Dear Esther

My apologies for not posting this yesterday as promised.  I started writing late last night and felt my focus lacked a bit of that special stuff.  This post deserved to have me without a fuzzy head, so I postponed it.

What it is:

Dear Esther is a game about exploration.  You start on an island with no context as to who or where you are.  Almost immediately, the player is shown a blinking red light.  This light belongs to a radio tower, far into the distance and high up in the hills.  The goal is obvious but mysterious: get to the radio tower.  The player can walk and look around, nothing more.

What I like:

At specific points along the path to the radio tower, segments of narration get triggered.  This narration along with objects and symbols found in the environment (none of which can be interacted with) hint at a much larger story.  During my time with the game and for a handful of hours afterwards, I wracked my brain trying to make sense of the narrator's words.  After those hours passed, still uncertain, I came to the conclusion that what the game said is not important because Dear Esther's goal is not to tell a compelling story.

The goal of Dear Esther is to elicit a powerful and lasting emotional response from the player.  Absolutely every aspect of the game exists to serve this goal.  For me, these emotions were loneliness, sadness, and wonder.  These emotions found me almost immediately and stayed with me throughout my 90 minute journey.  The beautiful landscape, the dreamy music, the confusing symbols, the even more confusing narration.  Everything I encountered made be feel more lonely, more sad, and a greater sense of wonder.

I respect Dear Esther for having such strong focus.  Again, every aspect of the game lives to elicit a powerful emotional response from the player.

What I dislike:

At the end of the game, standing at the base of the radio tower, the game takes control away from the player.  At this point, there's no place left for the player to go but up.  Why take that away from him/her?

I don't feel like anything was gained by playing the game for me in its final seconds.  I'm confident however, had control not been taken from me, every emotion I felt at the game's conclusion would've been strengthened.  That's reason enough to let me be the one who climbs the tower.

Cheers,

Danny