It's a free upgrade for those who already own it

2017 was a stellar year for video games. So many excellent titles launched that you might have even let some slip you by. And if What Remains of Edith Finch is one of yo??u, there's some good news: this emotional story is out now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series ?X|S.

Revealed as part of today's Annapurna Interactive summer showcase, What Remains of Edith Finch got a next-gen update today, bringing Giant Sparrow's adventure game to the new console hardware. It arrives with 4K and 60 FPS support. And what's more, o??wners of the game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 can upgrade to the newer generation versions for free.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKpcpwM5onA

Otherwise, the game is available on the Xbox store and PlayStation Store. (It is also on Game Pass, at the time of?? this writing.?)

What's left of those who came before

If you need a pitch on Edith Finch, it's a narrative adventure game where you play as the titular heroine Edith. The Finches are a superstitious family, gover?ned in part by one constant rule: every member of the family has their own room. An?d the house the Finches live in just keeps growing, up and up.

As you enter new areas and learn more about the Finches who came before, trying to discover why Edith is the last Finch alive, you also learn about your family members. Each area is a new vignette, often with its own mechanic and narra??tive device, exploring what happened to them and why. And also, maybe a little bit about thei??r life.

It is a sublimely beautiful game about life, legacy, family, death, mourning, and a really, really big house. As we covered five years ago and still today, What Remains of Edith Finch is very worth your time. And?? those rooms will likely lo?ok even better with all that hardware bolstering them.

The post The absolutely stellar What Re??mains of Edith?? Finch hits PS5 and Xbox Series consoles today appeared first on Destructoid.

Sometimes not knowing is half the fun

This post contains huge spoilers for the entirety of What Remains of Edith Finch. If you haven't played it yet, go do yourself a favor and take care of that, and maybe come back to this one later.

Five years after its release, I still think of What Remains of Edith Finch as one of the best interactive stories ever told. The performances are stellar, especially that of Valerie Rose Lohman as the titular role, the art is beautiful, and the game revolutionized narrative design on multiple occasions. It's a must-play for anyone who likes story-focused games, and it was my most recent replay with a fri??end, because it seems that when I find something I like I'll just keep going back to it until I die someday.

There was so much to appreciate on this second playthrough, and so many details I missed the first time, but what really struck me in our conversations after the game was finished was just how well Edith Finch uses ambiguity. There are so many stories out there that suffer from what we like to call "ambiguitis" �they don't want to give players or readers or viewers concrete answers so as to seem deep or t??houg?ht-provoking, but in doing so, don't say anything meaningful about the themes or characters at all.

What Remains of Edith Finch is steeped in ambiguity. The stories that Edith is relaying to us ar?e often outlandish and obviously embellished, and come from a host of unreliable narrators, from a ravenous eleven-year-old gir?l, to a puzzled psychiatrist, to a deeply traumatized great-grandmother. There is never really a way to know for certain what happened, but at the same time, the game hints that the truth of what really happened is out there, if you're willing to go and look for it.

Is the curse even real?

The biggest question my friend asked me after the credits rolled was, "do you think that the curse was real?" Ironically, my answer was ambigu??ous: "Yes, and no."

If you don't remember, the Finch family curse is that they're all doomed to die tragically, and most of the time, very young. As we learn from Edith, it's something that they have dealt with for three generations now, with her son being the only known surviving member. As she does her best to tell him what happened to each one of his deceased relatives through?? her journal entries, we?? start to get an idea of how the family dynamic worked when she was growing up.

Edith's great-grandmother Edie is a staunch believer in the curse �she spoke about it her whole life. She would even go to the local paper and sensationalize her own family members, like her husband's death by dragon (he was actually ?crushed by a slide that he built to look like a dragon), or the "mole man" who supposedly lived under the?? Finch house (who turned out to be Edie's own son, Walter).

Edith's mother Dawn, on the other hand, fought against the idea of the curse for her enti?re life. She did her best to shield her children from Edie's stories, in case they might internalize them and continue to make the supposed curse a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The evidence

[caption id="attachment_306870" align="alignnone" width="1600"] _{[Image Source: What Remains of Edith Finch Wiki]}[/??caption]Some of the death stories are more cut and dry, like Calvin falling off the swing and over the cliff, or Walter being hit by the train, or Sam being pushed to his death by the half-dead deer. Some of the other stories, though, have more ambiguous endings. We have plenty of evidence to deduce what most likely ha?ppened to them, but there's no way to know for sure.

