Perhaps I am in a melancholic mood. Perhaps the start of the school year has an ever larger impact as I know the time I have left with my kids is shrinking. Perhaps it’s just everything. I’m in the mood for an interactive story, and one that hits the feels.

I have an overly larger Steam library, and across the many, many years of gaming I have played only a select few have truly moved me. What Remains of Edith Finch is right in the top of that pile. Few games can accomplish in 40 hours what this game does in 2.

In broad strokes, you play as Edie, a young woman trying to piece together if her family has a curse. Everyone in her family tree has died, some in very odd circumstances. Using an anthology format, you relive those moments in a weird science format, never quite sure exactly what’s going on. Maybe you’re a shark rolling down a hill in a forest, or building a kingdom in your mind. The end culminates with closure, as what could possibly come from it.

What sets this game from all others is that the the stage itself feels real. The house and land you explore feels lived in, with character and clutter. That realism is juxtaposed with the surrealism of the vignettes, where each death is implicit, and surrounded by some fantastical events. It’s as if you’re listening to that uncle who can tell the most amazing stories, and getting to experience each.

I’ve played through a few times now. While none have had the impact of the first experience, each time there’s a zen that I get out of it. It’s also strange in that I can’t explain the effects, it has to be simply experienced. But like all art, the interpretation varies and what I get out of it certainly wouldn’t be what others could.

If you haven’t had a chance to play through, I still emphatically recommend What Remains of Edith Finch.