Dear Esther: Landmark Edition

« I can only say this: give Dear Esther a chance; it could prove to connect with you on a deep and personal level while challenging your perception on gaming as an art form. Or, you’ll find it pointless and know to avoid these interactive experiences in the future. »

« 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. »

« Say what you want about Dear Esther, but The Chinese Room really know how to respect its legacy. Almost a half decade on since it first saw light as a Half Life 2 mod, Dear Esther has captured the hearts and minds of players, effectively started a genre and polarised the gaming community perhaps irreversibly. And the developers absolutely know this as they relentlessly justify their artistic choices in the commentary. This game is rich and thought provoking in its design, hiding its depth behind simplicity. It deserves an hour of your time. »

« For those looking to spend a few melancholic hours drinking in the sights and sounds of a desolate island while churning over an old man’s heartbreak, this version of Dear Esther is as good as it gets. »

« Now the game’s on PS4, it risks being slightly misunderstood by a mass audience. It’s always been an acquired taste, but it’s universally mesmerising. »

« 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. »

« Dear Esther helped spark a trend of narrative-focused indie games, and it's great to see it celebrated in such a nice package. The 'Landmark Edition' is the best way to experience The Chinese Room's gorgeous adventure, and the developer commentary is a fantastic addition. It's well worth the price of admission, whether one has played the original or are just experiencing it for the very first time. »

« As a first time player, I happened to really enjoy Dear Esther’s bleak trek across a mysterious Hebridean island. The tale felt like a deeply personal one and, although the narrator’s wordiness can and will tend to grate, I can appreciate and engross myself in what the Chinese Room have provided. There are moments of genuine impact and it’s an experience very open to interpretation. Your interpretations will ultimately colour how you see this brief encounter. »

« Quick background on me the reviewer, I tend to like single player games that is heavy on narrative the most. I also play a lot of racing games and use to play multiplayer games in my high school days but now that it's hard for me and my friends to find a good time to link up so now it’s rare for me to get into a multiplayer game. Up to try any genre of games and sometimes I find something new that I didn't think I'd like. I own a PC (built by me), Xbox One X, Xbox Series X, PS3, PS4, PS5, and a Switch. I prefer Playstation due to their focus on narrative games. For scoring, I’ll be using the Gameinformer review scale and of course influenced by my personal opinions. (7) Average. The game’s feature may work, but are nothing that even causal players haven’t seen before. This is just a walking simulator so if that isn't your thing then stay away. If you're all right with walking around a mysterious island with a good narrator telling you a story, good graphics, sound, and pretty good music then give it a try. You're only going to lose 1-4 hours of your time. if you like it, listen to the developer commentary too. I did. »

« I have heard some criticisms of this game being a walking simulator, and people saying it should not be called a game. These criticism made me want to play it more, as games like that usually have a very good story. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this game. The story was just not that interesting to me. It was just really depressing and made me feel bad. »

« This 1-hour hiking-simulator was mostly visually-pretty. I actually enjoy walking simulators, but Dear Esther was utterly uneventful, boring, and meaningless. In terms of art, it kind of reminded me of the Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition, but the Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition is 100x more artistic and more interesting. The worst part is the utter-nonsense narration. If you put a infinite number of monkeys with typewriters in a room and give them an infinite amount of time, they'll eventually write Shakespeare-quality material. Dear Esther's dialogue was written by 10 monkeys given 1 hour (and then auto-corrected by AI for grammar). It made zero sense at all. »

« Эта игра - точнее даже сказать не игра, а визуальная аудио книга, очень любопытное произведение. Литературная проза в сочетании с визуальным артхаусом, так как это воспринял я. Эмоции она вызывает не детские, так что готовьтесь к душевным страданиям. В сочетании с визуальной составляющей и музыкальным сопровождением вызывает мурашки по коже. А загадочность повествования, погружает вас в мысли самого автора данного произведения. Так что, это очень и очень игра на любителя. Но я доволен данным опытом и могу внести её в список искусно сделанных и запоминающихся работ нашего поколения. »

« Haunting. It's a story, a puzzling story, told as you traverse the island. I still listen to the soundtrack by Jessica Curry years later. »

« Unfortunately that game is too short. Anyway it was a great experience. Awesome visuals which remembers on a poetry. Very emotional story. There are just too less games out there which have such a background. Well done, thanks. »

« If you want a good walking simulator, play What Remains of Edith Finch. This is just a pretty (the caves especially great) looking game with the illusion of a story or any meaning at all. 57/100 »

« I only paid $2.50 for this on PSN. At that price, I'd say this game is worth it because the "story" and setting is pretty interesting. I say "story" but the directors commentary at points makes it clear at one point that there is no one correct interpretation of the game's story and they purposely obfuscate the story using conflicting voice over lines. At another point in the director's commentary, the writer said the main crux of the story DID actually happen. Any game like this relies VERY heavily on the story so to have it so up in the air and leave you wondering if there's a story at all definitely detracts from the narrative. The visuals of the game are lacking. The setting is beautiful, to be sure, but looking up at the sky you can see pixilation of the clouds which is out of place in a PS4 game this short. To compare, when I played The Vanishing of Ethan Carter I took several screen shots because I found the setting and visuals so appealing but I only have one screen shot of this game I thought was worth keeping. If I had stopped playing the game after my first playthrough, I probably would've given this game a 5 or 6. But I'm a completionist so I decided to try to get all the trophies and I thought the director's commentary would lend some clarity to the story. Unless you are extremely enamored by the main game to the point where you'd give it a 8-10 out of 10, don't bother with the director's commentary. To be fair, the gaming community tends to agree this was a pioneer that led to many games like "...Ethan Carter" and "...Edith Finch" so that's perhaps why they thought a commentary track was appropriate. But compared to the two aforementioned games, this is very bare bones and if the visuals weren't in HD, this easily could've been a point and click on PC in the 90's. I still would've liked the experience if the Director's Commentary reflected how meager this game is but the commentary lacks any humility (humbleness). Listening to the commentary, you get the impression that these developers think they could've written Silent Hill 2 on a napkin over breakfast. At one point, the writer literally says that this game redefined how caves were designed in video games.. Enough said- the directors commentary was absolutely miserable to sit through because the directors seem to have no concept of where their game stands. It was $2.50 on PSN and hearing them talk you'd expect they'd want it to be a full priced $60 game. The only gameplay consists of choosing where to walk and walking up to environments and objects which trigger voice over. There is no "press x to examine:", there is no sprint button (the director says he thought it would be weird because you don't run around in everyday life-- as if being alone on an island is everyday life). In fact, R1, R2, L1, L2, Square, Triangle, Circle, and X all do the same thing-- zoom in. And you never have to zoom in to progress the game. To be fair, there is one moment in the game at the end of the third chapter that I thought was very well done. I can appreciate that this was the first of its kind and it was a risk to make it but because the story isn't great or clear and it has the least amount of gameplay of anything I've ever booted on my PS4 or PS2-- it is worth the price I paid for it-- $2.50. If you get it for $5 or less and don't try to 100% it, it's a solid 5. »