Dear Esther: This Game is Artsy

I was originally going to make a post about me baking cupcakes but I ended up forgetting half my supplies in the fridge at work. I can't be the only one who wanted to rush home from work after a shift and forgot some things. So instead we'll be talking about Dear Esther, the remake of the fairly popular mod available on Steam.

Nearly all the games I review are going to be from Steam because I am a Valve fanboy.

The game is hard to describe. It's hard to say if it's even a game. It's an interactive story where your character will provide monologues at random intervals as you walk around. Though, the only interaction that's provided is movement keys.

The story is given through the mentioned dialogues, with each playthrough being different as the monologues are randomized. There are also small events that are randomized in the game though you have to have a careful eye to notice them as they are small and easy to miss. Their significance is also lost if you aren't paying attention to the monologues.

Unfortunately, I cannot tell much of the story without spoiling it. What I can say is that it's about a man on an island, and the monologues he gives are portions of the letters he has written to a woman by the name of Esther. The story is vague and will leave players to their own interpretations of what is going on.

And it is a strange island.

The environment itself is gorgeous. Some of the best and well-designed areas I've had the chance to explore. The atmosphere is well created as well, and gives a sense of loneliness and mystery. This is and the soundtrack are probably the most discussed and enjoyed portions of the game.

The soundtrack is even better. I found it to really help with the atmosphere of the game. A mixture of orchestral and instrumental music.

The caves were easily my favorite part of the game.

Despite all the praise I've heard and given for this game, it does have flaws. For starters, this isn't your conventional game, if it can even be called that. You walk around, a story gets told, and that's it. No shooting, no leveling up, and no cutscenes. Some people will be grateful for the change, others will be left bored and unsatisfied.

The game is also fairly short, it'll take you an hour, maybe two hours at most to complete it. The pacing is also a problem for some. Having a narrator tell your story for you is quite enjoyable as discussed in my Bastion review. And I think Dear Esther could have benefited from that as opposed to the sparse bits of narration.

I think the best way I could put it is that Dear Esther is like an art gallery. You walk around, you look at some pretty things, and sometimes a voice will pop up to say a few words. If you're not the kind of person who enjoys art galleries, you are not going to enjoy Dear Esther.

The Last Week before Classes

It's hard to believe 4 months of freedom have gone by so quickly. But with just one more week before classes resume I can't say I feel excited.

Theresa already starts on Monday. She has orientation sessions to go to now that she's in Med school. So it's not like I can spend this week with her. It was unfortunate that she spent so much of her summer working but hey, medical school debts aren't going to pay themselves.

Basically.

So I have a week left to myself. And I have a fair idea of what I want to accomplish with the last of my time. I have a project or two I need to finish. Such as the hollow book. Yeah, this one has been on the backburner for a long time. It's almost done but I'm picky and trying to get some of part to look a bit nicer.

There is also a little kit that I got in Hong Kong that I found that I want to get around to doing as well. I'm hoping to get started on it and maybe post my progress on that too. Can't exactly outright say what it is though. It's a little something for Theresa.

What's inside? Only I know!

Speaking of Theresa I wanted to bake her something this week as well. She's fond of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese. So I'm going to try my hand at those hopefully on Tuesday. Pictures of that potential disaster will be posted.

And I also wanted to take her out for dinner as well. Thing is, I'm not sure whether to take her to a restaurant we've been to before. OR I could risk taking her to some really high-end French restaurant. I never really did do something to congratulate her getting into med school. Though, she kind of dislikes high-end dining because she thinks it's overpriced.

She might kill me but it be worth it.

Lastly, I still have a lot of games to finish. Unfortunately most of them are not going to be beaten in a week. Therefore, a review of Dear Esther, the acclaimed Half Life 2 mod, will be up sometime in the near future.

I've also been reading The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. They're great books and I'm contemplating giving them a review. However, they're extremely popular and I'm guessing many people have already read and/or watched the series. And I don't generally enjoy talking about things that people already know about, feels kind of redundent.

I am at a part where lots of people are dropping like flies though.

Last thing to note, due to schedule changes I no longer have a 5 day weekend but a 4 day one. It's still pretty good, I can't complain.

Leaves me plenty of time to blog during the term.