This is a second opinion and you can read Adam’s original review here
I know this review is late, but I’ve not had time to play much lately. As usual, I received a review code from the publisher with the expectation that I would write a review. I played the Xbox version for about 5 hours, which was enough to complete the game. The game has already released on several platforms. Since I have low vision, some things I have trouble with may not affect your experience.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a first person walking Sim where you play as Nicole, who has recently inherited her family’s hotel from her recently deceased father. The story starts out straightforward, with you inspecting the property before selling it but changes over time to an almost survival experience, with a little bit of paranormal activity thrown in, and finally a big mystery to solve with a few good twists along the way.
Most of the story is told through the things that happen during your time at the hotel and conversations with a lawyer and FEMA agent on the phone, including an original Nokia brick cell phone. Unfortunately, a lot of these conversations have a missing or delayed voice-over, forcing you to read the subtitles, which aren’t the largest or high contrast. As such, I know I missed a lot of story details in a story-centric game, which is disappointing.
The game play is simple, and disappointing as well. You walk and look around, occasionally interacting with things, if possible. A lot of times you can’t interact with something because you are not at that part in the adventure of you are on the phone with someone. You will occasionally find an item to be used from your inventory… approximately one time and never use it again. This is also disappointing. There really isn’t anything I’d call a puzzle or even a timed event, which makes for a boring time during slower parts.
The setting would be good, if you actually needed to see most of the hotel, which you don’t. The whole game takes place in just a few areas with no incentive to explore. Actually, I found it actually dissuading you to to do so, since you can’t interact with anything that you find early. It’s even more disappointing that there is a series of secret passages traversing the property that you are advised not to explore when you first find them in the story.
The main characters are interesting enough, with a decent amount of background to flesh them out. Even with that said, there is one important character I found wanting more information about by the end. I’m not sure if that information exists in the game in an unexplored area or in the conversations that glitched and couldn’t keep up with the subtitles. Either way, I didn’t feel proper closure with that character.
Overall, I found the game disappointing. The way the game changes throughout is pretty innovative but the story, voice over glitches, and lack of using the setting really detract from that. I would really only recommend this to die-hard walking Sim fans, but you should be aware that much better ones exist.
