MANILA, Philippines – “This is a fabrication,” I tried to tell myself. There was someone sitting right beside me, watching the videos along with me in the real world.

At the same time, there was a very strong compulsion in play when I began to uncover the depths of Her Story, enough to suck me in to this strange recursion. I imagined myself in front of only one computer, rather than in front of a computer playing a game that represented a secondary screen in front of me.

It was weird. It was irresistible.

It was also willing to shake you down to your core and leave you unsettled, unless you uncover everything. This is Her Story.

Her Story is interactive storytelling

Her Story is a video game from Sam Barlow, the creator of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Aisle, and performed by Viva Seifert. It’s not a game that lends itself to the usual descriptions, so it may be easier to call it an piece of interactive storytelling.

The game sits you in front of a searchable police database, and your friend offers to let you access an untold number of video files taken from the year 1994 from a single case: real-life interviews of a woman.

Your friend leaves you with just a search tag bringing up a small handful of short clips. The first search tag you are left with is MURDER.

Your choice is simple at the onset. Do you give in to curiosity and watch the videos, or do you simply log off the virtual machine, end the game, and leave yourself wondering for the rest of your days, “What were in those clips?”

Within the confines of the computer

I watched video clip after clip. I searched for clues. I took the most logical paths available from what I was seeing, making inferences and taking the obvious terms as a sign I was going in the right direction.

I was rewarded with new videos. Everything from 6-second snippets to minute-long diatribes. They were all from the same few interviews of the same woman.

I began experiencing the feedback loop – finding a clue led to following the clue, which produced more videos and more clues to follow.

The game’s internal logic was flawless: Her Story allowed you unlimited time to go about searching for clues, and at the same time everything you need is completely within the game, with no deviations from the 1994 setting in the story.

What made the tension enjoyable was knowing that this was a tale already told over the course of a few virtual months. At the same time, it was one being told to me haphazardly – a linear story presented with startling nonlinearity.

All the while, as you uncovered more videos, the dread – of wanting to know why yet possibly never really knowing why – began to linger in the air.

Do not spoil yourself

By the time you read this, I will have long left the world of the game. Instead, imagine me to be the friend that invites you to take a seat in front of this computer I’ve set up.

Do not go looking for spoilers. A walkthrough makes everything too easy. Instead, learn how the video database operates, and master it.

Eventually, your patience will be rewarded as her story becomes unraveled, and what you’re left with is your own personal tale of how you found resolution. – Rappler.com

Her Story is available now on PC, Mac, and iOS for $5.99 across all platforms, or P199.95 on Steam in the Philippines.