![]() The soundtrack remains as enchantingly beautiful as it first was in 2012, often doing more to stimulate emotions within the player than either the narrative or central setting. ![]() While there were no bugs or frame drops throughout the playthrough, the consistently grey and blue nature of the island leaves little for the player to be visually awed by, particularly when some of the setpieces and objects within them are a little rough around the edges. But with so little going on on a consistent basis, the empty nature of the island starts to feel less like a feature and more like an obstacle as the game progresses.Īs with any port, presentation and extra features are always intriguing aspects of the more recent version of a title, and the Landmark Edition has mixed results in those two categories. Plenty of painted graffiti also litters the walls of the island, some of which is, apparently intentionally, difficult to read even with the proper perspective. Many of these objects are set aside as rewards for players who take the extra step while exploring, which makes the small task’s compelling nature a more personal judgement for the player, which is accompanied by the consideration of a slower than necessary walking speed for both the trip there and the more tedious backtracking back to the main path. ![]() The player’s journey throughout the island features very few items with which to interact with, as all of the available buttons merely zoom in the camera to provide the player a closer look. But beyond those final twenty minutes, the narrative lacks any sort of consistent progression to accompany the player’s traversal through the island, instead offering hints and non-sequitur soliloquies about the inhabitants of the island that do little to encourage the player to continue towards the completion of its two hour runtime.įor the most part, the experience of playing Dear Esther is pretty much what one would come to expect of the genre, aside from a few minor grievances. The story is exceedingly well-written, rich with creative language and descriptive imagery which benefit the game’s explanatory nature, with themes of precaution and regret being prominent throughout. The player-character’s identity and motivations are just as mysterious, and are made even less clear during the game’s powerful and dark final chapter, which represents one of the few sections of the story that are capable of investing the player. With an updated version being released on consoles and PC known as the Landmark Edition, Dear Esther will once again appear in the public’s eye, as the title’s well-written but event-less plot is bolstered by an engrossing soundtrack and a handful of new features, despite unimpressive graphics for a mostly bland setting.ĭear Esther’s core story is told through the narration of letters directed towards the titular Esther by a vague narrator, who constantly switches between the personas of a dying man and the game’s central location, an uninhabited and nameless island deep with history. One of the earlier and more infamous examples of this genre is Dear Esther, which began its life on PC as a Half-Life mod in 2007, until it got remade into a full title five years later by The Chinese Room. Despite this alienating aspect, these types of games have still managed to form a cult following, with fans consistently singing the praises of these games to any and all who will listen. While some players are perfectly content with the peaceful and reflective gameplay and stories these titles have to offer, a vocal portion have decreed these experiences as “non-games,” due to their common lacking of any sort of objective-based gameplay beyond exploration and completion. For a variety of reasons, the genre of walking simulators has been a divisive one amongst internet communities, forming a “love it or hate it” vibe for this relatively new category of games.
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