The Suicide of Rachel Foster

Do NOT play if you're depressed or have suicidal tendencies! Really, take the devs warning seriously.
I've just finished playing it and feel... Weird. Unsettled, a major WTF feeling. Especially the latter half of the game would've seriously triggered me a couple of years ago.
The game itself: Your mom and dad divorced years ago (When you were a teenager) due to an affair of your dad with a girl, who ended up committing suicide.
Years have passed since your dad dead and now your mom also died, leaving you the hotel.
You get there in a snowstorm, to asses your new/old belonings and get an odd phone call.
The following days have you exploring the hotel, trying to find out what has happened all those years ago.
And oh, you walk really slowly.

The story of the game revolves around Nicole who returns to the hotel where she spent her childhood. Together with her mother they left as it turned out her father'd had an affair with a high school student (Rachel) 30 years his junior. Now that her father passed away Nicole is back to take one last look and decide if the establishment really needs to be sold.
To make things complicated there is a snowstorm that cuts Nicole off from civilization. As we get to the master suite we manage to get hold of Irving, a FEMA agent, who will provide support throughout the game via phone. Nicole's journey is told in 9 chapters (i.e. 9 days spent at the hotel) during which we solve technical problems such as fixing the heating or the lighting but at the same time investigate Rachel's past as each day more and more clues are popping up.
The game takes place in the early '90s so expect to find a lot of VHS & cassette tapes in key office areas. What I love in these walking sims is how you can pick up and rotate many objects and you'll notice that the attention to detail in this game is just superb. Dialogue between Nicole and Irving is regular thanks to the huge, bulky mobile phone she uses.
Both voice actors did a great job and what I also found a good thing when it comes to immersion was using a headset. This is something I mostly do in horror games not here. I remember finding a manhole cover in the garage area - it has no relation to the story, at all, but that small, removable plate had its own sound effect as Nicole was walking on it.
I don't want to spoil the story so let's just say there are a couple of twists here and there. The creators took a different direction I expected at the beginning. Due to this not everybody will accept the outcome, plus, the overall subject (suicide) of the game is a tad bit difficult to take in. It is a great walking sim, nonetheless, and highly recommended.

++Interesting Story (not very good, but fine)
+NIce Graphics for a Indie Walking Simulator/ good atmosphere
- not much to find outside the short 9 days main quest (could be more secrets stuff, more secret rooms)
Good for Walking Simulator Fans, Story Fans with not to high expectations & Achievement Hunters/Collectors

One day, The Shining was sitting at a bar when What Remains Of Edith Finch walked in. He caught her eye, and she sat down at the bar next to him. They talked, shared a few drinks, then went out to Shining's car where they removed their clothes. Nine months later, this game was born. Rating: 8/10

I just finished The Suicide of Rachel Foster in a single sitting because I kept playing to see what would happen next. I see that the game has gotten some flak over the subject matter. At the risk of appearing insensitive, I will put that aside and say that I thought it was very well done and it certainly 'grabbed' me and held my attention to the very end.
Nicole arrives at a family hotel that she has inherited and plans to sell. The initial purpose of her visit is to review the place, prior to sale. A snowstorm hits and she is trapped, by herself, with only a concerned FEMA worker to keep her company by telephone. It soon becomes evident that there is a mystery in her family's past and she begins to look for answers in what remains of the hotel.
The voice acting is excellent and this is a game you have to wear headphones for. The sound effects are spot on and some clues have to be heard and not seen. The hotel has 4 floors which are laid out in amazing detail. Although most of the rooms cannot be entered, I still found it interesting to wander the halls, learning the layout,and finding all the secret passages. There is a map function that was very helpful and often, a broad objective is given ("go explore the mezzanine"). The majority of the achievements will be earned, just be playing through the story.
My only complaint is the save system which is automatic but seemed to be less frequent than I would expect. There is a choice at the end which will alter the outcome but the only way to experience a different ending is to start the entire game over (which I am not inclined to do).
The plot twists and turns and I did not see the ending coming. I admit that I found the conclusion a bit unsettling and would have liked to see additional choices presented. Although suicide is an element in this story, it is definitely not the focal point and it was not on my mind for the majority of the time I spent in the game. All in all, I recommend this to those who enjoy an interesting journey of discovery.

