Never have I played a game that rocked me to my core in the same way as The Suicide of Rachel Foster. It’s the fact that the story was laid out from the beginning in a way that seemed that it was going to shed light on the horror of child abuse and predatory adults but instead did a 180. It goes from being something that could’ve brought up a narrative about human weakness and the toll that it takes on your family and instead fetishizes child abuse and puts predators on a pedestal.
The heroes in the story are portrayed as the villains and the monsters lurking in the shadows say that they’re the victims. For a game that starts off with a warning about grooming it doesn’t touch on the fact that the subject is actually morally wrong. Never have I played a game that so blatantly leaves abuse survivors without a voice to tell their side of the story.
This game is an absolute travesty.
Story
The game starts with Nicole (the main protagonist) as she reads a letter written by her mother who’s passed away due to an undisclosed disease. She became estranged with her father for 10 years following his infidelity to her mother. The relationship is strained even further because of the fact that the “other woman” was in fact a teenager named Rachel. Rachel had committed suicide before Nicole and her mother had left town; she was nine weeks pregnant at the time.
The letter left by Nicole’s mother pleads with her to return to her parent’s abandoned hotel and get it ready to sell with the intent of leaving the family of Rachel a portion from the sale of it. Upon returning to her childhood home of the hotel, it forces her to remember bitter memories and rethink her depictions of them due to discovered clues and forgotten aspects.
Not everyone is who they seem to be and not everything is how it once was known.
Unfortunately, while the setup for this game sounds very intriguing and dark, the writers failed to properly handle the subject matter properly. It had the makings of a truly harrowing tale about morality and justice but decides to push an agenda that most people would find truly repulsive. Not one person in the entire story acknowledges the fact that Leonard (Nicole’s father) is actually a child abuser and that what he did was wrong, other than the fact that he cheated on Nicole’s mother.
Instead, I was forced to sit through a 4-hour game that for some reason felt that it needed to focus more on making me sympathize with Leonard without giving an idea of how Rachel felt about her relationship with a grown man. A grown man who was her tutor as she was dealing with depression because she was dyslexic.
Everything that’s told regarding how she felt about their relationship is said by the male characters in the game without any evidence of her complacency within it. How am I as a player supposed to believe that she truly loved him and wasn’t doing this against her will, if there isn’t any evidence to back this up?
Gameplay
The gameplay is very mild because this is one of those “walking simulator” types of games. That’s actually the only aspect that had me continue playing because of the location I was given to explore. Most of the time you’re searching through the hotel finding clues or needed items to push the story along.
Walking around the hotel, while spooky, felt really sluggish. The run button only makes Nicole go from a snail’s pace to a brisk meandering stroll. Some more speed in the walking would’ve been better not only for traversal but because of the fears that Nicole has of the hotel.
If you think someone or something is in the hotel with you, wouldn’t you run as fast as you could?
You can interact with the world around you by opening doors, picking up objects, and choosing dialogue options but most of the time it’s not completely even. Sometimes you’re forced to pick a dialogue option when there’s only one given. It halts the conversation and mechanically makes no sense whatsoever.
A lot of the items the game has you inspect are meaningful in terms of the story but others are mundane. There were some objects that seemed important, that I would’ve liked to see but it restricted me from doing so. I can’t pick up certain objects in Nicole or Leonard’s room to get a better understanding of them but I can pick up a bottle of water or a construction level?
The game is set up in a span of several days with each day containing its own game mechanics implemented piece by piece. While they’re unique and have a purpose at the moment they’re given to us, they’re disposed of after that point and from then on. It’s a wasted element that I wish had taken the forefront over the distasteful story.
You get a polaroid camera, a wind-up flashlight, and a paranormal microphone. Out of the three items, the camera is a total waste of time. You don’t use it to take pictures at all because you’re just using it for the flash so that you can see when making your way down the hallways. The worst part about it is that it’s thrown away in less than two minutes because once you find the flashlight you don’t need it again. Even the flashlight that needs to be pumped up by pressing the corresponding button only serves use in a couple of instances.
The best tool at your disposal is the microphone. You’ll use it to trace a sound that you hear in the hotel to find a clue. But that’s the only time you’ll use it. Again, it’s a one-and-done scenario. It’s almost criminal how they only let you use these unique items only once apiece. If the story hadn’t been as rushed as it is then maybe these items could’ve been utilized a lot more or maybe if they’d be spaced out more than they actually are, it would’ve made a difference.
