MMGN.COM writes: Dear Esther is an interesting experiment of interactive storytelling, presenting the player with a mysterious island and an even more mysterious narrative. The game oozes with shady atmosphere, and the moody soundtrack really transforms the experience into a work of art. Having said that, it can come off a little pretentious at times, and the entire game can be completed by holding down the W key and moving the mouse.
The Chinese Room's Dear Esther goes free on Steam to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this foundational title.
Eh.
I mean free is free, but I found this to be a boring slog.
Not to mention this remasters actually made the game look worse in multiple areas.
I did quite like their A Machine for Pigs and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture though.
On Valentine's Day a decade ago, Dear Esther went from a Source Engine mod to a full-fledged indie game, catalyzing the "walking sim" genre. How does it measure up today?
"The China-based indie games publisher Secret Mode and Brighton-based (the UK) indie games developer The Chinese Room, are today very pleased to announce that they will celebrate the tenth anniversary of "Dear Esther" by making the genre-defining 2012 narrative exploration game free to download from February 14th to February 15th via Steam." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
