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Posted on: February 7, 2024
A.G.B.
Games: 825 Reviews: 84
Niche perfection
Nearly every negative thing about this comes down to personal preference; it is a walking simulator with no source of danger and no interactivity. It is like they took an introspective short story with no real action and adapted it directly into a video game. If that is your sort of thing, then this is a polished, atmospheric, bite-sized experience.
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Posted on: February 16, 2017
grooby_cutlet
Games: 384 Reviews: 1
Exhibition/presentation, not a game
It is not a game. Has no actual or implied failure state. Art exhibition, maybe, Visual presentation in a form of a walking simulator, very much, a game, not at all. If you want a good looking experience go ahead, if you want a game turn around and don't look back.
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Posted on: April 27, 2021
xWiseWolfx
Verified ownerGames: 1241 Reviews: 6
The real walking simulator
I played this game after playing "The Park" and "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" and thought, it would just line up with these two. Funny enough, I always felt a little sad, when someone called one of the former two games a "walking simulator". Well, for Dear Esther there can be no other description than exactly that - a walking simulator. You are doing nothing more than walking and exploring, while you are listening to some spoken thoughts now and then. I enjoyed The Park and Ethan Carter and even Kholat for what they are, but Dear Esther has absolutely nothing of that. Doing nothing at all is not fun - at least not for me. The story, that becomes more clear with every step you take, can not improve this. The graphics are not as polished as in Ethan Carter, so that is another downside to the game. The only upside is the atmosphere of a lonely island, that is captured in a very immersive way. I normally would have given this game only one star. But somehow, the developers managed to drag me until the end of the game, although I thought of just giving up multiple times. That is worth one more star for me, because I feel like this is some kind of good game design - in a weird way. The playing time is roughly between 1 and 2 hours, depending on your will to explore. Maybe my rating would have been better, if this was my first "walking simulator". Unfortunately my expectation where set a little too high.
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Posted on: November 4, 2017
craig_s_russell
Verified ownerGames: 509 Reviews: 42
A big, beautiful, boring very short dud
I read many reviews across the web before buying this game, so I was very much looking forward to playing it. Don't waste your money or your time. First, it's a total ripoff. I explored every inch of the island accessible, and I took time to soak in the atmosphere and ambience (which is excellent by the way). I completed the entire game in UNDER TWO HOURS. Second, there is no story. Just a guy with a pleasant European accent randomly reciting pieces of his journal. I played the game through six different times because I know the narration varies each time the game is played. If Dear Esther has a story, then Quake's story is epic literature. Seriously. I LOVE games with stories (e.g. Myst series, Gabriel Knight, Thief series, Gemini Rue, Kathy Rain, etc.) Dear Esther does NOT have a story. It has random disjointed readings of excerpts from the narrator's journal. The game IS beautiful, and the atmosphere is the excellent (especially in the caves). Dear Esther reminded me of the mood and feel of Riven. Also it has modest hardware requirements. My laptop has Intel i3 with Intel HD 4400 integrated graphics, and I ran at 1280x800 with highest settings (except anti-aliasing was turned off). But beauty and atmosphere alone with no story and no real gameplay are not enough. As I said before, I've played through this game several times because I thought maybe I missed something. But I didn't. Dear Esther is a beautiful, over-priced, very short and boring game. Save your money!!
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Posted on: December 14, 2017
mattyizz
Verified ownerGames: 113 Reviews: 2
Like a short story written by a child
... or at least, that is what it feels like. The "game" takes an hour and 15 minutes to complete. I say "game", because I struggle to find enough merit in this product to actually call it a game. There are no mechanics, except for walking and looking. There are no ways to fail. There is no intelligence involved. There are no puzzles. There is a clear, linear path to follow -- once in a while, you will trigger some narrated dialogue (more on that below), but that is all that happens. The walking speed is atrociously slow. If this game had sprinting and jumping, it could be completed in less than 10 minutes. It feels very much like an amateur game, drawn out as much as possible to justify the price mark. People have praised the game as athmospheric and visually beautiful; but it is mostly comprised of bland caves and hillscapes, likely built from stock assets. As for the selling point of the game: the story. It is milquetoast at best, shallow and unspired at worst. There are tons of clichés, such as tragic car crashes and biblical references, and the whole script feels like something written by a child for a school assignment, then handed over to writer who desperately tried to insert as many fancy words as possible, to make it seem more "artsy". No hyperbole: the storytelling in this game made me cringe, and only worsened the already boring experience of walking through bland hills and caves. I find absolutely zero entertainment value in this product, and I feel thoroughly cheated out of my money, even though I bought it on sale. Let me reiterate: There is no gameplay. The story is vapid. The environments are little but stock assets cobbled together. Just because somebody put thought and time into a product, does not mean that it is worth your money. Do not buy this product; save yourself the disappointment, and watch a Let's Play on YouTube. It is exactly the same experience; albeit more entertaining, since you don't have to hold W down for 75 minutes.
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