![]() ![]() In addition, the landmark edition also features a developer’s commentary with Pinchbeck, Briscoe and Curry that discusses the process of making the game, as well as the narrative and setting. The sound was once again remastered, accessibility and menu options were improved, achievements were added and there is now a greater variety of subtitle languages available. In 2016, The Chinese Room ported the game onto the Unity 5 engine and released Dear Esther: Landmark Edition, allowing it to be played on console. Screenshot of the original 2008 iteration of Dear Esther The experience was unexpectedly well received enabling the funding of a full Source remake in 2012, the artwork was completely overhauled by Rob Briscoe and the soundtrack, composed by Jessica Curry, was re-recorded with a live orchestra. The game started as a Half-Life mod, a project led by Dan Pinchbeck which released in 2008. Nonetheless, the term has caught on and there is now a wide range of walking simulators available across platforms. In fact, the developers had trouble categorising the game at all, feeling that ‘walking simulator’ was too reductive and initially referring to it as an ‘interactive ghost story’. It essentially founded and defined the ‘ walking simulator‘ genre. ![]() This isn’t nearly as pretentious as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture but, except as an intellectual exercise, or perhaps a way to cleanse the palate between AAA games, it’s perhaps best to play it once, appreciate it for the conversations it opened, and move on.Dear Esther is a game changer – literally. But as we get further away, and we have games like Gone Home and its rich detail or the minimalism of Three Fourths Home, the flaws in its design become more apparent. ![]() The conversations it’s kicked off, and the influence it’s had on gaming in the eight years since, is undeniable. The principles behind Dear Esther remain admirable. That said, some people might object to shelling out $10 for a game that’s over in less than an hour. Well, it’s not like you’re going to be forced to download a bunch of multiplayer maps or shell out another $40 for a second single-player campaign. One requires you to play through with the director’s commentary, which has some interesting musings on the game all these years later, so you will at least go through it twice. We blew through the game in less than an hour, and we popped most of the trophies. It’s fairly common to confuse “ground-breaking” with “good,” but the two don’t go hand in hand, and Dear Esther desperately needs more depth.Īnother controversial aspect was how short the whole thing was, and that aspect hasn’t changed. And on a story level, the ending, which is arguably a romanticization of suicide, has only gotten more off-putting over the years. Returning to an area after you learn more about your character or Esther doesn’t change your approach to the game. You can’t pick up the many tokens of Esther you find in the island to learn more about her. And if it doesn’t use the medium to its full effect, that’s a flaw worth interrogating. It may not be a “game” in the sense that there are points or enemies, but it’s a work of art built in an interactive medium. Some have argued Dear Esther isn’t a game, but that’s, at best, an attempt to dodge the real issue. Storytelling in video games is generally best done with rules players learn what they can and cannot do and, ideally, use what they can do to figure out why they can’t do something, or overcome that rule. These games really need more mechanics, more things to do, gameplay that requires players to put in more work to piece together the story and more substantial characters. It sometimes seems like there’s not much beneath the excellent art direction and audio work. As a gameplay experience, however, it can be troublingly empty. A playthrough or two underscores that the story is only interesting because it’s vague, and the game is carried largely by voice actor Nigel Carrington, who does excellent work and fills the game with the emotion it might otherwise lack. But, on the other hand, eight years and one equally controversial game later, with the novelty worn off a bit, it’s a game that’s easier to admire than enjoy. ![]() On one level, Dear Esther is and always has been worth playing simply because it pushed the boundaries and standards of video games. ![]()
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