Tragically Beautiful, Dear Esther Review

Dear Esther is a first-person walking visual novel published on 14 February 2012 by Secret Mode, with the target audience being set towards teens and adults. As the game deals with slightly older themes, such as death, I don’t think it is suited for children.

The game follows the player as they explore the island, starting at the lighthouse, triggering a series of letter readings at various points. The letters are addressed to a woman named Esther, hence the game’s name.

It’s never specified who the playable character is. However, I assumed it was Esther’s husband, and others thought the same.

Graphics

The graphics are stunning! Truly! They have a beautiful, slightly realistic state that mesmerised me while playing. It reminded me of What Remains Of Edith Finch; however, these graphics gave a more realistic look.

As the game progressed, the graphics only got better. Certain areas, such as the cave system, were stunning. I had to restrain myself from taking loads of screenshots or hanging around too long. That entire area was breath-taking.

The graphics gave off an ethereal feeling; with each letter, the trigger gave more devastating insight into the writer’s mind, and the graphics portrayed a stunning contrast.

Gameplay

The gameplay was very good. Nothing to complain about. The walking pace was a good speed; it wasn’t too slow, but also fast enough that I was able to move with ease.

Each trigger point was obvious or connected to the last. You could see the next area at some points while at the last one, and in others, you could easily follow the path and find it.

Audio

The soundtrack was amazing!

It completely sucked you into the world and the atmosphere. Pulling the player through the highs and lows of the story. While in different areas, the audio matched perfectly. In the caves, there was a gorgeous melody with the echoing of the characters moving through the watery grounds whilst up on the windy mountains; it felt airy and freeing.

The audio matched the stunning graphics perfectly!

Difficulty

This game is extremely easy. Since it is a walking simulator, there is much skill involved in playing the game, regardless of if you play it on a console or pc.

The game operates on a similar walk and look, with nothing to click on or interact with other than walking into the trigger zones. So, someone with absolutely no gaming skills could sit down and play the game.

Story

The story is wonderful! And works very well even if you don’t trigger all the story points.

I missed two triggers in my playthrough, but I could still understand and appreciate the story. As the story progressed, the author’s feelings became more evident.

However, I feel the story points were wordy. Don’t get me wrong, they were read like how the character would have written. The letters/story points came across as highly educated like a writer had written them. That is what I feel could have also been the downfall. The story points were so long and wordy that I found myself struggling to focus on the visuals and the words simultaneously.

It didn’t take too much away from the story, but it was something I noticed that could cause issues.

Game Time

The game time was just the right amount. It was too long that I was left feeling like, “when is this ever going to end” but I also didn’t feel like I was just getting into the game and then suddenly it was over.

The game time was helped along with the stunning audio and visuals that keep the player so amazed that the time spent moving between trigger points doesn’t seem that long.

Controls

I played on a laptop; the controls were the usual WASD and mouse. The game literally had no other controls unless you wanted to count ESC to pause the game. Nothing required the player to click on it, and there was no option for running.

Price

I can’t remember exactly what I paid for this, but it’s £7.99 on steam, and honestly, it is worth the price.

Bugs

I never ran into any issues with the game at all. It ran smoothly on my laptop even after I stepped away from it for about an hour to have my dinner. No stuttering or lag was playing it at any point, and I had a clean playthrough (excusing my break in the middle, we ordered a Pizza Hut).

Fun Factor/Replay Ability

I would probably play this game again to hear the story points I missed and listen to the story better, especially since I missed some things from getting distracted.

Conclusion/My Opinion

Ultimately, Dear Esther was worth the money paid and a game I would play again. I recommend Dear Esther if you want to play something that requires next to no brain power but still contains an interesting story and beautiful visuals.