I say “trudge” because this work from The Chinese Room isn’t necessarily a pleasant affair - the story and setting hang and weigh me down in a near-tangible way. Although I finished Dear Esther twice on PC prior to this reissue, I was elated to trudge through its dreary oceanside landscapes once again. The Landmark Edition features sharper visuals, updated audio and an option to play with developer commentary tracks. If nothing else, it helped pave the way for walking simulators in contemporary gaming.Īfter initially releasing on PC and Mac in 2012, Dear Esther is now on consoles for the first time. walking sim.Īlthough it’s hard to determine if Dear Esther was the very first of its kind (I’m sure someone will correct me in the comments section below) it certainly came before Firewatch, Gone Home, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, just to name a few. Whether for good or ill, the game industry owes this nickname to Dear Esther, because it’s pretty much the O.G. WTF Could they have made the protagonist walk just a little faster?ĭespite the fact that the term “walking simulator” causes some people to cringe, it seems the most pertinent description for games that heavily emphasize atmosphere and storytelling while downplaying interaction, and the name stuck. LOW Abrupt loading screens break the immersion. Slow pace isn’t going to be for everyone.HIGH Exploring gorgeous phosphorescent caves.Director’s commentary great for additional insight into the game.Incredible script delivered expertly by narrator Carrington.It may look a little rough around the edges compared to your AAA blockbuster titles and its spiritual successor from last year, but for a $9.99 port, it’s not bad going. It’s combination of the English language, beautiful orchestral score from Curry, and picturesque environments create a perfectly moody and melancholy escape. If you’re looking for a game that could be considered art just as much as it could be a video game then this is certainly up your street. It’s certainly no star-studded list of new features, but if you’ve yet to play this game and enjoy the narrative experiences that usually remain on PC then it’s worth checking out.ĭear Esther: Landmark Edition is by no means going to be for everyone, but it’s a game I wouldn’t hesitate in telling people to try out even if they’re new to the narrative genre. In terms of what’s new in the Landmark Edition, Xbox One and PS4 owners will receive a remastered audio, director’s commentary, a bunch of new accessibility options, menus and subtitles in different languages, and trophy/ achievement support. It’s at these times, among others, where Dear Esther truly shines: making the player feel completely lost and alone in a world so beautiful and peaceful that they don’t really care. The caves of Dear Esther still remain one of my favorite environments I’ve ever explored in a video game thanks to the atmospheric lighting and excellent soundtrack from Jessica Curry. ![]() That’s not to say you won’t have moments where the game shines beautifully, however. Even a ‘brisk walk’ button may have been preferred, but instead every button on the controller will simply have you zooming in your view. But there are times where some players will more than likely opt to stick to the beaten path than explore simply because of how slow traversal can be. It’d be a crying shame to sprint through this world, snatching at the expertly-delivered words of Dan Pinchbeck’s script voiced by Carrington. That comes largely down to the fact that Dear Esther unsurprisingly suffers from the same issue that its spiritual successor, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, suffered from last year: no sprint button. ![]() ![]() Yes, you could simply walk the path and just get the main plot points and the ending, but the way in which exploration is used to ‘unlock’ more parts of the narrative only helps to fuel your curiosity to check out that long stretch of beach that inevitably takes you far longer than you expected it to. It’s an atmospheric game that only gets better the more of the story you unfold, but that certainly does not mean you should rush through it. The further you go on your journey, the more engrossed you’ll find yourself in the world, and, if you look close enough, you may well see some rather strange things. Each letter, voiced by Nigel Carrington, is so poetically poignant and said with such softness in places of calm, and power in moments of frustration that it’s hard to not believe that this isn’t a real person telling their true story.
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