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. Hobbes
    Jan 23, 2016
    5
    I had heard so many good things about this game and it had been nominated for so many awards so I thought it must have something going for it.

    I jumped in, open minded, but in the end the game just bored me to tears. It is an interesting concept, you search through videos and pick up clues within them to find more videos and within them more clues as the story slowly unravels. The    I had heard so many good things about this game and it had been nominated for so many awards so I thought it must have something going for it.

    I jumped in, open minded, but in the end the game just bored me to tears. It is an interesting concept, you search through videos and pick up clues within them to find more videos and within them more clues as the story slowly unravels. The problem here is, for me at least, the story in itself was not enough to keep me engaged. There were a few interesting tidbits here and there, but in the end nothing that hasn't been done before and nothing that really ever gets you to sit down properly think and remain engaged.

    I believe it would have done much better if it incorporated more mechanics within the and investigation. You found these clues? You have an idea of what this woman did or didn't do? Let me use that on something else other than an endless search for more videos. I'm not really one to usually jump on the "this is not a game" bandwagon, but Her Story is on thin ice.    … Expand
  2. Rem
    Dec 30, 2016
    7
    Her Story breaks the conventional barrier with how unconventional it is. It subverts your expectations of what constitutes a game and might infuriate you, but it is well crafted and commits to its purpose of letting you uncover its story.

    Going into it, I had initial expectations of playing detective and piecing together evidence, which is true to an extent. However this small title    Her Story breaks the conventional barrier with how unconventional it is. It subverts your expectations of what constitutes a game and might infuriate you, but it is well crafted and commits to its purpose of letting you uncover its story.

    Going into it, I had initial expectations of playing detective and piecing together evidence, which is true to an extent. However this small title achieves this by simple watching of short clips as short as a few seconds to a little over a minute. The only "actress" plays a woman being interviewed regarding her husband's death. It's easy to assume who the culprit is, but the meat and backbone of this story rests on the believability of the character and the details that surround the story. It's as simple as typing in keywords you observe and watching the clips that correspond, but it was very interesting and learning most of her motives by the end is a challenge. It's not chronological, but it's designed in a way that it tailors your interest until you pull the curtains and reach a poignant conclusion only described in text.

    Her Story isn't exactly astounding, the actress isn't always spot on in her delivery and because of the total reliance on her performance, it hurts some key story "clips". It's not exactly fun either and can be frustrating when you become stumped at conjuring words to obtain more clips. Some of the clips drag on, and others are insanely short and irrelevant (even to the smaller details that matter) it boggles me as to why they were included. It's definitely under fire by the community for not being a game and this backlash isn't totally unfounded, there isn't anything that resembles game mechanics aside from an othello clone you'll play for one achievement, but Her Story is an engaging experiment that succeeds in what it set out to do. We need more games like Her Story not for the sake of telling a story, but for how it conveys its story to its players, trusting them to piece it together.    … Expand
  3. rkpetersen
    Jul 16, 2015
    6
    Interesting, but the game mechanic of having to using 'word find' to view tiny video clips for clues is very artificial, and not in a good way. Also, the 'ending', if you can call it that, leaves a lot to be desired and will satisfy few.
  4. everin
    Oct 1, 2015
    7
    Tier 2
    + Offers a very engaging and unique story with some fun twists and turns
    + Overall carried well by the main actress, who displays a fair amount of nuance
    ? Pretty weird gameplay that might offer a bit too much freedom in how the player discovers the story
    - Somewhat tedious at times, and many of the clips offer nothing particularly interesting to fill out the experience
  5. BSim500
    May 10, 2016
    6
    The actress (Viva Seifert) in the video sequences actually gave a fairly decent performance, but here's the problem : Being "unconventional" and "artsy" doesn't automatically make engaging gameplay. You basically sit in front of a "screen" and enter search terms as vague as "yes" and "us" to unravel a murder-mystery. A list of up to 5 matching videos is then brought up to watch in out ofThe actress (Viva Seifert) in the video sequences actually gave a fairly decent performance, but here's the problem : Being "unconventional" and "artsy" doesn't automatically make engaging gameplay. You basically sit in front of a "screen" and enter search terms as vague as "yes" and "us" to unravel a murder-mystery. A list of up to 5 matching videos is then brought up to watch in out of order sequence. This is interesting and different for the first 50 searches at which point you'll have already figured out the plot long in advance of watching all available videos. Then you have a choice to make : spend the other +400x searches in boredom filling in the gaps awaiting a "proper end" that never comes, or "end" early and treat it as a 30-45min game-less "narrative experience" whose "effect" on you is entirely relative...

