Her Story

 PC
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 484 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 234 out of 484
  2. Mixed: 120 out of 484
  3. Negative: 130 out of 484

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  1. TenchuuKhan
    Jun 28, 2015
    4
    Being into unconventional games, this one caught my attention, and it sounded promising enough.
    But it doesn't work out very well.
    Here's what you basically do in the game: You are in front of a computer (in-game) and you have to search a database for keywords for which you then receive the first 5 matches. The clips are all about the same murder case, showing the answers the suspect    Being into unconventional games, this one caught my attention, and it sounded promising enough.
    But it doesn't work out very well.

    Here's what you basically do in the game:
    You are in front of a computer (in-game) and you have to search a database for keywords for which you then receive the first 5 matches.
    The clips are all about the same murder case, showing the answers the suspect has given throughout the interrogations over a few days.

    Additionally you have a DB Checker tool that displays the position of the last played clip. This way you can put it easier in order and even assign it a positional number.

    Now, I guess the idea is that you hear about new keywords in the clips, and then you search on with them so you get the complete interrogation. But that's not how it works.
    After bruting for 5 hours I noticed a major flaw there with which you can just cheat through the game really (I'll mention that one at the bottom again).

    The Story itself
    Storytelling is good and it probably wouldn't work too well if you just watched it in chronological order. But even then it would still be a good story.
    The issue is, the storytelling doesn't work at all if you spoiler ahead by accident really because you find a clip which is set on the last day.

    So really, it doesn't work either way.

    Now, your best bet in my opinion is to not play the game at all. The gameplay is crap anyway, it's just a time waster at best. Just watch a longplay on Youtube instead.
    OR - there's a flaw in the game that let's you get the clips in chronological order easily. Just reset the whole thing, search for blank. That gives you the first 5 clips because that's the default keyword.
    Change that keywords to 1,2,3,4,5 - search for blank again. Keep on going with 6,7,8 - you get the idea.

    Bottom line. Nice story, **** game. They **** it up big time.
    The game could work, I'm convinced. But not this way.    … Expand
  2. Tubey
    Jun 29, 2015
    4
    This is what I call "Polygon Bait" - as in a game with an interesting idea of the type that particular review site loves to laud as 'artistic', but in reality it is, at best and being very generous, average in its' execution and, crucially, not very fun as an actual video game. Mostly because it's not a video game, but we'll come to that later.

    Her Story is exactly the above, I give it    This is what I call "Polygon Bait" - as in a game with an interesting idea of the type that particular review site loves to laud as 'artistic', but in reality it is, at best and being very generous, average in its' execution and, crucially, not very fun as an actual video game. Mostly because it's not a video game, but we'll come to that later.

    Her Story is exactly the above, I give it extra credit for the cheap price point I purchased it at, and to be fair this isn't the worst game in the world - but the problem is that its' concept wears thin extremely quickly and devolves into repetition. The story is the strongpoint of the title, and easily excels beyond other "Polygon Bait" titles such as the atrocious Gone Home, but everything this game has to offer can be enjoyed exactly the same way by watching a playthrough on YouTube.

    There's no incentive to play the game yourself. It is more of an interactive movie than even the likes of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. That's not a bad thing exactly, as some people like those types of things, but I'd really like to begin to see these titles labelled clearly for what they are and not reviewed on a par with actual video games. If that makes me sound elitist or whatever, then so be it, but there has to be a distinction between various media, the same way there's a distinction between television and books. They are two different things.

    So yeah, an interesting but half-cooked interactive movie concept. If you have money to burn, get it on the cheap, but you are not missing out on anything revolutionary here. I'm waiting for the first truly revolutionary title of this type; this isn't it.    … Expand
  3. jcasetnl
    Sep 5, 2015
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Indie Game Success Formula:

    1. Dig out 20 - 40-year old videogame mechanic (FMV, text-based game, 2D, etc) and execute it as bare-bones as possible.

    2. Be deliberately "un-game". You don't want people to figure out that you tried and failed to create an innovative gameplay mechanic, so don't even try. Deliberately leave anything game-like out. You are artistic and avant-garde. If people complain, simply shake your head in pity and say, "You just don't get it, and that's your problem." Imply they're close-minded and incapable of considering what games might be if they simply let go of the "traditional gaming stereotypes".