The other portion of the game is talking back and forth with a FEMA agent on the other line of your cell-phone. You’ll speak about your family’s past and make small talk about the things around you. As you find specific clues or details surrounding Rachel’s death, you’ll sidebar with the voice on the other line to give and receive input.
The trailers for the game make it out to look like there’s a person or spirit to watch out for but it never came to that. It’s actually pretty misleading in that aspect. I never felt that there was an urgency in what I was doing at any point. You’ll have a long-drawn-out conversation between Nicole and the other voice that’ll have you pacing the hallways waiting for something more to happen. Only once is the ghost aspect even remotely touched upon but that too is tossed away without any return in sight.
Visuals
The hotel is the absolute star of the show. It was the only true thing that kept me pressing on through the slog I had to trudge. It has ambiance reminiscent of the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece The Shining but doesn’t really do too much to give it its own flavor. It made me wish that they’d just made a The Shining game instead of this rubbish.
Audio
The sound is supposed to play a big part in the game but overall it was serviceable. Only a couple of areas really utilized creepy sounds and voices but then it gets left at the wayside, just like everything else. Voice acting at times is alright but most of the time I could tell that there was no true emotion behind what the actors were saying.
Replayability
There are two endings available though they both felt empty and out of nowhere.
There is no replay value at all in my opinion.
In fact, I wish I could take the four hours of my life back that it stole from me.
What It Could Have Done Better
A story revision would’ve been heavily appreciated. The yuck-fest dialogue about Leonard and Rachel’s “love” made me sick to my stomach every time. Nicole never bats an eye about the fact that her dad was abusing a child, not once. She’s only mad because her father cheated on her mother. I can see why she’d be mad that he cheated, but there’s the added layer that the man is a predator. I don’t understand why Nicole speaks so fondly about him given everything he’s done.
I would’ve loved to have seen something from Rachel’s point of view represented in the game. She’s a girl who’s been in a relationship with a married man who’s gotten her pregnant and she also knows his daughter. Why don’t we get to hear anything that showed her stance or feelings on everything? We’re just supposed to assume that she was willingly in love with this man? Yuck! Who wrote this thing?!
Leonard should’ve never had been painted in the light that he is. He’s a grown man who’s fallen in love with a child, one who he’s taking advantage of because he’s someone who’s there for her as a mentor. It’s implied in the story that Leo was Rachel’s tutor because she was struggling with dyslexia and depression. We even get to hear voice snippets on his side of the tale but even he never admits that what he had done was wrong. It’s made even worse because we’re forced to look at nude illustrations of Rachel at one point that he had put together which hinges on being child pornography. How did people approve this story? His actions are never called into question.
What, are we supposed to feel sorry for him because his young “love” was taken away from him?
Aside from the story, I experienced numerous glitches as well as a game-breaking glitch. Many of the times I had to go into crawl-spaces Nicole would get stuck in place for a few moments. Sometimes I wouldn’t be able to interact with an object because the game was glitching. Audio seemed to disappear in a few dialogue scenes as well.
All three of the items you’re given to help you around the hotel are really only utilized once in the game. Two of them are both used their one time only minutes away from each other too. If you like slow-paced walking then this game has you covered. It’s the fact that these items don’t get more use that it shows just how slow you really wonder around. The developers were more worried about you “experiencing” their sideways story instead of producing interesting gameplay.
Verdict
While the hotel itself was interesting and spooky to explore, it sadly felt too unoriginal to carry the entire game on its shoulders. The story was handled completely wrong from start to finish. I couldn’t get through the game fast enough and if given the chance, I would’ve never had played it, to begin with. I deleted this as soon as the credits started rolling. Given to the correct writers, the story could’ve made a positive impact but unfortunately, it was a complete blowout.
This is a story about a girl who suffered from depression, bullying, and dyslexia and in turn is seduced by a grown man because he knew that she was searching for someone to love her. The story fails to frame it in the way the I’ve just depicted and that’s what’s truly despicable about the whole charade.
In a time where child sex trafficking is still an ongoing issue, it’s extremely offensive to see a game sympathizing with the monsters committing crimes against children.