Like Molly, for example. Her story is one of the most fantastical of the bunch, but it can most likely be c??halked up to a death by poisoning after sh??e went to bed without dinner, with her final moments journaled while she was in a holly-berry-and-1940s-toothpaste-induced fever dream.

Then we have Barbara, the death that probably has the least amount of explanation associated with it. A former child horror film star, Barbara is supposedly killed by a murderer with a hook for a hand �or at least that's what the sensational comic that Edie left on Barbara's shrine says. If you ask me, the context clues seem to? imply that her boyfriend killed her after their argument, and although it's an unsubstantiated answer, all the pieces are there.

Who is the real villain of this story?

[caption id="attachment_306879" align="alignnone" width="1680"] _{[Image Source: Moby Games]}[/caption]When we consider the likely answers to these mysterious deaths, all ??signs point to great-grandma Edie being the secret villain of the story.

According to my friend, her own negligence is what caused so many of the deaths, and in order to absolve herself of her guilt, she doubled down on the idea of the curse. Even having played through What Remains of Edith Finch a few times at this point, I really hadn't thought of it that way. Once he started talking through the hidden details of the game in more depth with me, though, I realized that all of the clues were t??here all along.

Maybe Molly wouldn't have died if Edie had let her ha??ve some food. Maybe Calvin wouldn't have died if Edie hadn't let him play on a swing right next to a cliff. Maybe Sam wouldn't have died if she had taught him to be more careful. She keeps shrines of all of her dead relatives in their otherwise untouched rooms. This is either the behavior of a deeply troubled but benign woman, or one who is actively harming her own family in order to make herself feel better. It's all speculation with no real way to confirm or deny.

And that's what makes for? some incredible ambiguity, and for some fun ?for us as players as we're trying to figure it out. Explanations are left in plain sight, but not over-explained to the point that they leave us without any room to question things. Look at Walter, for example �maybe he was just an eccentric old man, so afraid of the curse that he locked himself away, drove himself mad in isolation, and broke his way out in a frenzied state of unconscious mania. Or maybe Edie locked him down there herself to keep him safe, and when he was finally ready to leave, he was too scared to confront Edie if he went upstairs, so he instead opted to break out through the wall, only to meet his untimely demise.

Either scenario seems equally as likely based on the information the game presents us with, because of some impressively restrained and careful writing, and that type of care is ubiquitous throughout the entirety of What Remains of Edith Finch. There is no definitive truth to any of the stories �whether or n?ot the player buys into the supposed supernatural elements of the narrative is up to them. I am kicking myself, however, for missing hugely important details on my own, and not seeing at first just how deep and rich this text really is.

If you want to play a game that will leave you thinking about it for days, go play (or replay) What Remains of Edith Finch, and get to thinking about whose side you might have been on: Edie's or Dawn's. That's something I'm still ??trying to figure out for myself.

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

The post What Remains of Edith Finch’s family curse is ambiguity done right appeared first on Destructoid.

Another Epic Games Store freebie

The latest free game offered on the Epic Games Store is a particular highlight, one I hope you'll strongly consider if you enjoy adventure games, family drama, and heartfelt short stories. It's none other than Giant Sparrow's What Remains of Edith Finch. The promo ??la?sts until January 24 at 11:59pm Eastern.

The game's morbid premise is what initially got me on board back in 2017. As Brett covered in his review, "The Finches are the kind of family that finishes building a cemetery before starting the ho??use. Neither is ever a completed project thoug??h. As they keep adding holes in the ground, they also keep adding to their home. Whenever a relative dies, they seal their room up and leave it alone forever. A peephole in each door acts as a way to preserve their memory while still letting their ghost rest."

But more than just an intriguing setup, Edith Finch consistently lands across the board. It's a collection of vari?ed but cohesive vignettes that differ in subject matter, mood, scope, and gameplay. The latter aspect is what really sets it apart??, at least for me. This isn't a disjointed walk-and-listen experience; your interactions are blended into the narrative in clever, thematically-appropriate ways.

For those of you who have played Edith Finch already, I'll just say that Gregory (the baby) and Lewis (the fish-head chopper) were my "favorite" Finches, for lack of a better word. Their stories stuck with me the most. It's wild how many emotions Giant Sparrow is able to draw out in such a shor??t span.

As with the prior Epic Games Store giveaways, if you claim your free copy of What Remains of Edith Finch?? by the deadline, it's yours to keep. Don't let it sit in your backlog for too long, though!

