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Dear Esther (PC)

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    #16
    Ahhh I don't know If I should say anything more about it, was cool to experience if you haven't already.
    I will spoiler, basically though....

    When you jump down a waterfall hole in the massive cave part and hit the water, if you swim down (is what people are saying) when your eyes open you are swimming along the motorway he speaks of in the letters, there is a hospital bed in the middle of the motorway. You can swim about and it's a bit creepy.

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      #17
      This is ?3.50 on steam at the moment and well worth a download. I put it on late last night and ended up playing the whole thing in about two hours as has been said fantastic atmosphere and audio

      what I took from the narration is that he is a drunk who killed his wife in a car accident, ( his dear Esther) talks about sitting by her bed and how it should of been Donnaly who died (the yogart salesman he hits in his car) I think the story is all about his guilt at killing her, did anyone notice the shadows on the ground after he jumps, it's a Gull shadow.

      Last edited by Lebowski; 26-05-2012, 22:44.

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        #18
        Walked this this evening ('played' would be incorrect). Lovely atmosphere. Although I must admit to being somewhat bothered by the contrast in realism in that underground area. Unless there's something about caving I don't know, which I guess is actually possible - what were the light sources? Considering how grounded the first area was, I felt like I was in Gears Of War 2 in the middle.

        Still, lovely experience, great music. Odd looking at your spoilers because I didn't see any

        figures. Well, maybe one. I did see something that could have been a figure but it was so far away and when I got there I couldn't find it. Really just a dark blob though.

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          #19
          Any word or chance of a console or mobile release?

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            #20
            Played through this last night. Not sure if it's a game but thought it was a wonderful and quite moving way to tell a sad story. Much more disturbing in its quiet way than the gritty in-your-face stuff that often passes for mature storytelling (max payne 3 - heh heh). Terrific sense of location, too. Look forward to what this team come up with in their collaboration with the Amnesia team. Pig Machine or whatever it's called. Gonna give it another walkthrough then play Journey and maybe To The Moon - I'm on a non-interactive indie storytelling tip!

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              #21
              To The Moon is hitting steam soon-ish, great little game/story Next chapter of the a series is in development too.
              Been meaning to replay Dear Esther since I got my new PC, crank it up and walk around for a bit see if I experience anything new, will do it once my BB has been fixed damn Virgin Media.

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                #22
                Played this through again. Picked up some more story details,

                like the suggestion Esther was pregnant,

                but ultimately not much more from my first limpthrough. Still admire the amazing scenes and framing, but the writing/narration, with its heavyhanded mixed metaphors all over the place, seemed more laboured and pretentious on 2nd listen,

                and less like the plausible ravings of this guy delirious from grief.

                Anyway, was worth price of a pint.

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                  #23
                  So, as it's dirty cheap now I picked up an Onlive console to try out. Half the non-retro games won't run without a keyboard/mouse in a daft decision so amongst the few things left was this.

                  Some of the visual impact was lost as Onlive displays images like a full screen SD Youtube video but controls were fine. A little disheartening at first as you realise there's no gameplay beyond movement and its very linear but the atmosphere soon starts to settle in. The imagery is fantastic and by Chapter 2 I started to get into the tale. The caves look great and there's a very strong sense of place to this solitary island.

                  My view of the story was that:


                  The narrator had a wife and was driving down the motorway one night when an over tired travelling salesmans car hits them causing a crash. Esther is killed and the narrator is left behind grieving. The narrator has spent a lot of time writing his thoughts in the form of letters to Esther and blaming Paul, the salesman, for the crash though really knowing it wasn't his fault and just an accident. The narrator has since gone to an island that is written about in a book he stole from the library and scrawls messages in the rocks and things about the place in memory of himself and Esther. The player takes control of the narrator as he takes one last walk around the island remembering why he went there and checking his work before climbing the mast and throwing himself from it hoping to be reunited with her and one day the man he blamed in happiness whilst knowing the signs he has left behind will teach anyone who comes to the island in future ensuring they aren't forgotten.



                  Other playthroughs might throw that explaination off though but I have 6 days of the free trial left so hope to have another play through to see what it comes up with next time. Great, great title.

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                    #24
                    Spell of raise thread.... BUUUUUMMP!

                    Ok, so I'm off work with a bad staph infection of my leg (horse fly bite, from gardening at the weekend), so thought I'd be ironic and play a walking sim. I also wanted something I could finish before the kids came home from school. Playing the Landmark edition on PS4 pro, via PSTV in the bedroom (cosy!).

                    First impression is that I don't like the chosen FOV. Not being an accomplished photographer or cinematographer, I can only guess that it's around 130 or more degrees, maybe slightly fisheyed, which gives a weird effect at the boundaries of the screen when rotating the camera. However, as you progress and get engrossed in this, it becomes less bothersome but if it was done to indicate the protagonist's somewhat frayed state of mind, they didn't need to.
                    As for the rest of the experience (as this is no game), it was very obviously leading you in a snaking and fairly linear path across the island. In fact, with the rambling, intense and metaphor-laden narrator, at the time it felt like visiting IKEA with Rob Bryden, channeling a drunk, ranting, Richard Burton.
                    The setting, weather and tidal effects, the lichens, the scrawny weeds blowing in the unforgiving wind and underground sections, were great. The music, too, was very evocative and the unfolding narrative, makes its mark, eventually.

                    On the whole it was evocative and interesting and I don't resent the time I spent with it. It wasn't lost on me that the narrator's health problem was a coincidence that I could have done without, as I lay there with a leg coloured like a jug of claret.
                    Last edited by gunrock; 25-09-2019, 19:34.

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                      #25
                      On the XB1 I'm sure you can change the FOV settings?

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                        #26
                        [MENTION=6476]JazzFunk[/MENTION]: hey mate! I actually thought of you whilst playing this game. I wondered if it were how it might feel to wander the hospital corridors and down to the basement X-Ray dept. at night with you as the had-a-few-too-many raconteur du jour!
                        But I checked all the options and there was no way to change the FOV on the PS4.

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                          #27
                          Horsefly bites are scary as, I'd rather be bitten by a real horse.

                          I really enjoyed Dear Esther.

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