Backlog Attack- April Challenge Update.

With April just finishing, I’ve just completed my fourth game in Khinjarsi and mine’s backlog challenge. Read on, to see how I got on!

Image source: Her Story’s Steam store page.

Stats:

Play time: Just under three hours
Achievements: Yes, there’s 13 to earn and I managed to get all of them!
Steam Trading Cards: Yes.
Enjoyed: Yes.
Would recommend?: Absolutely!  

So I have a confession: Her Story is my first ever FMV game and I absolutely fell in love with it. Her Story allows you to explore a police database and to search through a series of police interviews, that focus on a young woman whose husband has gone missing. As you delve through the video clips, you discover that not everything is as it seems and the mystery is far more complex than just a missing persons case.

To search through the database is fairly simple: type in a word in the search box and if there are any videos associated with that term, it will show the first five videos. By making the core game mechanic so simple, it allows you to focus on the unfolding story. While there is only seven interviews to look through, each one is broken up into lots of smaller clips, which means there are plenty of search terms to try- and some pretty obscure words to search! These smaller video clips also lend to feeling of ‘let’s just watch one more before quitting’. The only downside to this gameplay is, if like me, you get lucky with the search terms; you may end up working out the major plot details in the first few searches. Still, there plenty of twists and turns in this case, that you’ll be playing right up to the last interview clip.

One thing, I want to highlight is the performance of Viva Seifert, who plays the woman being interviewed. To say that the success of this game relies solely on her acting is not an understatement. Fortunately, she absolutely nails it. Her performance is what makes this rollercoaster of game worth playing and adds a lot of weight to the mystery you’re trying to solve. The fact that she is the only person that you will see, just makes her performance that much more incredible.

I’ll be honest, there is more that I want to talk about, but I won’t, in case I spoil this amazing game. All I will say, is if you love mysteries, you’re in for a treat with this game. If, like me, you’ve never played an FMV game, then let Her Story be your introduction to the genre, you won’t be disappointed.

Join me next month, when I’ll be talking about May’s game, I Am Bread. See you then!