary aspect of the game. It probably wouldn't work otherwise. But it does make you wonder whether you're playing a game or watching a movie.

Comparing Edith Finch to a movie is not just criticism. It's also advice. If you're going to play this game, try to do it as you would watch a movie on the cinema. Get a 3-4 hour window of continuous free time, and play it till the end. I think you'll enjoy it more that way.

Most of what I've said is bad or neutral, but I think the game achieves what it sets out to do very well. I do recommend it.