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The Suicide of Rachel Foster Review: A Tragic History
One of the most divisive video game genres on the market today is the so-called "walking simulator." Walking simulators are characterized as typically brief experiences with minimal gameplay (as the name would suggest, most of the interactivity lies in walking around) and an intimate, emotionally charged story. Some players praise these games for their immersive takes on storytelling, while others consider them boring and pointless. Despite the controversy, some walking simulators have earned great success for themselves. Firewatch is one of the biggest names in the genre, and generated a lot of buzz when it released back in 2016. Other prominent walking simulators include What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, and now, possibly, The Suicide of Rachel Foster.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster doesn't depart from the genre in any significant way. It's set in an old, abandoned hotel that the player character has deep family connections to, and the gameplay revolves around wandering around the hotel and interacting minimally with the objects and amenities you find inside. The game's deeper story unravels as the character spends more time in the hotel, and leads the player to unravel the mystery surrounding the event for which the game is named.
In addition to walking, the player can click on items encountered throughout the hotel to observe them closely. This function is rarely useful; the items you can look at are far from ugly, or poorly rendered, but they're usually pretty bereft of meaningful details. This can sometimes be a frustration; when you pick up a letter, for instance, you'll be unable to read it; you can't zoom in to see the text closely, and no easy-access text box is provided. On a gameplay level this is a minor sin, as it can be safely assumed that if the game is making information that hard to access it's because the information isn't actually significant. On an immersion level, however, it can be frustrating to pick up a seemingly significant document, like the last will and testament of a significant character, only to be totally unable to parse what it says.
Some items that you can look at are actually significant to your quest, whether for plot reasons or because your character needs to use them to surmount an obstacle. Keys are a clear example of this, but the player also accumulates an inventory of three items, bound to numerical hotkeys and used for tasks throughout the game. These offer a nice bit of variation, but they don't last; you'll rarely find a use for one of these three items after the purpose for which they're introduced. That being said, the segments they were designed for are some of the most engaging parts of the game, at least from a gameplay standard. The player also has access to a map; it can be a bit hard to read at times, but fortunately the hotel is decently small and pretty intuitively laid-out. After just a bit of time in its halls, the player will most likely know where to go at any given time.
As the title may suggest, the story is far from a cheery one. The player controls a young woman whose recently deceased father owned the hotel the game is set in, and she's come to evaluate it for sale; unfortunately, a snowstorm traps her in, and she's forced to confront the demons of her family's past during her stay. The nature of these demons is something the player should learn for themselves; of course, given the name of the game, it's easy to get at least a general idea of the game's tone. Along the way the character is assisted over the phone by a nearby FEMA agent who's monitoring the weather storm and whose dynamic with the protagonist is clearly reminiscent of Firewatch. The dialogue falls flat at a few points, and sometimes even gets difficult to parse, but these occurrences are decently rare, and on the whole the script is fine. It also gets downright thrilling at points; this is not a game for the faint of heart, and there will be points where the player is afraid to take another step. This all results in an ending that's emotionally satisfying but leaves a few logistical concerns that are best not examined too closely.
If there's one thing The Suicide of Rachel Foster excels at above all else, it's the sound design. The ambient noise of the old hotel is masterful, and it'll keep you on your toes and jumping at shadows the whole time you're playing. The soundtrack is subtle, and the developers had a brilliant sense of when to use it and when to let the ambient noises do all the work. The truly frightening moments are underscored beautifully by an anxiety-inducing score that will have you recoiling from your computer in fear of what will happen next. If you're the kind of person who's turned off by jumpscares, you'll be happy to learn that there are none in The Suicide of Rachel Foster, but that doesn't stop it from getting truly heart-pounding as the mystery unfolds around you.
The environment is also very well-made. The aesthetic of the hotel stays consistent throughout, and the ravages of time and neglect show brilliantly throughout its halls. The relationship the player develops with the hotel as they play is a very unique dynamic; when you arrive, you'll likely be thrilled to explore the old hotel and see what secrets lie in wait for you to discover. But as you continue to uncover those secrets, you'll start to get more and more wary of the hotel's dark hallways, and less trusting of what might lurk behind its many closed doors. The game was perfectly designed for the setting it was placed in, and that shows from the moment you arrive.
If you don't have the patience for walking simulators, there's nothing in The Suicide of Rachel Foster that will change your views. If you were a fan of Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch, you'll likely enjoy this game quite a bit. The game is not without a few minor flaws, and it might fall a bit short of the aforementioned titles, but it's still a truly engaging experience in its own right. It's a very short game; a typical playthrough will take only three or four hours. If you're a fan of mysteries and thrillers, The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a great game to curl up with in front of the fireplace in your hotel lobby.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster releases on February 19th for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.
