Dear Esther Hits It Big

[Darth Rahu]

it's very hard to put into words, what Dear Esther is. There is almost no interaction that the player can have with the environment, and yet as he progresses, more is revealed. It sounds like a cutscene on paper, but in practice, it almost feels like a waking dream, a poem composed by the environment. Of course this is me talking about Dear Esther The Mod, I really gotta check out this bad boy!

 

[Metalrocks]

So what exactly does the player DO during this little hike?

You listen. You experience. You open yourself to the emotional impact of what you've done, and what you didn't do. And if you're lucky, you spend a considerable amount of time afterward thinking about it.

So... a cutscene? Sorry, trying not to sound skeptical... but it just sounds like a video at the moment...!? Are there any interaction/objectives for the player at all?

no, nothing. you cant move anything, cant touch anything, absolutely nothing. just walk and listen to the letters and admire the scenery.
so either you wait until its 75% or this kind of game is really nothing for you, then of course you buy something else.
or, you like to give it a try to play something which is really hard to find.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

So what exactly does the player DO during this little hike?

You listen. You experience. You open yourself to the emotional impact of what you've done, and what you didn't do. And if you're lucky, you spend a considerable amount of time afterward thinking about it.

So... a cutscene? Sorry, trying not to sound skeptical... but it just sounds like a video at the moment...!? Are there any interaction/objectives for the player at all?

no, nothing. you cant move anything, cant touch anything, absolutely nothing. just walk and listen to the letters and admire the scenery.
so either you wait until its 75% or this kind of game is really nothing for you, then of course you buy something else.
or, you like to give it a try to play something which is really hard to find.

I will probably check it out at some point... I do like a good story... like Braid! It sounds to me a bit like ImmorTall which was featured on Alt+Esc ages ago. In that game you pretty much just held right, and watched as the characters evolved, and the story unfolded... it was brilliant, but you didn't do much...

I only asked because the way it sounded made it sound pretty much like you couldn't do anything at all, but from the screen shots it sounds kinda like what I do from time to time on skyrim... sight see, and take in the surroundings.. and if it has a story too, brill!

 

[Metalrocks]

I will probably check it out at some point... I do like a good story... like Braid! It sounds to me a bit like ImmorTall which was featured on Alt+Esc ages ago. In that game you pretty much just held right, and watched as the characters evolved, and the story unfolded... it was brilliant, but you didn't do much...

I only asked because the way it sounded made it sound pretty much like you couldn't do anything at all, but from the screen shots it sounds kinda like what I do from time to time on skyrim... sight see, and take in the surroundings.. and if it has a story too, brill!

well, the game is very linear. so you cant go anywhere else besides some little off tracks but they end pretty quickly that you are forced to walk back and continue the given track.
but still worth try. so maybe you should wait until its on special. unless you dont mind to spend 10$ on it now.
just telling you how the game is.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Steam not the right audience? Steam's the best audience at all times, especially for frickin' reincarnated Source Mod! Those Indie fund chaps need their heads checking.

Anyway, I've got Dear Esther 1.0 somewhere, it's a great little (somewhat mind bending) story. Now to add version 2.

I thought the 2010 Source Engine update killed that version of the mod. I might be wrong however.

I was under the impression that it didn't actually kill thechineseroom's mods, just made them kind of glitchy/crashy for a lot of people. It's kind of unfortunate, because I never quite got around to finishing Korsakovia before the update, which is another fascinating thing they've done (as long as you noclip through the stupid jumping puzzles, and this is coming from someone who actually liked Xen in the original HL).

 

[Moeez]

It's like an interactive Edgar Allen Poe story. A brilliant and unforgettable experience, if you let it take over you on headphones and in the dark. You'll be thinking for quite a while after it ends.

Also, most beautiful Source game to date. Robert Briscoe (Mirror's Edge) did the environments.

[http://min.us/mQ4daWgJ9#2o]

 

[mooncalf]

The narration is like polaroid photos tossed to you at random, leaving you to piece together a story of your own speculation from compelling hints of tragedy and bitterness, it makes you want to poke around and explore. I'm VERY glad to be playing this again!

 

[TilMorrow]

I will probably check it out at some point... I do like a good story... like Braid! It sounds to me a bit like ImmorTall which was featured on Alt+Esc ages ago. In that game you pretty much just held right, and watched as the characters evolved, and the story unfolded... it was brilliant, but you didn't do much...

