Dear Esther: Landmark Edition Reviews
At its core, Dear Esther represents an exploration (or walking simulator, if that’s one’s preferred assessment) title for exploration fans.
Throughout its very short 90 minute run time, Dear Esther creates an atmospheric and engaging experience that begs you to keep playing. If you’ve played it before though, the director’s commentary is all that’s new for the Landmark Edition.
Developer The Chinese Room is capable of capturing many highs and lows of human emotion through both their sound design and storytelling. With that said, Dear Esther: Landmark Edition feels more like a lukewarm experiment — a legacy precursor that paved the way to their more successful titles - an experience that is both significant, while also being entirely out-of-date by modern genre standards. Dear Esther was the baby step that aided in the creation of the genre — while you have to learn to walk before you can run, Dear Esther’s modern competitors have been sprinting for years.
As a fairly big defender of the "walking simulator" genre, I feel really let down by Dear Esther. It needed more of something, whether it be a better story, more gameplay than wandering, or more interaction with the island. Definitely needed more than a feeling of "huh" when it ended.
Still, some people will find meaning and depth in what Dear Esther delivers. I envy that. The linchpin of these games is to develop a connection with the player. Along with that connection comes emotion. Dear Esther is simply too disconnected from itself to ever connect with me.
Dear Esther may have played a huge part in the growth of interactive drama, but it remains an acorn compared to the trees it helped grow. It’s an ultimately shallow game, one that rattles off a story directly without any finesse or attempt to integrate it with the gameplay.
Every game developer has to start somewhere. Dear Esther was a valiant first step into a much bigger world. It may have been something special back in 2008, but it is definitely showing its age — especially when compared to The Chinese Room’s later releases, Esther falls dramatically short of modern expectations. If you are looking to relive the first salvo in the walking simulator renaissance, then feel free to give this a try. However, if money is truly burning a hole in your pocket, you should probably just check out Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture instead.
Dear Esther is a boring slog with little narrative payoff. Although it does encourage an ideal of "interpret as you will", it lacks the foundation and support to drive discussions of death, life, and grief to the point to which it strives. Fortunately, the experience is short, cheap, and a good boost to an achievement score, but beyond that, is worth a pass.
So in that fact, I can’t offer any review feedback on the gameplay or controls, as this is as basic as it can get.
A beautiful early example of the narrative driven 'walking simulator' brought to life with stunning graphics and the same intriguingly muddled narrative as its become famous for.
I admire Dear Esther for what it did, when it did it. It was a novel concept that came from the humblest of beginnings. Unfortunately, the product of it all is short and unenjoyable. It feels like a dream in the worst way. It’s confusing, fatiguing, and the feeling of relief comes when it’s over. In that way, they couldn’t have done a better job.
A landmark title indeed, Dear Esther’s debut on PS4 serves as a timely reminder not just of The Chinese Room’s seemingly bottomless well of talent, but also of Dear Esther’s capability to fulfil that oldest of gaming mantras – escapism, with vigour and aplomb in fashion that very few other games have managed to before and since its original release.
It's clear that the “walking simulator" genre has moved on since its birth child four years ago. The antiquated gameplay has been surpassed by the likes of Gone Home, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and Firewatch, and the visuals are just as murky as a Scottish rainfall. There are far more and much better narrative-driven experiences to be had in 2016, and so Dear Esther: Landmark Edition feels like a bit of a relic in this day and age.
There’s a reason why Dear Esther spawned the “walking simulator” genre. It was the first, and is still one of the best, exploration games you can play. On your second playthrough, however, the directors commentary is why you're really here.
Dear 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. 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 goes without saying that Dear Esther: Landmark Edition won't be for everyone. However, those who are willing to open their minds and try something different are in for a treat, because Curve Digital has brought a haunting, beautiful and memorable experiences to consoles with this port.
While Dear Esther is visually captivating, it amounts to a little more than a countryside slog in every other aspect.
A beautifully animated walking simulator. I recommend that you give it a play, because it really is quite a different experience from most mainstream, fast driven, AAA games. It reminded me of a form of meditation because it was simply that immersive.
It seems odd to give a game like Dear Esther a score. If I were rating it purely on its artistic merits, I'd give it 100. As a game, its unique qualities mark it out as something that deserves to be played and experienced, but if you're hoping for something action-packed, you're barking up the wrong tree. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is a great game that transcends what a video game can be as a medium; a perfect marriage of artistry and ideas that you absolutely need to delve into.
A hauntingly immersive experience which may not be as exciting as the average game but four years on it's still a beautiful piece of art. If you haven't played it before now is the time to pick it up.