Dear Esther Review

This bold and beautiful experiment blurs the line between video games and other media

Posted by Evan Witt on March 2, 2012 - 1:54pm EST

perfectly with the melancholy of the scenery. Opting for flesh-and-blood performers over the admittedly well-crafted MIDI music of today is a difficult choice for indie developers because of the strong cost difference, but it’s just the sort of move that can bump a game’s music from ‘good’ to ‘beautiful’, and while in my opinion the soundtrack here doesn’t stand well on its own, the calm crescendos work in perfect tandem to the visuals of the game.

What Dear Esther has is a remarkable excellence and vision, but what it doesn’t have will turn away many potential players. With no gameplay and no strict plot to speak of, this game has been described as a glorified tech demo, and that description is not far from the mark. However, Dear Esther still has a clear structure and progression, and more importantly, it provides an experience that could only be explored on the basis of player control: in other words, Dear Esther wouldn’t work as a book or a movie, it can only be described as a game.

Most players probably won’t ‘get’ Dear Esther. If you’re looking for quick entertainment to soak up your time, or like playing games mostly for their clearly-defined challenges and explicit score systems, then you should look elsewhere. Having said that, this title is an important step in experimental gaming, and anybody involved in the creation of virtual worlds should not only play it, but study it. Dear Esther would be worth recommending strictly as an object lesson in what it means to have good writing and environment design in a game (the former of which is especially lacking in the today’s game market). But it’s also more than that; it’s a successful experience which is built to take advantage of its medium, and which joins the best of the genre in raising gaming from mere button-mashing entertainment to legitimate, inspirational art.

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Our ratings for Dear Esther on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)

Presentation

The environment sets a new standard for quality, and the writing in the game is some of the best in the industry.

Gameplay

None

Single Player

Interesting ideas, stunning visuals, and a clear dramatic progression as the player traverses the island keep you emotionally invested in the game.

Multiplayer

None

Performance

I was surprised at how smoothly the game ran, and how beautifully rendered the environment was without choking up my system.

Overall

This is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it title, and many players won�t consider it a game at all. But if you can approach Dear Esther with an open mind, it will be a stunning and moving experience well worth your time.