The post What Remains of Edith Finch is free on PC and totally wort??h your time appeared first on Destructoid.

Hellblade's five awards were the most of the night

In what many will surely consider a "surprise" or an "upset" or a "wrong choice," the winner of the 14th British Academy Game Awards was neither The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild nor Super Mario Odyssey. It was What Remains of Edith Finch. 

For what it's worth (and it's not worth much), I wholeheartedly agree with that pick. What Remains of Edith Finch was my very favorite game last year. It uses an interactive medium to tell a tight and meaningful story. It's creative and unique and important. But, Zelda and Mario haven't lost many award shows ??this year, so the choice is in??teresting and unexpected.

However, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has its roots in other formats. Maybe it values different qualities than other organizations (like GDC and DICE) value. Well, the past three winners of Best Game at the BAFTAs were Destiny, Fallout 4, and Uncharted 4. Looking at the history of this category, it's actually kind of incredible a stud?io as small as Giant Sparrow was able to take home this?? hardware.

Here are the nominees and winners from this y??ear's BAFTAs:

• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Mario Odyssey
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

• Call of Duty: WW2
• Destiny 2
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Monument Valley 2
• Reigns: Her Majesty
• The Sexy Brutale
• Sniper Elite 4
• Total War: Warhammer 2

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Hollow Knight
• Night in the Woods
• The Sexy Brutale
• Slime Rancher

• Clash Royale
• Final Fantasy XV
• Fortnite
• Overwatch
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

• Just Dance 2018
• LEGO Worlds
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• Monument Valley 2
• Snipperclips
• Super Mario Odyssey

• Bury Me, My Love
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Last Day of June
• Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
• Night in the Woods
• Sea Hero Quest VR

• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Nier: Automata
• Super Mario Odyssey
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Gorogoa
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Nier: Automata
• Snipperclips
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Bury Me, My Love
• Golf Clash
• Gorogoa
• KAMI 2
• Monument Valley 2
• Stranger Things: The Game

• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• Fortnite
• Gang Beasts
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• Splatoon 2
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew

• Cuphead
• Get Even
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Night in the Woods
• Tacoma
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Night in the Woods
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Abubakar Salim, Bayek (Assassin's Creed Origins)
• Ashly Burch, Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
• Claudia Black, Chloe Frazer (Uncharted: The Lost Legacy)
• Laura Bailey, Nadine Ross (Uncharted: The Lost Legacy)
• Melina Juergens, Senua (Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice)
• Valerie Rose Lohman, Edith Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)

Winners?? ?List for the British Academy Games Awards in 2018 [BAFTA]

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Ghosts and Gamerscore

When What Remains of Edith Finch launches on Xbox One tomorrow, it'll largely be the exact same version that released on PC and PS4 earlier ??this year. The Finch story isn't a malleable one that lends itself to additional content for additional platforms.

There i?s one difference though: The Xbox O??ne version has an extra Achievement. On PC and PS4, there were 9 Trophies/Achievements; on Xbox One, there are 10. Here's how to get it.

Like the rest of Edith Finch's Achievements, this new one isn't tough to pick up. It's called "Wildlife Photograph?er" and it's for taking a picture of the rabbit outside of Odin Finch National Park. Just load up Sam Finch's story and snap one extra photo to nab a cool 100 Gamerscore. If you need more specific directions, that's what the video up top is for.

The post What Remains of Edith Finch on Xbox has one extra Achievement, here’s how to get it appeared first on Destructoid.

Edith won't remain exclusive

What Remains of Edith Finch, the critically acclaimed game?? from Giant Sparrow, will finally be making its way over to the Xbox One on July 19.

The title has previously only been available on PlayStation 4 and PC. Publisher Annapurna Interactive put out a new trailer to celebrate.

What Remains of Edith Finch falls into the oft-reviled category of walking simulator, but it's one I e??njoyed a lot. You play as Edith, the last member of the Finch family, as you explore their family home in Washington.

Each room in the house contains a story of a departed Finch family member. As a result, it feels like a series of unique vignettes. If you're still not sold, check out Brett's review.

The post What Remains of Edith Finch comes to Xbox One July ???19 appeared first on Destructoid.

Such sweet sorrow

"I think that we've been surrounded by death for so long that we've just gotten used to it." Edith Finch muses this aloud right before she walks into the family's graveyard. She's talking to herself beca??use there's no one left to talk to. Edith is the last living Finch and that's meaningful because the Finches have one hell of a tough time staying alive. By my count, there are 37 tombstones in the cemetery -- 12 for the humans and 25 for the pets. I probably missed some.

