Gaming Dear Esther review

I bought it last night. Played it in stereoscopic 3d which makes it look amazing. Really draws you in. The scenery is so good I was stopping to take photos as I would do in real life. Composing the scene etc.

Even if there isn't much game there it's still impressive just for the scenic wandering.

 

Do you go to the cinema for fun? Do you watch only comedies? Do you read for fun? Read only comedy novels? Listen only to funny songs? When are on a rollercoaster, are you screaming or laughing? Or perhaps both? What's fun about skydiving?

We seek these experiences --whether film, books, music, rollercoasters, skydiving-- because they move us. It doesn't always have to be laugh-out-loud fun, or exciting action fun. It can be scary or saddening or contemplative. Schindler's List or Mission Impossible; both good movies in their own right. Armageddon played the balance between tension, sadness and triumph masterfully. We came out of the cinema feeling moved.

Games, too, can be 'fun' in many different ways. They can provide excitement, riddle, fear, sadness, triumph. You get involved because you are moved, and thus you experience the catharsis you sought. A game that does not move you is not fun; it's boring.

 

Fun is a spectacular over-simplification of the gaming experience. There is self evidently so much more to gaming than fun that I'm surprised the subject of 'fun' versus 'serious' games ever still comes up.

 

I think I'll buy this.

 

Just bought it

 

It took me just over an hour the first time I played it, but I think it's deceptive to say that first playthrough constitutes the entire playtime. What about the lifetime of the product? Remember that Dear Esther splices in subtly different audio, mixes things around each time you play. You need to play it twice, maybe thrice to hear all of the combinations - though most of the differences are subtle.

I've had the game since Christmas and I've enjoyed replaying it three or four times since then, whether simply replaying or fiddling with the FOV and Noclip to get new screenshots. Just over three hours of play.

 

A fair comment, and one I don't argue with. I still maintain that Dear Esther is not a 'fun game' in the way I would define it, but as I said originally, that doesn't mean I'm not glad it was made, reviewed, rated as it was, and is enjoyed by so many. I'm not sure I would say being 'moved' always equates to fun though. I certainly wouldn't watch Schindler's List for fun... LoL...

 

but you missed something...


*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Spoiler

...he kills himself in the end. The final symbols at the end I believe are for alcohol (looking at my partners t-shirt) and the message is his goodbye before he leaps off the radio tower. If you save and reload it you should see his last POV looking up from where he jumped.

The game is pure art. I'm normally a gal for playing COD / CSS but this game is beautiful. The story is really captivating.... Makes you think etc. Just playing for a story so touching - which alot of people forget that a good story makes a game great (in my opinion anyway).

 

I've added [ SPOILER ] tags. Please use them in the future.

Also, what you're talking is open to interpretation.

Spoiler

The chemical diagrams for alcohol are there, but so are electrical diagrams for brake system failures. The game doesn't strictly have him dying there - it doesn't even make it clear if he's a real person in a real place - given how he floats away, too.

 

Nice review Joe. Never heard of this game or even seen the trailer (yet) but will defo be buying it.... just out of curiosity!

 

Sorry dude, I didn't know such a thing existed! Cool beans...

But yes, the whole game is interpretation. I didn't notice the 2nd although watching the ending again I do. As I say I think it's his mind and trauma, but whether it's him

Spoiler

killing himself or, perhaps this represents his... I don't what to call it... But the state of mind when youve been in an accident and see things you wouldn't normally do due to lack of oxygen and deciding to give up the fight to live and be saved by the doctors in the hospital

may be an alternative view...

Either way it's a powerful story and although the game may not be overly action involved, it's a fantastically made game a nice change to th norm...

 

dear esther.. this game is rubbishly rabbish

*edit well take that back the caves and mountain were really well done.. found the paint used on the cliffs but was it just me or wth was he talking about? was he going crazy because of the pills? and what the heck is a bothy..

I wanted to see this esther he was dreaming about too- I think there was a picture on the ground but unclear..

Spoiler

the fade to black guess he died dreaming- there was like a car wreck sort of when he's in the water too.. thought I saw a midget flash in there for a second too

pictures of the wreck on the cliffside too along with pills, gauze, and what looked like a defibrillator..

 

Just went to see a friend and he happened to show me this. It doesn't appear like anything special, but the artistry really did move me in ways I had not been moved for a long time. The cave was just... gobsmacking. I thought one part was great, then saw something even better and it just kept rising. Just the kind of thing for when you need a 'zen' moment, I guess.

 

I really want to play it but I can't justify for £7.00'ish price level for such a short experience, not at the moment anyway.

 

Spoiler

The story links the deaths of three people together.

 

I was going to say..

Spoiler

You have to pay attention to whether he is telling his own story, that of Donnelly, or of others. It is not always clear, sometimes he quotes Donnelly, using I etc, but doesn't mention he is quoting him. It is very subtle

The only thing that annoys me is there is no save game
I loaded up the game, played 48mins. Got to the cave and decided I needed to turn all the graphical options up.
There is no save game, so I thought it must auto-unlock the chapters.
When I reloaded, I couldn't access any chapter other than the first. So this means you have to complete the island in one sitting every time you want to play it, to explore all the areas

 

I liked rolling around in the bothy

Spoiler

but why did jacobsen need to herd sheep to get a wife? there was something going on there.. so donnelly was flasking the whiskey wearing his best wife beater and driving a gremlin with no brakes.. then he crashed into another car, ran away and hid the flask, but then died after getting beat by esther.. it's like a episode of jerry springer

the same guy narrating the whole thing doesn't help either.. like if you had more choices, you could have stayed in the bothy and farmed/married the sheep

 

Bought it, played it, enjoyed it. Now could someone do a MODERN DAY ROBINSON'S REQUIEM PLEASE. Thanks,sorry for shouting.

 

Just to point out by the way, there's theoretically case for this game getting a five just as MW3 did. It is after all merely a remake and it doesn't offer any new or expanded gameplay beyond the original.

 

Finally got round to playing it. I have no problem with the length of it, for the outlay.

It lasted around two hours, but it was a very engrossing two hours. It was, at times, a spine tingling experience - there was a palpable tension building in the final few minutes although

Spoiler

the finale was a little bit of a let-down as it was pretty clear, earlier on in the game, he was heavily burdened by guilt/regret. So, I was hoping for something more than a swan dive off the mast top

No complaints though, and I will be playing it through again.