I only asked because the way it sounded made it sound pretty much like you couldn't do anything at all, but from the screen shots it sounds kinda like what I do from time to time on skyrim... sight see, and take in the surroundings.. and if it has a story too, brill!

well, the game is very linear. so you cant go anywhere else besides some little off tracks but they end pretty quickly that you are forced to walk back and continue the given track.
but still worth try. so maybe you should wait until its on special. unless you dont mind to spend 10$ on it now.
just telling you how the game is.

Alternatively, if he wants a taster of what the game would be like then he could always download the original mod if he has HL2. Here: Dear Esther 2009. It's not as good looking as the Steam release but so far no one has said whether the actual content of the game has changed.

Also, yes I'd say the whole thing was like a cutscene except the game is too lazy to push you around the scene. And I suggest not falling off a cliff in the mod otherwise you'll encounter the water maggots from lost coast. Annoying buggers. Infact don't touch any large bodies of water at all if I remember correctly.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I will probably check it out at some point... I do like a good story... like Braid! It sounds to me a bit like ImmorTall which was featured on Alt+Esc ages ago. In that game you pretty much just held right, and watched as the characters evolved, and the story unfolded... it was brilliant, but you didn't do much...

I only asked because the way it sounded made it sound pretty much like you couldn't do anything at all, but from the screen shots it sounds kinda like what I do from time to time on skyrim... sight see, and take in the surroundings.. and if it has a story too, brill!

well, the game is very linear. so you cant go anywhere else besides some little off tracks but they end pretty quickly that you are forced to walk back and continue the given track.
but still worth try. so maybe you should wait until its on special. unless you dont mind to spend 10$ on it now.
just telling you how the game is.

Alternatively, if he wants a taster of what the game would be like then he could always download the original mod if he has HL2. Here: Dear Esther 2009. It's not as good looking as the Steam release but so far no one has said whether the actual content of the game has changed.

Also, yes I'd say the whole thing was like a cutscene except the game is too lazy to push you around the scene. And I suggest not falling off a cliff in the mod otherwise you'll encounter the water maggots from lost coast. Annoying buggers. Infact don't touch any large bodies of water at all if I remember correctly.

@Metalrocks

Cheers for the advice guys... unfortunately looking into it now (and not half-heartedly whilst having a busy morning at work) I may have to wait a while as my laptop won't be able to run it! :S (It won't even run the original half life properly at the moment!) But I will definitely look into it in the future! Especially if I want a break from my JRPG's and SRPG's!

 

[Metalrocks]

sorry to hear that that your laptop cant run it. maybe do a virus check or newest driver for your card.
well, glad we could help.

 

[Yopaz]

Always good to see there's a chance for low budge indie titles without DRM. I haven't tried the game yet because I got years worth of backlog...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

You know all those critics who say "Gaming isn't Art"?

This is. This deserves a place in the Tate.

That alone should make you want to support it.

No two people will ever see the same thing, and some people will walk away thinking "What the hell?"

But there'll be one guy left behind at the end of the day, sobbing his eyes out. Might be you, one day.

 

[Moeez]

I will probably check it out at some point... I do like a good story... like Braid! It sounds to me a bit like ImmorTall which was featured on Alt+Esc ages ago. In that game you pretty much just held right, and watched as the characters evolved, and the story unfolded... it was brilliant, but you didn't do much...

I only asked because the way it sounded made it sound pretty much like you couldn't do anything at all, but from the screen shots it sounds kinda like what I do from time to time on skyrim... sight see, and take in the surroundings.. and if it has a story too, brill!

well, the game is very linear. so you cant go anywhere else besides some little off tracks but they end pretty quickly that you are forced to walk back and continue the given track.
but still worth try. so maybe you should wait until its on special. unless you dont mind to spend 10$ on it now.
just telling you how the game is.

Alternatively, if he wants a taster of what the game would be like then he could always download the original mod if he has HL2. Here: Dear Esther 2009. It's not as good looking as the Steam release but so far no one has said whether the actual content of the game has changed.

Also, yes I'd say the whole thing was like a cutscene except the game is too lazy to push you around the scene. And I suggest not falling off a cliff in the mod otherwise you'll encounter the water maggots from lost coast. Annoying buggers. Infact don't touch any large bodies of water at all if I remember correctly.

There's no penalty to falling off cliffs, you just get put back where you jumped off. Although there's one massive drop in the caverns that feels amazing and is part of the route. Don't know of the differences, but there is slightly different music, tons of visual variety, and all-new environments done by Robert Briscoe (Mirror's Edge).

Definitely give it a go.

 

[IKWerewolf]

This does not surprise me! I played it once, it took me one hour to complete one story.

HOWEVER IT WAS WORTH THE £7.99 FOR JUST ONE HOUR!

