What Remains of Edith Finch? - A Video Game Review

by Matthew Tyler (@PalliDad)Fortunately for me, the pandemic has not interfered with my life-long hobby: video games. I finally got around to playingWhat Remains of Edith Finch, a game that received high praise for its short but engrossing Lovecraftian-esque narrative. What I experienced was a surprisingly insightful exploration of humanity ’s relationship with death.Coincidentally, I had just readBJ Miller ’s opinion piece “What is Death?” in The New York Times and was struck by the parallels between it and What Remains. This game illustrates how one may “fold death into our lives,” and what can happen when we refuse to do so. As Dr. Miller says, “We really have only two choices: to share life with death or to be robbed by death.”What Remains doubles down on this sentiment by turning tragedy on its head and daring us to find beauty in every story (or video game), no matter how short.What Remains centers on a young woman named Edith Finch who returns to her childhood home following the death of her mother. Now the last member of her family, Edith is searching for an explanation for the infamous Finch Family Curse. For reasons unknown, the tragedy of untimely death has stalked the Finch family for countless generations.Over the course of the game, you explore the rooms of her deceased relatives in order to make sense of her family ’s misfortune. Browsing journals and photographs of Edith’s deceased relatives momentarily transports you to the moment before e...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: game Tyler video games Source Type: blogs