Her Story Reviews
It's not a typical structure for a game, but the mechanics really do work in the context of the narrative. If you like the idea of an open-ended '90s murder mystery with no guarantee you'll find a solid answer to its mysteries, then I can't recommend this highly enough. Her Story is a spectacular video game, and one of the most gripping personal narratives I've experienced in some time.
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.
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.
In summary, Her Story is likely worth playing if only because it is so profoundly different. When you throw in solid writing, passable acting, and the need for players to reach their own conclusions about what happened, it comes together exceptionally well.
A masterpiece and a game that you must play, because it is that damned important.
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.
An atmospheric, captivating crime thriller with an interactive story that unravels differently for every player.
Don't let the FMV trappings of Her Story fool you; it uses this format as a tool, not a crutch. Sam Barlow's murder mystery uses pre-recorded video to its advantage, giving the experience a gritty, voyeuristic feel that only adds to its sense of intrigue. Simply put, you've never played a detective game like this before.
Sam Barlow's Her Story puts the player in the center of an engrossing crime story like Serial or The Jinx, letting you unravel the video game mystery as you go.
Thoroughly engaging from start to finish, Her Story is a tour de force of interactive storytelling and a murder mystery for the ages.
Her Story is a captivating experiment in stripped down storytelling and the best use of FMV that I've ever had the good fortune to encounter. It's a story that we get to build, and thus, despite the way that it sometimes keeps players at a distance, Her Story becomes Our Story. By obsessing over clips and trying to put them in order, trying to make sense of them all, we become embroiled in the story and can make it fit our own theories. It's unique, singular and will take a long time to stop bouncing around inside my head.
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.
A stunning realisation of what narrative can be
Ultimately, above all else, the game comes across as feeling wholly authentic – and that is a word you can attribute to only a small handful of games released in this day and age.
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.
It takes games like Her Story to allow us to step back, realize what innovation and uniqueness actually look like and actually define what special is. This isn't the type of game that will push your reflexes to the brink, but let's be fair, not every game has to do that.
Her Story is a distinctive indie game with revolutionary gameplay. While it does have a bit of a learning curve at the start, it's incredibly rewarding in how the unpredictable story reveals.
Every twist and turn you discover feels like an achievement; like you've just made a major breakthrough in a case that has remained inexplicably unsolved
The genius of Her Story is right in its title: every detail and feature of its existence, from the presentation, to the script, to the symbolism of the built-in Reversi mini-game, is included in service to its female lead's story. The end result is probably the most holistic narrative-driven game since The Stanley Parable. If the FMV genre is destined for a renaissance, this game would be a fantastic example for developers to follow.
One of the best FMV games ever made, Her Story delivers a tale that all adventure game fans should experience!