I finished playing through the games from Giant Sparrow the past few days: The Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch. Both are short games, with Unfinished Swan taking me ~2 hours and Edith Finch taking 2.5 hours. Even though these games are short, they are very dense in gameplay and narrative.
I prefer Edith Finch to Unfinished Swan, but honestly, these games are very different in gameplay and narrative delivery, so comparing them isn't fair since they stand on their own as unique experiences. Edith Finch is very narratively focused, and the gameplay is simply a delivery device for it. Unfinished Swan is gameplay first, and the narrative ties levels together and gives purpose to the world.
On Edith Finch. I enjoy how this game introduces a gameplay idea and then throws it away within 5-10 minutes, and you'll never see it again. It's an excellent method of keeping such a narratively focused game from becoming dull and mundane. Each part of the game is brief and simple, but it's constantly changing how you play and how the story is told, so system depth never becomes something you need to keep the game engaging. The gameplay elements add depth to the narrative sequence unfolding and help elevate immersion.
An excellent example is a section where the controlled character is on a swing. The player has control of the character's left and right legs, with input bound to the left and right analog sticks, respectively. I won't spoil what occurs, but that input method effectively elevates the player's connection and immersion in the sequence. While this sequence is excellently executed, the gameplay is never returned to, and it shouldn't since at no point in the story does a character ride on a swing again.
On Unfinished Swan. Even though the story of this game isn't that important, I like how it presents itself like a children's nighttime story, and then the gameplay reflects that by having the world and gameplay feel fantastical and dreamlike at times. The gameplay verbs are much more consistent than in Edith Finch. The main verb, and the only one for 99% of the game, is launching paint/water. You are painting the world, and that's all you do. However, the game's complexity comes from what you do with that paint or water.
It's fascinating to see Unfinished Swan and Edith Finch next to each other. With Unfinished Swan, you can tell that Giant Sparrow was trying to see how far they could push a simple gameplay idea. With Edith Finch, the goal was almost the opposite: how can you use unique gameplay ideas to elevate narrative delivery and player engagement?
It's also worth mentioning how uniquely beautiful both games are. Edith Finch and Unfinished Swan are visually striking in their own ways, showing the versatility of Giant Sparrow's artistic talent. Unfinished Swan is, at times, minimalist and surreal, with impossible landscapes and dense cities that are presented consistently enough to feel logical in its world. And again, Edith Finch is almost wholly the antithesis artistically.
Where Unfinished Swan has expansive cities, Edith Finch has a dense house to explore. While Unfinished Swan feels like a dreamland, Edith Finch feels like an actual place you could go to. Unfinished Swan is very precise and sparse in its use of color, but Edith Finch is full of color and rich in texture.
I can't believe playing these games has taken me so long to get to. I'm glad I finally did so, and I'm excited to see what the next game Giant Sparrow is cooking up now becomes.