Dear Esther

Has anyone heard of that game called Dear Esther? It's a stand alone game based on a halflife lmod of the same name.I bought it (via download) and thought it was great.It can be ordered from their of the same name.Very haunting.

This is the first I've heard of it. Seems interesting. Certainly not like anything I've personally played before.

No I have not played it or have any intention of doing so in the near future.

So after "playing" this for half an hour, I can attest that this isn't a "game" for everyone. It's an "interactive" story where you slowly walk around an undisclosed, remote Hebridean island (which looks beautiful even if the game is using an engine which is becoming dated), your progress punctuated by monologues which unveil information about your character's character and why he's there.

It's the gaming equivalent of an art film. I never played the HL2 mod so I don't know how it compares, but personally I applaud them for trying something different. But I can appreciate why it leaves some people confused as to what the point of it is and why some people might be completely bored by it.

Dear Esther isn't a game. End of discussion.

It's (sort of) interactive story telling.

The environments and the atmosphere are truly stunning, especially the caves, but I thought the story was pretentious.

While the narrator may have sounded a bit pompous,what I really enjoy most was the scenery,and a good long hike without getting tired.Does anyone know of anymore games like this?

I enjoyed it, very atmospheric. And yeah, looked amazing considering the engine.

It was pretty awesome, in terms of visuals. I especially liked the crystal caves and full moon when you exit the caves. The circuit diagrams made out of luminous paint are pretty neat too.


The storyline is hard to follow, since there wasn't anything much in terms of interaction. You'd have to play it a few times to get what's actually happening. The slow move speed is the one thing that really annoyed me.

el zee said:

The slow move speed is the one thing that really annoyed me.

Put that in the console and you have a run key. You have to bind the command to a key because there's triggers throughout each chapter which reset it. You're not playing it as the developers intended but it doesn't detract from the experience imo.

Are there any doom wads like this?Or has anyone thought of making one? I would,but I'm not a mapper.Crap.

Haven't played it, but sounds like The Stanley Parable which was pretty sweet. Quit being babbies and enjoy things for what they are.

Nomad said:

Haven't played it, but sounds like The Stanley Parable which was pretty sweet. Quit being babbies and enjoy things for what they are.

Oh yeah, that one was REALLY awesome, very funny.

I would love to play The Stanley Parable,but I dont have any HalfLife episodes at all.Chrappolla!

grouchbag said:

I would love to play The Stanley Parable,but I dont have any HalfLife episodes at all.Chrappolla!

Keep an eye out here on Steam Project Greenlight and we might get a standalone, higher quality remake of it available in Steam :)

Thanks! I'll definitely keep an eye on Steam.I have an account there anyway.

grouchbag said:

I would love to play The Stanley Parable,but I dont have any HalfLife episodes at all.Chrappolla!

You can. The ModDB page says it just requires the Source SDK, which is free. This is also what you need to play Black Mesa, so go for it.

Oh,thankyou,thankyou,thankyou!Am doing so ASAP!

How do I run The Stanley Parable in the source sdk? I can be a little dense on stuff like that at times.Thanks!

I could be wrong since I haven't installed any HL2 mods in quite a while, but I think you just need to extract the Stanley Parable data into your \Steam\steamapps\SourceMods\ directory. Then when you open up Steam it should show up automatically in your library.

Thanks!

Did you miss the readme file in the archive? I just looked, and that's exactly what it says to do.

Now I'm curious. Might have to run this thing and see what it is.

It's probably so easy,I missed it.If it's harder to do,no problem.Don't know why.Perhaps I got the wrong sdk?