A review of Dear Esther

[Celia]

I have recently had the good fortune to purchase Dear Esther on a recent Steam sale.

It is by and far one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever been subject to.


Despite the fact that you purchase it on Steam as one would a video game, to refer to it as such would be an untruth. The game has no fiends to vanquish, no puzzles to solve, no secrets to solve and no scores to settle. You can do little more then walk as the unnamed protagonist traverses through his journey and composes eloquent notes to his beloved friend Esther. More then it ever could be a game, Dear Esther is a profound and innovative narrative. To play it feels like experiencing a book for the first time.



Despite the inherently brief nature of this narrative, Dear Esther manages to portray more emotion and establishes more of a connection between the player and the protagonist within its two hours then most games do in their entirety.

Were ever there an argument that video games could be considered an higher art form, Dear Ester stands as the very thesis to the statement.

To whoever among you who might consider yourselves artists, I highly recommend the purchase of Dear Esther.

[Daryl]

I didn't like it.

Moreso, this review, while short, contradicts itself. You start off by saying "to refer to [Dear Esther] as [​a video game] would be an untruth", but later say "Were ever there an argument that video games could be considered an higher art form, Dear Ester [sic] stands as the very thesis to the statement".

There's also nothing "inherently brief" about this type of game. They could have made it longer if they wanted to - but then even fewer people would play it.