She's just 18 years old but Edith is on an important quest to discover and document. Her mother recently passed away tragically, but at least not tragically young. As a final gift, Edith was given a key. It's the loose thread to this ball of yarn. It's exactly what she needs to unravel the morbid secrets hiding within th?is family tree.

What Remains of Edith Finch (PC, PS4 [reviewed])
Developer: Giant Sparrow
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Released: April 25, 2017
MSRP: $19.99

The Finches are the kind of family that finishes building a cemetery before starting the house. Neither is ever a completed project though. As they keep adding holes in the ground, they also keep adding to their home. Whenever a relative dies, they seal their room up and leave it alone forever. A peephole in each door acts as a way to pr??eserve their memory while still letting their ghost rest.

This ritual isn't an efficient one, however. Throughout the years, the trademark Finch misfortune piled up until the bodies outnumbered the available rooms. So, they started building upward, renovating their home in a make-do way like an ugly patchwork quilt of whatever would work. By 2017, it stands far taller than any of the surrounding trees in the Washington forest. The house vaguely looks like it's reaching for the heavens, like the Finche??s are just trying to get a headstart on the inevitable.

Edith got away when she was fairly young but we see her as she's pulled back to the estate. We see her hands covered in knit fingerless gloves as she opens her diary. We see her struggle to fit through a doggy door as she notes how much easier that was i??n her youth. We see how important this whole thing is to her and we see how she's weirdly at-peace with it all. Remember: She's a Finch and that means she's gotten used to death.

It's critical that we empathize with Edith and that we feel connected to Edith because her story relies on learning others' stories. That extra layer of voyeurism, that additional degree of separation -- it could easily disarm any emotional import. It doesn't. It only amplifies it. We're told the fate of this family up front, but each further detail stacks until the sorrow is staggering. And, when we find out at the same time as Edith, it's just a little ??more crushing.

As she sneaks around the manor, Edith finds entry into all those rooms that are supposed to be inaccessible. This house feels lived-in despite not being lived in anymore. A plastic chair in the grandma's shower. A rope passive aggressively dividing the twins' bedroom right down the middle. A sc??enic painting of the great outdo?ors right where you'd imagine a real window might be if the owner weren't such a paranoid shut-in. All of it tells a little more of the legend even when Edith doesn't feel the need to explicitly comment.

Everything in the present is perfectly bleak b?ut it's reliving th?e past that's fabulously macabre. We join Edith in stepping into the shoes of her deceased kin during their final moments. Each of these is a vignette, usually not more than a few minutes long. One is as simple as snapping through images in a stereoscope. A more complicated one chronicles the entirety of an ill-fated hunting trip.

Although ?the result is always the same, these vignettes are nothing short of incredible. They're all wildly different from one another and they constantly vary the presentation in exciting ways. It's never ever dull, even when it comes to the guy who eats canned peaches every day at 12 o'clock sharp. Most impressive though is that each one captures a different mood or tone before ending in catastrophe.

It's strange how we wind up feeling like we knew these unlucky bastards despite only experiencing their shuffle off this mortal coil. For us, their deaths define them. There's no real celebration of life; there's just acceptance that what has happened has happened, and that there's a realistic chance history will?? repeat itself. Very few with the Finch surname have made it to see old age and that's just the way it is. 

Edith found exactly what she came for: The reasons for all those early graves. This family tree is rooted in tragedy and suffering and loss. It's no great surprise that all the branches broke off. That might be fascinatingly grim for us, but? there's also the unmistakable feeling that we're more shook by it than Edith is. Sadly, she's a Finch and that means she had gotten used to it long ago.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: What Remains of Edith Finch appeared first on Destructoid.

Up, up, and away!

Few games stick with me after conventions as much as What Remains of Edith Finch has for the past two PlayStation Experiences. Last year, a shorter-haired, thinner me was on PlayStation's livecast to talk about why it intrigues me so (look at him, so full of life and vigor). This y??ear, I was treated to a new demo that was probably about ten minutes long but will sta??y with me for much, much longer.

Before we get there, let's talk about the setup of Edith Finch. The titular character has found that she's the last one left alive in her family. She's explorin??g her home, which is filled with secret puzzles, levers, and diaries, each detailing the lives of one of her relatives. Said family had a bizarre mourning habit: instead of burying their dead and getting rid of their earthly possessions, the deceased's rooms are boarded up, preserving their lives exactly as they were.

