Thunder crashes in the background, and the house creaks eerily at certain intervals. This is an important first impression.Įach room and corridor is dark (sometimes too dark), and players will often find themselves stumbling around, desperately looking for light switches in pitch black rooms. At first glance, Gone Home is a “scary mansion” story, and thus stems from games like Resident Evil and films like The Shining. Even the wooden panels of the walls recall Raccoon City’s infamous mansion. It’s dark and stormy outside, and players find themselves in this huge antechamber with a large staircase in the center, with moody doorways going off to the left and right. Gone Home‘s opening reminds me of the original Resident Evil for the PlayStation. The game is certainly “real” enough, yet I have difficulty making a final judgment on it. We can look at popular games, see how they are targeted toward our “white, young male” demographic, and then make the claim that Gone Home is special because it’s different, that it changes the playing field of games, that it’s a milestone in storytelling in games simply due to its theme and focus. Its depiction of a lesbian teenager is certainly relatable and realistic, if not a bit romanticized and idealized, but does Gone Home truly deserve “points” just for being queer? Its story is an average, coming-of-age tale of a teenage girl discovering who she really is. I’m wary of the claim that Gone Home is great because it is queer. The game seems to be informed by ‘90s cult hit My So-Called Life and this is a plus. In terms of gaming, Gone Home is “progressive,” though never subversive or transgressive. Gone Home is hardly subtle about its sense of queerness (it feels real enough, but still very in your face), due to its loose writing, but it gets points for “showing” (not “telling,” for all you creative writers) a story that people can relate to and be affected by. Katie’s exploration of the mansion reveals many secrets about her family, her sister Sam’s relationship with another girl being the highlight. What games focus on being a teenage lesbian and focus on real emotions of real fictional people? Not a ton, not many at all. On a side note: I can’t help but wonder how the game’s reception would have turned out if the music theme was deemed “uncool.” Would the game be as popular if the characters listened to Aaron Carter un-ironically? Would it feel as genuine or still be viewed as cool?Įven more important, though, is the queerness of the game. Gone Home – Katie inspects Sam’s Heavens to Betsey tape The riot grrrl motif adds some genuineness to the characters and their world, and even for players who did not experience the era (or have any interest in punk) find themselves identifying and impressed. The game earns major points for these details from fans and critics and even me, these details that give the game its otherworldly nostalgia. Its colloquial ‘90s language is spot on and is certainly “cool.” Bratmobile music and Sonic Youth posters and zines are all really cool and “in” and nostalgic and punk rock. What I experienced was a problematic game from the initial few moments, a nagging feeling that only intensified in the final moments of the game. I’m always cautious toward claims of great or “amazing” writing in contemporary media, but I was still excited to play the game finally. It instantly became an anti-Call of Duty (et al), and fans of the game will quickly cite it as an example of a game that is not targeted toward “white, young males.” The game was praised for its unique approach to storytelling, and for its themes and “beautiful” writing. Gone Home received a great deal of praise from critics and fans when it was released in 2013, becoming something of an indie hit. Players control Katie, a twenty-something invisible vehicle for the player, as she explores a vast, spooky mansion in Oregon after being away on vacation in Europe for a year. Gone Home is a slight, first-person adventure game, something of an “art game” with its focus on untraditional game narrative, from Portland developers The Fullbright Company.
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