Tim Clark: I said after playing Her Story that it was the kind of thing which sticks with you a long time after it’s finished. It trusts the player's intelligence in a way that few games are prepared to do. Her Story isn't just a game about uncovering a mystery, but also about piecing that mystery together in your own mind. The story morphed into something much darker. Then I hit upon a term that jumped me to the end of the interview-Seifert's character acting completely differently, hinting at things I didn't have the context to understand. At first, I was writing down the names and places referenced building a list of search terms to poke and prod at. Phil Savage: By delivering the story in short, nonlinear clips, Her Story seeds its revelations in a fascinating way. A brilliantly creative form of interactive storytelling that wouldn’t be possible in any other medium. There were twists, revelations, and shocking moments-and they were all unique to me. Even though your path through the story is nonlinear, determined by the search terms you use, it feels almost like it’s scripted. Digging through those old VHS tapes, piecing the story together, it felt like I was uncovering a genuine mystery.
The worst feeling is walking away from Her Story and realising that it’ll be years before anyone makes a mystery game this good again.Īndy Kelly: Her Story is a rare example of a detective game that makes you feel like a detective. The entire mystery rests on Viva Seifert’s ability to bring the ‘her’ in question to life, and she gives a performance that is a little unsettling, so much so that you’re not sure where the truth begins and ends until you’ve trawled through every last VHS in search of answers. Like many people I played this in one intense evening, and the feeling of pieces of the story slotting into place based on my own intuition was so rewarding. Samuel Roberts: A terrific detective game with a neat format that allows players to actually solve the mystery themselves, by questioning a woman about a possible murder.