The Suicide of Rachel Foster Reviews
The Suicide of Rachel Foster walks the fine line between adventure and a thriller-supernatural horror. It’s not perfect, but it is certainly up there with the best in the genre.
While audio issues stop it from reaching its full potential, The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a dark and intriguing walk-‘em-up that will keep fans of the genre on their toes. Just be ready to weather some frustrating technical problems to get to the good bits.
I enjoyed the game very much and I am happy to have finished it. But I would not play it again. Not because the story didn't grab me, or because the above mentioned points would bother me too much. Rather because there are simply not, as for example in a "Life is Strange", different decisions to be made, which would dramatically affect the gaming experience. Furthermore, the player can neither find out more about the history of the game by exploring it, nor are there any collectibles. I think that's a pity. I had the feeling all along that the game was giving away a lot of potential. Still, if you're looking for a game with a gripping and exciting story, and that's the most important thing in the game to you, you'll have a lot of fun with 'The Suicide of Rachel Foster'. But be careful, the story may seem harmless at first, but can be very hard to digest. If you're having trouble with the general theme of the game, I recommend the same as the publisher: Don't play alone and get help.
Review in German | Read full review
The Suicide of Rachel Foster delivers a haunting narrative within a beautiful, yet creepy, isolated hotel. With only an unknown companion on the phone to keep you company, you’re trapped in the last place you’d ever want to be, surrounded by memories of the past and secrets best left hidden from the world. Although delivering a conclusion which left me with questions, the experience throughout the entire three-hour narrative had me intrigued, invested, and captivated as to what we’ll uncover next and what’s around the corner.
The Sucide of Rachel Foster was advertised with its mature story about a really delicate matter and although these themes are still present in the game, they fail to catch the player’s attention. As a result, we received another generic walking symulator the potential of which was buried by the lack of experience.
Review in Polish | Read full review
In the end, The Suicide of Rachel Foster feels like the quintessential first draft of a horror/drama flick latched to a graceless gameplay template. The excitement and deliberate pacing early on suggest learning from the industry’s best exemplars. Ominous warnings suggest ghosts are roaming The Timberline’s halls. As it progresses, however, uncoordinated game design and tonally-tangled storytelling turns that engagement frozen stiff. Like walking through a grand hotel with years of decay, you can’t help but wonder how it could fare under new management.
My spooky investigation of The Suicide of Rachel Foster was overall enjoyable, and being compared at all to some of its obvious influences is a compliment in its own right. Nevertheless, I walked away feeling like the story could’ve had more to give. I spent just over three hours at the Timberline Hotel, which could have been extended some to prevent feeling rushed in the final act. Retailing at $17.99 USD, the money-to-time investment ratio could be fairly compared to purchasing a movie. If story-driven or horror-themed walking simulators are your preferred brand, this shouldn’t be a game you miss. Otherwise, a Steam sale sometime this year will likely feature this game at a nice discount.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster doesn’t try to hide its muse. Anybody who has seen Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 hit classic, The Shining, will certainly see similarities between both properties’ settings and pieces.
The Timberland did a fantastic job at grasping my initial attention to uncover its dark secrets, but I felt quite relieved to check out as soon as I could.
There will be people who like The Suicide of Rachel Foster because they are able to sidestep away from the whole pedophilia aspect, which is only a possibility because the game itself tries to frame it differently. I can’t tell you how much I initially wanted to like The Suicide of Rachel Foster — I played it twice and watched several let’s plays to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. But the developer really needed to handle these topics better, or at least have one character that didn’t sympathize with the sex offender. Ethical issues aside, the environments were great, but everything else fell flat. There is no recommendation here, only concern.
I know it may seem difficult to believe, but I didn’t actually hate the game. Aside from the issues I have with it from a narrative standpoint, it was fine, and therein lies my struggle to recommend it outright: It’s just fine. There is nothing particularly special or interesting or revolutionary in The Suicide of Rachel Foster that you couldn’t get in any other walking simulator without having to simultaneously excuse a story that explores predatory behaviour in a way that is questionable at best, and seriously harmful at worst.
A dark premise that, like most uncomfortable experiences, deserves to be told. A few technical issues knocked my pacing back slightly, but didn’t stop me from seeing this through.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster tells a harrowing and emotionally driven tale that’ll keep players completely hooked in as they uncover its unsettling secrets. It’s worth noting that it does tackle some dark themes that might hit a little close to home throughout its three-hour runtime too, but it does so in a meaningful way that builds upon them to strengthen the story it is telling rather than feeling exploitative of people’s struggles. It’s good stuff. It does have some issues with the audio cutting out on occasions and I did feel slightly underwhelmed by the ending, but neither of these issues stop The Suicide of Rachel Foster from offering a deep and engaging mystery that fans of the genre should certainly pay attention to.
The game was released with broken basic Xbox feature - achievements. We cannot endorse such carelessness. The game had potential, but we can't see the point of buying it on Xbox.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is one of the most compelling thrillers that I’ve played this year
Topics of grooming and sexual abuse are here but distorted into a bizarre romanticized narrative that not only undermines the ideas, it actually damages the game’s credibility. I really wanted to like Suicide of Rachel Foster and I think games as an interactive medium are actually well-equipped to tell these hard-hitting and difficult stories – but not from this perspective. Whether on purpose or not, the tone-deaf narrative promises to tackle these subjects diligently but does nothing of the sort. Instead, Suicide Of Rachel Foster is a game in serious need of a rewrite and difficult to recommend in its current state.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is one of the most enjoyable and tension-filled walking simulators I've had the privileged of reviewing. The game doesn't necessarily rely on scares at every corner, but rather builds tension with what-ifs could happen around the corner. While the pacing isn't ideal and makes the game feels rushed earlier on, it makes up for it in the latter parts of the game. With Halloween coming soon, this is the perfect time for this gem.
There are aspects of The Suicide of Rachel Foster that exceed expectations; the quality of it’s narrative and audio design, voice-acting performances… It’s truly at the highest level. However, when you compare this to the rest of the game you’re reminded that there are a few aspects of it that are painfully average.
Approach this one with caution. I don’t often warn people off playing games, but between some potentially bad triggers and a really hamfisted approach to a sensitive subject this may not be the game for you, and in that case, I’d just advise playing something else entirely.
From the title of this game and the strange imagery of its accompanying photo, you can tell straight away it’s not going to be an uplifting game. When I saw The Suicide of Rachel Foster pop up on our review list and confirming its genre of thriller on the Xbox Store, I was wary. Horror games are not my thing; being the biggest wimp has me screaming bloody murder even in non-horror games, simply being chased has me throwing my controller down (remember The Rugrats: Search for Reptar? Well, I was terrified of the goose in the maze.)