The main surprise came from the game’s final twist, which revealed that this entire anecdote was the symbolization of a father’s attempts at coming to terms with the passing of his son, with each of the game’s five chapters representing the five stages of dealing with grief. The following month, the developmentally troubled journey of Rime came to a conclusion with its long-awaited release, as the adventures of a young boy on a mysterious island turned into an emotional pilgrimage that surprised many who played it. The carefully detailed nature of each room and the unique ways that players interact with each family member’s story help push this game to another level, but the key ways that Giant Sparrow handled the overwhelming amount of player-caused deaths helped prove that grief can not only be an obstacle, but also a lesson, helping those who are suffering come to terms with their reality and their future ahead. While the nature of having every member of the Finch family not only perish, but do so in darkly comedic ways could have easily become corny, the brilliant writing and narration provided by the titular character and the supporting cast helps keep the game in focus, grounding the story by returning players to the Finch mansion and allowing them to reflect and explore before diving into the next vignette. The following piece contains spoilers for What Remains of Edith Finch, Rime and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.īack in April, The Unfinished Swan developer Giant Sparrow released their second title, What Remains of Edith Finch, a tale of a young girl returning to her family home and discovering the stories of the family members that were housed within over the years. In 2017, three games in particular encapsulated the concept of grief through the usage of well-written stories, unique gameplay mechanics and engrossing performances.
One motif that kept appearing again and again was grief, as developers have become more fully able to capture the complex and varied emotions that are associated with this inevitable and heavy subject. While very few of 2017’s titles were actually created within the same year they released in, there seemed to be a surprising trend of specific games, specifically indies, that attempted to address more serious and hard-to-tackle themes that ended up releasing during the past twelve months. 2017 was a tough year for a variety of different reasons, as the positive events throughout the year seemed more difficult to focus upon due to the constant onslaught of more troubling news items.
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