Dear Esther, the latest indie title to arrive on Steam, attempts to stretch the interactive concept of a story-game, and what originally began as a free Source mod has been picked up and re-branded as a commercial re-release. The original mod received critical acclaim for its unique premise and thought-provoking narrative, but is that enough to literally sell people on the idea of a game that features no enemies, puzzles, or any other elements beyond walking and looking at environments?
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.
Will wait for a price drop on steam for this.
Not paying £6.99 for an hour long game.