    3. Attach pseudo-mature story that will only impress gamers under 25, but come off laughably immature and naive to anyone older. Again, when others point out the obvious plot holes, terrible pacing, weak characters, ham-fisted moralizing and 4th-grade editing, shake your head piteously at their sad inability to grasp "art".

    4. For tons of extra metacritic points, include some kind of social cause: depression, inequality, race, etc. No reviewer will criticize your work because "how dare they! Racism!" or because "Media that challenges social blah blah deserves a voice regardless of quality."

    5. Profit.    … Expand
  4. PunkRock32112
    Jul 5, 2015
    0
    I guess if you like watching low def video and mediocre quality cspan video then this is the game for you, as far as any gamplay mechanics that you find in any games traditional to digital, it doesn't have any, I understand the move for game journalist and emo indie desperate artist to feel relevant, but this is a combination of just pure laziness on the developers part and just stupidityI guess if you like watching low def video and mediocre quality cspan video then this is the game for you, as far as any gamplay mechanics that you find in any games traditional to digital, it doesn't have any, I understand the move for game journalist and emo indie desperate artist to feel relevant, but this is a combination of just pure laziness on the developers part and just stupidity from the game reviewers who credibility should be questioned, if you thought gone home was a stupid and pointless game then this is its spiritual successor.… Expand
  5. frumps
    Jun 25, 2015
    0
    This is not a game. It is an interactive movie trying to sell itself as a game. It is a gimmick to sell to people who don't play video games or don't know what a video game is. Just like "Sunset", which had glowing reviews from game "journaists", this "game" won't resonate with most gamers. If you enjoy crime fiction and believe a single actress will be enough to entertain you in thisThis is not a game. It is an interactive movie trying to sell itself as a game. It is a gimmick to sell to people who don't play video games or don't know what a video game is. Just like "Sunset", which had glowing reviews from game "journaists", this "game" won't resonate with most gamers. If you enjoy crime fiction and believe a single actress will be enough to entertain you in this in this low-budget interactive movie, then you might enjoy Her Story.

    If you are wondering if this fits the definition of a game or not, just ask yourself what the replay value is of a murder mystery might be when you already know who done it. Also, is it fun? Sure, it might be, but don't expect it to last longer than your average film.    … Expand
  6. JohnLocke3000
    Jul 5, 2015
    0
    Wether you call this a interactive movie or a game it fails at both. There are good interactive Novels and Movies out there, this isn't one of them. If its a game its also horrible at that too, this is like Gone home with no point, poorly written, poorly developed, you know this is a horrible title when Main stream media like the Washington post and Time magazine say its a good game
  7. SegataSanshiro
    Jul 14, 2015
    1
    I tried my best but I cannot enjoy this game whatsoever. The interaction is minimal and the grand revelation is disappointing. Those who said this game is new and innovative are either haven't played FMV games like Phantasmagoria and Night Trap or lying through their teeth.
  8. perydwyn
    Jul 4, 2015
    1
    Lets start by saying that despite what so called journalists are trying to make everyone believe, this is in no way original or new. Interactive 'full motion video' games have existed since the early 1990's and were briefly fashionable then. But then they faded from the public consciousness because they offered very llittle interaction (which is what videogames offer that films do not).Lets start by saying that despite what so called journalists are trying to make everyone believe, this is in no way original or new. Interactive 'full motion video' games have existed since the early 1990's and were briefly fashionable then. But then they faded from the public consciousness because they offered very llittle interaction (which is what videogames offer that films do not). What this 'game' amoounts to is a not very compelling or competent movie masquerading as a game (I think this is because the creators realised that if it were judged as a movie then it would be much harder to claim that it is in any way good). The acting is awful (but unintentionally funny in places), and the breadth of choice on offer is very limited. If you can get it free somehow then it is worth a look just to see why interactive films never really caught on in the first place.… Expand
  9. TitaniumDragon
    Jan 17, 2016
    0
    A FMV “video game”, ultimately Her Story is really nothing more than a movie with a very strange interface. This pretty much points to the primary flaw in Her Story, as the actual story being told by the videos is best viewed sequentially, but the interface of the game makes it so that viewing the videos sequentially is extremely unlikely.

