Developer: The Chinese Room
Rrp: £7.99 (Gog.com and Steam)
I think I need to say this before I even truly start this review. I hated the original release of this game. I found it pretentious and a waste of my time, and I know for a fact that I’ll hate this one just as much for exactly the same reasons. This is why I’ve chosen to give this game a more… informal look.
As strange as it may sound I actually do respect this game as much as I dislike it. It was the first (and if not the first it was the most well known) of the ‘Walking Simulator’ genre. Many would say that the genre itself is a blight on gaming but I have to disagree. I very much enjoyed Gone Home, Tacoma and Ether One and I plan to play Firewatch at some point.
However being the first doesn’t excuse Dear Esther from my ire, especially this version because it came out in 2017. There have been plenty of other games appeared in the same genre that have showed what else can be done. And what does this developer do as a response? Lazily release a version with updated graphics which while being a little dated were perfectly fine for what this game needs. Sure they added a randomised element, but it doesn’t really add anything to the game as a whole.
You know what I find most irritating with this game? The walk speed. Why is it so tortuously slow? I mean sure I suppose they kept the speed low so people can’t just run through the game without absorbing the story. But you need a story worth engaging, or at least something more than just ‘walking’.
So unsurprisingly I still don’t find this a game I can really recommend. It’s insufferable. However, it does serve a purpose, I truly hope that budding game designers out there give this game a go and learn some lessons, what those lessons are will be entirely up to them.
