Her Story Reviews
Though the game is only a few hours long and its soundtrack occasionally relies too heavily on saccharine piano melodies, "Her Story" is a remarkable achievement in creating something which is personal, cinematic and playful. It's a work that's impossible to imagine as anything other than a video game, and one of the best I have played so far this year.
It needs something extra to it to really stand as something special, but Her Story still kept me hooked long enough to dig out its secrets, and that's definitely a success.
It's been days since I finished the game, but I can't stop thinking about it. Her Story nails the dark, voyeuristic nature of true crime and the curiosity that follows.
This year has blessed us with many massive, must-play releases. Her Story regally joins the list and is one that we're sure will be discussed for years to come.
An astounding performance by Viva Seifert, immaculate writing by Sam Barlow and a completely innovative concept cement Her Story as one of the most solid and mesmerising releases this year.
When all was said and done, I felt that my curiosity had been rewarded rather than rebuked. Her Story recognises that we have a habit of slowing down and craning our necks when we pass an accident, but it also trusts us to temper that urge with empathy. Maybe if we were separated from these events by a window and a motorway lane rather than a screen and impassable years, we'd slow down enough to pull someone out of harm's way.
Her Story wants to be different from every other game out there and in that it succeeds. I can honestly say that I've never played anything like it. It's not text adventure, it's not something I would call an FMV game or a point & click. It's in a genre all of its own and what a grubby, welcome little surprise it is.
An atmospheric, captivating crime thriller with an interactive story that unravels differently for every player.
With its open narrative design loaded with clever corkscrews waiting to be discovered, Sam Barlow's inventive interactive tale is a pleasure to play
A masterpiece and a game that you must play, because it is that damned important.
In Her Story, an old game mechanic has been put to captivating new use.
If you're a fan of the crime genre, whether it's in videogame, television, film or book form, this is definitely a game for you. It's easy to pick up but difficult to put down and will leave you wanting to discuss and analyse it even when you're not playing.
The experience is admittedly different to that of a well-constructed detective novel, or carefully charted HBO thriller, but the effects are similar. You are captivated, manipulated and spun around by the plot. Perhaps, in an era where filmmakers so keenly play with chronology, and regularly leave conclusions unwrapped, we are prepared for this kind of patchwork narrative, which leaves you, mostly, to draw your own conclusion of what really happened by the end. Or perhaps it would always have worked this well. Regardless, Her Story is a singular, unfamiliar work, essential viewing for both filmmakers and game designers.
Her Story's '90s aesthetic makes me feel nostalgic, and hearing the old computer boot up noises and seeing my silhouette rendered on the screen were nice touches. This Google Video-esque crime game isn't for the impatient or for those with short attention spans, but it rewards those who are willing to engage with its purposely-limited but complex delivery system.
This is a remarkable, progressive, absorbing game, one sure to prompt fervent discussion among its players, no two of whom will have shared the same experience. Your actions and deductions may not lead to a virtual arrest or conviction, but the curiosity of your inner Columbo will surely have been sated.
What Sam Barlow has delivered here is an amazingly fresh experience and while from the outside it may seem there's little here to appeal to the hardcore gamer, if you give it a moment, you'll realise just how enthralling being a detective can be.
The hand of [Her Story's] developer never intrudes far enough to spoil the basic thrill of solving a narrative puzzle completely on one's own.
Sophisticated, engaging, and utterly unique.
Neither the artificial screen glare nor actress Viva Seifert's performance lend credibility to the game's lady-psychopath clichés.
Thoroughly engaging from start to finish, Her Story is a tour de force of interactive storytelling and a murder mystery for the ages.