Is this walking sim worth your time?
Coming back to the family hotel after years, a young woman finds herself trapped with the ghosts from her past and an old cellular telephone as the only way to unveil a terrible truth.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a very typical first-person walking simulator, set in a creepy hotel as you try and discover your family’s secrets. You play as Nicole who has just inherited the hotel after your father’s passing, he had an affair with a girl the same age by the name of Rachel Foster who ultimately killed herself. Nicole’s mother who has also now died, wants Nicole to look over the hotel before selling it and give the proceeds to Nicole’s student loans and the rest to Rachel’s family.
Nicole is reluctant to stay long in the hotel due to her relationship with her father, but a snowstorm forces her to stay a lot longer than she had anticipated and begins discovering more about Rachel in this run-down hotel. The game relies on its creepy atmosphere and does it well, though it doesn’t really go in for cheap scare tactics, it’s more of a mystery than a horror type of game and while the themes become a bit muddled towards the end, I personally thought it was a decent story overall.
In terms of walking sims, The Suicide of Rachel Foster doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary…but that’s not a terrible thing. Fans of Gone Home will definitely get the most out of this but it doesn’t quite hit the same level of quality, which is a shame. I think it’s a great game, just not as memorable as that overall.
Visually, the game is nice to look at and runs smoothly. The voice-acting however, is superb and credit where credit is due. The soundtrack is also decent and atmospheric.
The Verdict
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a decent walking sim, but it just can’t quite compete with the likes of Gone Home due to feeling a bit rushed towards the end and while the story is decent, it can feel like the tone is bit muddled. There’s a good game here though and is definitely worth a look if you are a walking sim fan.