Dear Esther
Dear Esther immerses you in a stunningly realised world, a remote and desolate island somewhere in the outer Hebrides. As you step forwards, a voice begins to read fragments of a letter: ‘Dear Esther…’ – and so begins a journey through one of the most original first-person games of recent years. Abandoning traditional gameplay for a pure story-driven experience, Dear Esther fuses its beautiful environments with a breathtaking soundtrack to tell a powerful story of love, loss, guilt and redemption.
Key features:
- Every play-through a unique experience, with randomly generated audio, visuals and events.
- Explore incredible environments that fully immerse you in the haunting island and its mysterious past.
- A poetic, semi-randomised story like you’ve never experienced in a game before.
- Stunning soundtrack composed by Jessica Curry, featuring world-class musicians.
- An uncompromisingly inventive game delivered to the highest AAA standards.
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition has been remade with the Unity engine, featuring a full audio remaster, and the addition of a brand-new Directors’ Commentary mode, allowing players to explore the island and learn what inspired the game and how it was crafted by The Chinese Room and Rob Briscoe.
Dear Esther Review
I began playing Dear Esther with low expectations. Even friends of mine who typically enjoy so-called “walking sims” have disliked this game, For the first 15 to 20 minutes these expectations were seemingly proving true. I began asking myself questions such as “Why am I here?” and “Who is this guy talking to me?” It didn’t help that before playing Dear Esther, I had already enjoyed other, better-received “walking sims” like Edith Finch and Gone Home.
It wasn’t until the second chapter that I began to appreciate the game and the third chapter loving the game. By then I realized what the game’s intentions were and that they were succeeding in a very unique fashion. Dear Esther is a very unique game, and I recommend it to a certain crowds. Dear Esther’s target audience seems to not be any broad group. Not even many narrative gamers would necessarily appreciate Dear Esther, as it is an art game at its core. Those who look for the art in gaming – those inspired by poetry and subtlety in design will likely appreciate this game as I have.
It helps to mention that I played the landmark edition. The environments portrayed in this edition are breathtakingly beautiful, and it’s not simply because of crisp textures, but simply the lighting and colors. Yet the game succeeds in not portraying a pretty environment, but telling the story with its environment. I feel it needs to be said that I do not offer this compliment often. People praising environmental storytelling in AAA games because there are two skeletons laying on a bed together with bullets on the floor, or a diary laying around for the player to read are very direct and apparent to anyone actually paying attention to the game. Contrarily, Dear Esther has little that is obvious. While there is a narrator reading the story, the player still has to parse through his words to understand the real meaning behind what he says. The environment often serves to add to these details and even make important plot developments that aren’t directly states by the narrator.
Dear Esther is a game I am certain most gamers will not enjoy. Gameplay enthusiasts will be bored. Many narrative gamers may not get into a game with a story not directly told to them. Yet I still recommend Dear Esther to most gamers as a litmus test for what gaming has the potential to be. I would certainly prefer gaming to go in the direction of Dear Esther than most AAA games. It is unique even among other walking sims, so that alone warrants a look.
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