Dear Esther Review
Hello, friends. Today I will talk to you about an incredible game that I just started playing. I have to say that even though I share the visuals of the game, you should definitely play it yourself.
I will try not to give spoilers as much as I can, but this game is a bit psychological and in your own head, trying to understand what is happening as you discover new things.
You might need to play it twice to understand what the story is. I'm not going to tell you the ending, if you want to play it by traveling around and exploring the visuals, it can take 4-5 hours, but if you play it directly to finish the game, it will take 2-3 hours.
Let's get started.
Dear Esther First Impression An Incredible Experience
At the beginning of this game you can open comments from the developers. If you want to completely lose yourself in the game, don't do that. But if you want to know how the game was made, what they paid attention to, and so on, I highly recommend it.
For example, this is how I learned that it started as Half Life2 Mod. Also, don't forget to turn on subtitles in the settings. Otherwise you will only hear the voices of the developers.
I quickly realized that this was not the right decision. I mean, to turn on subtitles. Because the visuals in the game get blocked because of the long conversations and comments.
It's hard to see what's underneath. So after a few minutes I turned off the subtitles and left the audio-only devoloper commentary on.
Don't turn on devoloper comments on your first playthrough.
If the devoloper comments are open, you will see message signs as you walk, giving you clues as to where you should go. This is why it is important to turn this off. It's better to let the game tell you where to go, rather than you deciding and getting lost and exploring the island.
Think of it this way, you've landed on an island by yourself. You are exploring around.
You can only walk. Thats it.
It's not nice for the game to show you where to walk. So don't open devoloper comments on your first playthrough.
Don't do this on your first playthrough if you want to discover for yourself what's going on around you. Don't turn on the commentary. Explore, walk around, look at the little items around... See what's out there.
Exploring is rewarded.
You will see some symbols and some items around. What do these items mean? Think about things like why the symbols are drawn on the walls. As I was walking around, I often asked myself who could have drawn these things here, do people live here, and if so, where are they?
Will we see people, will they talk, will there be elements of fear because this is considered a psychological game?
I realized that the game makes you think a lot. You think a lot about what comes where and how.
So stay calm.
Take your time. This is a game for relaxation and thinking. There are no buttons to touch around.
If you want to trigger things you have to go and look at them.
So exploring is rewarded.
Music or an idea?
As I continued to wander, I started to find more and more different things around. Needles, books that shouldn't be there. Pictures that made me wonder how it got there.
Music feeds you in a very beautiful way. So it's not so prominent like other plays. You can't understand things like what did you do right, is there such a thing as doing it right because of the music.
It's great that music is only used to give you a sense of what you're exploring and the feeling of the environment. It's really scary and brave that there is very little music in many places, especially at the beginning, or even no music at all. At first I felt that I would get bored.
We are so used to hearing things all the time, playing games like press this button and we'll give you 3 gold coins... This game felt completely different. And the music supported that.
In one part of the game you enter a cave. Don't be afraid. It's easy to say, but... throughout the game you can't really imagine a creature not jumping at you or a predator not jumping at you. I mean, it didn't cross my mind.
But when I started going into these caves, I started to feel very strange.
It was like something was around the corner at any moment. But because I knew that this was not in the game, I dared to walk.
I have to say that even though I had this knowledge, I found it difficult to move forward in some places. Because there are places where you are really nervous. But this is an experience they want to give.
The Last Thoughts
I took 50+ photos during the game and believe me I don't WANT to share them because you have to experience it for yourself.
Some places are so shocking...
You really have to let the atmosphere in the game draw you in.
Don't pay attention to your phone, try to explore the environment. Try to see things around you.
It's not a fast game and you live in a story that you understand by walking slowly.
And when I say understand...
How can I say it without giving spoilers, let me put it like this;
This game is as beautiful as you discover it and as full as you understand it. You can think of it as the depth of its story and the reality of the things you want to put, the meaning of the items you find. I can say that it is a game that sometimes makes you question reality and sometimes makes you question yourself.
- If you like to explore.
- If you want to play calmly and calmly instead of being hasty
- If you like to be rewarded for your research instead of having the story handed to you on a golden platter, I recommend this game to you.
I can definitely say that if you want to relax your head one evening and slow down the fatigue in your mind, I recommend this game. Yes, it looks like an old game and I bought it when it was on sale. I just had the opportunity to download and play it. But the ending... Oh my.
All photos taken ingame by me and shared in random order to avoid spoilers.
Thank you so much for reading!