Dear Esther Review

Posted: 10 months ago, last updated 3 weeks ago.

Overview

In Dear Esther you explore an uninhabited Hebridean island while an old man reads a series of letters to his eponymous deceased wife. Themes of love, loss, guilt and redemption intertwine with the bleak geography and orchestral music. As you explore the derelict remains of buildings, shipwrecks and caves, you find a story that must be interpreted to make sense.

Details

Rating: PEGI 12+, ESRB TEEN

Release Date: 14/02/2012

Platforms: Mac, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Open World.

Tips

View our choice of games like Dear Esther. This game is good if you want to:

Solve a mystery

Commitment

Duration: This game will take between 1 and a half hours and 3 hours to complete.

Players: This is a single player game.

Costs

Does not offer in-game purchases, 'loot boxes' or 'battle/season passes'.

This game is free with Origin Access.

Age Ratings

Rated PEGI 12 with infrequent mild swearing. Examiner expands on the rating: The director’s commentary features the phrase ‘holy *!@?*!’ The narrator makes several references to taking large amounts of painkillers, with phrases like ‘I swallow fistfuls of diazepam and paracetamol to stay conscious’.

ESRB rated this TEEN with Drug Reference and Language.

Accessibility

Accessibility for this game is as follows:

Difficulty

How you can adjust the challenge of play, and assistance the game offers when you fail or get stuck.

Cognitive Pressure

Reaction-time Not Critical: Individual game actions don’t need quick reactions.

Low Pressure: Game tasks aren’t time-limited or with a high emphasis on performance. Or there is a low pressure play-mode available.

Save Anytime: The game automatically saves progress or you can save any time, and not lose progress.

System Settings

Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators. PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping). Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games... read more about system accessibility settings.

Supported by PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors: Andy Robertson

Games Like Dear Esther

The following games are like Dear Esther. They address a similar topic or offer a similar way to play. They are good options to play next and also good alternatives to Dear Esther for younger age ratings.

Sunset

Tree

Everything

The Stillness of the Wind

Fractured Minds

A Dark Room

N.E.R.O.: Nothing Ever Remains Obscure

What Remains of Edith Finch

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Gone Home

Firewatch

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