In this demo, Edith is in the room of what was once a pair of t??wins. When one twin died, instead of boarding up the room entirely, one half was roped off, left in stagnation. As Edith, I went up into a bunk bed (or some kind of playhouse, I'm having trouble remembering exactly because PSX was busy enough to kill me) and found a short story, leading me into a flashback to one of her relatives.

I was suddenly in a swing, looking down at my legs. One? of them was in a cast. I heard the voiceover of what I assume was the other twin, saying he told my character that it was impossible to swing all the way over the tree branch. He laments that he wished he hadn't challenged the twin. Using both sticks to manipulate my legs, I began gathering momentum, propelling back and forth, a sheer cliff atop the ocean in front of me. 

Backward. I glance at Ian Dallas,?? the creative director, a little uncomfortably. He laughs sheepishly, knowing what's coming.

Forward. I begin to laugh myself, as the voiceover makes it increasingly obvious that this will not end w?ell.

Further backward. I have enough momentum that I know on the next push, I'm going to defy physics, doing a complete circle over this tree branch. The impossibility of this is not lost on me, but Edith Finch doesn't seem altog??ether concerned with what ?the physical world is responsible for.

Up and over. For a second I realize that this broken? leg is going to make it awfully hard to land. Then I go up and over the branch in a perfect circle and launch off of the cliff quite intentionally, and I know that landing was never part of the plan.

I look at Dallas and ask: "Does Giant Sparrow need a psych evaluation after this comes out? Like, a??re you dudes okay?"

We laugh, and I don't really get an answer. That's okay though, because it's Edith Finch's grim nature that has me so curious to see more. It's releasing on PS4 and PC this coming Spri??ng.

The post Wh??at Remains of Edith Finch contin??ues to be horrifying, dreamy, and intriguing appeared first on Destructoid.

I forgot, holidays are crazy

PlayStation Experience was only three weeks ago? Why does it feel like it was a year ago? "Because you had to scrape toget??her a bunch of last-minute jobs to make Christmas money like a Dad working overtime?" you say? You're correct! Question mark!

Anyway, I was playing Giant Sparrow's What Remains of Edith Finch? (fascinating game, that) at PSX when one of the developers came up to me and asked if I'd talk about it on Sony's Twitch stream. I told 'em I was media, which they had no problem with. I felt much the same about it as Brett did in this preview, but now you can watch the words come out of my mouth while I blink entire?ly too often. Also watch me occasionally try to flash my business card so somebody, anybody, would know I was from Destructoid. Enjoy:

The post Oh yeah, I was on Sony’s stream talking about ‘What Remains of Edith Finch?’ appeared first on Destructoid.

But I could not be more curious

"What fucked up person came up with this?" I asked. Giant Sparrow creative director Ian Dallas sheepishly raised his hand. He knew I wasn't admonishing him, though; the expression on my face and the excitement in my voice gave that away. I was just really happy to be sitting next to the mind that came up with the twisted ways of What Remains of Edith Finch?

For as happy as I was, that probably wasn't the intent. After playing just a touch of What Remains of Edith Finch?, ??it's overwhelmingly clear that hap??piness won't be an overarching theme. Death and sorrow will be. So will intrigue and mystery. Maybe it will even evoke a dark enthusiasm. But, joy, bliss, and happiness will likely not be found anywhere.

That's because this game deals with a family that just can't seem to stay alive. Throughout generations, when one family member die?s, the others seal off the room they died in as a grave eternal testament to their memory. When the number of deceased relatives surpasses the number of rooms, everyone just kind of adds onto t?he house in whatever way they can. The result is an oddly-shaped misfit of a home, one that awkwardly reaches for the sky and towers over even the tallest evergreens in the Washington forest.

I was overcome by curiosity when I first saw this house in the distance. I wanted to explore every inch of this family's makeshift mansion; I wanted to glean any information about them that I possibly could, as if I were playing Gone Home all over again.

That curiosity was quickly stunted as I realized that there simply isn't that much in Edith Finch to explore -- not yet anyway. Hallway after hallway was adorned by locked doors with nothing but nameplates and years on them. After looking at maybe the third one of these which told of a particularly premature death, I remarked "Sad. He didn't live very long at all." "You'll find that's a recurring theme in this famil??y," Dallas quickly replied.

