Her Story Review

Developed by Sam Barlow, lead designer of Silent Hill: Origins and Shattered Memories, Her Story is a full-motion video (FMV) detective game, quite unlike anything you’ve ever played. Released little over a week ago, the game utilises a previously unsuccessful 90s genre to deliver a unique and gripping narrative which leaves you wanting more, long after the credits have rolled.
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Although set in present day, Her Story follows an unnamed woman, played by the brilliant Viva Seifert, whose husband was murdered. Your job is to use a police database to follow and piece together interview clips, recorded in 1994, to find out what happened. Sound simple? I thought so too. What begins as a rather generic case of ‘whodunnit’ quickly becomes so much more as the game unravels; rather than concern yourself with who killed this woman’s husband, the resounding question you are left with by the end is why, a question only prompted further by the game’s non-linear narrative.

Her Story‘s narrative is cleverly knitted together, so that even when you have all the evidence in front of you, contesting theories emerge.

Without wanting to give anything away, Seifert’s performance has not been exaggerated. While unsettling at first, the further you delve into the game, the more her talent is exposed; not only must you listen to what is being said but, because her performance resembles storytelling more than that of a woman being interrogated (which is well-integrated into the overarching themes), you have to examine her mannerisms too. Thus, Her Story’s narrative is cleverly knitted together, so that even when you have all the evidence in front of you, contesting theories emerge.

As a result, if you’re hoping for a definitive answer, you won’t find one by finishing Her Story. There is no neatly packaged ending, with all of the loose ends tied into a little bow and a true ‘eureka!’ moment, but that’s part of what makes the game so compelling. Your theories, though poked through and taped over many times, can never be proven entirely wrong. So, while frustrating, Her Story presents a refreshing environment to let your imagination run wild with possibilities. And, no matter what strange and untoward conclusions you may reach about this woman, you won’t get chastised for them, unlike L.A. Noire, for example. But, of course, you’re never really rewarded either, aside from a sense of accomplishment upon reaching the end; this game is all about the experience, rather than the ending.

So, what exactly is this experience?

Her Story’s unique experience is provided primarily through its interface.  While it’s not unusual for an independent game to be developed in 2D (if an FMV can even be called that) the user interface acts as the desktop of a PC, complete with that generic turquoise background from Windows 95 and 98. Although lacking a taskbar, the desktop is fully integrated, acting as your own; the mouse you use in-game emulates your own and every tap of your keyboard resonates with the loud clack of the in-game keyboard. The beauty, then, is in the simplicity of the design, allowing even the most casual of gamers to understand how to play in seconds.

However, that’s not to say that the game has no limitations. While the simple interface makes it easier for casual gamers to play, it could, perhaps, reach further than it has. It’s a shame that, though it utilises ‘Readme’ .txt files to give the gamer some hints as to how to go about playing the game, there is no option to create one of your own and keep notes as you play, in-game. Instead, the gamer is limited to either utilising the user tags for each clip which, as I discovered, have a character limit and aren’t for that purpose, or pen and paper. Of course, using either option is not entirely necessary as you can probably keep track without taking notes but it would make the game feel even more integrated, rather than having to alt-tab out every time you want to keep track of the terms searched. Even so, using a notepad and pen did make me feel more like a detective and encouraged further, careful engagement with the game.

Although containing some use of profanities and mentions of sex, Her Story can be played by almost everyone. As developer, Sam Barlow, says, “if you can Google, you can play”. There are no hotkeys or fancy key combinations required. All you need is an understanding of how to use a database,. To find interview clips, you simply have to search a key word and, if that word is contained in the transcript of any of the clips, the database will return those terms. For example, the game starts with the first term, ‘murder’, already searched, which returns the maximum of five clips. As you watch these clips, more potential search terms are unearthed, allowing you to find more clips in the database. With 271 clips to find, this is no easy feat. However, with the ‘Database Checker’ available on your desktop, you can keep track of how many clips you’ve uncovered, bringing you nearer to the ultimate goal.

How you figure out the story, from clip to clip, is entirely up to you; you have free rein to develop you own theories.

While rather intimidating, Her Story’s whopping 271 clips should not be exaggerated as a challenge; while taking some time, finding them can also be enjoyable. Joining the likes of TellTale’s The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead, as well as Sam Barlow’s Aisle, Her Story also emphasises that the choices you make shape the way you experience the game. However, unlike the TellTale games, there is no prescribed list of choices you should make in order to follow the game through to its ending. How you figure out the story, from clip to clip, is entirely up to you and which terms you search; you have free rein to develop your own theories and move through the information in a way that suits you.

Despite this sense of freedom, there are times when the game gets frustrating. While the music changes as and when you discover something interesting through the clips, it can be headache-inducingly repetitive, although as the game progresses, it becomes more atmospheric. As well as this, if, like me, you start off attempting to order clips, you’ll quickly find that the timestamps are misleading and the database really doesn’t lend itself to organising clips in your user session. Sure, there are other ways of doing it, but it’s worth taking note that, as much as the game is innovative, it does miss a few things.

Her Story is so new, and presents such a conflicted and complicated character, that I simply cannot express how much I enjoyed it. The ability to experience the game in my own way and piece together the story was more fulfilling than it was frustrating, despite how long it took. So, if you’re willing to try something different, imaginative and somewhat challenging, look no further: Her Story is the game for you. And, at barely £4, it’s hardly a dent in your wallet.

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