    Hannah is the main character of Her Story, and    A FMV “video game”, ultimately Her Story is really nothing more than a movie with a very strange interface. This pretty much points to the primary flaw in Her Story, as the actual story being told by the videos is best viewed sequentially, but the interface of the game makes it so that viewing the videos sequentially is extremely unlikely.

    Hannah is the main character of Her Story, and indeed, the only one who shows up in the videos. The central conceit of the game is that Hannah was a murder suspect in 1994, and the protagonist is going through an old police database, wherein the videos are sorted by keywords in their transcripts. This sounds like a clever idea, but in practice, it doesn’t really work very well at all; beyond being very confusing, it suffers from the fact that it is entirely possible to search for the wrong keyword and end up stumbling across the game’s central twist five minutes in.

    Unsurprisingly, I did exactly this by simply searching for the most innocuous of the names I had come across first (for the record, it was the name of one of Hannah’s childhood friends). This resulted in me happening across a video which spoiled the game’s central plot twist, and consequently I spent the rest of the game trying to piece together everything else in the hopes of finding another twist, and then failing to find one.

    The net result of the search interface is that you are likely to watch lots of garbage scenes, with odd scenes which are really important thrown in between them. Some of the videos are nothing more than Hannah saying “no”, while others are minute-long monologues explaining crucial plot or character details.

    Worst of all, if you actually watch the videos in order, they follow the standard variances of a plot; the rise and fall of action as the police officers piece things together before Hannah finally explains exactly what is going on in the final interview. As a movie, it makes sense.

    But as a video game, it makes no sense at all.

    It has other flaws as well – as a murder mystery game, one would think that little details would be pretty important, but as it turns out, the people who made the videos didn’t actually pay much attention to time constraints. On many occaisions, something happens – such as a character changing clothing, or taking a ponygraph – which ignores the necessary setup time, with the videos happening too close together in time. At first, I had assumed that these little mistakes was related to the plot twist, but eventually I realized it was simple laziness on the part of the game creators.

    If the plot was actually viewed in order, it might be passable, though the awkward interface of the game still would make it annoying. And if parts had been locked off until you had figured some stuff out, it might have worked. But as-is, the thing is kind of a mess, and while the central idea wasn’t a bad one, the UI and erratic pacing as a result of it being made into a “game” (which it really isn’t any more than searching for stuff on YouTube is a “game”) makes it hard to really get into it properly. It is possible to spoil the entire plot of the game within five minutes, and a lot of the videos end up feeling a lot like filler, especially when viewed out of context.    … Expand
  10. mtRoom
    Aug 8, 2015
    4
    The acting is horrendous. Hard to take the story seriously, unfortunately. I like the approach to the game concept but given that the videos of the girl is the base of the entire story, I can't play it. It feels like I'm back in first-year drama class at high school
  11. EpicKris
    Sep 2, 2015
    1
    Oh God, why? This so called *game* isn't worth your attention. It relies purely on a gimmick and a nostalgia trip. People give it a good score just because they never experienced this *genere* before. There are much better alternatives to this.
  12. Avionn
    Dec 4, 2015
    3
    The actress makes everything absolutely a chore to go through. AND WHY DOES SHE KEEP PLAYING THE GUITAR IT SUCKS. The narrator is frustrating. the interface is frustrating. This game is frustrating.
  13. Much
    Dec 19, 2015
    0
    Just because it is unique, does not make it a good game. Actually, it is so horrible, I used the refund for the first time... I recommend Life Is Strange.
  14. OrionHamake
    Dec 12, 2015
    0
    This game is horrible, to say the truth, no game this is. It's just an interactive movie with random scenes. Life Is Strange or other games in the same style had gameplay, but this movie is a joke.
  15. theirrelephants
    Sep 6, 2016
    0
    Why isn't this in the movie section? This is NOT a video game.

    I'm not joking. Look it up on youtube if you don't believe me. This is a movie where you are rarely forced to click your mouse sometimes.

