BA6 Contextual Studies - 'Dear Esther' game review

The player starts on an unnamed Hebridian island, with no immediate explanation why they are there. Almost everything about the player’s character is unclear, as regarding; race, gender, age, etc. This ambiguity could stem form the fact that ‘Dear Esther’ is an indie game, with fairly limited money behind it, giving rise to the explanation that there wasn’t enough money, time, computing power left to ‘describe’ the character in-game. On the other hand, the makers of “dear Esther’ may have thought such personal details unimportant, in relation to the story it was trying to tell.

The only actions the player can perform, is move, look around and zoom in. I think this minimalist control scheme was included because the makers of the game wanted the player to focus more on the backstory, as it was delivered to them in cryptic fragments, as they traversed the island. There is next to no interaction between the player and the game environment. You can move around the island, the game will recognise when you walk over different surfaces, such as rock, sand, shallow water etc. But there is little other interaction.

Throughout the experience of ‘Dear Esther’, there is evidence of previous human habitation and man-made objects, littering the world. Old, abandoned hovels, ship wrecks, rusting crates, fences, graves etc, all give the player the feeling of this island being occupied sometime in the past. The story of these objects and buildings are slowly revealed through narration by an unnamed male speaker.

The narrative plays out in a series of well versed, if sometimes overly ambiguous voice-overs, by a disembodied male narrator. Overall, I was left confused as to who I was actually assuming the role of in ‘Dear Esther’. Was I Esther herself? Or the unnamed narrator? Was I the one sending these strange letters, or receiving them?

Occasionally, I would happen upon strange, little scenes that seemed to demand attention, yet were not obvious in conveying their message. On a beach, I found a mysterious pattern drawn into the sand. I happened to know what it was, but why was it there?

Hidden meanings: Divine proportion? The Golden rectangle?

Further on into the game, I came across chemical symbol, crudely painted onto different surfaces, in a luminous, turquoise paint. This time however, I did not know the elements or compounds they were describing. I assumed that they, along with the pattern on the beach, were left here by the shepherds who used to live here.

Additionally, I found several Bible passages, scrawled across the rock of the island, or in man-made structures. There were also several mentions of the ancient city of 'Damascus', which I did not understand. 

I saw that the game was generating mysterious elements to itself, which kindled my interest in the game, further. I immediately wanted to find out  what these weird messages and symbols meant. I then came to the realisation that by doing this, the game had created extended interest in itself. By that, I mean that the players of 'Dear Esther' would spend time on figuring out all the hidden meanings associated with these strange writings. It was really another way of drawing people's attention to the game, with added mystery.

The game was very atmospheric, it looked and felt like you were actually on that remote Hebridean island. ‘Dear Esther’ has great looking scenery, with wind, lighting, and water effects all adding to the immersion.

The interior caverns of the island

The beautiful, moonlit bay

The player journeying up a rocky hillside, to a distant house

You can explore the island, but the experience is actually quite linear, despite the game’s attempt to appear non-linear.  Invisible walls and other barriers restrict the player in where they can go. These blockades funnel the player into where the game wants them to go. When this became apparent to me, I was at first disillusioned with the loss of freedom available to me.  But after some thought on why the creators had done this, I saw the necessity in limiting the players movements. If I had been making the game, I wouldn’t let people just have completely free reign in what to do. If I wanted them to explore a set number of environments in a particular order, I would need to create a linear path down which the player could travel.

'Dear Esther' is a game which focuses on a higher concept of storytelling, rather than the game in itself.