What Remains of Edith Finch? is exceptionally dark in that it doesn't just speak of all this tragedy; it shows it. The majority of the game is made up of chapters wherein you relive exactly how the individual family members die. And, each one looks to be drenched in jus?t as much mystery as morbidity.

The one playable instance during our demo told of the untimely fate of a small boy, maybe seven year?s old at most. One night, he awoke to great hunger pangs. With a self-narration that proved to be equal parts adorable and macabre, he set off to do what any child in that situation would: find something to eat. The bathroom didn't hold much to satisfy his growling tummy, as he consumed a tube of toothpaste that didn't quite sate his appetite.

It was then that he turned into a cat on the prow??????????????????????????l for a bird to eat. With some guided platforming, he chased the feathered creature from branch to branch in hot pursuit. Eventually he caught up, devoured the unfortunate jay, and suddenly transformed again.

Now, the little boy was an owl in a snowstorm. Rabbits ran through the fields below, and he swooped down to pick them up, three in total. Disturbingly, Edith Finch presented each of these hares being gulped down from a first-person perspective (as the whole game is), completely devoid of gore yet still unsettling. He noted how full they were making him, but how he wanted to keep consum?ing more.

Then, he was a shark in the open waters taking giant chunks out of a seal. As the seal bloodied the water, he got more and more frenzied. Finally, he morphed into a sea monster -- one who nav?igated the deck of a ship and crept up on unsuspecting sailors before killing them.

Almost as quickly as it all began, it was over. The boy was back in his room. He crawled under his bed, somehow knowing the fate he was destined to ?suffer. Maybe more disconcerting was that he se??emed at terms with it. He knew this monster would kill him, and that was that.

I don't fully understand exactly what happened to this little child, but then again, I don't think I'm supposed to. There's clearly a mystery that What Remains of Edith Finch?&nb?sp;has buried across it's twenty or so short stories, and it's one that I'm ridiculous??ly excited to unravel.

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Finally!

After months of whispers, rumors and leaks, Journey and The Unfinished Swan are officially confirmed for Pla??yStation 4, thatgamecompany and Giant Sparrow revea??led today. The enhanced versions are being handled by developers Tricky Pixels and Armature Studio, respectively.

Journey and The Unfinished Swan Coming to PS4 [PlayStation Blog]

The post Journey, The Unfinished Swan announced for PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

Korean ratings authority lists the marvelous puzzler for new platforms

This month, the Korean Game Rating Board issued classifications for PlayStation 4 and Vita versions of The Unfinished Swan, f??oreshadowing a potential cross-platform release.

Giant Sp??arrow's first-person puzzler initially released in October 2012 for the PS3. The story follows the journey of a young boy named Monroe as he searches for an elusive swan inside a living painting created by his late mother.

The title was presumed to be in the works for PS4 last year when Nathan Gary of Sony's Santa Monica Studio posted photos of several PSN titles alongside the nascent console. Gary later attempted to dispel the rumors by saying he was merely feeling "nostalgic" and titles like The Unfinished Swan and Journey still look "fantastic" on PS3.

등급분류결정 확인 [GRB via Gematsu]

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It'll make your heart soar

I don't recall ever crying on account of a game before. But, oddly enough, there are two recently released titles that managed to elicit that response from me. One just so happens to be Destructoid's Game of the Year, with the other being The Unfinished Swan.

After enjoying its breezy campaign, I was really surprise??d by how emotionally evocative the game's final moments were. Up until that point I thought it was a pretty entertaining first-person puzzler, but that ending really struck a chord with me. Anyway, like the title says, there's a demo coming to PlayStation Network tomorrow. If you've yet to experience the game I really implore you to at least give this trial version a shot.

The Drop: Week of December 17th 2012 New Releases [PlayStation Blog]

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Remember a game from ten thousand years ago in which players were supposed to chuck paint around a white room to reveal the similarly colored objects inside it? First revealed in 2008, The Unfinished Swan has finally been revealed as a full game, and exclusive to the?? PlayStation Network. 

Studio Giant Sparrow claims the game is about creating "a sense of wonder," a goal that occurred naturally while developing the game. While the concept could have been applied to many different types of game, Giant Sparrow has gone for something a little "artsy" with what?? seems heavily exploration-based. 

I love where this is going, and it seems like they've pu??lled something really classy out of the hat. Check out the trailer and see what you think. Could very well be the next remarkable PSN game.

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