    Interactive movies are not video games, regardless of what some people who like final fantasy might tell you.
  16. geileskey
    Apr 22, 2016
    3
    The issue I have for this game is that it's not really that innovative. I've seen something done before in a game called: In Memoriam (aka Evidence: The last ritual), made in 2006, where clues (and resolving puzzles) from a video would lead users to the next clip. In memoriam is an immersive experience as you're contacted by text and email when you don't play. Her story on the otherThe issue I have for this game is that it's not really that innovative. I've seen something done before in a game called: In Memoriam (aka Evidence: The last ritual), made in 2006, where clues (and resolving puzzles) from a video would lead users to the next clip. In memoriam is an immersive experience as you're contacted by text and email when you don't play. Her story on the other hand relies on entering a single keyword in a google type search, and it took me about 30 mins to figure out what the premise of the game was about. The problem I have is that it's way too easy to second guess what the interviewee is going to say by typing in expected dialogue keywords. Because of this, the game is a little too easy. For example, search for the word "police", or "arrest" and you'll get videos. I'll have to admit, I haven't seen ALL the recorded videos, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun if there's a twist at the end. In the meantime I'm a little amazed how this game got some many Video game BAFTA's… Expand
  17. Broyax
    Jan 8, 2017
    4
    Tiens, de la vidéo, un jeu tout en vidéo(s) comme on en faisait dans les années 90 (la 3DO était l'une des spécialistes avec le MegaCD de Sega) une époque où les techniques de 3D polygonale texturée n'en étaient encore qu'à leurs balbutiements, et paradoxalement le moindre PC avait un mal fou à restituer de la vidéo correctement !

    Donc, un jeu d'aventure en quelque sorte, un travail de    Tiens, de la vidéo, un jeu tout en vidéo(s) comme on en faisait dans les années 90 (la 3DO était l'une des spécialistes avec le MegaCD de Sega) une époque où les techniques de 3D polygonale texturée n'en étaient encore qu'à leurs balbutiements, et paradoxalement le moindre PC avait un mal fou à restituer de la vidéo correctement !

    Donc, un jeu d'aventure en quelque sorte, un travail de classement et de reconstitution d'environ 271 (!) séquences dont la "qualité" VHS est "admirablement" reconstituée (beurk) afin de dénouer l'écheveau de l'histoire de cette femme dont le mari a disparu.

    Comme dans toute base de données, on visionne puis on tape les mots clés qui nous semblent pertinents afin d'accéder à d'autres vidéos et d'en apprendre davantage au fur et à mesure... un vrai travail de fourmi ; Her Story est donc un jeu qui vous fait travailler et contre toute attente ça fonctionne bien... pendant un certain temps.

    Evidemment tout en anglais avec sous-titres optionnels... en anglais ! une connaissance minimum de la langue est requise, surtout que la prise de son est presque aussi pourrie que la prise d'image elle-même. On peut et il est recommandé de prendre des notes lors de chaque séquence et c'est bon pour le vocabulaire. On dirait un devoir de vacances.

    On parvient éventuellement à se faire une idée de ce qui s'est passé sans savoir précisément ni donner un verdict, Votre Honneur, car il faut encore fouiller dans cette base pour avoir le fin mot de l'histoire ; or à vue de nez, je n'ai apparemment dépiauté que la moitié ou les deux tiers ou plus (?) de la base et il en reste encore et... donc, ça commence à me soûler. D'autant que le passé de la jeune femme se perd en circonvolutions et détours dont l'intérêt et la vraisemblance s'émoussent de plus en plus...

