Dear Esther... Stunning!

I was ready to give this a go after watching the trailer -- the graphics, music, landscape, and dialogue all looked and sounded extraordinary. But having just read the RPS review and the first page of comments accompanying it, I'm not so sure now. Don't get me wrong: the review was generally favourable, but there's a few things that I don't deem worthy of a £7 price tag. The fact it's only about one-and-a-half hours long and more akin to a museum tour are what's swaying me away.

I haven't ruled it out completely, though, especially as I'm craving something new, so I think I'll just wait until I've heard what people here think about it.
 
McGray said:
The RPS review has put me off somewhat.
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It did me, too (that's me with the first comment under the review). It sounds like something I'll gladly play as part of a humble indie bundle or something, but I won't bother buying it on its own.

Thought it would be more something like Myst with less emphasis on puzzles. Oh well.
 
There is a two page review of it the April 2012 issue of Custom PC magazine... and they gave it 90%.

It is certainly something a bit out of the ordinary and for that sort of money, I will probably give it a try!

To attempt to describe it... well their website says... "Dear Esther is a poetic ghost story told using game technologies. You explore a deserted island, uncovering a tale of love, loss, grief and redemption, delivered through stunning voice-over and soundtrack and set against one of the most beautiful environments yet created in a game."

So now you know! ;)

It appears to only be available initially via Steam though... which is a shame, as I don't like Steam! :(
 
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G-MAN2004 said:
Ah right. I'm guessing there will be some sort of secret storyline as well, otherwise that'd get pretty boring. :o
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Dear Esther is a ghost story, told using first-person gaming technologies. Rather than traditional game-play the focus here is on exploration, uncovering the mystery of the island, of who you are and why you are here. Fragments of story are randomly uncovered when exploring the various locations of the island, making every each journey a unique experience. Dear Esther features a stunning, specially commissioned soundtrack from Jessica Curry
Forget the normal rules of play; if nothing seems real here, it’s because it may just be all a delusion. What is the significance of the aerial – What happened on the motorway – is the island real or imagined – who is Esther and why has she chosen to summon you here? The answers are out there, on the lost beach and the tunnels under the island. Or then again, they may just not be, after all…
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This review confirms what I already guessed its certainly not worth £6.99 for a single play of around 2 hours. It should be a free release as its just a mod & the gfx look pretty dated as well cannot believe people are getting so excited for this :( I guess standards are that low nowadays :( The concept art on the official website looks ok nothing special but it has potential but the dated source engine is the wrong one to bring it to life IMO.

http://www.destructoid.com/review-dear-esther-221082.phtml
 
Certainly looks interesting, gameplay wise not really my cup of tea but if it looks even half as good ingame as the media the level of detail is leaps and bounds above pretty much anything else out artistically.
 
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