Interactivity
While the story is not very interactive, the controls are. In most other video games, the user simply clicks the object they want to move, pick up, or open. Instead, in What Remains of Edith Finch, the user must manually move, pick up, or open the object by using the controls. Some tasks within the game are harder than others, with the difficulty ranging from opening a window, to simultaneously cutting a fish while navigating a smaller character through a maze on a split screen.
What Remains of Edith Finch is aesthetically beautiful, however, it is not as interactive as The Stanley Parable, Ultra Deluxe. The story is set no matter what the player does in the game. The user can only reach certain areas in the house once they complete another task first. The game helps the user along with the tasks by having a little white cartoon hand on whichever object they must go towards next. This is a lot more straightforward than The Stanley Parable, Ultra Deluxe.
Nonetheless, if we use Mateas and Stern’s perimeters to critique the agency of this game, What Remains of Edith Finch has none. They argue that unless the user can make decisions that impact the storyline of the game, then there is no agency (Mateas and Stern).