Dear Esther [PC]

[Munson]

Anyone else played this? It's basically a story where the player does nothing, literally nothing, other than walk through the map and listen to the narrative. You can't even run or jump, never mind interact with anything. You are basically just left alone on a mysterious island, and you're free to wander, even though there's a very obviously defined path that you are funnelled into if you stray too far. Graphically, it uses a pumped up Source engine, and mostly looks really good, if a little 2004 if you're being super critical.

Metacritic user reviews are pretty much either 0 or 10, so it's fair to say it's 'marmite'. Also it's very short apparently. As in like less than 2 hours. I've downloaded it through Steam just for a laugh. Played for maybe 20 minutes and I'm unsure. Definitely gonna persist with it for a while though. Intriguing.

 

[Silent_Scone]

The people that created it are doing a similarly open game with Cry Engine 3 no less. Think it's called Rapture or something but don't quote me on that. The end of the world in one hour.

I've not played Dear Esther but it is supposed to be pretty eerie, especially toward the end. It's based on the book, which I've not read either

 

[Darren S]

It weirded me out this game. I put just over 20mins into it - and like Royston says, you actually 'do' nothing. The backdrop and the narrative do give the impression that you're stuck on some remote Scottish island with literally sweet FA going on, with a Tales of The Unexpected storyline running behind it.

Also as Roy - I don't know if its a short stroke of genius or a modern day revamp of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole from the C64 days. Which could, quite easily - win THE most pointless game title eva....

D.

 

[Munson]

It's pretty good. Leaves one feeling quite contemplative, but also thinking "eh...wot?" I don't really know what it was about, or even who I was supposed to be, but I guess that's the idea.

I'd struggle to recommend it to anyone, as it's kind of a personal thing - you have to be a certain type of person to enjoy it, and if you are, I think you'll already know wether or not you will play it.

It would be amazing under the influence of cannabis. I'll most likely play it again sometime...

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Apparently it's different each time you play it. The dialogue is kind of semi-random. In any one play-through you only hear a certain amount of the dialogue. Play it through more times and you'll hear more.

I think it was interesting rather than fun. It gets hugely pretentious in parts but it's atmospheric and strangely compelling.