If you're considering buying this, beware: a lot of reviewers seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the message of the game.
It does not glorify suicide. It does not defend pedophilia.
What it does is explain how these things can exist as a result of many things - mental illness, tragic circumstances, any one of the many complicated things that make up our lives. It doesn't defend anything. It's a story about recovering suppressed memories that the protagonist doesn't necessarily want to remember.
I'm also noticing that many reviewers have not actually played the whole thing. I beat it in a handful of hours, and even though I like bigger games, this one is the perfect length. It's short, sweet, and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's atmospheric in a way I haven't enjoyed in a game in a long time; my husband and I were sitting in front of the TV like kids again, jumping at every imagined shadow/noise, staying up way too late because we just had to know how it ended.
Does the game deal with sensitive subject matter? Of course, which they warn you about up front. For people with unresolved trauma, I can see why this would be upsetting, and I hope those people get help instead of lashing out against the developers. We can't just ignore these issues - facing them head-on is what helps many people to heal.
Again, and I cannot stress this enough, this game doesn't glorify anything. People who think it does clearly haven't even finished the game, which is very unfair to a studio that clearly worked so hard on a beautiful piece of art.
The only thing this game glorifies are huge, apocalyptic snow storms; and honestly, I could go for a spooky handful of days in an empty hotel in a blizzard right about now.

Note: If you are suffering from suicidal tendencies, don't suffer alone, seek help in a friend or a professional. You're not alone.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a narrative horror game where you explore a hotel during a major snow storm.
Story:
You play as Nicole, after her fathers affair with a teenager Rachel Foster becomes the talk of the town, she resents her father and Rachel. After Rachel commits suicide, Nicole and her mother move out and her father becomes a recluse. After Nicole's father passes away, he leaves her the hotel and she has to go back and look through it before selling, but she gets stranded there during a major snow storm and her only companion is Irving, a FEMA agent talking to her through a phone.
The story in The Suicide of Rachel Foster is good, but it feels like the writers didn't fully flesh out the story and it leads to some questionable choices. The story of this game is pretty messed up and honestly people who are easily offended might find a lot of the characters irredeemable and absolute trash human beings. The game completely derails in the final hour of the game after the plot twist is explained to you.
The plot is actually pretty engaging, it got to the point where I didn't want to stop playing until I saw the credits roll (with the games short length that was easy), but it completely lost me at the ending. I don't want to spoil it, but the game deals with situations like grooming and abuse and makes these characters seem like the good guys, yet in real life they would definitely not be considered that. It definitely makes me feel indifferent and it's can of worms the writers should not have opened and in the end it hurt the story.
Graphics:
The art style of The Suicide of Rachel Foster is really good and honestly I loved the look of the hotel. Every floor and room looks distinct enough with details thrown around to make exploring a fun thing to do. Since you're alone in the hotel it definitely gives off feelings that you're alone there, yet it also perfectly creates a feeling that you might not be alone. When you can find hidden items thrown around in certain rooms and explore remnants of previous hotel customers, which was really cool.
Audio:
Since the game is mostly two people talking to each other, so voice acting is incredibly important and the voice actors for both Nicole and Irving do a bang up job, especially Irving who I really liked. They both did a good job and their emotions come off clearly, they did a great job.
Another great thing is the ambience sound effects. Since you're trapped in a massive hotel alone during a major snow storm there's a bunch sounds that help build an amazing atmosphere like floors creaking, branches hitting the windows and the wind howling outside, it helps you immerse yourself into this world and definitely makes you feel that you might not be alone there.
The music is also really good. The tracks definitely help set up what they set out to do like relax you or scare the shit out of you.
Gameplay:
If I could compare this game to anything, it very closely resembles Firewatch. You basically explore a location and once in a while you talk on your phone with a person that is far away from you. You have some stuff you need to do in the hotel like looking for items and solving puzzles.
You are given a map of the hotel and there's a bunch of ground to cover and in the early hours when you have to go through a lot of it, it becomes really difficult to figure out where to go, the map is really confusing and it's better just explore and remember where everything is. By the end, the map became useless as I mostly remembered where to go.
The puzzles (if you can call them that) usually tend to be, go to some place and look for an item and then the game repeats multiple times. It actually is puzzle-y to figure out how to get to your objective than the actual puzzles. The gameplay definitely takes a backset to the story.
Verdict:
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is ok, it definitely doesn't reach it's full potential. The story is engaging, the setting is cool and it's definitely creepy. The whole finale of the game where the big reveals happen are weird to say the least and a lot of the writing is questionable to say the least. It's definitely a game not for everyone, especially for those who don't want a disturbing experience.
Final Rating:
7/10
Pros:
+ Engaging story
+ The hotel is fun to explore
+ Audio design is incredible
Cons:
- Act 3 of the story contains some really questionable writing
- Navigating the hotel might be confusing in the first hours of the game
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