A nice little visual novel sort of experience. The visuals and the narration were pretty interesting, but ultimately it's as shallow as it is deep. I found myself wanting a bit more, but the experience leaves you as quick as you start it. The locations do reflect some of the narration, with mention of a crash of some kind, and then finding machine parts here and there. It just seems like I would have liked some sort of additional set pieces with audio to explore some of these things, but the game is good as it is.

Disclaimer: I got this game fully expecting this is not the usual kind of game, I was expecting something akin to a visual novel. This is a pure, undistilled example of what a walking simulator should be. It is moody, with a heavy emphasis on environmental storytelling, with a captivating, poetic story and a strong narrator.

This is something close to a poem told in a visual interactive format. If you are into such kind of experiences, this is one of the best!

Strongly recommended!

Funny how a game that, in my opinion, has barely anything memorable by it’s own terms, has been responsible for spawning a whole video game genre. A genre that has been quite remarkable in the past decade or so.

I feel that spawning such an influence makes Dear Esther worth of analysis, even if that analysis is more focused on Walking Sims as a genre. I can’t help but wonder how special might have been those few devs who played this back in time and decided to follow the same formula for their own games. Something makes me think that probably, the main source of inspiration for both Dear Esther and other walking sims comes from outside of the game industry. I dare to say that the main source might come from literature. Specifically, post-modern literature, from the likes of Joyce, Faulkner, Virginia Woolf. The use of stream-of-consciousness and inner monologue, the fragmentary storytelling, the use of multiple perspectives, the pacing, the meta-narrative elements at times, the impossibility to tell wtf is going on (therefore, the idea is to go for a kind of experience that is not meant to be understood but simply felt); it’s all there. Of course, this kind of game can be easily linked to games like Myst, Riven, and such. But Dear Esther removes any kind of puzzle, leaving the gameplay at a minimum degree. The only mechanic here is just walking. It’s all about exploration. A veeeery slow exploration. Luckily, later walking sims incorporated different mechanichs and gameplay possibilities.

The only memorable thing about Dear Esther seems to be the concept –which wasn’t really all that well executed- and the atmosphere – just at a few times –, but that seems to be enough to put this game in a glorified place.

This isn't a game, and I don't try to sound dismissive but this is a story using a controller as a vehicle. It's like one of those educational tours that stops has speaker placed throughout a road for you to listen to. And this isn't supposed to be dismissive of walking sims. I just think this is an iggregiously boring one, and one that thinks speaking in complexities makes itself complex. The path itself is incredibly boring and tedious, listening to the babbling itself doesn't really help the situation, and that's it. A game can focus on an incredible story and be mechanically interesting or relevant, or even utilize the facade of a game to enhance the story. These are pieces we should discuss when it comes to games as an artform. This is just crap.

The landscapes are the star of the show. The stunning environments slowly unravel and become more and more interesting as you navigate through the game. The game's symbolism is littered all over the island with breadcrumbs for the player who takes the time to stop and zoom in. The island itself changes meaning throughout the game, but the abstract nature of the story leads to many of the clues you discover becoming a dead end in a way that I'm conflicted about. As background ambiance the story didn't need much scrutiny early on, but as it becomes more prominent it also becomes more heavy handed, and it's easier to fixate on the flaws in the writing. I do not like the story or necessarily how it was told, which is unfortunate because you can tell it benefits from multiple playthroughs, but I have no desire to go back and fill in the gaps that I missed.

The game makes great use out of limiting the player to just walking, listening, and looking in order to create the atmosphere of helplessness and lack of control. The game teases the player with exploration but is actually quite linear, and unfortunately there were a couple of chapters I circled back to the beginning without really understanding where to go next. But you can't get too mad at a game that tried something and took some chances and did something very new and refreshing at the time.