“A simple, highly original idea which was singularly focused on telling a story through the environment. “It was the inspiration I'd been looking for,” he recalls. Bible verses scrawled all over the island, and a flashing radio tower omnipresent in your view. Enormous chunks cut out of a cliff face in perfectly straight lines. Chemical equations etched into the sides of a cavern. Depending on how you read it, they might not even be three separate people at all. You learn of a syphilitic shepherd, an explorer whose infected injury sent him insane, and a man destroyed by guilt after a fatal car accident. The audio clips tell you about the island's history while simultaneously documenting a terrible accident back home in England. Instead, it builds atmosphere and an emotional weight. But it's also – and this is really important to me – about love and hope and redemption, and how people cling to each other in the face of a brutal, uncaring world.”ĭubbed 'an interactive ghost story', Dear Esther is never overtly scary. I'm glad this tried something new, it just felt like it was reaching for something and falling short.“Grief, loss, guilt, faith, illness,” says Pinchbeck, when I ask about his interpretation of the Dear Esther story. I play A LOT of games and I'm tired of playing the same old crap, so much of what comes out is an embarassment. You can put up with it and go exploring anyway but there isn't much to find that adds to the experience. Why do you want me to occupy your space and then make me move at a snails pace to get anywhere? It dissuades exploring. I understand that the narrative is different with each playthrough but this is something that can still be done with non interactive video.īottom line is that my biggest gripe was that I felt punished for wanting to explore. I know it's incredibly basic but when you make a piece of art you need to ask yourself "why is this the best medium for what I am trying to express?" You'd be surprised how many people don't ask themself that question. It didn't really move me or inspire me as it did with so many other people.Ī week later I played the game Journey (amazing) and it put into perspective all the issues I had with Dear Esther, which is pretty much that I didn't get the impression that it needed to be interactive. When it finished I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I "played" it all in one sitting as I expect it's supposed to be, lights off, alone, quiet house. I understood that this was a special kind of experience that required a certain mood so I waited for the proper time. I bought it when it was on sale months ago and was really eager to get into it because I heard a lot about it. Because it's on sale and someone is likely wondering if they should buy it, I wanted to offer my opinion the same way that so many of you are eager to offer yours. Originally posted by (°o°):I guess you need to go back to cod then, I don't understand why people buy this and then later complain about it then spread hate :/ a little research goes a long way. Thanks for the thought, gameplay looks nice:P If that's your type of thing then go ahead and get it, otherwise I'd watch a review or 'gameplay' of it first. The only interaction is to move your character through the extremely linear pathways and look at things. This so-called 'game' is really nothing more than a short, slow walkthrough of a landscape. Save your money, put it towards a more rewarding experience.Īll this guy says is completely correct. It ends up feeling like a chore, like you are only "playing" because you've heard a lot about it and you want to get it over with so you can form an opinion. Since exploring sucks you decide to follow the shortest path to hear more of the narration and get to the next location, you might as well not be interacting. You walk so slowly that exploring feels more punishing than rewarding (especially since exploring doesn't give you much to discover). This isn't really a game, sure it's an interactive experience but there isn't much to the interaction. Originally posted by PizzaWizard:If you're really curious just watch a let's play or something.
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