    At time of writing, the user score is averaging 5.7, and honestly that's not unreasonable. The acting is well done, and plot fairly interesting so it doesn't deserve a zero, but likewise if you guess the right search terms early and figure out the plot fairly quickly, there really isn't much "game" there at any stage regardless of "narration".    … Expand
  6. Smoddo
    Aug 30, 2015
    6
    It's okay, I quickly searched some key words that revealed most of the story to me fairly early on, leaving quite alot of videos and info I didn't really need to follow up on, It'd be better if you were fully investigating her to, checking out stories etc
  7. tsakiym
    Nov 17, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i like the way that game goes. sit with my girl..play..writing all the evidence that we have (14 papers)..
    but when the game ended i had so many questions.. nothing that we wrote has anything to do with this story.
    ok we all understated she was bipolar or she has a twin but.. this story doesn't make scene at any angle that Im looking it. still i believe it was a good game but hope for same games with better stories.    … Expand
  8. cardo123
    Mar 5, 2016
    6
    Her Story involves you in a deep investigation experience, but it's concept could have been deeper and it's story a lot better. It's a good idea to star reconsidering the genre, but it has a lot of mistakes to correct.
  9. Storm1672
    Aug 17, 2015
    6
    This is an incredible idea for a game executed... ok. The story is good and you find out the pieces of the puzzle in a kind of random way (if you wish to play that way). If you try to really investigate, you still just try some words and see if anything comes up. Two hours in, you will figure out what's going on, which was quite great when you do, but despite what the dev says, there areThis is an incredible idea for a game executed... ok. The story is good and you find out the pieces of the puzzle in a kind of random way (if you wish to play that way). If you try to really investigate, you still just try some words and see if anything comes up. Two hours in, you will figure out what's going on, which was quite great when you do, but despite what the dev says, there are indeed 2-3 "golden" clips that explain everything.

    Beyond that, the option to see every clip in order unfortunately is missing, which is quite odd.

    There is some ending and credits rolling, despite what some people say, so you do get a kind of closure. You can also try to find all of the clips, but that's just tedious.

    All in all, kudos for the excellent concept, which overall works quite well.    … Expand
  10. reviewoftheyear
    Aug 13, 2015
    6
    If you love to feel like Sherlock Holmes, you may like this game. Ok, it's maybe not a 'game', more of an interactive story perhaps, but if you want something different then this could be what you're after. I loved it, but it did leave me wanting more content, and some other interaction rather than just 'search for video - watch video - repeat'.
  11. Underpants158
    Dec 30, 2015
    7
    It's a unique experience with a unique story. I think much of the praise given to this game is due to it being so unique and to a lot of people that breath of fresh air elevates the game to places that it wouldn't normally be at if this was a more established genre.
  12. SWERY_51
    Jun 26, 2015
    7
    Intriguing, dark, sometimes funny, Her Story is a nice adventure. The storytelling is really cool and Viva Seifert's acting is a great addition to this weird atmosphere.
    My single complain comes from the poor gameplay. You type a keyword in some search-tool (the same way you're using Google), then you can watch few video clips related to find some clues - rinse and repeat. It's too bad    Intriguing, dark, sometimes funny, Her Story is a nice adventure. The storytelling is really cool and Viva Seifert's acting is a great addition to this weird atmosphere.
    My single complain comes from the poor gameplay. You type a keyword in some search-tool (the same way you're using Google), then you can watch few video clips related to find some clues - rinse and repeat. It's too bad there are no puzzles/riddles or nothing else to do. It's a little short too, about 2 hours to see the credits, 4 if you want to discover everything, but it's OK with this kind of game.
    In conclusion, Her Story is not a great game, but a great story to discover.    … Expand
  13. rodericrinehart
    Jan 30, 2016
    6
    It was an ok game and I don't regret playing it, but my god did Polygon and some others overrate this game. And it didn't even put The Witcher 3 in its top 10. This is barely a game, and I am someone who very much enjoys Life Is Strange Until Dawn, Heavy Rain, and Telltale games. Again, it was ok, especially for the low price, and it won't take more than a few hours of your time.
  14. Klewer
    Jul 17, 2017
    7
    This game is definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It's worth it if it's cheap, basically it's a movie and cheaper than going to see one. Great little story where you piece it together and search for what has happened in the Story.
  15. ozzsoffy
    Mar 26, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Playing this game I didn't know much about it. it is very unique experience, I think the video cuts are very appealing and as a player I drown into the story, I wanted to know more and what happened, which mean it is a good game.

