Has anyone bought it yet? I think I’m going to buy it later tonight when I get a chance. I decided to wait on playing the first after I saw how awesome this one was looking. From what I’ve seen of it, this is probably going to be the best Source game graphically to be released as of yet. That’s beside the fact that it has such a unique story and game-play.
Appropriate release date.
Inorite? Fucking weird.
just bought it, downloading now
What’s the download size?
1,5Gb
I FUCKING LOVED IT!!!
You mean you already finished the game?
it’s pretty short, but worth the money imo.
You can play it multiple times, because the text always changes a little bit.
:o
Yeah, when the download started and I saw that it was going to only take 8 minutes, I was mildly disappointed. Not at the speed, but the size of the game. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful game.
Might pirate this, but from everything I’ve heard its an insult to good video game storytelling.
Don’t know if want…
I have read that this game is just under an hour of gameplay… that’s not a game thats a fucking demo > 
Why? You need Cutscenes?
ad a dash of hollywood that’ll fix it. maybe season it with CoD?
No, the problem is that it simply demonstrates that the game industry does not understand it’s own medium and the strengths and weaknesses it has.
I am not even going to bother pirating Dear Esther, its a perfect example of when game devs get too artsy and try so hard to be “out of the box” or “innovative” that they forget the medium they are using.
Video games are called video GAMES for a reason. They are games and are meant to be entertaining without art or story to back it up. A video game without a proper level of interaction would be best made into a different movie. This is not to imply that a game with a great story on top of game play is not vastly superior to a game with a bad story but in games fun is very important.
Making a game with “a great story” (I put this in quotes because I have not actually heard the story but I hear it varies from fantastically written lines to others that are just ass) that cannot be a game doesn’t show the potential of games it shows its weakness.
Making a game without any form of interaction aside from the bare minimum just demonstrates one of video games weakness as a medium that being it is highly dependent on being entertaining on a very fundamental level. Where other mediums get their enjoyment from story, story in video games is additional not mandatory and not paramount. This is one of video game’s double edged swords in conveying a story.
Dear Esther is like a graphic novel with long paragraphs you have to read.
Its like a movie with many stills.
Its like a movie with so many title cards to explain whats happening that its beyond just dramatic effect.
Its like a painting that needs a caption to explain it.
Its like a song that needs a part with no music and a person talking to get the message of the lyrics.
What do all these have in common? They all have things you don’t want in them, they don’t take advantage of their own abilities. The artist behind them didn’t understand the tool they where using.
EDIT: You said it better than I
If there was a nail in this thread, you pounded it.
Amnesia is an example of a game like this done right. It has a good narrative, but with interaction and gameplay that emotionally effects you. With this game, even if it has amazing graphics, might as well be you running around the wilderness listening to a book on tape.
Tell me, what difference would there be if I bought the game and played through it, or I went on youtube and I watched an HD walkthrough of it without commentary?
:::::::::: SPOILER ::::::::::::::
You were a Seagull the whole time!!.