The underlying haunting nature of the Greenbriars home is unfortunately squandered in this over priced game.(Spoilers)
There are elements in this game of infidelity, homosexuality and possible child abuse, all each as equally controversial and potentially hard hitting as the next. The game desperately tries to communicate to you that the inhabitants of this home are indeed human and not perfect, both in a past and present tense.
Unfortunately the game becomes more about your sister rather than the other members of the Greenbriar household and aside from a few standout moments, she's frankly not that interesting.
The one thing this game gets very, very right is atmosphere, Throughout the house Television's are left on, objects lie strewn about, dressers half open, doors ajar. This house feels lived in, and despite being a member returning from a globe trotting trip around Europe, you feel like you are invading the privacy of this family as the player. The storyteller in this game truly is the house itself, and that alone should be commended, the game doesn't hold your hand and leaves the player to his or her own devices
There's one problem with all of this, it's pretty damn boring.
There's an underlying tone of a haunting taking place here, it turns out while you were gone on your trip, you and your sisters girlfriend were investigating your home for what was believed to be paranormal activity, and there are Hints of it in the game.
One such example I can give is when you stumble across a piece of paper hinting to hidden compartments in the walls. There's a cross held within the confines of this crawlspace with writing on it and if you pick it up the light you turned on moments before will break, but only if you pick up the cross.
Unfortunately aside from a few more events these subplots never leads anywhere and It's all too possible to miss the clues. In fact my first time through the game I ended up finding the key to the attic rather fast, I'd say within the first 30 minutes of play, this of course leads to the rather abrupt ending which reveals to the player that your sister has left home to run off with her lesbian lover(Not saying anything is wrong with that). suffice it to say, I was a bit disappointed at the entirely anticlimactic ending the story took.
Gone home tries some new things in the Post Dear Esther gaming world, unfortunately the end result Is more of a muddled murmur than a message worth communicating.
6.5/10