Pinchbeck himself was surprised at the positive response to his deliberately open narrative, noting that “the notion of an unfolding mystery that is never solved actually appeals to ” and that “the atmosphere and drive to find out more about the story is enough of a pull to get them all the way through the experience”. The game raises unspoken questions about whether or not the island you are walking around is actually real, who the mysterious characters the narrator refers to really are and, of course, who Esther actually is. One could take it literally or metaphorically – and it is the same with Dear Esther. The mod reminded me a lot of Flower, if not in execution then certainly in atmosphere.įlower makes very little of its story (if indeed there is one) explicit and is very open to wildly different interpretations. In this sense, Dear Esther is a dream come true for people who enjoy finding their own interpretations of games. The way these plots intertwine and seem to share themes and ideas in common, as well as wildly disparate elements too, mean that, in Pinchbeck’s words, “a closed reading, or understanding, of the events is impossible to ever reach.” Pinchbeck notes that “two plots develop simultaneously: the avatar’s visit to the island following the historical record of a 17th century cartographer, and repressed memories of a car accident”. The interesting thing about the story is that there are several threads running at once, and the randomised delivery of the audio cues throughout means that after a while, they all begin to blur together until it’s not clear where one story ends and the other begins. The beautifully-delivered narration begins immediately, reading from a letter to the titular Esther and gradually developing as the player passes around the island. That’s a very dry description of what this mod is doing, but it’s an accurate one.ĭear Esther places the unnamed player on a seemingly-deserted island, starting on a jetty facing an abandoned house.
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