Dear Esther Review

WMDogma

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Saxnot said:
Greg Tito said:
Saxnot said:
nice review, but could you please not put (what sounds like) a spoiler in the last 10 seconds of your review?

at least mention it before it starts. i'm still going to play this game and now i feel like i already know something i should not
It's not a spoiler, Saxnot. That scene happens in the first few minutes of the game.

Greg
oh, ok. in that case, never mind. it just sounded like something of a reveal
That line was actually from a little later on in the game, but I wouldn't say it's particularly spoilery. One of the trickier parts of putting together this review has been figuring out what constitutes as a spoiler considering the random nature of the narration.
 

Shjade

Chaos in Jeans
Feb 2, 2010
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
Dear Esther is both Art and a Game.

Some people ask why the Mona Lisa is famous; this game isn't for them.

Those that can see her smile will love Dear Esther.
As a person who can see her smile, I feel fine saying I still don't know why it's as famous as it is. But then, the art world (marketing, pricing, popularity, etc., as opposed to the art itself) often perplexes me.
 

ckam

Make America Great For Who?
Oct 8, 2008
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This game actually sounds interesting. So where is it distributed at?
 

ToastiestZombie

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Mar 21, 2011
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CkretAznMan said:
This game actually sounds interesting. So where is it distributed at?
Steam only I think.

OT: I bought this game as soon as it came out, played it in one night and LOVED it! Now if only The Stanley Parable could have a change as big as this one I would be able to die happy!
 
Feb 13, 2008
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blackdwarf said:
i cant say anything about the first picture because i don't know it.
There's this thing called Google...
the second one i guess is a dodge game or something? in that case, dodging is gameplay. you are trying to dodge so you can survive longer to get higher points or to get to a ending.
Night Driver. You have to drive through the landscape to get to the end...

Here's another game:


Here's a simpler one:


Dear Esther is a more complicated version of this; with better view, a randomised monologue, a storyline and a haunting soundtrack.

Why does that make it so difficult to call it a game?
 

blackdwarf

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The_root_of_all_evil said:
blackdwarf said:
i cant say anything about the first picture because i don't know it.
There's this thing called Google...
the second one i guess is a dodge game or something? in that case, dodging is gameplay. you are trying to dodge so you can survive longer to get higher points or to get to a ending.
Night Driver. You have to drive through the landscape to get to the end...

Here's another game:


Here's a simpler one:


Dear Esther is a more complicated version of this; with better view, a randomised monologue, a storyline and a haunting soundtrack.

Why does that make it so difficult to call it a game?
Ok, you have a point here. The examples have given are indeed the same in idea. and when are saw those last two pictures i instantly thought they were games. So yeah, maybe dear Esther is a game, but i for me it didn't feel like one, because i was more focused on the story and environment. I wasn't thinking at all about finding the correct way. So maybe that was the reason why i hadn't the feeling i was playing a video game.
 

Proverbial Jon

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Nov 10, 2009
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Dear Esther is quite simply amazing. Not just for the beautiful, poetic, metaphor heavy dialogue nor for the haunting soundtrack or the stunning graphics. No, Dear Esther is amazing because it attempts something bold, something new and something frankly quite risky... and yet it works, it works so well.

As said in the review, Dear Esther is NOT going to appeal to everyone, in fact its target audience is probably quite small. But anyone can find enjoyment in this game if they keep an open mind. If you play games mostly for the story, as I often prefer to do, this will be a real treat.

blackdwarf said:
it is really interesting, only downside, it is to expensive for such short walk.

but can we even call this game? there is no gameplay at all. you are experiencing a story in a virtual world, but you aren't interacting with anything. it is what you can call a virtual experience, but for some reason we are still calling it a game...
Let's see...

- It's made in the Source engine, used for making video games.
- It's distributed through Steam, a platform for the distribution of games.
- The player must use keyboard controls to control a digital avatar within the game.
- It has a start point and a goal, which means there is an objective.
- The player has an effect on the world, dialogue will play depending on where you go and no single playthrough will be entirely similar.

I would say that those points more than make it worthy of the title of game. There is still interaction required from the player, however small. Dear Esther requires an enquiring mind to physically interact with it before it's content can entertain. You cannot simply sit and watch Dear Esther, you must interact, explore, discover and experience.

As for the price, regardless of the amount of coin in anyone's pocket, I believe the developers deserve every penny of it.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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blackdwarf said:
So yeah, maybe dear Esther is a game,
Maybe; I'd say it is.
but i for me it didn't feel like one, because i was more focused on the story and environment.
I think this is the thing with some of these more nebulous concepts. If a five year old splashes paint on a canvas, is it art?
I wasn't thinking at all about finding the correct way. So maybe that was the reason why i hadn't the feeling i was playing a video game.
That's also another great pitfall, how much can you take away from a game while still leaving it as "a game"?