    Finishing it, I must say that I felt that I need someone to explain me the ending (thank for youtube),
    it was a bit short, as I expected, like 4 hours game time,

    Recommended to people that love puzzle games    … Expand
  16. HSuke
    Apr 4, 2019
    7
    It's an interactive movie where you're playing detective and trying to figure out the story from a single location. Overall, the story is ok. There are no weak spots, but there are also no outstanding moments. It's kind of forgettable game.
  17. LordOMO
    Dec 2, 2018
    6
    I don't care if "Her Story" is technically a game or not. What's important is wether it delivers on its premise. The general idea is that you play detective by watching interrogation tapes related to a crime. However, you can only access files by searching for the correct keywords. In theory that's an interesting concept, allowing the player to slowly unravel the story as you figure outI don't care if "Her Story" is technically a game or not. What's important is wether it delivers on its premise. The general idea is that you play detective by watching interrogation tapes related to a crime. However, you can only access files by searching for the correct keywords. In theory that's an interesting concept, allowing the player to slowly unravel the story as you figure out more and more plot points.
    In execution this won't always work. I think the very mixed user reviews of this game reflect that one player may have a vastly different experience from another player, depending on the order in which they "unravel" the video clips. In my playthrough (no spoilers) I had a great time for the first 20 minutes or so as I discovered all kinds of "storylines" and clues. Then I ran out of keywords to search for, so for an hour I was backpedaling to old videos or blindly searching for keywords to get access to new videos. I barely made any progress in that time, since many of the videos I found were completely redundant/pointless and didn't provide any new clues at all. Then suddenly (it felt like it was by accident) I got to the end of the story: For me it fell completely flat, while still leaving many plot points unanswered.
    There are statistics in the game that show how many clips you uncovered and it seems like I jumped wildly in the database, while having huge chunks of videomaterial missing in between. I could try to go back and figure out the missing parts of the story but it seems like way to much effort as I already solved the case and I haven't found the right keywords.
    The great flaw of the game is that there is no pre-planned pacing. A player may "solve" the case in 5 minutes without knowing any of the backstory or characters. Another player might spend hours uncovering every detail, knowing exactly how it will resolve but lacking the right keyword to get to the ending.
    Oh, and also the acting is pretty mediocre    … Expand
  18. El_Manco
    May 20, 2018
    7
    Una curiosidad, con una jugabilidad muy particular. No se si podría recomendarlo, pero me resulto entretenido mientras jugaba.
  19. kovman
    Aug 14, 2018
    7
    It was one of those seasonal story games, but it grabbed my attention. I found the experience very unique for a video game albeit in te video format. The plot was interesting and the investigation was not trivial at all, there were some twists and turns. Overall I'd say it was worth a try for the uniqueness of the experience alone.
  20. ElCucuy
    Feb 23, 2020
    7
    Интересный опыт, на 2 часа игра заставляет почуствовать себя детективом из 90х, собирающим мозаику из показаний одной странной женщины на допотопном компьютере с windows 95.

