Think of it as a unique experience, a mysterious island in the outer Hebrides harbouring secrets and beautiful sights to behold, and Dear Esther makes sense. Approach Dear Esther like you would any other game, and you're going to come away disappointed.
But to do so is completely missing the point. Every single button simply zooms in so you're able to appreciate Esther's landscape in greater detail, and simply soaking it all in is a joy in itself.ĭear Esther isn't for everyone, and some may discard it as ponderous, boring fluff. There are other items and objects of interest you'll stumble across during your ambling across shorelines, through gorgeously lit caves filled with crystal formations, organic spires of rock and hanging stalactites, rocky streams and desolate hillsides, but you're unable to interact with any of them. Dear Esther is unapologetically different, its story delivered only in narrated portions, found objects and the painted scrawlings on the island's craggy rock faces. It has no time constraints, no other objectives beyond making it to the end, no user-interface, and above all, no pretensions that it's anything else other than what it is what it sets out to be. The antithesis of every game where things go boom on a regular basis, playing Dear Esther is relaxing and meditative.
Strolling through swaying grass as the coastal wind picks up, Dear Esther is one of the loveliest walks you'll ever take, especially in a video game. This iteration has been rebuilt with Unity and spruced up to look the best it possibly can, and indeed, Dear Esther looks genuinely quite beautiful on consoles.
#DEAR ESTHER HALF LIFE MOD#
Starting life as a mod for Half-Life 2, Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is the definitive version of The Chinese Room's signature game that got remade for PC in 2012. It's the game that originated the so-called 'walking simulator', but the truth is there's more to it than such a reductive way of describing Dear Esther suggests. Actually, it's an experience that defies the label of 'game', in as much as you don't really do anything other than walk from one point to another. If ever the ongoing 'are games art' debate needed a poster boy, then Dear Esther would be it.