Dear Esther
Game » consists of 6 releases. Released Feb 14, 2012
An unconventional Source-engine mod that features a melancholic atmosphere. Originally a university research project, it experiments by removing most typical player interactions, while seeking to still create a strong player experience. It was released as a standalone experience in 2012.
Short summary describing this game.
-
5 (3) 4 (7) 3 (4) 2 (0) 1 (1) 3.7 starsAverage score of 15 user reviews
-
A Story for Melancholy Moods 2
Download Size: 1.5 GBTime to Finish: 1 hour, 40 minutesMost Impressive Level: The CavesPrice I'd Pay: $5Steam Price (2/15/12): $10Like a good horror game, Dear Esther insists upon being played at a certain time: a half-hour before sunset, with the lights dim, when you won't be interrupted for 2 hours. It is for thoughtful times, those periods where you don't feel like doing anything but pondering the path you've taken so far. It's not so much a game as it is remnants of a story you silently wand...
9 out of 9 found this review helpful. -
The Interactive Poem 10
Dear Esther is the antithesis of the traditional video game, to the point where it’s debatable whether it’s a game at all. The only player actions are moving through the world and looking around, while the only thing close to a gameplay goal is to progress through the environments until you reach the end. Dear Esther doesn’t aim to engage you through action, strategy, or puzzles, but through mystical surroundings, poetic narration, and haunting music.In many ways the world of Dear Esther itself ...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Worth discussing but better left unspoiled. 0
Dear Esther is hard to review. Not a game, but built in a game engine. Worth discussing but better left unspoiled. But here goes.You awake on an island with no instruction other than the narration of a letter addressed to an unknown ‘Esther’. The sea to one side, a small, run down cottage behind you and a blinking beacon in the distance, calling you towards it with no other signs of life. Given no direction of where to go other than the paths in the landscape, it’s up to you to discover where to...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A thought provoking experience that leaves you wanting more 1
There is a lot to say about Dear Esther, which is quite a feat considering the game only lasts for about one hour and thirty minutes. Originally published as a mod for the source engine in 2008 by developer thechineseroom, it has been rebuilt with better visuals and level design and made available for purchase on Steam. Created to be more of an experience rather than a game, Dear Esther is a unique take on the first person genre.The story starts off with a man, presumably the character you are p...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Dear Esther, You flew straight over my head and I couldn't jump 0
When the hype kicked in for Dear Esther I felt very unsure about it. While I was intrigued by the claims I was reading about the game's presentation and narrative, my excitement was tempered about the claims that the game did not have much, if any, gameplay. Ultimately I was convinced when I showed my wife a trailer of the game and observed her excitement as a non-gamer. At her behest Dear Esther was purchased, and after playing a chapter she has not touched it since. I, on the other hand, have ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
a game or not a game? 0
ImageDear Esther,I have found myself to be as featureless as this ocean… For once, I agree with the voice; when I peer into the water, I see no reflection. Lately, the voice has been talking more and more about a serious leg injury, unbearable pain, a life-threatening infection and a quantity of pain-killers that would make even Rush Limbaugh blush. But the walker plods on without complaint, my steady pace maintained in the face of the character’s laments. The walker’s footsteps are often silent...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
I took a trip on the island of Dear Esther and offer my opinion 0
Dear Esther is very pretty.So…that’s all? Not quite. While the visual artistry of the island that you visit as the unnamed protagonist is stunning, the goal of this game is to serve as an example that games can be more than just violence simulators. I feel that it would be more appropriate to call Dear Esther a work of interactive fiction. You traverse a mysterious island, and all you need to do is listen to the audio log like pieces of prose that the protagonist is speaking out loud.There are i...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Dear Esther Review 0
Dear Esther is a walk through a story game created by The Chinese Room. In this game you are going to be walking around and through an island that is apparently deserted and as you go a story will unfold in front of you.Graphically this game looks amazing, the atmosphere of the island draws you in and all you want to do is take more steps along the beach, up the path, through the caves, and even in to some of the abandoned structures.The music coupled with the music is probably the most hauntin...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Disappointing mess 0
SPOILERS AHEADI am fairly open minded, but the game Dear Esther has seemed to completely destroy any sense of open mindedness I have. Of course, I am not the biggest fan of indie movies, which are dripping with pretentious themes and brooding characters. That might be the main reason why I did not like Dear Esther.Of course, since the entire tagline to the game seems to be about how it is not necessarily a game, I will not judge it as such. In truth, it seems to be more like an interactive exper...
1 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
A unique experience 0
I dislike having to assign a final score to a "game" such as this one. Review scores are of course the classic compromise between an insightful description and a lack of time and/or patience on behalf of the reader. It's easy to argue that, despite the problems associated with distilling an entire experience into something as simple as a number, it generally a usable metric for how fun and entertaining an experience the product provided.Personally, I would not associate the word "fun" nor the wo...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Contemporary is the case here, take from it what you will 0
Dear Esther is a very odd piece of work. As a game it is monotonous and vague, as a story it's very difficult to comprehend, as an experience...Well it's a mixed bag, it has some fantastic moments however it deffinitly isn't without its vices. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of my initial 2.5 or 3 rating is because I thought to myself 'you know what, this is going to be in my mind effecting me for quite a while' which has lots to say for itself compared to many games, or even many pieces of...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Something Different... 0
It is kind of an amazing work, and sets itself apart from a narrative perspective. Ominous and heart-breaking, and left to your own interpretation of what is really going on. There's something special about Dear Esther, although I will not go as far as to say, it's one of the best things I've played this year(or that it changed my life in any particular way). It does however offer a different perspective on what a game can be, and I'm glad that I took an hour out of my life to play through it. I...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
An experiment in interactive storytelling 0
Dear Esther. I sometimes feel as if I’ve given birth to this island. Somewhere, between the longitude and latitude a split opened up and it beached remotely here. No matter how hard I correlate, it remains a singularity, an alpha point in my life that refuses all hypothesis. I return each time leaving fresh markers that I hope, in the full glare of my hopelessness, will have blossomed into fresh insight in the interim.Dear Esther is one of these titles that defy our common conceptions about what...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Company to misery 0
Dear Esther, developed by thechineseroom, is not considered by all to be a game. It is. Dear Esther is a game that grabbed me, a game that surprised me. Even with the shortcomings of the game play, it is a significant piece of work that will stun you with the presentation, and stir you with its story.I have never been one to really care about stories in games, films and novels just seem to grab me in a more profound way. However, there are exceptions to said rule, and Dear Esther has earned its ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Sets a high water mark for atmospheric experiences. 0
This slow, barely interactive, goal-less virtual novel is an atmospheric masterpiece. We've seen some games that focus on atmosphere more than plot or gameplay such as LIMBO, Journey, Flower, and Heavy Rain but none of those hit the highs that Dear Esther not only hits, but maintains for its entire duration. Despite doing nothing other than walking around, Dear Esther is immersive with beautifully rendered scenery, poetic and ambigious narration and a chilling score. There are no achievements fo...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Log in to comment