    Voilà donc un jeu indé qui semblait bien frais mais qui finit par sentir le poisson, une sorte de "concept", une idée unique mal dégrossie.    … Expand
  18. aleqhz
    Apr 4, 2021
    0
    This interactive movie is not a game by any means It's dull and boring. The acting is meh. I'd rather just watch a 1 hour long movie then spend time clicking on 30 seconds clips trying to figure out what's this about. The database search that shows only the 5 first entries defies its own purpose.
  19. kezzyhko
    Aug 21, 2020
    4
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  20. manlyangel
    Oct 21, 2019
    1
    After years of curiosity I decided to try Her Story out, and I have to say that I....am completely flabbergasted as to why this has so many high reviews and received so much media praise. This "game" is an interesting little proof of concept at best, but as a "game" it's absolute trash that becomes incredibly boring very fast, I mean REALLY fast. This is coming from someone who reallyAfter years of curiosity I decided to try Her Story out, and I have to say that I....am completely flabbergasted as to why this has so many high reviews and received so much media praise. This "game" is an interesting little proof of concept at best, but as a "game" it's absolute trash that becomes incredibly boring very fast, I mean REALLY fast. This is coming from someone who really enjoys interactive movie type games like what Telltale and Quantic Dream produce. Her Story even fails to accomplish that level of engagement.… Expand
  21. Bloodnes
    Aug 22, 2020
    3
    Какая-то муть если честно, не знаю, кому эта игра понравилась, но как по мне бесполезная трата времени, если они хотели сделать некое подобий Секретных материалов, то тут провалилась затея. Не тратьте времени игра ни о чем. 3/10Какая-то муть если честно, не знаю, кому эта игра понравилась, но как по мне бесполезная трата времени, если они хотели сделать некое подобий Секретных материалов, то тут провалилась затея. Не тратьте времени игра ни о чем. 3/10
  22. Gabomfim
    Aug 4, 2021
    4
    The game doesn’t have a satisfying ending. It’s unnatural and disappointing, felt like the game was a waste of time when I started searching for numbers from one to ten just to find new and irrelevant clips.

    More like a google search simulator to me. Only has one type of interaction and one type of stimulus during the whole experience, which makes it a bland and unidimensional interactive    The game doesn’t have a satisfying ending. It’s unnatural and disappointing, felt like the game was a waste of time when I started searching for numbers from one to ten just to find new and irrelevant clips.

    More like a google search simulator to me. Only has one type of interaction and one type of stimulus during the whole experience, which makes it a bland and unidimensional interactive story.

    You just keep waiting for something to happen, and the game doesn’t give you indications of progress besides some, little animations and database percentages. The chat system is poor, it could help me to see that I am doing progress.    … Expand
  23. F1_is_WWE
    Jan 1, 2023
    3
    This is a game you cannot win. You are presented with a series of some 200 videos (total 90 minutes long) of police (inaudible) interviewing a woman regarding her missing husband. The catch is you cannot watch them in order, but have to search by guessing key words which gets you only the top 5 matches. Once you watch a certain number of the key videos, you get a popup asking you if youThis is a game you cannot win. You are presented with a series of some 200 videos (total 90 minutes long) of police (inaudible) interviewing a woman regarding her missing husband. The catch is you cannot watch them in order, but have to search by guessing key words which gets you only the top 5 matches. Once you watch a certain number of the key videos, you get a popup asking you if you want to quit or you can keep going to try and find more videos.

    That's it, that's the whole game. Notice you do not have to do any detective work, or find clues or solve any mysteries. The whole gameplay consists of watching a woman talk for 90 minutes. You just keep searching for videos until you decide to stop (or you can just watch them all in order on YouTube).

    Now the mystery is well done and there are lots of twists and turns to find. I liked the acting. It could have made a good movie, but this video game format is just contrived and frustrating.    … Expand
  24. Osoqu
    Mar 31, 2023
    4
    Design: 5
    Mechanics: 3
    Content: 5
    Simple gameplay of the same type. Quickly gets bored.

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best PC Game of 2015
39
#39 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 50
  3. Negative: 1 out of 50
  1. RPG Fan
    Jul 13, 2020
    86
    If you are on the hunt for a traditional adventure game, you may want to look elsewhere. But if you want one of the best live-action performances in video game history, a fabulous presentation, and an intriguing mystery to unravel, Her Story deserves your time!
    Read full review
  2. SpazioGames
    Oct 21, 2015
    85
    Brilliantly fragmented, avant-garde, and quite compelling, Her Story is an innovative adventure that we utterly recommend. A well written, well acted, and well thought game.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Sep 18, 2015
    55
    Her Story met with extremely different reactions among our staff (from “this trivial babble makes no sense at all” to “the story captivated me and is still in my head”). [09/2015, p.49]
See all critic reviews »