    В основе игры заложена элементарная механика из поиска видеофайлов по ключевым словам, произнесённым на записях. Такую механику можно легко представить в виде какой-нибудь мини-игры в крупном проекте по типу GTA,    Интересный опыт, на 2 часа игра заставляет почуствовать себя детективом из 90х, собирающим мозаику из показаний одной странной женщины на допотопном компьютере с windows 95.

    В основе игры заложена элементарная механика из поиска видеофайлов по ключевым словам, произнесённым на записях. Такую механику можно легко представить в виде какой-нибудь мини-игры в крупном проекте по типу GTA, потому проект был бы начисто проходной, если б не интригующий сюжет, который держит у экрана до тех пор, пока не "докопаешься до истины", и позволяющий строить различные теории произошедшего уже после титров.
    Каноничной версии произошедшего нет, поэтому каждый может видеть ситуацию по-своему, и это прекрасно. Было интересно ознакомиться с версиями других игроков на форумах уже после окончания игры.

    Финальная оценка - 7,5 из 10.    … Expand
  21. gameking
    May 16, 2020
    7
    Very unique game. This is very different experience. But the story needs more clear.
  22. Crimert
    Mar 2, 2020
    6
    The storytelling technique was different. It's an interesting mystery game which makes you feel like a detective. 6hrs on record.
  23. Wrathzo
    Mar 21, 2022
    5
    Her Story is an interactive film video game written and directed by Sam Barlow. In the game, the player searches and sorts through a database of video clips from fictional police interviews, and uses the clips to solve the case of a missing man. The police interviews focus on the man's wife, Hannah Smith, portrayed by British musician Viva Seifert.
  24. Alexb1096
    Jul 24, 2020
    6
    ITALIAN: breve recensione
    Io non ho finito il gioco, anche se mi mancava davvero poco. La trama mi era chiara ma non riuscivo a mettere gli ultimi tasselli.
    Il gioco, sempre che possa essere definito tale, è molto semplice. Saremo incaricati di mettere ordine nelle registrazioni degli interrogatori di un caso di qualche anno prima. Per questo motivo noi avremo a disposizione solo il    ITALIAN: breve recensione
    Io non ho finito il gioco, anche se mi mancava davvero poco. La trama mi era chiara ma non riuscivo a mettere gli ultimi tasselli.

    Il gioco, sempre che possa essere definito tale, è molto semplice. Saremo incaricati di mettere ordine nelle registrazioni degli interrogatori di un caso di qualche anno prima. Per questo motivo noi avremo a disposizione solo il monitor di un computer, con giusto un paio di programmi, mentre tutto il resto dovremo farlo noi cercando singole parole o piccole frasi per trovare tutti i video che compongono la storia (più di 200 ed è per questo che ho mollato).

    È disponibile un'ottima traduzione in italiano e la consiglio perchè bisognerebbe avere una conoscenza dell'inglese davvero ampia per completarlo, tenendo conto che già in italiano ho lasciato il gioco perchè non sapevo più cosa cercare.

    La trama è molto interessante e l'attrice (che poi ho scoperto non esserlo di professione) è abbastanza convincente, anche se a volte le situazioni che si generano mi sembrano un po' inverosimili.

    Originale anche lo stile di gioco ma avrei preferito forse qualche accorgimento per semplificare la ricerca nelle fasi finali del gioco, quando ormai la trama è chiara (visto che alcuni video sono di pochi secondi e irrilevanti), ad esempio potendo visualizzare i video già scoperti direttamente dall'archivio (che invece ha il solo scopo di farci vedere quanti video abbiamo già trovato e cronologicamente dove si collocano).

    Gioco non adatto a tutti ma che può prendere molto, anche perchè piuttosto breve.

    Voto: 6.5/10    … Expand
  25. hileger
    Dec 10, 2022
    6
    интересная идея с допросом история слабая, на раз можно ..................
  26. bergcamp101
    Dec 4, 2020
    6
    Unfortunately it's pretty short, mostly because of the idea. But it is really good stuff! Very innovative and intriguing game.

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 »