Video games have the opportunity to elevate storytelling by introducing an interactive element. Not only can gamers witness a narrative unfold, but they can also partake in it too. The interactivity can help to amplify feelings of identification with the characters and make central themes more impactful. This is illustrated inWhat Remains of Edith Finch, a 2017 game developed by Giant Sparrow. Although the gameplay is minimal, what is present is used effectively to immerse players into the story presented.
As players explore the Finch family home, they uncover the story behind the many tragic deaths in the seemingly cursed family. Every sad story is told through mini-experiences that make the game feel like an anthology of mini-games. One particularly interesting story inWhat Remains of Edith Finchis that of Lewis Finch, a young man who retreats into fantasy to escape the dullness of his life. Lewis’s story can be seen as an illustration of compulsive daydreaming along with the destruction it can bring to one’s life.
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Lewis the Cannery Worker
Lewis is one of the most interestingcharacters inWhat Remains of Edith Finch. Lewis’s room, which contains hookah pipes and psychedelic art, gives a window into his personality. He is someone with an expansive imagination and a lust for fantasy. Though his regular life is a boring one that has him chopping up fish at the cannery, in his mind is a world filled with color and excitement, and it is constantly begging for him to explore it. Lewis crafts for himself an imaginary land filled with fantastic creatures and, brick by brick, he builds a kingdom for people to inhabit.
As time progresses,Lewistopia increases in complexity, and Lewis expands his imaginary adventures. His imagination is like a muscle, and the more he uses it, the stronger it gets. Soon Lewistopia is too small for him, and he goes on new adventures to unseen lands where his imagination is treated to novel splendors that excite him once again. Lewis, as it becomes plain to see, is addicted to the escapism that his imagination provides. That escape, with all its beautiful wonders, comes with the promise that the dullness of reality does not represent his whole life. With imagination, Lewis finds friendship, adventure, and most importantly, purpose.
Not only do players get to see how fantasy and daydreaming consume Lewis’s life, but they also get to play through it too.Players control Lewisas he goes through the motions at the cannery. However, slowly but surely, the screen space is engulfed by Lewis’s fantasy, and players must find a way to simultaneously continue chopping fish while navigating Lewis’s fantasy. Soon, like Lewis, they find that it is easy to find a routine and mostly ignore the dull fish-chopping work.
Lewis’s habit mirrors the cycle of compulsive daydreaming. To seek an escape from a painful or stressful reality, some people will retreat into an elaborate world of fantasy. This can turn into compulsive behavior lasting hours, which can often interfere with the responsibilities of everyday life. When life, in turn, gets increasingly stressful, the person will retreat into the world of fantasy to escape, leading to a cycle.
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The world of imagination can be addictive because in fantasy, one can control everything and one can craft the perfect, stress-free utopia. There is no fear of feeling powerless, scared, or lonely when one can simply conjure up whatever one needs. Furthermore, the more one retreats into the imaginary world, the more convincing the mirages become, and the brain gets better at forming immersive realms to escape into. It is sort of like having theperfect VR gameto duck into whenever the going gets tough.
AsWhat Remains of Edith Finchillustrates, the central problem with compulsive daydreaming is that while the adventures and wonders of the imagination may be amazing, they can be detrimental when they come at the cost of action in the real world. Instead of an escape, imagination can then become a prison trapping one in a state of stagnancy. One can find oneself falling in love with illusions, and turning one’s back on reality in the process.
Like quicksand, Lewis is sucked into his imaginary worlds and daydreaming becomes his default state. This does not affect his work at the cannery, and instead, he becomes a model employee thanks to his ability to work robotically. However, his addiction to the imaginal realms does come at a cost. Every second spent in his imagination is a second not spent improving his life. Hence, his life remains stagnant, and he never excels past the job he loathes. His family relationships deteriorate, and his mother begs him to return from the cannery to no avail.As Lewis’s psychiatrist explains, Lewis just drifts further and further away from reality.
Lewis’s Cautionary Tale
The worst thing that deteriorates while Lewis is off infantasy land is his mental health. Although Lewis can tell apart fantasy from reality in the beginning, that stops being the case as his fantasies progress. Soon enough, he believes the marvelous Lewis in his imagination is the real one, and he meets a grizzly end when a guillotine in the cannery becomes the site of his imaginary coronation.
Lewis’s story is a sad one, but like many of thestories inWhat Remains of Edith Finch, it also serves as a warning. Although imagination is a phenomenal tool of the mind that brings forth creativity, innovation, and storytelling, it is also a dangerous thing if not wielded with careful control. Imagination has the opportunity to enhance life and bring color to it, but it also has the opportunity to blind one to reality with its splendors.
Lewis’s death is but one of many deaths that players learn about inWhat Remains of Edith Finch. Though the game takes place almost entirely in a single home, each room players get to explore offers a masterfully told story of human ambitions and tragedies. The deaths of the differentFinch family memberswill resonate with different gamers, but for those who find themselves lost in the world of dreams, perhaps Lewis will be a character who strikes a chord.
What Remains of Edith Finchis available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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