Sound is definitely the highlight of Gone Home. When the game opened, I thought I may have missed a part on the Steam page that stated it was a horror. I found out it wasn't, but that did not make it feel any different because of the sound. I do believe the developers were aware that certain sound techniques were used in horror games to keep the player in a constant state of alert, and they wanted to do the same with their players.
Sound sets the atmosphere of this empty house really well, and it is persistent. The storm doesn't stop. There are some visual cues of this, seeing the lightning flash in a darker room, but the sound of the storm constantly remains to the point where if you are really focused on looking around, a bigger impact of thunder may make you jump. There is also some ambient music that plays that keeps up the dark and creepy tone of the game. These sounds kept making me feel like I was going to walk in a room and find a family member's dead body. I may play too many horror games though.
Sound in space is a good topic for this game as well. I first saw how this worked well in this game when I was searching the left hallway of the first floor and heard a slightly unclear message being repeated. This got louder as I walked closer to the room which helped me find the source: a weather report on the tv in the television room. This use of sound in space happened a lot, especially with tvs and tape players. Whenever I put on one of the tapes, and then continued to look around, the volume and direction of the sound changed as I moved around which would help me locate where I came from and how far I had gone. This was helpful in the basement and when secret passages came into play.
I typically dislike playing first person games because they turn me around a lot, and I tend to get lost when I get distracted by exploring rather than going straight for the goal. The use of sound in this game as well as the broadness (or lack of, I couldn't really tell) of the goal really helped me feel okay with not always knowing the right way and encouraging my exploring habits. I didn't fear delving into the random passages because I could use a tape recorder playing music to help bring me back. Even with the map, this house would have been a really confusing landscape if the sound weren't there to lead me.
In some way, I feel like this is some sort of metaphor for the sister's life. Music was a big thing for her. It helped her find herself and come to an understanding of who she is and what she wanted. The amount of tapes that can be found and references to bands and such in her stuff displays that. While music for the player is a way to lead them to the truth or recalibrate, music leads the sister to find her own way and discover her truth in who she wants to be and what life she wants to live.
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