I played the first half hour or so of this game but walking simulators are not really my thing, so I ended up watching Bae and Fauna’s playthrough of it. Given the linear nature of the story, I think it was a fitting method of consuming it.

What I liked about the story were the foreshadowing and logical explanations for the whimsical nature of the deaths attributed to the curse. What I didn’t like about it were the inconsistencies with this theme, especially with regards to Milton and how its basically canon that magic exists. And of course all the dead children. The game is a morbid tale of neglectful parenting and how “Edie” especially but also Sam and his wife should not have been parents.

I think What Remains of Edith Finch is a strong warning of the dangers of shrugging off the responsibilities of our actions, blaming the world for their consequences instead of learning from them and acting with greater thought. As mentioned by Edith and her mother, it was the stories that killed the children, and the stories where what were making the curse come true. Because they had the curse to blame for the unfortunate things that befell their family, the Finches were a thoughtless and negligent lot who never bothered to change their ways, even after it was too late. One notable example is how Sven cuts his hand on his table saw and is killed by the slide he was attempting to build. Despite having a workplace accident, he was later done in by another accident. Another strong case for this point is how Calvin continued to act recklessly, pushing the swing to the limit even though he is shown to be injured, having done something dangerous recently enough. His parents are also shown to not have taken any precautions to stop him from doing dangerous things, and also built the swing in a stupidly dangerous location. I do believe the swing is still there in the present.

Another takeaway I feel the game has is that its important for children to have a proper education from young, or perhaps how important a child’s early years are to their development. Dawn, Edith’s mother believed in the scientific method and used it to debunk the curse, showing how she possessed the critical thinking to not blindly believe in the curse. Yet she still allowed her family to live in the dubiously constructed Finch house, occupying the newest and most dubious rooms in the house. I believe this shows how she normalized the crude construction of the house because of the childhood she spent in it. Edith is also shown to have been receptive of the stories despite her mothers efforts to teach her children to question it, and her education being somewhat successful. Edith does doubt the stories, but she was still attached to the house and wanted to know its secrets, perhaps believing them to some extent, considering how she seems oddly convinced that she would die soon. Perhaps she was just writing in her journal as a precaution, but I do believe the home schooling of the children contributed to their warped perception of death and common sense.

I liked how on a second playthrough you can tell that its not Edith on the way to the island, but her child with the completed journal. You can also tell that Edith is pregnant even before she mentions it. There are other cool touches like how the railing is broken, showing there is some truth to the story and how the music box key is something you just need the knowledge of to acquire. The atmosphere of the house is also really well crafted with no real monsters but with objects being placed to create the atmosphere.

Edie’s story being cut short is a nice touch because Edie is implied to be obsessed with the curse and perhaps the least reliable narrator. Her account of her visit to the old house might have been a crucial piece of the puzzle with regards to the curse, but if we consider that the deaths are all the cause of negligence and not the curse, it is likely nothing more than a tall tale. This alongside Edie’s room are the strongest evidence that the game wants us to come to the conclusion that the curse is not real. Just like Edith however, we as the viewers are left wondering what her story could have revealed about the curse, believing that it might be real.

The ending of the game is a pretty pessimistic one in my opinion, with Edith’s child already showing signs of continuing the legacy of the Finch family with a cast on his arm and a poorly constructed monstrosity being shown at the end.