You always knew where you were going, where you ended up the red flashing dot always showed your destination and when you lose sight of it, it really gives the sense of being lost... I have never felt good about approaching the end of a game and the ending was wierd but incredible... this has scratched an itch that not many games do!

I also agree with Rock Paper Shotgun... you don't need a second playthrough!

This is one of those rare games that although has multiple samples of text, multiple approaches and so multiple feelings, it is genuinely only a journey that should be taken once as it has a decisive end that wouldn't feel the same a second time around... OK I will probably play it through again so I can talk about it in more detail.

In summary PICK IT UP! This is a good example of how games can be both short and deep meaning. In my opinion, you do not travel through a second time as its story wouldn't be as powerful a second time around.

And To IGN... its a 10 not an 8, this is meant to be short, any longer and I think its meaning would be lost.

Take your journey.

 

[Exterminas]

I am torn.

On the one hand this "game" has a huge artistic appeal. It feels like a film by Stanley Kubrick.

But that is the problem. It is barely a game, it can not be used as an example to illustrate gaming as an art form.

Most devices that make this "game" artistic are not devices from gaming at all, but rather devices from film and literature.

 

[TilMorrow]

There's no penalty to falling off cliffs, you just get put back where you jumped off. Although there's one massive drop in the caverns that feels amazing and is part of the route. Don't know of the differences, but there is slightly different music, tons of visual variety, and all-new environments done by Robert Briscoe (Mirror's Edge).

I was talking about the mod, the original version of Dear Esther. If you fell off the cliffs and into the water or took a stroll into the sea for that matter, you would unfortunately encounter the trigger_hurt water maggots of the Lost Coast snippet for HL2. Rather annoying if you wanted to take a swim and see another perspective.

Anyways. So apart from updated graphics and some new music, the game/cutscene/short-artsy thing hasn't changed much in terms of the story's original script?

Captcha: soeurs intimation "Sisters intimation"? Seriously? French now?

 

[anian]

I'm really glad this project got it's proper form, I remember watching the wip images and the finished product is even better. The music is awesome as well.

One thing that bugs me, and this kind of bugs me even more if it's in the full game, the text of the narration from the trailer is forced poetic and basically sensless. Big maybe if the game could actually explain how (from what I understood after rewatching the trailer 4-5 times) a paper boat without a bottom will fly to the Moon and then it is crease in time and then it is a cage in time and when it soaked it is a paper plane it leaves paper trails...there's poetic and then there's crumbling thoughts into one basket.

 

[Andy Chalk]

The simplest way to approach it: if you can't afford to throw away ten bucks, then don't buy Dear Esther. It's a gamble, and if a tenner is going to cause you more trouble than a casual "oh well," then don't bother. Otherwise, give it a rip. Keep an open mind, and try not to let yourself be burdened with expectations. You might be surprised at what happens in the end - speaking metaphorically, of course.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Snip!

Why Mr Chalk, I feel compelled to thank you personally. Had I not seen your tweet the other day I would have completely forgotten that Dear Esther was released on the dreaded V-Day. I have been waiting for this release for some considerable time and I have to say I was not dissapointed.

I played the first version many times and it was great to see so much refinement in this update. Vastly improved graphics, extra lines of narration which actually added to the depth and a wonderful new area inside the caves that took me by surprise. I live in England and have travelled that particular stretch of the M5 before as it happens. Jessica Curry's soundtrack remains as haunting and poignant as it ever was. I still get goosebumps when the music changes on entering the caves for the first time, as the narrator talks of breaking his leg.

It's hard to explain how this game feels, I guess it has a different effect on each person who experiences it. For me, it was mostly open mouthed wonder. It is truly a delight to the senses and an absolute pleasure for anyone who has the sort of mind that digs deeper than the surface layer. Dear Esther is a modern day masterpiece and I am delighted that thechineseroom is already doing so well from it.

But that is the problem. It is barely a game, it can not be used as an example to illustrate gaming as an art form.

Most devices that make this "game" artistic are not devices from gaming at all, but rather devices from film and literature.

I disagree.

Dear Esther is essentially a game, despite being very short and requiring very little interaction. It has been created using a game engine and the "player" must still use traditional means of traversing the in-game world. There is a beginning start point and a clear goal to reach. It also has a story which unfolds as you play.

I see your point, but Dear Esther doesn't do anything any differently to any other game. It has a beautiful soundtrack, amazing visuals and a thought provoking storyline, but so do a lot of other games as well. If video games in general should be considered art, there is no reason why Dear Esther should be considered any less.

 

[Yeager942]

The Stanley Parable next?


I'd buy that for a dollar.

I'd pay 50