Initially, I believed the game lacked any conflict. I soon started debating with myself whether I would actually describe “Dear Esther” as a game or simply a roaming experience.Ībout an hour into the gameplay, it became clear that while “Dear Esther” differs from most games that people traditionally play, it is indeed a game, from a formal perspective. However, the calming sound of the waves and the beauty of the natural territory urged me to continue my exploration. The only feedback mechanism that I received early on was the irregular narrative pieces from an omnipotent narrator that lacked any context and didn’t seem to provide any clues about the outcome I should expect by playing this game. The outcome of the game was even less clear as I kept wondering what the point of the game truly was. Exploration seemed to be the only logical fit for a game that lacks any physical actions apart from walking. With “Dear Esther”, it took me a much longer time to discover what the true objective was.

In almost all games I’ve played so far, the objective is either clear from the very start, or it gets clear shortly after gameplay commences. Unlike an FPS game though, there weren’t any controls or actions I could do apart from walking, not even running. I was, however, able to pick up the movement controls very easily as they exactly resembled a typical FPS game.

As I started “Dear Esther”, I was immediately plunged into the gameplay with basically no instructions or guidelines.

Games dear esther