Is Audiosurf a game? If so, why isn't Winamp? Could you make Winamp into a game?...huge nest of questions.
 

Elate

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Nov 21, 2010
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I don't know.. it looks interesting, but it doesn't look FUN or overly enjoyable. From what I've heard of the narrator he just seems to spew mostly nonsensical monologue about, albeit in a pleasant tone, but that just gets on my nerves.

And I've never really been huge on the whole exploring for the sake of exploring thing.. Seen it once in a game, seen it all.

I don't know, I want to like it, but for that price tag, it seems unreasonable to pay for a game I may not even enjoy.
 

DeeJayTee

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Apr 8, 2010
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I'd like to sing the game's praises, too.

And I'll tell you what I enjoyed most. In the words of the review: "You might be startled by a bird roosting in an empty, dilapidated house, or see an ominous light emanating from a distant cave, only for those moments to be absent your second time around." I won't go into further detail about other examples beyond those two given, but, in essence, the small events that randomly transpire really wake you up, mostly due to the fact that you aren't expecting them.

The first one I came across literally made me shiver, and for a minute I thought I was seeing things. Even knowing that there are no enemies (besides the narrator's seemingly shattered psyche) and that you simply cannot die, I began to feel unnerved.

It's always the little things that do it for me.
 

kordo

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Jan 8, 2010
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Still can't believe I paid $10 for this piece of shit. Ripped!!! Great atmosphere but that's all its got going for it. Under an hour I was done and no payoff - how this thing gets plaudits (such as this 4-star review) is beyond me. A neat idea that could've been so much better. Didn't know this originated as a mod. If I did I would've just got that instead or watched a Youtube Let's Play.
 

Shiftygiant

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Apr 12, 2011
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Yeah, an artistic experience that'll cost me £7. Also I didn't know that the escapist reviewed mods now.

Hold up a sec, this game was made off the source engine and released initially as a mod and developed into a full game, but still a mod. Wait another minute. The university of Portsmouth? Hampshire? The one that I'm going to in the autumn? When you look at it we discover that Britain is full of pretentious game designers.
 

Metalrocks

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Jan 15, 2009
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DeeJayTee said:
I'd like to sing the game's praises, too.

And I'll tell you what I enjoyed most. In the words of the review: "You might be startled by a bird roosting in an empty, dilapidated house, or see an ominous light emanating from a distant cave, only for those moments to be absent your second time around." I won't go into further detail about other examples beyond those two given, but, in essence, the small events that randomly transpire really wake you up, mostly due to the fact that you aren't expecting them.

The first one I came across literally made me shiver, and for a minute I thought I was seeing things. Even knowing that there are no enemies (besides the narrator's seemingly shattered psyche) and that you simply cannot die, I began to feel unnerved.

It's always the little things that do it for me.
lol, true, at ship cemetery, i was sure i saw someone in the far distance. when i walked there, nothing. it was just a little path leading to a dead end.
 

Metalrocks

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kordo said:
Still can't believe I paid $10 for this piece of shit. Ripped!!! Great atmosphere but that's all its got going for it. Under an hour I was done and no payoff - how this thing gets plaudits (such as this 4-star review) is beyond me. A neat idea that could've been so much better. Didn't know this originated as a mod. If I did I would've just got that instead or watched a Youtube Let's Play.
you dint get the meaning of the game from the looks of it. did you expect a happy ending, or getting XP or what?
so the game isnt for you, but doesnt mean its shit. the ratings the game gets are true. i can name several other games out there were the rating is way to high.
 

kordo

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Jan 8, 2010
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Metalrocks said:
kordo said:
Still can't believe I paid $10 for this piece of shit. Ripped!!! Great atmosphere but that's all its got going for it. Under an hour I was done and no payoff - how this thing gets plaudits (such as this 4-star review) is beyond me. A neat idea that could've been so much better. Didn't know this originated as a mod. If I did I would've just got that instead or watched a Youtube Let's Play.
you dint get the meaning of the game from the looks of it. did you expect a happy ending, or getting XP or what?
so the game isnt for you, but doesnt mean its shit. the ratings the game gets are true. i can name several other games out there were the rating is way to high.
What is there to get? Paper thin storyline anyway. Have my own thoughts on what it all means to me, just expected more out of my tenner. I liked The Path and bought this expecting something like it but this is just not as engaging to me. Ah well, at least it's better than Dinner Date ay?

Oh just found out the same team are doing the next Amnesia. Quite liked the atmosphere in Dear Esther so I'll be very interested in this.