Marie's Room is one of these games that divides the game community over what the definition of a "Game" really means. This was perhaps most public when games like Firewatch, The Stanley Parable and Gone Home were branded by the Steam Community as "Walking Simulators".

These games approach the gaming medium more as a story-telling and narrative medium with light gaming (mostly puzzle) elements thrown in. The emphasis is more upon the unveiling of a narrative or a gradual enlightenment via the story interaction rather than upon gaming mechanics and twitch reactions. Despite the bad reaction that these types of games generally get from the "hard-core" gamers (of which, I would consider myself part of...), I really think that they are evidence of a genre that is growing up and maturing beyond the male fantasies that normally pervade this genre.

The genre of gaming has more than enough space to fit a wide variety of tastes, just as the movie and book genre has space for action based narratives and tear-jerking/heart touching stories. This sort of game will not bring down gaming as we know it, but will serve to broaden and mature the appeal of beloved genre!

From a personal perspective (again, coming from decades of hardcore gaming), I do crave the game or narrative that makes me feel, or cry (in a manly way) or to suddenly have a moment of enlightenment. I enjoy these games as much as the next FPS shooter or in depth Paradox grand strategy.

Marie's Room

Marie's Room is a tough game to review without giving it away. It is billed as a short-form narrative driven game that is a designed to be played in a single sitting. This means that there are no saves and the duration of the game is around half an hour from start to finish, depending on have much you savour the experience and the content. I would say that that is a good choice by the game developer, as it really forces the player to sit down and make time to concentrate on the story and the game, rather than half playing in the way that we often have music or TV in the background when we are doing other things.

However, it does mean that you need to have a half hour or so to just sit down with no interruptions. For some people, this is an easier proposition than for others, I managed to find the time whilst I was away on work, so there was no chance of interruption as I could just lock myself in the hotel room for the required time! However, I could see this as being quite annoying if your first sitting at the game was interrupted, as it is a very linear game with no replayability and much of the story and experience is dependent on it being experienced for the first time.

The Setup

The game is told from the point of view of a girl (not Marie), who is returning to Marie's Room. Something has happened in the past, and the past is slowly revealed as you explore the various objects in the room. I can't really say much more than that, as the game really depends on you experiencing all of this for yourself with no spoilers!

You arrive at the house, from which there is a small ante-room where you can interact with a few things:

... however, you are quickly funneled into THE room, as it is in the present:

There is a small journal, which elaborates upon the events and descriptions of the past, whilst also serving as a place to gather clues to the small puzzles that exist in the room.

... and then you are transported back into the past memory. From here and this time, you are now "in the game" and you are exploring and discovering the events and the narrative that led up to the present moment.

Gameplay, Voice acting and Narrative

The controls and view is that of the First Person Shooter, which is quite common for the "Walking Simulator" genre of games. Mostly, there are objects in the room that you can interact with, which give you some narration, add a longer journal entry and perhaps advance the story. There are some very very basic puzzles that require you to read the clues in the Journal and to explore the room and it's various objects in some depth. However, that said, the puzzles are not ones that will have you stumped if you are observant.

This is definitely in the vein of an "artistic" game, and the way that the developer handles the pacing and the reveal of the story is quite masterful, especially given the "no-save, one sitting" restriction (although, one could argue that that makes things easier, by giving the developer a known set of player conditions for interaction). Likewise, the voice acting is pretty decent as well. However, there were times when I thought that it wore the "artistic" badge a little too obviously, where things were over-imbued with meaning or gravitas (both in the text descriptions and the voice acting). That said, I didn't find it immersion breaking... just a little bit much at times!

Visuals and Performance

The art style was quite beautiful to see. The "real world" of the room, was well rendered and there was quite a good attention to the detail of the textures and the layout of the room. I have to say, the Journal was really quite a beautiful object to interact with as well.

Performance-wise, this is not the most demanding of modern games. My laptop (XPS 15) handled it without breaking a sweat, although I would say that my laptop is bordering just short of a fully fledged gaming laptop. Older models of laptops might struggle, but I would still say that integrated graphics would still probably handle this, especially as there is no fast movement that needs to be rendered in real time. However, to be sure, always check the minimum/recommended system specs on the Steam Store page.

My Thoughts

I have to say, after my enforced half hour of sit down and play... I really did enjoy this game. The short but touching story, and the simple and non-frustrating puzzle elements combined with good voice acting and a beautiful art style really made me feel like it was time well spent! It is a linear game though, and so there is absolultely NO replay value in the game at all... however, I do look forward to introducing this game to my child when she is older... and perhaps my wife, if she gets interested.

This is a game that shows off what the genre can do in terms of storytelling... if only we can shake off the stigma of the "raging teenage console maniac" caricature that gamers have in the eyes of the broader public.

Review Specs

DELL XPS15 (9560)

CPU: i7-7700HQ
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: SSD
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050